Everett recently spent an evening at The Masquerade for Dr. Dog’s show with Cotton Jones. Still freshly touring on their release from earlier this year, Be The Void, the band was full of life as they worked through songs from a number of their albums. Enjoy!

Cotton Jones is on stage when we arrive, a bit late, and we shuffle to the bar because the floor is slammed full already with people head bobbing along to the easy rock grooves. Cotton Jones, whom I have never seen before tonight, was clearly in control of the crowd as they rounded down their set. I realize people are slightly over enthusiastic when openers promise the band is next, but this crowd was clearly giving a nod to a band that I suspect many were unaware of. Great opener set as they got the crowd energy going for Dr. Dog to take the stage in a few short minutes.

Out of the gate, Dr. Dog plays “Shadow People”, a song that instantly gets the crowd swaying and singing along. Being upstairs at the Masquerade is always fun when the crowd is into it, and this crowd is adding a noticeable amount of energy and sound to the three part harmonies of each song. Like any good show in Heaven, the floor flexes with every sway and always feel like it is almost about to cave in. Dr. Dog finds a groove with the opener and keeps the floor shaking (literally) as they weave through a set that is about half material from the 2012 release Be The Void and half material from previous albums, which are mostly hits like “Stranger”, “The Breeze”, “Shame, Shame” and the wildly popular cover of Architecture in Helsinki’s “Heart It Races”. Finishing up the main set with “Lonesome”, Dr. Dog exits to floor-shaking jubilation. Surprisingly, Dr. Dog plays four older songs for an encore including the rare gem “County Line”, from their decade old album Toothbrush. While it seems more appropriate that they could have dropped their song “Heaven” while we were at the stage with the same name, I think the set list they played is nearly what I would have written as a wish list of songs to hear.

While Dr. Dog was marvelous this night, I have to say the more startling thing was how great the crowd was. I’ve been attending shows in Atlanta for as long as can be appropriately admitted and this was the most excited and enjoyable crowd I’ve been a participant in. People knew the words and choose to zone into the music rather than side conversations (a noticeable side show at most Atlanta shows).  Big thanks to the wonderful staff at the Masquerade, Cotton Jones, and Dr. Dog.

Setlist – Dr. Dog at The Masquerade – 11/16

1. “Shadow People “
2. “Hang On “
3. “The Way the Lazy Do”
4. “Vampire”
5. “That Old Black Hole”
6. “Stranger”
7. “Do The Trick”
8. “The Beach”
9. “The Breeze”
10. “Shame, Shame”
11. “Heavy Light”
12. “Heart It Races” (Architecture in Helsinki cover)
13. “How Long Must I Wait”
14. “These Days”
15. “The Rabbit, The Bat, and The Reindeer”
16. “Lonesome”

Encore:

17.  “Worst Trip”
18.  “Die, Die, Die”
19.  “County Line“