90s Live Now - #4 that dog.

For whatever reason, the music gods have deigned me worthy of receiving their divine attention, and have chosen to bestow it upon me in the form of the Troubadour's event calendar. In one amazing summer, I've gotten to see Buffalo Tom, Archers of Loaf, Smoking Popes and tonight, FINALLY:

that dog.

Lowercase T, lowercase d, period at the end.

For the uninitiated, that dog. was a Los Angeles-based alternative band that put out three great albums in the mid-90s before breaking up. Often described as the female version of Weezer, they were fronted by petite chanteuse Anna Waronker and featured the equally adorable Haden sisters, Rachel on bass and Petra on violin, and also adorable Tony Maxwell on drums.

that dog. then

 I've gone into more depth about that dog's style and musicianship on this blog, so I'll just focus on tonight, and their sold-out show at (once again) the Troubadour in West Hollywood/Los Angeles.

Introduced by screenwriter Ali Rushfield, the band immediately launched into "Old Timer" their biggest single off of their first, self-titled album. The energy level was palpable immediately and remained this way throughout the evening, as a very diverse and enthused crowd kept yelling for more during the band's 90 minute set.

 that dog. now

The band's musicianship was impressive -  there were hardly any mistakes, save for a few forgotten lyrics - surprising for a band that hasn't played a show together in 14 years. This reunion attitude was pervasive throughout the evening, as the band joked about how some things never change and often shared glances (and, most importantly, encouraging smiles) in each others' direction - none of the animosity that plagued the band towards the end was present. It's amazing how much a decade-and-a-half can wash away.

This was the first of 2 sold-out shows the band is playing this weekend, and their attitude has been "see how these go, then we might do more." Judging by the turnout (Rachel's reaction upon learning that some fans traveled FAR to get to the show was a shocked "that is so rad!"), their performance and their reception tonight, you might be seeing them in your area soon.

Here's the setlist:

Old Timer
Jump
Ms. Wrong
Long Island
Being With You
Raina
Lip Gloss
She Looks At Me
Grunge Couple
Did You Ever
Retreat From the Sun
Silently
Zodiac
Minneapolis
Gagged and Tied
He's Kissing Christian

(1st encore)
Punk Rock Girl
Never Say Never
In the Back of My Mind
Michael Jordan
Angel

(2nd encore)
This Boy

Also important to note is they had a very special surprise opening act that I unfortunately missed: Tenacious D. Though I have it on good authority that there will be another opening act Sunday, one that is Wonderful, Excellent, Exceptional, Zippy, Exquisite, & Reknowned.

(that spells Weezer)

Whatever.