GRUNGY American bands bare a dime a dozen, so it helps if your particular band can boast a genuine million dollar hero in its ranks. Dogstar have one big thing going for them, and that's a bass player by the name of Keanu Reeves, so it's a safe bet that most people would be interested in seeing a group which features the star of Speed, Johnny Mnemonic and Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey thumping away on the old four string.
Last night, the Olympia was packed with pouting young things, no doubt eager to hear the singing and guitar playing of Bret Domrose, or the drumming of Rob Mailhouse. Or perhaps they'd heard Dogstar's interactive 4-song CD, Quattro Formaggio, and wanted to check out their repertoire. No way did they come to see the goateed figure who stood awkwardly stage right, clutching his bass like it had just fallen into his hands. In fact, they largely ignored him, only screaming at him every five seconds or so.
To their credit, Dogstar are not a bad group at all - they sound cohesive and connected - and their music has some direction, though it does follow a well beaten and somewhat ragged path. You can trace American rock's recent history through the tunes, from Nirvana and Pearl Jam right through to Hootie and Buffalo Tom. No problem there, if you like that sort of thing.
Dogstar formed when Keanu (scream!) met Rob Mailhouse and both discovered a mutual interest in hockey. Somehow this shared interest in sport mutated into a joint jazz blues project, but when Bret Domrose came along with his songs Dogstar became a proper band. With an impossibly famous bass player, of course.
Unfazed by Keanu's high profile on screen, Dogstar began gigging in Los Angeles, and soon they were playing to packed houses along the West Coast. Whether this was due to Bret's songwriting or the fact that Keanu was the most desirable male on the planet is anybody's guess.
Surprisingly, the girls at the Olympia remained rather subdued during Dogstar's set, sticking resolutely to loud screaming and eschewing the opportunity to dash on to the stage and try to do to Keanu what every girl has only dreamed of doing. I mean, come on: here was the one and only opportunity to be close to Keanu Reeves, without even a bag of popcorn to cramp your style. Try rushing, the stage at your local omniplex and all you'll get is a faceful of celluloid. Here, at the Olympia Theatre, you could conceivably get the whole enchilada, buns and all.
Whatever the reason, the end result was the same: it was like going to see a movie simply because Keanu Reeves was in it, but not having a clue what it was about in the end.
