WINM Forums :: The Library :: Bits and snippets off the web

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Bits and snippets off the web
inkhuldra
2011-05-09 15:08


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I've seen them live. Three times. Yes, they sucked. Their live sound was lacking because they only had one guitarist, which made the sound rather flat and one-dimensional. And their live performance pretty much sucked, too. They didn't perform, they just played their songs.

It must be said, in their defence, that having a moviestar on the stage did them no good, as said moviestar just stood there and refused to look up or acknowledge the audience. And Bret, as singer/guitarist and frontman, was pretty much left to try to carry the whole show, which he didn't/couldn't. Nor did he have the vocal strength for live performances, alas. And the other two didn't provide backing vocals much, either.

Also in their defence, it must be noted that the audience didn't help with the illusion that this was just a regular band. Everybody was there for the bassist, and whenever he moved there would be shrieks and cheers and "WE LOOOVE YOU KEAAAANUUUU!!!!". One show I attended was pretty much ruined by a small group of girls who shrieked and shouted throughout the entire concert.

I talked to Bret a few times before/after the shows, and he was super nice and approachable. Ken Funk, their manager, and Dan the Merchandise Man, were nice, too. I'd made my own Dogstar t-shirt, and Ken took it backstage and had the whole band sign it. Rob I never got to talk to -- he seemed rather aloof towards the fans. And Keanu had to be ushered in and out in a hurry when there was a crowd outside. Only once did I see him hang around and pose for pics and sign stuff, and that was by the tour bus behind the venue, while the crowd stood lined up out front. He was quiet and unsmiling, but friendly enough. I didn't talk to him, as I got the impression that he'd rather just "do his job" (pics/autographs) and then get inside.

The shows I saw were in Chicago, London and Aylesbury (outside London), by the way.

ARYA
2011-05-09 22:18


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My impression is that they were a good bar band that got attention because of the celebrity bass player. They were no better and no worse than any band that does not do it full time and/or has a movie star member. The lyrics are sweet and speak of day to day issues of romance. I particularly enjoyed the few beatles covers that I viewed. I did not see them live.

This is a good description from an online Dogstar site

'For Dogstar, it's about the music not the trappings of life on tour. Not the critics. Not the record-label crap.
What goes into a Dogstar song? Simple stuff.
Start with lyrics that invite you into a secret, personal world. Words that tell a story about a relationship on the rocks, about dishonesty, about how lovers hurt each other.'

When Brett started playing with them they went into a real "pop" direction. The only song that I will not sit through again is Cornerstore. The rest of the 3 released albums are cool. There was/is a lot of speculation as to what lyrics Reeves wrote. It will remain speculation.

There is a cut on the Replacements soundtrack that was attributed to Bret. I don't think it's in the movie.

ARYA
2011-05-09 22:37


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https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=d70f0a049d&view=att&th=12fd36ac7c534765&attid=0.1&disp=inline&realattid=f_gnh0w8yv0&zw

https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=d70f0a049d&view=att&th=12fd36ac7c534765&attid=0.1&disp=inline&realattid=f_gnh0w8yv0&zw

LucaM
2011-05-09 23:20


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never saw them live ; would have been impossible; I live in the backyard of East Europe :D
will have to rely on what inkhuldra wrote.

'my' kind of music is the Foos, 30stm, 3 Doors Down, and lately The National.
what I like about the Dogstar albums is the rough, unpolished, round sound ( does that make any sense)? And the lyrics I can relate too. for me, listening to Dogstar is... a state of mind. there was a time, three years ago, when several times a week I cruised the town at night, blasting their music... I still do, sometimes.

and Cornerstore is one of my favorite songs :D


Anakin McFly
2011-05-10 00:33

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for me, listening to Dogstar is... a state of mind.

this.

and Cornerstore is one of my favourites too. XD

inkhuldra
2011-05-10 02:08


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I guess my appreciation of Dogstar may have been somewhat coloured by my general taste in music, which tends to lean towards harder and more guitar-driven rock. Wouldn't be entirely fair to compare them to my favourite band back then: Pantera...
LucaM
2011-05-10 03:18


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no, it wouldn't be entirely fair indeed ;)
Giladora
2011-05-10 05:09


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more or less , what u all said is what I think about Dogstar .

but i cant help it but wondering if Bret , could be more of a performer , if he wasn't think that he would make a clown out of himself while everyone screaming KEANUU and if the audience would pay any attention to what he didor not ... (im sure music fans would ,but i guess it mustve been loads of keanu's fan over there too , so, yeah .. i was just wondering )

so like "LUCAM " said Dogstar for me is a state of mind as well, when i go there , I GO THERE :D the lyrics are cute and easy , and sooths your mood :)

@inkhuldra : haha.. no its not fair AT ALL :D:D..

"CORNERSTORE" is everyone's fav , isnt it ?? or am i being completley wrong?? ...

Giladora
2011-05-10 05:29


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and oh ... okay i'm worst fan ever , I confess.. but i have a question : the lyrics of Dogstar is all written by Keanu ?? or just some of them??? *D'oh * or the majority of them?? thanks in advance :D
LucaM
2011-05-10 05:34


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well, Bret released a solo album, and has a MySpace page; listened to his songs, but he's missing that post-grunge something that defined Dogstar's sound. and I haven't seen them live, just videos on youtube, but frankly, I think Brett's lacking the spark a real frontman needs. he's a rather good songwriter, though.
LucaM
2011-05-10 05:46


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Giladora - from what I've read, the Dogstar lyrics were mostly written by Bret. same goes for the songs, at least those that made it to the two and a half albums. K wrote 'Round C' and 'Isabelle' but I only heard live versions of those on youtube and actually did not hear anything but girls screaming. :D

I guess K contributed with music lines ; I remember Rob saying in a Becky interview that K comes up with small melodic lines that he calls 'Reeves ditties'. It somehow figures. can't explain why. but that's what he does when involved in working on a script, also. The idea for a crucial, defining scene here, a closing line there... the Reeves touch. for which he will not get written credit. but still, the influence is there.

... guess I should shut the hell up too ;) :D

Giladora
2011-05-10 06:14


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yeah , I agree , Bret defenitely lacks "the charisma " of a frontman .

for some reasons i knew these couldnt be K's words , but I got confused by ARYA's comment ...hehe.so "Reeves" ditties " , that is . and yeah that is quit like what he does with scrpit then.. cool

thanks for the answer :D

inkhuldra
2011-05-11 05:48


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This Glam Australia blog article is a few years old, but I can't recall reading it before, so I thought I'd add it here (if only for the... deep sigh!... photos):

http://au-fashion.glam.com/blogs/woman_tribune/keanu_reeves_does_vogue_hommes_international_spring_summer_2009

A coding error causes the content to load twice. I interpret that as a sign that I should look at pics of Keanu even more often than I already do.

Edit:

Just a subtle hint of which photo session we're talking about here:

And no, that's not at all because I just wanted to have some excuse to add it here.

ARYA
2011-05-11 07:08


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That magazine sits right next to me when I am online. I am requesting it be cremated with me when I die...I kind of wish I was kidding about that. I'm not.
seer
2011-05-11 14:31


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Bleeding Soul is in my Real Player library but the rest never really caught my interest. Personal opinion, I think they were a good garage band, and the music is probably where Brett really is, but for K and Rob, not so much ;). It's possible that had Brett's band members been just 'regular' guys he may have developed into more of what fans expect in a 'front man'. A 'super star', no matter how mild mannered and determined to stay in the background s/he may be, is a lot of weight for the rest of a team (of any kind) to labor under. Their presence (even if earnest and self-deprecating) is impossible to ignore and throws everything else out of whack. Personally I don't think Dogstar had a chance of survival with K on board (sorry K).

Another good example is 30STM - their front man is a pretty well known actor, but he's not a 'super star' which has given them the chance to be more about the music and not the man. Dogstar was almost doomed from the outset to be more about the man than the music ; they could have been spectacular musicians and I doubt it would have mattered in the long run :(.

seer
2011-05-11 14:33


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And I have to agree ARYA - that photoshoot is probably his best to date (and likely due completely to Amanda being behind the camera), it's certainly my favorite :).
Giladora
2011-05-11 23:34


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yup Amanda definitely have more role in these than just a photographer :D Gosh this set is amazing ... thx for sharing... " the plain blue painting " was fun to read and imagine :D
inkhuldra
2011-05-21 02:15


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Nothing new in this article, just a short blurb mentioning how Larry Wachowski has become Lana. Only reason I'm adding it is because of the funny face Keanu makes in the photo.

http://www.thecriticalcondition.com/2011/04/13/wachowski/

inkhuldra
2011-05-21 17:26


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"Point Break" stage parody subject of lawsuit

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/yourmoney/sns-rt-us-stage-ptre74j7ds-20110520,0,6436380.story

inkhuldra
2011-05-30 01:18


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So I was reading this long Forbes article about the Chinese economy and why it is about to get into pretty big trouble due to overspending and such, right? And it's an interesting article, written by an economist who seems to know his stuff.

Was I prepared for a Keanu reference in the middle of this article? No, I was not. Seems like Our Man has the capacity to pop up just about anywhere. :-)

http://blogs.forbes.com/greatspeculations/2010/10/18/why-china-is-really-in-big-trouble/

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