Live: Dog Eat Dog at Simplon, Groningen
Dog Eat Dog is one one of the bands I used to go see whenever they were in my area, back around 1996. It was always a lot of fun, the band's energy always rubbed off on the crowd. I spent half of one of those gigs at the emergency room because the pit was a little too rough. The band always came out to meet their fans after the show, I still have pictures somewhere of me and my friend and the band. Good times. My interest in music changed [i.e. I had a boring boyfriend who didn't want to go to gigs] and I kinda lost track of what Dog Eat Dog was doing. In fact, I thought they didn't exist anymore. Fortunately, I was wrong. They are still very much alive, as this special feature will show you!
This show was the last in their short tour of album release parties. Walk With Me will be released in quite a few European countries on June 23rd. I was surprised to see the announcement, but excited that it would be in my hometown. Simplon is a small venue where a variety of genres are on stage. DJ's, RnB and rap acts, festivals, you name it. The capacity is slightly smaller than Vera; the main hall holds 400 people.
Support act: Screaming Mike
Dog Eat Dog got old friends Screaming Mike to open for them. Because of the strange time - half past five in the afternoon - there weren't a lot of people present. The ones who were stayed at the bar or the back of the venue, but the band kept playing like it was a full crowd. In the end, more people came up to the front and the overall vibe was good. Not a bad choice at all!
Dog Eat Dog
During the time the crew needed to get their gear ready, Simplon slowly filled up. Unfortunately, the show wasn't optimally promoted and there were only about 150 people present. Quite a few of them sporting old DED t-shirts. During the interview, Dave had told us they would play a lot of new songs, but also some old stuff. I had listened to All Boro Kings that week, but just once. They opened with Isms, off the Play Games album, and I could remember most of the words to that! The lyrics are still painfully suitable for the current political situation in the world: Racism - we don't want it here, Sexism - we don't need it here, Fascism - we don't want it here, Keep that ism out of my ear, Terrorism - we don't want it here...
A few things changed from ten years ago. The band no longer have a horn player on stage with them, which has quite an impact on old songs like Who's The king and Goodtimes. The band take little breaks between songs, by turning on some music, to have a chat to the audience. This didn't slow down the show at all though, or affect the party feel. New songs were mixed with old, which were sung along with. Lots of people were dancing and everyone was having a great time. Being the last show of the tour, the band endulged on their favourite beverage: beer! Dave was extremely chirpy during M.I.L.F., grinning like a madman every time he sang 'Mother I'd like to fuck!'. He had his own little infomercial moment while showing their t-shirts on stage, which you could buy after the show. Drummer Brandon was equally wasted. He came up to the mic to do Step Right In and kept urging us to shout 'flughaven', the German word for airport. They did an encore consisting of The Beer Song. More beer! Dog Eat Dog will be back on the road in the fall.
Verdict: Dog Eat Dog's shows are still the party they used to be ten years ago. They are back full force, ready to storm Europe and eventually the rest of the world. They will tour everywhere, any place, any city. Keep an eye on their tour schedule, gather your friends, a lot of beer and a good time will be guaranteed!
Pictures of this gig are here.