Saturday, May 26, 2012

that dog. Reunion Show Recap, Video and Setlist!

that dog. was one of those bands of the 90's that, unfortunately, many people may not have heard of. They wrote poppy, yet grungy songs about crushes and young love, with violin and 3-part vocal harmonies. Throughout the mid-90's they were always just a step away from labelmates, Weezer (members sang on Weezer b-sides, and collaborated in side-project The Rentals) but they never shared Weezer's MASSIVE success, even with many connections within the music industry. (Singer Anna Waronker's brother was Beck's drummer, the Haden sisters father is Charlie Haden, a famous jazz bassist, and their triplet sister Tanya is married to Jack Black). Indie kids and critics loved them, and by the reactions at their New York reunion show on Thursday night, that love hasn't faded a bit.



Thursday night was that dog's first New York performance since they broke up 15 years ago. Saturday Night Live's Fred Armisen was the opening act, and in the crowd were members of Luscious Jackson, Upright Citizens Brigade, Field Music, Redd Kross, Midtown, Weezer's 5th member Karl Koch, VH1, and about a dozen people from my hometown (which is 100 miles away). It was a really special night. Lots of smiles, sing-alongs, and a few impromptu audience requests. They played every song that I wanted to hear and more, and occasionally featured additional guitarist Dan (that looked like a cross between Joe Lo Trugio and Joe Rogen). Everything was exactly how you would want it to be, and I would have been crushed if I'd missed it.

Hopefully, this isn't the last of that dog. Anna Waronker was recently interviewed in the Village Voice and hinted that it wasn't the end.
It would be criminal not to ask: Are you writing new songs for That Dog.? Welll... uh. Hmm. How do I answer this. We have not yet discussed exactly what we want to do in the future. We only planned on doing a couple shows, and then we threw in the Largo ones. So we haven't had an official conversation all together about what we see the future holding, but we've had individual conversations and it seems like there will be something for sure. I've started to put that hat back on.
Click through the jump for the full set list, video from the reunion show, and a few favorite music videos.


Video from Mark Martucci's great balcony spot:


Setlist:

Grunge Couple

Old Timer

Ms. Wrong

Silently

Being With You

Lip Gloss

In the Back of My Mind

She Looks At Me

Zodiac

Punk Rock Girl

Long Island

Retreat From the Sun

Did You Ever

Gagged and Tied

Annie

He's Kissing Christian

Angel



Encore:

Never Say Never

Minneapolis

Michael Jordan

Hawthorne

This Boy








8 comments:

  1. I'm really, really hoping this reunion becomes an actual reality, with music and a real tour.

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    1. That would be amazing.

      I saw them twice in 1997, and Rachel Haden put me on the guest list for their show with Blur. Those were such good times.

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  2. please oh please. This would be such a great show. One of my regrets in life was not jumping at the opportunity to open up for them on a Northwest tour. ARGH

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  3. Portland, Oregon.

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  4. Thanks for the recap & video. I was at Thursday's show as well and really enjoyed it (I'd never seen them back in their heyday). It would be great to hear some new music from them. The woman who keep asking Fred Armisen questions during his routine & who got the attention of that dog was standing a few feet away from me & kept walking past me as she went from the near the front of the stage to somewhere in back. Don't know if she was getting sick or what, but she seemed pretty out of it.

    My recap of the show (with some photos) is here: http://podcastparty.blogspot.com/2012/05/that-dog-plays-1st-east-coast-show-in.html

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    1. She kept walking past me as well, and each time she'd walk right into everyone around me. Definitely out of it.

      Great photos! And thanks for visiting.

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  5. Wow! I would have LOVED to see that!

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    1. It was really great. Still can't stop thinking about it.

      I got a little video of Hawthorne that I should post. The song was played by request, and stripped down with Tony on guitar. I hope somebody got the whole song because it was one of my favorites of the night.

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