Somehow managed my way out into the dark fall Boston night again last week for some more sweet sweet music. This time to catch the tour opener for what is sure to be an amazing one featuring Dr. Dog and Apollo Sunshine. For this night only Apollo Sunshine would be closing the show. A-OK by me.
I remembered that I saw Dr. Dog once before about 2 years ago opening for Clap Your Hands Say Yeah at TT the Bears. I don't remember too much from that set, so it still felt like my first time seeing them. But I have been listening to them fairly regularly since before then, so I am fairly familiar with their music. Their sound gets the Beatles/Beach Boys references constantly, and not without good reason. The influence is there and it isn't always subtle. But during their set, they reminded me of some other "B" bands, like the Band, Blues Brothers, and yes, even the Beastie Boys. I really thought going into it their set would be pretty low-key and song-oriented. But these guys flat-out impressed the heck out of me live. I can't believe I have not heard more about how good their live show is. The energy, the playing, the full-on band mentality, super tight, super loose, super fun. These guys can bring it, and they did. AWESOME! Check em out.
They were a GREAT warmup for Apollo Sunshine, but it will work great the other way too I am sure. AS was once again joined by Quentin on guitar and some percussion and occasionally by Oli on percussion, same lineup from when I caught them at the Middle East earlier this year. Not sure if they are touring with this band, or if it is just a Boston thing. According to their myspace page though it is their current lineup. I can't decide if this show was any better than their set at the Middle East, but it wasn't any worse. When this Lord action (video proof below) comes at you on the second song in, you know there are going to be some asses kicked.
They sprinkled some new tunes into the mix from their forthcoming album. All sounded awesome and I am definitely looking forward to that release. Quentin sang on most of them so it was tough to tell if they were all new AS tunes or if some were old Mazarin tunes. We'll soon see. They encored with a new one called "Pop a Woody" or something and then a mind-bending Phyllis that had me walking out in pain, joyous pain. I don't know if I should have been surprised, but I couldn't help but be a little surprised when the crowd didn't thin much if at all after the Dr. Dog set. These bands were a much better match together than I imagined. Great great show!
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