Keanu Reeves And His Dogstar Band Reunite For Their First Public Performance In 20 Years

May 30, 2023 by apost team

Keanu Reeves is a famous name in Hollywood. This is due to the numerous blockbuster movies the actor has starred in. The Canadian actor found stardom when he starred in the action thriller, “The Matrix,” in 1999. The movie grew into a critically acclaimed franchise and helped to propel Reeves’ burgeoning career. Thanks to the movie’s success, the actor starred in several other movies, though he was mostly remembered for his role as Neo in “The Matrix” franchise. 

Other popular movies Reeves is famous for include “Constantine,” “47 Ronin,” and his directorial debut film, “Man of Tai Chi.” However, while none of those movies were as popular as The Matrix,” he made a resurgence when he starred in the Box Office hit, “John Wick,” whose fourth installment, “John Wick: Chapter 4,” was released in March 2023. 

While Reeves is mostly known as the face of “The Matrix”’s Neo and “John Wick,” not many fans know he is a musician. The Hollywood star is a member of the California-based alternative rock band Dogstar. The band was active from the mid-1990s to the early 2000s and enjoyed some success and significant media attention, thanks to Reeves’ presence. However, the band stopped being active in 2002 and remained that way until recently. 

On May 27, 2023, Reeves and his Dogstar band reunited for their first performance in 20 years at the 2023 BottleRock Napa Valley Festival. Before the performance, Reeves spoke about how much he had missed playing bass with his bandmates. However, the Napa Valley Festival served as the perfect opportunity for them to relive old memories. Read on to find out more about the band’s reunion and performance. 

Dogstar started when Reeves and Robert Mailhouse met at a supermarket in 1991. At the pair’s chance meeting, Reeves, a hockey fan and keen player of the game, was fascinated by Mailhouse’s top, a Detroit Red Wings hockey sweater. Then, he asked Mailhouse if he needed a goalie. Eventually, both men became friends and started playing music together. In 1992, Greg Miller joined Reeves and Mailhouse as the band’s lead guitarist and singer. 

In subsequent years, Reeves revealed that the band started in a garage. Later, they moved to writing songs before deciding to go out to perform them. Eventually, they blew up, and they started going on tours. At first, the band was called Small Fecal Matter before switching to BFS (Big F***ing S**t or Big F***ing Sound). Finally, they settled on Dogstar, a name Mailhouse found in the Henry Miller book titled “Sexus.” 

In 1994, Bret Domrose joined Dogstar as its additional vocalist and guitarist. In 1995, the band went on an extensive tour throughout the United States and Asia. However, Miller left the band that same year before they released a four-track EP in 1996. After the EP, Dogstar released their first album, “Our Little Visionary,” and went on to perform in several countries in the years that followed. A second album titled “Happy Ending” followed in 1999. However, the band’s activities slowed down after the album, with their last performance coming in Japan in 2002, after which they broke up. 

Following Dogstar’s split, Domrose became a solo artist, while Reeves concentrated on his acting career and later performed with Mailhouse in a band named “becky.”

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It’s been two decades since Dogstar last performed together in public in Japan. However, the band’s fans were excited in 2022 when they teased their return with a post on Instagram. Accompanying the post was a throwback picture of Reeves, Domrose, and Mailhouse in their heydays alongside the caption, “We’re back. #tbt.” 

In April 2023, Dogstar made another post on Instagram featuring the band members posing for a photoshoot. On May 11, 2023, Dogstar shared a photo showing that they had been billed to perform at the Bottle Rock Napa Valley Festival scheduled to take place later that month. They captioned the post, “We’ve just been added to play the BottleRock festival! We are over the moon. ❤️”

On May 27, 2023, Reeves and his band performed for the first time since 2002. The band celebrated the memorable event with a post on Instagram. The post featured a snapshot of them on stage and was captioned:

“Great to be back on stage! What a fantastic day we had. Thank you so much BottleRock.”

Reeves told Billboard, “I missed playing together, I missed writing together, I missed doing shows together. It’s something I’ve always missed.”

Dogstar performed songs from their two albums and songs from their upcoming album during the event. A sizeable crowd watched the band perform and cheered Reeves, the lead bassist and backing vocalist, with chants of “We love you, Keanu.” 

The “John Wick” actor was initially nervous but eased into it with bandmate Mailhouse’s help. Reeves told The San Francisco Chronicle that Mailhouse was super positive, adding: 

“He was like, ‘Listen to the music. Just be present in the song, and it will go from there.’”

Hopefully, they will go on to make more beautiful music and memories soon. 

Are you just getting to know about Keanu Reeves and his band, or have you known them for long? If you’ve been a fan before now, were you excited about their reunion? Do you look forward to more music from them? Let us know — and be sure to pass this article on to friends, family members and fellow music fans!