In the eight years I've lived in Indianapolis, only one artist has lured me to the Hoosier Lottery Free Stage at the Indiana State Fair : Keanu Reeves.
Dogstar , the band for which Reeves is the bassist, kicked off their Summer Vacation Tour in Indianapolis Thursday night with an hour-and-a-half-long chock full of straightforward, but largely unremarkable, '90s alt-rock.
For those of you unfamiliar with the band's history, a brief overview: Dogstar, which also features vocalist/guitarist Bret Domrose and drummer Rob Mailhouse, was founded in California in the early '90s and released just two albums and an EP before disbanding in the early 2000s. They decided to resurrect the band during the COVID-19 pandemic, and last year performed publicly for the first time in two decades and shortly afterwards released their third album, " Somewhere Between the Power Lines and Palm Trees ."
Not knowing what to expect, I arrived an hour and a half early for the 7:30 p.m. set. I took one look at the maybe half-full front section of lawn and decided I had plenty of time to take a walk, fill my water bottle and grab some grub before staking a claim on a patch of grass. I'm glad I didn't dawdle — I got settled and by 7 p.m., it was pretty much standing-room only in my neck of the woods.
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Folks were excited . As the trio took the stage (at 7:29 p.m.! punctual kings!), the cheers crescendoed and the cellphones came out. There are times when I'm grateful to be 5'3" — there's always plenty of legroom on planes and the ability to easily duck under tree branches while walking is clutch — but a festival seating situation, especially on flat terrain, ain't one of them. Still, I had a pretty good view of Reeves between people's heads.
The first few songs were a bit rough — the sound mixing felt a bit off, and Domrose's vocals at times kind of drowned everything out, particularly as he struggled to forcefully hit some of his mid- to higher notes. It wasn't until they played their third song, "How the Story Ends," that it felt they were starting to hit their groove. The mix felt much better and they settled into the performance.
If pouty '90s alt rock is your vibe, do I have a band for you. The concert was fine. Unremarkable. Honestly, and I hate to say it, but it kind of felt like your uncle and his buddies got their college band back together, except instead of a rando at the American Legion heckling them, it was a Keanu Reeves fanboy yelling "JOHN WICK!!! THE BABA YAGAAAAAAA!!!"
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To what I assume was that man's disappointment (not to project), Reeves didn't address the crowd once during the main set, beyond the occasional nod or wave. There was a mic stand on his side of the stage, but I never saw him use it. The mic was used for only one song, when he briefly switched spots with Domrose, who finished the song from that spot instead. And then the mic stand was taken away and we lost all hope of hearing from Reeves.
We love that he's a sweet, pensive boy, right? But it felt a little weird not to hear him speak. Not to diminish the other performers — they were putting in WORK — but let's be honest: There's a certain novelty that comes with being able to say you saw Keanu Reeves' band.
On the music front, I liked the way "Runway" moved. Reeves was locked in on that bass and there's a campy guitar hook in there. "Breach," off their newest album, is moody and distorted and... honestly I can't come up with anything else to say.
Like many of their songs, the set abruptly ended, and Dogstar left the stage just before 8:30.
There was no reason to fret though: They had a four-song encore. I spent most of the show trying to place where I'd heard a voice like Domrose's before, and it finally clicked when they opened the encore with a cover of The Cure's "Just Like Heaven." And as a parting gift, we finally got to hear from the star of "The Matrix."
With their goodbyes, Domrose thanked us, Mailhouse told us to be safe and love each other, and Reeves stepped gingerly to the mic and said "YEAH, INDIANA."
Like the preceding hour and a half, it maybe wasn't exactly what we wanted, but we'll take it?
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Contact IndyStar pop culture reporter Holly Hays at holly.hays@indystar.com. Follow her on X/Twitter: @hollyvhays.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Keanu Reeves' Dogstar plays straightforward (read: unremarkable) set at Indiana State Fair
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