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From Guinnesgrl@aol.com Thu Jul 3 16:42:27 1997
Date: Wed, 2 Jul 1997 18:07:39 -0400 (EDT)
From: Guinnesgrl@aol.com
To: constellation@thepentagon.com
Subject: NYC and Will

Hi Nancy - hope you got my last message. I just re-sent the one that didn'tgo through - let's hope we get better luck.

Saw the boys in NYC last night. They were even better than in New Haven onMonday. Keanu was a little looser - it's so great when he forgets about allthe girls screaming for HIM as opposed to the band. He really starts PLAYINGand jumping around and having a good time, messing with Bret, smiling a lot.It's a beautiful thing to see. Then all the teenagers start squealing andhe realizes why and he gets all closed up again. I just hope that at somepoint he'll learn to just ignore all that and have fun with it.

My friend and also just happened to luck out with where we stood for theshow. We were in the balcony, next to a roped off section with tables with"reserved" signs on them. We wondered if they were for more expensivetickets or something. Little did we know until Bret came out of a roombehind all the tables. It was the "backstage" area! He went in and out afew times, and THEN - yes, the man himself came out. He chatted with a luckyfew who were hanging out in the reserved section watching the opening band.He went back inside, but we stayed put and were rewarded with several moreappearances before they took the stage. And after they were through playing,they all came by that way AGAIN and headed back inside. We were close enoughto feel the heat radiating off them and get close-ups of they sweat drippingoff all of them. I must say, though, that I was much more excited than myfriend. He really just came to hear the music ;-)

After a bit, the security guards cleared the whole balcony for the bands andvips, so we had to head back downstairs. We asked if the band would becoming out to sign stuff or anything, but they said no. After we got backdownstairs, I found Dan and asked him the same thing. He said they weren'tbecause Keanu's mom was in town, and they were going to hang out and stuff.Last night is supposed to be the last show for a bit because of that. It'shard to get upset that Keanu wouldn't come out and schmooze because he wantedto spend time with his mom :-)

And yes, I asked Dan about the movie. He said that Rosie is a friend oftheirs and she asked the guys to be in her movie, and they are. So I guessthat's an "official" response, right?

One last thing - Rob blew through the crowd downstairs after the show, andthe girl who had caught a drumstick snagged him to sign it. So I went up ashe was finishing and asked if he'd sign my cd before rushing off. He verynicely said sure and signed it and went on his way. I didn't want to try tohold him up because he looked in a hurry, but he also seemed pleased thatpeople picked him out of a crowd. He's a really tall guy, but so hard to seehidden behind those drums all the time :-)

So my heart rate has finally returned to normal, but I did find myselfgrinning foolishly throughout the day today, and was somewhat in a daze lastnight :-) I've got one signature down, two to go. Just waiting for anotheropportunity to get them! See ya.

Ok, y'all know I don't post often, but I'm so psyched up from tonight's show,it's either work the energy off into a report, or bounce up and down for thenext hour. And since I don't think the folks downstairs would understand, I guess a show report is the way to go.

Going to the NYC/Supper Club show was a last-minute decision, made on thedrive home this morning from New Haven. (I did manage to make three showsthis weekend, even though it wreaked havoc with my finances and I'mpretending I "forgot" about a work deadline. More on them later - ) Theenergy and enjoyment I'd gotten from those shows just made me greedy formore, and I decided to "complete" my D* experience with the NYC show, eventhough I was leary of the city venue, having heard (and seen) the chaos ofattendence at the '95 Irving Plaza show. So, hocking my firstborn (Justjoking! Don't have a firstborn, and while I love my 2 rabbits, I know theyare minimally marketable -), I made a Ticket Master stop, went home,freshened up, fed the livestock, and 5 hours later was heading intoManhattan. The doors were supposed to open at 7pm, show at 8.

Auspicious: I found street-side parking!

Not auspicious: For the first time ever, I had a "sighting"! Saw Rob out onthe street with a friend, checking some (guide?/direction?) book and about tomake a phone call. Given the facts that he was 1) standing and 2) indaylight, I wasn't 100% sure it was him, so said, "Mr. Mailhouse?" Hegrunted, preoccupied. "Rob?" "Yeah -" So, I turned into a low-gradeblithering idiot and blurted out that I'd seen several of the shows andthought they were doing one helluva job. Then the "you'd better clarifythat" switch in my head went off, and I added several "Really good/great!"s.He said thanks, and I proceded down the block, blither once again in hand.

At 7:15, the line still extended roughly a 1/3 of the block. They wereletting people in in groups, and if you wanted to drink you had to stop at anID-checkpoint and get wristbanded. While on line, performed the customaryrumors-setting-to-rest duties Gardeners get to do from time to time.

The Supper Club is darkly posh, dark blue with gold accents, HIGH stage,central dance/viewing area with seats around the perimeter, and alcoves alongeach side. There was an upstairs, but only the rear railing area was open toeveryone. The side balcony table areas were roped off for "VIP passes".When I got in, there were already about 5 - 7 standing rows pressed in frontof the stage. And at $5 for a beer, it wasn't difficult to convince me Imight as well take up position myself.

A really mixed group (with the usual gender ratio), from casual tosemi-dressy to "Oh, baby, here I am!" Even at the rear of thethen-assembled, with the raised stage and some semi-tall people in front, Iwas set to see every one from the hips up. (Barring Rob, whom we are usuallygrateful to see from the chin up, back there in drum fortress. ) The onlynegative to this was the arrival of a group sidling in in front of my row,who I will call the Prozac Sisters- obviously quite low on their Prozac, butover-administered with cigarettes and drinks (courtesy of a well-trainedhusband), who bounced, shifted, danced, argued, expressed affection for eachother, shimmied, and did something with their arms sort of like Vogueingmeets table-dancing, drinks and cigs in hand all the while. They wereannoying, but tolerable, and didn't actually spill drinks on any of us.

The first band up was Purr, the opening act from Philly. IMHO, the femalelead singer's voice and the songs themselves were far more interesting thanthe rest of the band performing. Having seen some incredible bass and guitarwork in the past several days, these guys in comparison, for all their"moves" produced a loud but not very interesting range of sounds. (Besidesthe 2 guitars, they also had a drummer and keyboardist. Noticed theirdrummer was wearing protective eargear, like a headset. Haven't seen that before. Is that unusual for drummers?)

Second band up was Silverjet. Cute and very blond brothers (and a brunettecurly haired drummer), who look like they shouldn't pass being carded,although I hear they're in their 20's - While their bassist is Non-emotion personnifed, for a 3-piece they do produce a full sound, and Luke, the leadsinger has a nice clear voice. It hasn't been difficult at all to enjoytheir performance several times. (They seem like okay guys, too, given theirthankless position as a lead-in band. In Sea Bright, Luke mentioned thatthis must be what travelling with the Beatles must have been like.)

Then, it was time for Dogstar...Part 2 follows (to break up the mail for some mailboxes)Silflay

Yeah, me again. (g)

I can't add much to the posts already about the Sea Bright show. Until I sawthe NYC show, I'd considered it the best of the 3 I'd seen, the one in whichthe guys were the most into their music. (I was also giddy because I'dfinally gotten my hands on the CD! Even got 2. Hey, I've been an SF/mediafan for a long time. I know my job.) I remember Bret worrying aboutlosing his voice - he turned to the other guys and said, "Maybe we shouldtell the folks in Philly I may not have a voice!" I'm glad it didn't turnout that way! I got to see this show from pretty close up.

The Philly venue was interesting, in the converted theater, although thesliver of wallspace that passed for a bar was bizarre. We watched that showfrom further back. It was a nice change to see the whole band in one view!And the sound distributed well in the building. Fun note - Silver Jet isvery dedicated to promoting themselves - both interior side walls of thetheater were decorated with lines of Silver Jet posters! Busy guys! (Note:if you get there any time, South Street is a trip. It's NYC's East Villagewith a lighter attitude. Imagine a bar hawking 2 for 1 margaritas, classrestaurants, cajun feast joints, and a slew of tattoo parlors. Not tomention a shop called Condomland which has some of the most hilariousinventory I've ever seen in one place. I now have a salt-and-pepper set oftwo bunnies doing the spring slap dance!) D* itself started off a bit moresubdued, IMHO, at this show, less "into it", but got rolling fast. And thesurprise of Bret doing 32 stories solo was delightful. I remember himindicating some people on the far left (facing the stage) who were holding upsigns. I got the impression one of the signs mentioned something about thesong - anybody down front know anything about that?

Silflay

I like Toad's place. In '95, however, their setup was a bit different. Theyhave the place divided into a drinking section and a general section, andthey're divided by a black netting that runs down the center of the roomperpendicular to the stage center. Well, at least that was the setup in '95.This time, the net was set up to run from rear-center to the very edge ofthe stage, meaning that general admission got to be stage front completely,and people who were drinking got penalized by having to watch the show frombehind the netting. What were they thinking? The crowd was thinner than'95, but still a good number of people. I ambled about looking for a decentspot to see (and have my beer) and ended up to the side of the stage, wherethe sound board was, as well as the drum sets waiting for their bands''turns. I was going to see a full profile show, but at least my view wasunimpeded. I also met up with a very nice lady who turned out to be aGardener (B - Bea? - Sherman, hi!). We thought we were going to have a clear path to stage side as the drum sets went up, but then when Silver Jet was setup they put a bench lengthwise in our way. But we maneuvered to oursatisfaction, even if it involved a brief "discussion" with a security guardwho did leave us alone in our positions!

It was surprising that a Monday night show had 4 bands scheduled. I'd missed most of the first band's set. The second band was full throttle at alltimes, but wasn't anything I could particularly move to. Plus, the leadsinger, who was managing to strip down during the set, made some kind ofdisparaging comment - all I made out was "actor", thankfully.

Silver Jet was the third band on. I really like their song, "Kid"!

D* did yet another rocking show! I have to admit that my gaze wasn't gluedto the bassist - or to the other guitarist - (yes, Rob was ensconced indrums, toward the back of the stage, and I had a sound board, techie,security guard, occasional crouching roadie, and apparent teen daughter ofsomebody associated with the club between me and his position!) - for oncenot being jammed in by bodies, I took the opportunity of some of my owneyes-closed place-dancing to the music. A little slice of heaven on a Mondaynight!

I did watch a lot though - near the end K was in that leg forward/leg backstance he does to start off a song, slightly rocking forward and back. Hewas poised, but the only sound that came from the drums was a single bang.He turned toward Rob, an expression of surprise and amusement on his face.Oops - ? They recovered quickly, though, and soared into the next song inmoments. Another fast-paced, driving-beat show! I've already got myfavorite songs "imprinted"!

I can't think of much more without sliding into minutia (oh yeah, y'all don'twant that. ). I envy those who got to see the shows right up the coast.And definitely those of you who are about to start your tour sojourns.

Enjoy!

Silflay

http://www.oocities.org/SunsetStrip/Stage/7895/silverjet.html

Tuesday, 6/24, 1997 in Baltimore, MD& Wednesdsay, 6/25/97 in Washington, DC

I admit that I went to the concerts purely for the main act, Dogstar. However, I had read reviews from others who also went to Dogstar concerts and said that the opening act, Silver Jet, rocked. I was so psyched about it. I immediately went on the Internet to find more info on these guys and got a chance to hear the soundbites. Wow!

I remember going to the DC101 Chili Cook-off on May 17th in Washington, DC and knew that Silver Jet will be performing but I had to leave around 3 pm and the DJs said that Silver Jet wouldn't be on until much later. Needless to say I was bummed. But I did get to see Sponge and well, Tim Palmer - you got another winner in the Silver Jet boys!

Arrived at Bohager's in Baltimore around 7 pm. There was a small line. I could hear the sound check and couldn't figure out if it was Silver Jet themselves doing it or someone else. (Oh, well....)

There were questions about age going around - especially on Jeff. But I did find out that he's 25. He wasn't feeling well during this concert or the one in DC but, Man, you couldn't tell by the way he played. The music was awesome and the lyrics were memorable. Luke said to the audience, "Let's time, I expect you to be singing along." Well, I was singing along in the DC concert the next night! I bought the Silver Jet CD before the concert knowing that I wanted it. This was *before* I even heard them perform. Just to show you what positive fan reviews can do.

Luke introduced some of the songs and a little of the stories behind each one. "Kid" is for all those guys who see a beautiful girl at a bar but are too shy to approach them - afraid of the rejection. And of course, there's "Plastiqa" - penis enlargement, huh? (g) And Luke?Let us in on the "Whip Cream incident." I may regret ever asking... (g)

Oh, and there's a running joke on who can catch Jeff smile. I'm sure you've noticed that when he plays, he's totally into the music. If he cracks a smile, it was like this big "thing." In Baltimore, I caught him with a brief grin after Luke introduced "Plastiqa" I grinned myself (see above) and when Luke asked about "Any good danceclubs around here?" And someone yelled something about this club that a lot of transvestites frequent and Luke said, "Have you noticed that those are the best dance clubs?" (g). In DC, he cracked a full smile (what a smile!) *sigh* when someone in the audience yelled to Luke as he was taking off his blazer - "Take it *all* off!!!" Luke came back to the mike, "Take it all off? Be careful of what you ask for."

As I was heading to the door to leave, I saw Jeff sitting on the rail and Luke and Grant on the other end of the rail. I wasn't sure if I was gonna ask for autographs but Jeff kinda looked up and I was in his line of vision. I had the CD out so, I mean, what was I to do? (Decision, decision, decisions...) I went towards him and asked him if he would sign it. What a sweetheart! Not only did he sign it, he even took a few seconds to think of a message to write on the CD. After he signed it, I told him I'll see them tomorrow night. "Oh, you'll going to the DC show?" "I live in DC." I couldn't walk down the stairs without passing Luke and Grant and since I was in *their* line of vision as well (g) Gave Luke the CD after asking them if they would mine signing it for me. While Luke was signing, told them that I would see them the following night in DC and heard that there would be another opening act. Asked them if they would go on first or second. It was cute to see them answer at the same time with different answers (g)

Grant said, "I don't know."
Luke, "We're on 2nd."
G: "Oh."
L: "Yeah, the first act is a local band."

When I *finally* left, I went to the back near the main act's tourbus to get some autographs. Those Silver Jet guys! They do their own instrument set up and all. (Note to Virgin Records: Get these guys Roadies!) What a team! It was kinda amusing seeing Luke, Jeff, and Grant going back and forth from the club to their van (Another note to Virgin Records: Get these guys a tourbus.) What great 2 nights! Thanks Silver Jet!

Nancy

Greetings 'Gazers!

I apologize for this late review but "real life" keeps getting in the way... (g)

First of all I must agree with most of the post already from Dana, Kathy, and Camilla. So, I'll just comment off of their posts and add snips of my own. I just want to take this time now to publicly thank the wonderfully generous Kathy for offering to take me to Baltimore. See Dogstar twice was really a great idea. Got a chance to compare the 2 shows. Thanks, Kathy! (g)

The first word that comes to my mine when describing the two shows to my friends is this - "energetic" for the Baltimore show and "playful" for the DC show. Needless to say both rocked!

Pre-concert stuff:

Kathy & I arrived at the club around 7:15 pm (?) We found the last parking spot in the club's parking lot. So, we just kinda sat in the car for a second and letting everything kinda sink in. "We're here."

The car was facing the tour bus. (g) And we just kinda sat there staring at it. A few minutes went by and the doors opened. "Someone's coming. Hey, look, Kathy, there's Ken.... I think that's Dan... there's Billy the bus driver.... It's kinda scary to think I can rattle off these names of people I don't even know, huh?" But it came in handy the next night in DC. Right, Vanna? (bg) I became the "unofficial" guide to who's who among the Dogstar posse. "Hey, Nancy, who's that." "Oh, that's Ken. He's the manager." "Who's that?" "That's....." (bg)

Ok, where was I - oh. So fastfoward... after I got into the club and bought the Silver Jet CD and some T-shirts - I went to look for Dan. When I finally found him, he was sitting at the merchandising table. Two girls were kinda talking to each other in front of him and he looked like he wanted to be saved. He looked up at me and said, "Hi. Can I help you?" I gave him my hand and he shooked it and I said to him, "Dan?" (He had a surprised look on his face like, "You know me?") "You said in your newsletter to find you and to just come up and introduce ourselves and say hi, so 'hi.'" (Ok, it was lame but I didn't rehearse the conversation in my head (g)) Dan was polite but not really friendly - which I totally understand. Strangers coming up to you everyday and all - not expecting what motives we may have. But, anyway. I asked him if he'd autograph my T-shirt and he was taken back with, "Me?" "Yeah, you, Dan. Would you sign my shirt?"

He took the shirt and lay it on the table. I had one of those pens that you have to shake before it'll work. I swear I had shook that dumb thing for a long time but of course, it didn't work when it was time for it to work. So to make small talk with Dan, "Dan, I noticed that Silver Jet has a mailing list sign up sheet. Where's Dogstar's?"

Dan: We don't have one.
Me: Well, there's one out there.
D: No, there's not.
Me: Yes, there is.
D: No, there's not.
Me: Yeah, there is..
D: Well, it wasn't started by Dogstar.
Me: I know. It was started by a fan.

(dead silence) I couldn't tell if he was thinking about what I just said or if he was concentrating on signing the shirt, because that darn pen was giving him a hard time.

M: Dan? How do you feel about that? Are you ok with it or what?
D: It depends.
M: On what?
D: On what they talk about? What do you talk about?
(Notice the shift in pronouns)
M: We talk about Dogstar - the music, the concerts. Right now, fans are reporting back with reviews and sharing them with everyone.
D: Well, that's cool. As long it's not reporting rumors. Like, we're not signed with a recording company.
M: I know.
D: So if they said we did when we aren't..
M: Oh, no. We don't believe in spreading any types of rumors. It's strictly items we know that can be backed up.
D: Then I have no problems with it.

As you can guess, I released a sigh of relief. The list lives on!I'm so glad I got Dan's "ok" for it.

From Kathy:

>And yes I *did* notice their apparently underage bass player :))
My theory was that since the Roadies placed Heinekens and bottles of water for Luke and Grant and just water for Jeff that Jeff had to be underage. But I have since found out that Jeff was not feeling well during the Baltimore concert. (As we all know by now, he's 25.)

>first song they played one of his guitar strings broke. He didn't miss a beat,didn't faze him in the least.
Man, what a pro! He wasn't feeling well but I couldn't tell and I don't think most of the crowd could eithe from the way he played. He was really into the music.

>In fact, nothing did. He betrayed almost *no* emotion. He *did* crack a bemused little smile at mention oftransvestites from ??? (I forgot the singer's name!!).
The singer's Luke. Yep, Luke. (g) Oh, I've decided that the running "thing" for this summer tour now is to see who can catch Jeff smile. That of course is added to the other "thing" which is to see which show Rob will take off his shirt for. He's only taken it off once, right, guys? (g)

>After what seemed like an *eternity* of setting up the boys came on. WhenKeanu first walked out I was so dazed I could barely look at him. he wassoooooo close, and I didn't want to stare, but there he was.
LOL! I had the same reaction. Except mine was a more conscience "I won't look at him because I want to give Bret and Rob to know that there are some of us there for them as well." But that only lasted like 10 seconds. But that was only because...

>He fairly hopped out onto the stage, all boundless energy. He was ready to rock!!!
He came jumping/hopping onto the stage. I was so close to the stage. He sang the song, "The roof - the roof - the roof is on fiiiire! roooof (that scream that's at the end of that song)" while hopping. Man, he was on fire!

>OK, details :)))) Someone had drawn on Ke's hand with a magic marker.Left hand so it was in our faces the whole time. ,br>It was the right hand. (g)

>Crossed lines and in the four sections that the intersection made were a heart, and exclaimation point, a smiley face, and a question mark.
It was a big "X" and the exclamation point was in the north, smiley face was in the east, question mark in the south and the hear in the west. (ok, ok, so I'm "intently focussed." (g))

>When he bounded on stage, he looked at the crowd and told us all to "Go get a drink".
He also said something like "Can someone hand me a drink?" (g)

> Bret bantered with the baseball obsessed Baltimore crowd about theOrioles/Oreos "Why is your team named after a cookie??? That's f--inweird" or words to that effect :)
The TVs at Bohagher's were playing the O's game against Toronto. How ironic was that - Toronto... Keanu... Keanu... Baltimore...? (g)Bret said that they tried to go to the game, but I don't think that would have work, Bret. The O's were playing in Toronto - not Baltimore! (g)

>Bret picked up a red pick, looked at it and said it was one of Keanu's. He threw it at him. Got Keanu in the chest. Ke said theatrically, "Yougot me!" and feigned death :)))
Guess who is the proud owner of that red pick now? (vgb) Yes, yours truly. *sigh* Thanks to Mike the Roadie. The one that someone described as the "babebalicious hunk with the cowboy hat" (g)

>Ke did *lots* of hopping up and down between songs. He clearly waspumped. At one point he said to Bret "Let's play this one fast" and theydid :)).
Like I described it at the beginning - energetic!

>He messed up on OLV *again* and made that little "Yikes" face hemakes. Mostly he was just lost in the music, eyes closed, mouth set inalmost a grimace, on the edge of pain and pleasure.
*sigh* Well said, Kathy!

>Bret kept switching back and forth between guitars. At one point Keanugallantly stepped over to hold Bret's guitar while he attached the strap.
Yeah, Bret seemed to be having a bit of a problem and Keanu was sharp enough to go over and helped him out. Of course, more screams!

>This was my first Dogstar experience, and I have to say that it was anincredible introduction. The night was better than I could have hoped orimagined for all sorts of reasons, and in light of the DC show thefollowing night, I'm glad I saw them here first.
Here, here, Kathy. I'm so glad I got to see them at both shows. If you get the chance, do see 2 shows. They can be completely different.

More on DC coming soon:))

Nancy
The Constellation - Home of the Dogstar Mailing List
http://thepentagon.com/constellation

Hi all!

Here's my thoughts on the DC show. I'm going to bounce off (ok, ok, so Keanu's energetic bouncing is rubbing off in my Emails) others...(Hi Diana, Kathy, Vanna, Dan, Kathy's husband, JaC, Dana, Joy, Ursula, etc, etc, Man, do you think there were 'Gazers & Gardeners in the crowd? (g))

>This show was *way* different from the show in Baltimore the previous night.
Yeah, this one I would describe as more "playful." Keanu flirted with the people up front!

>for one thing, my husband went with me to this one, and am Iglad he did!!! I needed him for crowd control. All that hockeyplaying payed off:))) It seemed a rowdier, pushier crowd than inBaltimore (they're just nicer, hon :) I won't go into the goreydetails, but there were a few rather unpleasant moments . . . .
Oh, but I *will*! (2) There were 2 incidents, but the one that upset me was from this one woman who looked old enough to be my mother! She was so rude! First she pushed her way up front and just placed herself next to Vanna. Vanna's husband, Dan had just left to get some drinks. The woman would not leave even though Vanna, Kathy, Kathy's hubby, and this other woman politely told her that Dan would be right back. The rude woman just ignored everyone - literally. So when Dan did come back - what a hoot! He just quietly turned to Vanna and said, "Hold these, hon." as he calmly gave her the drinks and then he lifted the woman around the waist and kinda threw her! (g) I don't know how else to describe it. There was this push that came my way but the people on my other side just kinda pushed back. It was kinda "fun." I mean it reminded me of those high school rowdy things, ya know? It's a good thing nobody got physically injured. (Hi Vanna! Dan!)

>OK - now for inside . . . There were two opening acts last night. Thefirst was a local group called Modern Yesterday. A heavily grunge/punk thing going, they weren't bad, but nothing particularlymemorable either except for their last song - a paen to teenage
If anyone's interested that's here in the area Modern Yesterday will be one of the bands at the FreedomFest here in DC on the 4th of July.

>... and a fair amount of time watching Silver Jet's bassistas well. He *still* didn't betray any emotion!!:))
Oh, but he did give us a beautiful full smile when someone screamed for Luke to "Take it *all* off" when he took off his blazer I got an entire review written up about SJ that I had sent to the "Silver Stories" (http://www.oocities.org/SunsetStrip/Stage/7895/silverstories.html) and I'll put up on the Constellation page as well. Oh, the Silver Jet boys left a message for their fans. You can read it at http://www.oocities.org/SunsetStrip/Stage/7895/silverjet.html

>At one point Keanu came out onto a balcony overlooking the stage. A big scream went up. This was definately a Keanu gawking crowd :(
Yeah. Rob and Bret came out on the balcony, too. So did Dan and Ken. I'm sure Vanna was kinda sick of my poking on her going, "There's Ken....Dan... Hey, there's Bret and Rob!" (g)

>When they finally came out Bret was very business-like, Keanu not asinitially bouncy as he was last night, and I was thanking my luckystars I had managed to see them the night before.
Me too. Really different shows...

>But then Keanu started fooling around:)) like a little kid trying to get his bigbrother's attention. He kept looking over at Bret, smiling, trying toengage him.

He was definitely flirting with the crowd. Like I said before "playful."

>That was Keanu's department:))) *He* was the one makinggestures to the crowd, responding to shouted comments, to an insistantrequest for "Freebird". He finally just looked at this last person(standing not too far behind me) with this "What are you kidding?"look, shook his head, made a face. He was the class clown last night.
Oh, I was laughing so much at this. He did all that but not before he kept cupping his ear going like, "Huh? I can't hear you?" Then putting his fists on his hips then just shrugging...

>Went over to Bret at one point and poked him in the back with hisguitar. He was determined. Went over to Rob during one song to see if he could get something going with him, but Rob's eyes were closed,totally into those drums, and he didn't see Keanu.
Oh, this reminds me of another thing that happened in Baltimore. Bret had ended one song and turned around to get his water. But Rob had his eyes closed and he didn't see Bret. Rob immediately started on another song. This surprised Bret. He gave Rob this *look* but Rob's eyes were closed and he was beating his heart out. Bret then looked at Keanu and Ke just shrugged. Needless to say Bret jumped right in and played like a pro. (g)

Now, the next night in DC. There was a similar incident but it was Keanu who wasn't paying attention this time. The Man was flirting outrageously with the crowd. Bret had started another song but Keanu was busy with us so he missed his cues. He looked up with this "Oh, no. I'm gonna get it now" look. Bret returned the look and was mouthing something like, "Come on. Whatcha waiting for?" But Keanu just looked at him like, "I'm trying but I don't know where the heck you are!" Keanu was intently listening but no go. So Bret went over to Keanu. They stood next to each other and Keanu looked at Bret's fingers. Still no go. Keanu tried to jump in by playing this one long note but Bret shook his head and Keanu looked up into the crowd and smiled/chuckeled and shrugged. But Man, all this time, Bret was playing some fantastic riffs! Keanu finally found his place and Bret went over to the mike to sing. (g)

>And, all that watching other bass players . . . I know *nothing* aboutthis, but Keanu doesn't just stand there and play bass. He makes loveto that instrument, exploring every nook and cranny, coaxing everypossible kind of sound out of it he can. At one point he held the neckup near his ear, his cheek almost resting on it, carressing it.
*sigh* Well said Kathy (but what else can you expect from an English professor? (g) )

>(And early on he did a nanosecond of Jimi Hendrix playing behind his head:))
Oh, and don't forget the thing he did when he was pretending to thrash his bass and throw it into the audience! (g)

>(The review in the Post today didn't agree with me on this one but then I don't think we went to the same show!!! I'll post it next time.)
I don't think we were at the same show either. "Stoic?" Keanu was flirting with us. Ok, ok, how many times have I used that word now? Stoic he was not! He kept jumping down hard on certain notes, ya know? I'm having a hard time trying to describe it but I got to see how his feet landing and they definitely turn inward! (g)

>And he SANG!!!!!
And did he ever! He sang his heart out during this one. Oh, and he sang againg to "Ticket to Ride."
"Jesus loves me. Can you feel it?"
Keanu has a great voice. He should really stop putting himself down about his singing. I'm sure he sings just fine but is putting himself down to protect himself before the "critics" do.

>On one of the songs on the encore. And I can't remember which!!!!!!!!Anyone who was there remember?????? Please let me know if you do!
It was "Denial" - the one with the above lyrics and he sang (so did Rob) to "Ticket to Ride."

>After the third song of the encore Bret said goodnight, time to go.and Keanu just *looked* at him. Bret walked off, Keanu called hisname (not loudly, but he called as if to say "Come back, keep playing,it's only getting FUN now!" He could have jammed for several morehours by the look of him.
Yep. "Playful."

>he handed it over, pulled the earplugs fromMichael's ears just because he *had* to do something!!, ran and*jumped* down all four or five steps leading off stage, taking them as one.
Oh, but wait! Didn't he come to the mic and said something like "Good night! Thanks for coming." ?

After show stuff:

If you read my Baltimore post, you read about my "Before show stuff" with Dan. Well, I decided to print some of the reviews from the Constellation Homepage to share with Dan since he did ask what we talk about. I printed out the first section that's under "fan.html" Those consists of the first reviews of earlier concerts. If you're on there, then chances are Dan read your posts.

I printed those and included in an envelope a Constellation T-shirt, similar to the one that Dan signed the night before. I included a note which if you're interested I'll Email you privately with. Just Email me and ask. I was gonna just give it to Mike - the Roadie from the night before who was nice enough to get me that pic (which is another story unto it self! (g)) - and ask him to hand Dan the envelope. But I gave the club one last sweep and basically, I finally found him (Yes, Diana, I found him! Oh, and I got Jeff to sign that poster you got for me. Thank you again! I'm gonna have all this stuff scanned soon.) I guess he recognized me from the night before because he saw me and smiled and immediately said, "Hey." (Me with a "Whoa" kinda look.) He was talking to 2 girls (is there a theme here? ) but they were *with* him - meaning he knew them - and they were leaving saying something like, "We'll see you later, Dan."

After Dan said, "Hey" to me he held up one finger as in "Hold on a sec.." I just nodded my head. He said to the girls, "Wait. So, we'll going to see R********* tomorrow, right?" "Yeah, Dan. 'Later"

(To follow the list's policy of protecting the guys' location, I'm not going to say where it was even though it's come and gone but if you can't figure it out and still want to know, Email me.)

I was thinking, "Ooppps, I think I heard something I wasn't suppose to." (g) Anyway, Dan came to me and I handed him the package.

"Dan, remember yesterday when we were talking about the Dogstar Mailing List?"
"Uh-huh."
"Well, I took the liberty of printing some of the fan reviews for you to read at your leisure and also there's a gift in there for you as a token of our appreciation."
"Why, thank you."

(Dan was a lot more friendly this night - I guess that's because he recognized me. He was even more talkative. He *wanted* to talk to me. But I was carpooling with a friend who came with me just because I kinda "made her." She enjoyed the entire concert - especially Keanu's flirting, the music, and Silver Jet - but the idea of standing around and waiting for autographs was just not her thing. (Thanks Kathy & Gina for sticking around the night before. I had gotten Keanu to sign my shirt then. Oh, and that' another story unto itself! LOL! Let's just say I heard one of his infamous sounds - the grunt - and I have that darn pen to thank! (g)) So, as soon as I gave Dan the packet and explain to him what was in it and stuff, I had to stop him in mid sentence and apologize to him that I had to go. And with that I sighed on the start of a memorable summer.... (g)

Nancy

Bret, who was hard to miss especially last night when his guitar was only about a foot from my face(g). BTW, he is an awesome guitar player!!!!!

Ann

Hi Everyone!

Last night was the first Dog Show that I have seen. They played at Toad'sPlace in New Haven, CT.

There were 3 opening bands, Fuel, I think was the name of the first band. They were from PA and it' was there first time playing in CT. They were good. Young, energetic, and they rocked! I really enjoyed their music very much. The second band was one of CT own. They were called Illface. Now this band I dint' like at all. I found them to be rude and obnoxious! Twice the lead singer insulted Keanu! The first time was when he said that they(the band) all had day jobs....they were actors....not very good ones though! I wanted to slap him right then! Then second time was close to the end of their set and he made a comment like "And next up is Silver Jet and after that we'll be bring out MR. SPEED! Ok now THAT really ticked me off! I wish I could have pretended that I didn't hear that but I did! My husband was with me though, and I didnt' want to embarrass him so I remained quiet. I felt that both these comments were out of line. Next came Silver Jet, I liked this band alot. For some reason the lead singer reminded me of a young Tom Petty! At times he even sounded like him too.

Ok Now Dogstar, they came on at about 11:45PM. They seemed to be all business last night. The music was good, but they was not alot of interaction with the crowd. Keanu I'm told was not feeling well. He was pale and looked to me as though he might pass out a couple of times...others said he was just tired. He played the bass well (my husband described his playing as competent). He didn't do alot of jumping around, byt he did move around a lot. He didn't look up from his guitar much except at the end of each song. He had a big smile on his face then, when he was playing he seemed really intent and often closed his eyes. His face was also very set, teeth bared, almost like a grimace.

He wore faded black jeans, black tee and boots. He also had on the famous knitted cap but took that off after two or three songs. It was extremely hot in there! The crowd screamed when the hat came off an he pushed his fingers through his hair making it all stand up on end! Gotta say, that was really cute!

Brett, sounded pretty good last night. The place was hopping when he sang No Matter What. he did that song, and 32 stories really well. The last song of the night was Ticket to Ride, a real crowd pleaser from what I could see!

Brett wore a red jacket and pants and a white or cream colored tee underneath. His hair was slicked back.

Brett and Keanu came together a couple of times during the night to JAM, smile and exchange comments. Dont' know what was said though. None of the band members spoke much.

Rob was behind his drums all night with his head hangin kinda low....so needless to say I didn't see much of him all night. His family was there and one of his nephews? introduced the band! He was very cute! Looked alot like Rob! *S*

Rob played the drums very well I thought but he didnt' sing all that much. This was my first show so i dont' know if taht was unusual or not. He wore shorts and a tee.

Before the doors opened though I did see Rob up close and personal! He was carrying about 5 pizza boxes and was trying to make his way into the club. I said "Hi Rob" and he said Hi Back. My husband held the door open for him so he could get through....my husband didn't realize who he was til I said hello to him.

I didn't see Rob or keanu except on the stage and leaving the club. They didn't hang around to sign autographs or talk to the crowd. As i said someone said KEanu wasn't feeling well. Although some Gardners did have a Keanu encounter. I will let them tell you about that. After the show KEanu came out of the Club and was surrounded by Guards. Ine man held out his hand for KEanu to shake but the Guards just kept pushing keanu along. Another woman shoved her copy of OLV in his face begging for a signature and he apologized to her and everyone else as the guards continued to push him toward the bus.

A little while later Mike came toward the bus with munchies for the guys! Beer and Cheeze-Its! *S*

We hung around outside for a few minutes to see if they would come back out....but they didn't. Given the fact that keanu wasnt' feeling well I'm not surprised. Respecting that we left and headed back toward the hotel.

Well that was my first Dogstar encounter....if I'm lucky I'll make the Boston show!

Hopefully, the other 'Gazers who were there will be able to fill in anygaps I might have left!

And on one last note...I really enjoyed meeting several of the Gardners and chatters at this show! Anyone going to future Dogstar shows, I encourage to try and hook up with others! You won't regret it!

Bye for now!

Rhonda aka Cloudwalker

One last thing! Keanu was sporting a goatee!I imagine this will come offwhen he starts shooting again for DA this week.