August 22, 2023 was a warm, humid night so I decided to take the Harley over to the Uptown Theatre in Napa California. It’s always nice after a long day of piercing to ride through the vineyards of Napa for a great night of rock n roll. This night, promised to be a great one. On for the night was The Trims opening for Dogstar.
I got to the theatre about 7:30 and the show was slated to start at 8:00pm. Unfortunately, there was a mix up with my credentials and it took a bit of time to get it all worked out but, the staff at the Uptown were awesome and took care of it as quickly as they could. By the time I got in, The Trims only had two songs left but, from what I heard. They were awesome. They had lots of energy and a great stage presence. I am for sure going to try to catch them soon, Fortunately, they are a Bay Area band and play locally often.
The Trims are:
Gabe Maciel – founder/vocals/guitar
Billy Brady – drums
Frank Hernandez – bass
Tito Linhsamout – guitar
setlist
No setlist available
When Dogstar hit the stage, the crowd erupted. Opening with “Blonde” off the upcoming new album, Somewhere Between the Power Lines and the Palm Trees, we all knew we were in for a treat. The set consisted of almost all new songs so we all got a pretty good sneak peak at the new record. While most of the tracks are pretty laid back, they all sounded great. Bret’s vocals set the tone for each song and everyone could feel the genuineness in his delivery. Robert’s drums were strong but not overpowering and Keanu’s bass playing rounded out the sound perfectly.
As they worked though the set, the crowd cheered a little louder with the end of each song. A couple of highlights were “Everything Turns Around” (the first single off the new album) and “Lily”. The only old song they played was “Flowers” off their 2000 release The Complete Collection. From there, it was back into the new stuff that we were all eating up. The first part of the set ended with “Breech” which is the latest single off the new album.
When they came back out on stage, they went right in to “Lava Lamp” and everyone started dancing in front of their seats and in the isles. From there they went into “Shallow Easy” which was probably my favorite song of the set. They finished with “Jackbox”, by far the most rocking song of the set. That song definitely left us on a high note and wanting more. I guess we will have to wait until they come back around for that one.
The whole set had that awesome 90’s alt-rock vibe that is all the rage right now though, I never stopped liking it. It’s a great sound and I am happy that Dogstar is back together and carrying on the sound.
Dogstar are:
Keanu Reeves – bass
Robert Mailhouse – drums
Bret Domrose – guitar/vocals
Setlist:
1). Blonde
2). Lust
3). How the Story Ends
4). Everything Turns Around
5). Lily
6). Glimmer
7). Dillon Street
8). Sunrise
9). Sleep
10). Flowers
11). Math
12). Overhang
13). Upside
14). Breach
Encore
15). Lava Lamp
16). Shallow Easy
17). Jackbox
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Photographer of about 10 years, I have been shooting concerts for about 8 of those years. I started to get serious about concert photography about 6 or 7 years ago and now try to shoot as many as I can. I shoot mostly rock but, have done some country and big band stuff. I love music and since I am nowhere close to being a musician, this is a way I can be a small part of what, in the words of Henry Rollins, “gets me through the highs, the lows and everything in between”.
