Back in the fall of 2008, Dr. Dog played a rollicking ninety minutes of rock and roll, harder and less nuanced than anything to that point that they’d recorded in the studio. In the meantime, the Philly-based band has recorded two more studio albums that have approached a similarly visceral level.
Dr. Dog stopped at Higher Ground on the eve of spring in support of their self-produced Be The Void, reaffirming the notion it’s as enlightening to follow this band’s progression by catching their live shows as obtaining their studio albums. In their second appearance filling the larger room at Higher Ground, the Philly eccentrics suggest their most recent recorded work project, is leading them in improvisational directions quite unlike their show here a year ago.
The band was pumping out the numbers fast and furious at the onset of the two hour-plus single set show, offering a clutch of tunes from Be the Void like “Lonesome” and “Do the Trick.” Emphasizing ensemble playing, the addition of Dmitri Manos (percussion/keyboards), Zach Miller (keyboards/guitars), plus the recruitment of drummer Eric Slick, have allowed guitarists Scott McMicken and Frank McElroy, plus irrepressible bassist Toby Leaman, to replicate the density of their deceptively sophisticated recordings. The rapid fire succession of tunes had wags in the audience marveling at the band’s discipline and rightly so.
Cold stops in time with the cut of stage lights that otherwise illuminated the scrapbook-like stage backdrop didn’t exactly disappear as the performance progressed to include vintage Dr. Dog that garnered excited recognition from the packed house. The band simply began playing the unpredictable changes in such tunes as “Shame, Shame” and ”I Only Wear Blue” with extra repetition.
At this juncture, Dr. Dog’s sole remaining debt to The Beatles appeared, albeit in a different form than the emphasis on creative vocal harmonies that continue to run through their material. Heavy guitar-dominated crescendos reminiscent of “I Want You (She’s So Heavy”) arose simultaneous with economical guitar fills, as the sextet stretched into a realm they’ve avoided in the past in favor of structure. The group seemed as gratified and surprised as the audience at how successful they were in this regard, which is no doubt why the extended encore was so heartfelt.
With McElroy using an acoustic guitar beneath the group singing on "Jackie’s Got A Black Eye," the refrain of “we’re all in it together now as we all fall apart” captured not just that moment in this venue, but Dr. Dog’s evolution as a unit within their community.
