On February 4th, just after the opening act, 6 members of the beloved indie psychedelic-folk-pop band Dr. Dog came onto the stage at the Majestic Theatre in Detroit with pure energy. I was there in the front row, wearing a flannel much like 85% of the crowd, as was expected by such a following of a band of this caliber. Despite all of us wearing the same outfit, Dr. Dog was ready to blow our minds.

The opener, Michael Nau, came on about an hour after the doors opened, and absolutely set the tone of the night. I can not stress enough how good this guy’s voice sounds. Personally, it reminds me a lot of Paul Simon. Anyways, the raw passion in his voice, the heavily EQ-ed acoustic guitar, groovy basslines, tight drums, and perfectly placed synth fills had the audience grinning from ear-to-ear, and let me tell you, there was no shortage of swaying in the crowd. Nau had just debuted his album Less Ready to Go in late 2019, giving him and his bandmates an ample amount of time to perfect the set. Ending on an extremely slow, beautiful song “Be Smiling When You Can”, the crowd at the Majestic was in the perfect mindset to hear the best touring band around, Dr. Dog.

Shortly after Michael Nau finished his set, Dr. Dog came onto the stage, said their long-overdue hello to Detroit, and began rocking and rolling. They opened with “Abandoned Mansion” at a tempo much lower than the studio version, which was a perfect way to open the set and displayed the true talent that all 6 of the guys onstage had. Throughout the rest of the night, they really proved to hold spot as one of the best touring bands around, as they played 23 songs total, including the first song on their very first album dating all the way back to 2003. Some highlights of the night were “Nellie”, “Black-Red”, “Jim’s Song”, and “Ain’t It Strange”, but it could be easily argued that every single song they played was a highlight. These songs, along with the others they played had the audience dancing, singing, and overall just in awe of how tight these guys were live. The harmonies created by 4 guys pouring their hearts out into the microphones, the drums that carried on in between every single song, and the love that Dr. Dog

had for their music made that Tuesday night one for the books.

I have been in love with this top-tier band ever since I first listened to their album We All Belong, but their concert at the Majestic made that love grow infinitely. I really mean it when I say that they are the best touring band around.

--Henry Theodoroff