*show was live webcast on volume.com

This was such a fun show with really well curated setlists. The new tunes are certainly going places and I can't wait to see them evolve. It Gets Better has Jeremy on vocals and he sounds so smooth with it. Solid show. 

Maybe it's attendance bias, but this show was SO PERFECT in every way. That No Quarter towards the end is one of the greatest covers I've heard the Dogs do, and then following up with All the Same and the Jellyfish Rave as the encore?? The show was so well balanced, well-timed, the emotions and jams were top notch and being there was truly incredible.

Hot Week

This is a hot show from a hot tour in an even hotter week (which is saying something, considering the temps we endured outside the venues for these shows). It’s up there with the best of ‘23—to seasoned heads, it needs no introduction. It features well-rehearsed original debuts and outstanding fireworks in the Dogs’ classics.

The boys were really looking refreshed and energized from the relative respite their schedule in Colorado created—their total of eight shows this month is a far cry from their experiences in March and May. Unlike the ‘24 Cali residency, this run didn’t require many long trips from their base of operations in the state. Frisco’s just over an hour from the Western parts of the Denver metro, and only two hours from the next stop at the Aggie (weather permitting). More than a few members of the pound flew in for this week’s three shows, and—considering it featured some of the best playing of the year—were well-rewarded for their efforts (also note, no repeated tunes across the three night stretch). Those who remained out of state were able to tune in on Volume to catch the full show live.

The Runaway Grooms, based 1 hour down I-70 in Eagle, opened and got the crowd movin for an hour and change. Jimmy sat in on This Road and one other song to close out the set. I wasn’t familiar with the Grooms’ catalog at the time so I couldn’t place the second tune (check them out if roots rock jam is your thang). Unfortunately, no recordings of the set currently proliferate.

First Set. The first-ever YumpT is perfect, and the pairing with Westward is scrumptious. The debut IGB had me singing the refrain by the second chorus, but this is before the song developed so much in the fall. Brian and Jerm special sauce to LJ2 (just how in the “fuck” did you find your way back home?). I remember the audience being absolutely entranced by Jimmy during Power Trip and losing their marbles at the ensuing Apeman. The heat continues through the interlude (“bless you, apeman”), culminating in a monster Way To Be that defies further description.

Second Set. Inimitable moments abound from the first note to the last. Check the transition jams after both Appleseed and Today, the latter of which fed into one of the most exciting and unique Tillie jams to date (see if you can find Shakedown St). The peaks build before falling effortlessly into a phenomenal Charlie—the best since Mahall’s. Brian drops Royals, Stash, Chalkdust, and New Frontier teases throughout the sequence, which includes the first of 3 ‘23 Walkin’ On The Suns in Colorado (37.5%). 45 seconds of banter reminds you that there’s still one more quarter left to be played, and the x-factor still courses through Samba and Pedro (I’m still more partial to the standalones on 4/12 & 4/15). The 3rd-ever No Quarter was a welcome surprise to me—I didn’t know it was in their repertoire at the time. The band’s spent by All The Same, but sends everyone home happy well into the AM with Stadium Rave, a version which would be in my regular listening rotation if 3/30 didn’t exist.

 

1st Set: 8/10

2nd Set: 10/10

Overall: 5 stars

 

Highlights:

Yum. T Dum - well-rehearsed

Westward - FTP west of Texas

Look Johnny II - extra spicy

Power Trip - entrancing

Ape-Man - crowdpleaser

Way To Be - exhilarating

Entire second set

 

Sources: The soundboard is sublime, but Jerm is mixed a tad too high on the Volume stream (which is still available on the net).