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ACL: Dr. Dog
- Video: Dr. Dog live at ACL Fest
Philadelphia’s Dr. Dog, a late addition to the reshuffled Saturday schedule, primed the early arrivals at the AT&T stage with a stimulating set that spun a wide variety of styles into an idiosyncratic roots-rock blender.
None of the five-piece band’s songs followed a straight trajectory. Just when keyboardist Zach Miller seemed to be channeling the Band, bassist Toby Leaman, guitarist Scott McMicken and guitarist Andrew Jones started harmonizing like late-period Beach Boys, while the rhythm section continued to pack a serious wallop. Funk-rock morphed into Squeeze-y pop into Bowie-esque space-rock and ended with a head-banging crunch. A Cheap Trick-y a cappella chorus led into a big rock finish. R&B balladry, funk-rock, Primus-like weirdness, Cracker-crisp quirkiness, boogie, blues and jazzy dissonance all swirled into the mix.
“My Old Ways,” which set many hips to twitching, turned hard rock into bouncy bubble-gum pop without ever going to sweet, and wound up slamming again. “The Girl” started out with a metallic blast but went all late-Beatle-esque, then sweetened into a lush, ELO-like chorus with layered vocals. (No wonder Beck got a notion to do a remix of this one.)
Despite the dizzying array of genres, none of the songs sounded cobbled together or forced. Unlike many jam bands, Dr. Dog has the level of musicianship to sustain its improvisatory leanings. Jones’ solos arose organically from the tunes and were notable for their melodic logic and succinctness. The riff he played on “Worst Trip” could have turned into a song in its own right.
Dr. Dog could easily get by on instrumental prowess alone, but McMicken and Leaman are also fine lead vocalists. McMicken has a more supple, R&B/pop voice, Leaman a more gravelly rock sound, and with Jones chiming in, three-part harmonies were the splendid icing on the cake.
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