Well, the big story this weekend is that Dogstar stopped by Liberty Hall. The band, comprised of Bret Domrose on guitar and vocals, Keanu Reeves on bass, and Robert Mailhouse on drums, rolled into Lawrence to hoards of jittery and excitable fans. It felt like every few minutes on social media, someone was posting a photo of the band perusing our scenic and quaint Downtown. For those who had only learned of the band’s tour stop due to all the buzz on the day of, well… they were out of luck. This show had sold out long ago.

Hot off their overseas tour, Dogstar’s Lawrence stop came as a late addition to their massive U.S. tour, which runs through the end of the year. They’re playing out in support of Between the Power Lines and Palm Trees, an album which comes out a week from their Lawrence date. If you’re a fan of 90’s alternative rock, you were likely following Dogstar’s work years ago. The new album carries that vibe, with a maturity into a more indie vibe. From the breezy “Everything Turns Around” (the band’s single off the album) to “Glimmer,” Dogstar made good on debuting their newer tracks. It definitely came with a summer vibe, which is good since we had a resurgence in summer temps this week to match.

It’s difficult to avoid the elephant in the room, which is of course the massive celebrity background that comes with Keanu Reeves. This is a band that formed alongside his career taking off– and though they took a hiatus for a few years, the pandemic brought them back into the studio together to progress on their love of music (Mailhouse is also an actor, like Reeves, whose work was also likely put on pause due to the pandemic). Perhaps we should look at this less as how Reeves’ celebrity would overshadow a rock band’s ambition, and more of how they are using it to promote goodness through their tour. The band did, after all, choose a small independent theatre in a small arts community over a giant, corporate-owned one in Kansas City. They then spent the day visiting with local businesses (like Guitarma). In a time where the music industry is going through changes that could harm independent venues, all of those actions speak volumes.

We have to admit, we were a bit worried that fans were going to be all about celebrity-spotting and not so much on the music. But Lawrence, you did good. The crowd kept their cool, being the sensible Midwesterners that they are, and we didn’t hear as much squealing as we thought we would. In fact, declarations of love from the audience between songs were very intentionally directed at the band as a whole, not just their famous bassist. It really felt like they made the effort to be there for the band and know about their background– not the desire to be close to a celebrity. So good job, Lawrence. No posers here.

The band reciprocated that Midwestern genuineness. Domrose is quite soft-spoken, and kept the banter to a minimum between songs but did keep it enthusiastic and genuine. He was, after all, the only one with a mic onstage (not a peep out of the other two). Domrose has a strong songwriting background, some of which is spent composing music for films. That type of history helps him flesh out Dogstar’s songs to sound richer than what you may expect from a three-piece.

One of the big perks of the night was getting a performance from Dogstar’s fellow Californians, Archer Oh. To be honest, this is a band that should come back to Lawrence because they fit right in. Toeing the line between surf rock and garage rock (summer never ends when these guys play), they brought a perfect blend of explosive energy and groovy melodic tones to the stage. They gave a nod to the Replay for hosting their prior performance, which makes us hope they’ll return to Lawrence soon.