Midwest Pairings

This date is the second of a two-night run in the midwest before the band made their way down for their second Southeastern run of the year, and the third concert we're aware of the band playing in Indianapolis. 

The venue is one of a few located inside the G.C. Murphy Building, which itself is somewhat of a misnomer. The “building” was first constructed as multiple units in 1884 and collectively fused together in 1951. There's an Arts Center, restaurant, multiple music venues inside. As Jimmy mentions during the first set, this is the Dogs' first time in the main venue inside the building—the HI-FI. No recordings have surfaced of the upstairs Lo-Fi Lounge show on 3/11/22, but we know the band only repeated one song from that night at this gig. We don't have a tape of the 6/4/22 Phish after party either, so this show serves as the first available recording of the Dogs in the Hoosier State.

Note the length of the show barely exceeds two hours—it's closer to the length of the Dogs' one-set excursions than a standard two-set experience (the previous night, by comparison, nearly hit three hours of stage time). With only five minutes separating the sets, it might as well be considered a one-set show. Stardust Social Club opened, to great acclaim by Jimmy, who shouted out the Indy-based rockers in the second set. After this show, the band got a much-needed two day rest (if you could call it that) before five consecutive shows in the southeast.

First Set. Rocket start. The band opens with a bangin' Rinky Dink>KOTH combo—getting the biggest bustout of the night out of the way. The pairing wouldn't reappear for another five months, and wouldn't be played in this slot until the band's first headlining show in Dallas next year. The first thing you'll recognize with the ensuing Little Things is Joey's blistering pace. The second thing you'll realize is that, like 5/5, Brian's vox are mixed a little too low. If you don't sweat the small stuff, this is a must-hear version—up there with the best of Spring '23. Snow Day is solid, but doesn't hold a candle to the LTP on 4/5. Jeremy and Joey get some time to shine in the intro to Tillie, and the heat returns in an exceptional B4B, which features incredible interplay between Jerm and Jimmy. Green Earrings includes some of the earliest examples of Brian engaging the OBNE DS during his pick slides (more to come in the second set). The Bent Strange set closer is average for this period, and Brian reminds the audience that they'll be back in five. 7/10.

Second Set. The last time the band played the Hesitate>Rave combo, Jimmy blew out a tubescreamer and had to troubleshoot mid-jam. No such issues this time, both tracks are near-perfect. Brian engages in slight revisionist history afterward—Stadium Rave was originally written by Mark Governor and released publicly on Clubmix (Sonoton Music SCD-0309, 1998) a year before SpongeBob SquarePants aired on television (the melody itself is apparently older—according to one person who claimed to have spoken to Governor—and dates back to a 1980s-era marching band cue, allegedly predating Get Ready For This). The ensuing Go Set (New York-bound) is average for the era and marred slightly by the mix, but still reaches a great climax at the nine-minute mark. Jeremy gets time to shine in the transition to Appleseed, a top-10 '23 iteration. Joey gets about 40 seconds to himself before the band comes back in the mix for Royals. The set closes with another call-to-action edition of Mr. Tooker. The time crunch truncated the encore to just Gumbo, the fourth of five we have from this spring. 7/10.

Overall: ★★★★

Highlights:



Rinky Dink Rag > King Of The Hill Theme - nailed

Little Things - Joey sets an incredible pace

Blues For Brian - excellent interplay

Hesitate > Stadium Rave - an exquisite example

Appleseed - if you don't mind the lower vox

Royals - second set's meat



Sources: No tapes or videos currently circulate outside the soundboard.