May 16, 2011

Dr. Dog @ The ArtsQuest Musikfest Cafe

Bethlehem PA

Friday May 6th, 2011

By:  David Turcotte

Philadelphia based super group Dr. Dog played the second ever show at Bethlehem’s newest venue The Musikfest Cafe.  This giant concert hall lays right on the Lehigh River, and is shadowed by the old and ominous steel stacks plant just a few hundred feet away.  The Musikfest Cafe is a part of the larger ArtsQuest complex which features a number of entertainment spaces including a movie theatre, restaurant, and comedy club.

Arriving at the venue just in time to catch the last few songs of the opening band, I made my way upstairs with rest of the TSI crew to grab a few beers and croon over the size and magnificence of the Musikfest concert hall while waiting for Dr. Dog to start.

Dr. Dog has been laying low since coming off of a giant tour with up and comers Buried Beds and Seattle’s The Head and the Heart.  The band is also in the midst of recording a new album, and preparing for the summer festival tours along with a few parties in San Francisco next month.

Dr. Dog started their set with “Stranger”, “Mirror, Mirror”, and “Hang On”, which I had all access to the photo/press area at the front of the stage.  Each of the first three songs featured a really cool dark back-light with smokey spot light treatments which created a perfect back drop for the psychedelic Philadelphia rockers.

It wasn’t surprising that the Bethlehem crowd knew and sang along to every lyric of “The Ark”,  “Breeze”, and “I Only Wear Blue.”  In a classy gesture of appreciation, Dr. Dog gave props to some of their favorite Bethlehem bands to great cheer and appreciation.

Dr. Dog closed out their set with “Worst Trip”, “Nobody Knows Who You Are” and “The Rabit, The Bat, and The Reindeer.”  The band was slowly but surely wooed back to the stage for a four song encore which was stretched to six as the band took crowd requests and seemed to add a bit of extra energy for those fans who eager to get their song called for.

Although the energy wasn’t necessarily as crazy as their last Philadelphia show at The Electric Factory, the setting and backdrop of the ArtsQuest Theatre/Musikfest Cafe’ presented an amazing performance space with luscious sound and lighting.  Dr. Dog, was well-Dr. Dog.  Always awesome, always entertaining.

Tri State Indie would like to give a big shout out to the Dr. Dog ticket giveaways David Costanza and Todd Piervallo for participating as well as being just awesome human beings.

You can check out additional coverage and photos here and here from Tristate’s David Turcotte.