Dogstar rolled through Indianapolis on a truly perfect midwestern August night at the Egyptian Room as part of their “All In Now” tour, with The Backfires opening up the show. Dogstar has been in Indy several times in the past few years, most recently at the 2024 Indiana State Fair, so this was a pretty intimate setting for the rock trio.
Darling You Know I’m Blindsided
The Backfires put on a really solid opening set, leaning into a lot of audience participation — goading the crowd to clap along and even a call-and-response bit that got everyone warmed up before Dogstar came on. It was actually their first time playing Indianapolis, though you’d never have guessed it from how comfortable they looked working the crowd. Sound-wise, they land somewhere between The Raconteurs and Blur — that bluesy, garage-rock crunch mixed with melodic, Britpop-leaning hooks. All in all, a great introduction to the city, and a band worth keeping tabs on going forward.
Never Is the Kind of Word I Never Use
Dogstar absolutely brought it all night, and it’s still such a rush to watch Keanu Reeves locked in on bass next to Bret Domrose shredding on guitar and Rob Mailhouse tearing it up on drums. This is not some novelty side project — these guys are a legit, tight, powerhouse of a band that has had over 30 years to hone their craft. From the first note, the energy in the room was high, and it only built from there.
The setlist leaned hard into their newest record, All In Now, and those tracks played live were much grittier than the studio versions, giving the set a raw sort of energy that just can’t be captured on a recording. They also threw in cuts from 2023’s Somewhere Between the Power Lines and Palm Trees and the guys even played a cover of The Replacements’ “Can’t Hardly Wait”, which felt like a perfect match for their alt-leaning sound and overall nostalgia-laced vibes.
By the time things started to wind down, the Egyptian Room saw nearly everyone in the crowd singing along — everybody in it together. There was a real sense that the whole crowd had been swept up in the same current, riding out the night’s final songs shoulder to shoulder like old friends at a reunion rather than strangers at a concert.
It was an absolute blast of a show, the kind you walk away from buzzing, from a band that’s clearly having the time of their lives being back together. If this is what 30-plus years of friendship and musicianship looks like on stage, here’s hoping Dogstar keeps this run going for a long while yet.
