Dispatch Hunger | Dr. Dog & Dispatch at MSG

Later this summer on July 10th, Dr. Dog will be playing the revered Madison Square Garden in support of a fellow band called Dispatch and their well-informed philanthropic efforts. Specifically, Dispatch has founded a program calledDispatch Hunger: Access For All, which focuses on domestic hunger and spreading awareness of the current status of domestic hunger worldwide. In 2015, inequitable access to proper food and nutrition is a main contributor to some of the more significant disparities in healthcare we are seeing. Community involvement and philanthropy on the part of groups that are able to influence society, like Dispatch, is absolutely necessary to form solutions to these problems.

The Dispatch Hunger: Access For All campaign will have two show dates. Dispatch will be teaming up with both Dr. Dog and The John Butler Trio to bring Madison Square Garden two of the best shows of the year. While the philanthropy and social awareness is front and center in the Dispatch Hunger: Access For All campaign, Dr. Dog has been the star of the two-day event and New Yorkers are beyond excited for Dr. Dog’s return on the Madison Square Garden stage.

I call this a return to New York City because this Madison Square Garden show comes on the heels of the Dr. Dog 4×4. Back in January, Dr. Dog played eight shows in nine days in both Brooklyn and Manhattan. In Brooklyn, The Music Hall of Williamsburg hosted Dr. Dog for the 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th of January. With just one day to rest and recover, Dr. Dog took their smooth, psychedelic-infused folk rock across the bridge to Manhattan’s Bowery Ballroom for the 14th, 15th, 16th, and 17th of January. Each night featured a different set list and Dr. Dog handpicked a diverse group of songs, ranging from older albums that most bands would not consider for their set list to their newest studio album called B-Room, which was released in 2013. Yahoo and LiveNation teamed up to bring us a full-length video of their set list at The Music Hall of Williamsburg on January 12th, 2015:

As you can see, Dr. Dog is able to bring their studio music to a live setting with seamless transition. Their ability to reproduce their studio recordings on stage is essentially unprecedented, as some artists have come close but are not able to replicate what Dr. Dog can. These talents on stage are usually thought of as innate, which is fine, but the fact that Dr. Dog has comprised a band of six of the most gifted individuals in this realm makes us wonder if fate truly exists. Come to think of it, Dr. Dog’s fifth studio album release in 2008 was even titled Fate, so are we onto something here?

In their latest release, Dr. Dog brought us their first live album. Titled Live At a Flamingo Hotel, this album showcases everything and anything that you need to know about a Dr. Dog live performance. In some tracks, the sole reason that we can tell this is a live album is the applause from the audience. Crowd noise aside, these tracks have the quality and composition of studio recordings. Just watch and listen below if you do not believe me:

Another part of the equation that forms Dr. Dog’s stage presence and the valuable experience that they provide to anyone in attendance is the band members’ adaptability when it comes to the instruments they play in each song. The official band roster looks something like this:

Scott McMicken: guitar, vocals
Toby Leaman: bass, vocals
Frank McElroy: rhythm guitar
Zach Miller: keyboards
Eric Slick: drums
Dimitri Manos: multi-instrumentalist

Wait, multi-instrumentalist? Dimitri Manos has different responsibilities depending on the song being played and will be tasked with playing various instruments in one show or recording. However, the title of multi-instrumentalist should be applied to all members of Dr. Dog. At some of their shows, the band members shuffle between different instruments like a game of musical chairs; whenever the music stops, they find themselves in a new seat with a new instrument. Frank McElroy, usually tasked with rhythm guitar, will be behind the drum set while Zach Miller, usually on keyboards, has picked up McElroy’s guitar and Zach Miller, the drummer, has transferred over to keyboards. This is actually more common that not, and the members of Dr. Dog refuse to be relegated to one instrument.

With Live At a Flamingo Hotel, Dr. Dog was able to achieve a completely new standard for live recordings. We have seen a ton of great live album releases from all types of different artists but with Live At a Flamingo Hotel flies right to the top of the list. The following recording of the single “Shadow People,” a song off of their 2010 album Shame, Shame, pretty much says it all:

Yes, that was truly the live recording.

As stated on their website’s event page, the Dr. Dog 4×4 was a way for the band with reconnect with one of their favorite places to play in the whole country. It was also a way for the band to back up their latest live release with not one, not two, but eight live performances, just to give fans a taste of what to expect from Live At a Flamingo Hotel.

The Wall Street Journal has done us a huge favor and provided a stream from Soundcloud on their “Speakeasy” blog. Those who have Spotify will be able to access the album as well. When we reflect on musical experiences with live albums down the road, Live At a Flamingo Hotel will surely stand out in our minds mind, just as we have heard about the Grateful Dead’s Europe ’72 and Led Zeppelin’s How The West Was Won from previous generations.

So what can we expect from Dr. Dog at Madison Square Garden? I would say more of the same, but each of Dr. Dog’s live performances is completely different. The physical set itself is changing constantly, with anything from spotlights to live palm trees on stage throughout the entire set. The set list is always different as well, with the band sometimes reaching back as far as their 2002 demo Toothbrush for some set lists. Live At a Flamingo Hotel features two songs from Toothbrush, namely “Say Ahhh” and “County Line.” Even the roster is different, with different band members cycling through different instruments over the course of the whole show.

At Madison Square Garden, you can bet that Dr. Dog will be in prime form. The band is constantly evolving and has been able to remain a constant when it comes to their work’s reception and their overall presence in the music community. Combined with their phenomenal talents and their commitment to their sound, Dr. Dog is the gold standard for independent music in the twenty-first century. They love performing, they love New York City and most of all, they love what they do, which only points to great things on the horizon of Dr. Dog.