MARY DOG: MIDWEST TOUR

Lansing was the perfect fit for us as always, because even the audience includes your basic headbanger rockers that I'm comfortable with. I loved Ann Arbor because, in a good way, it's the land that time forgot. It's still all the great things I remember: streets packed with people walking around, everybody mingling, so alive, cosmopolitan, almost magical like San Francisco used to be. I thought this was just the coolest thing.

But I got my biggest deja vu flashback in Toronto. From onstage at the Bovine Sex Club, I looked out at an audience that reminded me of my own high school days. The girls all wore really, really short skirts and really, really high heels, an unfortunate shoe choice for those that were completely toasted.
--Mary DoG

THE DoGs MIDWEST TOUR

It’s been a couple of weeks since The DoGs went back east for our short Midwest Tour playing our home town Lansing and the Stooges home town Ann Arbor, Cleveland and of course Toronto at NXNE. Mary and Tony and myself felt totally free and totally humble getting the opportunity to play 5 shows in 6 days and coming back where it all started for The DoGs.

Lansing thoughts: It’s always great to go back home to see family and friends and reconnect with our roots of where we came from. After all these years to come back home and drive down the streets and see the parks where we played at free concerts it is a humbling experience.

The total non electric show acoustic show at The Record Lounge was great especially with my little 5 year old grand niece “Vada” checking me out to see if I was gonna be real or just another lame adult. Well I passed the test this time thank god! Many thanks to Sue , Gary, Michael and Brad Phelps, Randy Perez and Skott/Bermuda Porductions for making it happen with a lot of help from our friends.

Ann Arbor at The Blind Pig was a cool show lots of great people and bands we played with. We also met in the flesh the Tech Diva Kim Maki (RETROKIMMER) along with our Partner in Crime “Detroit Jack” from Future Now Records.

Cleveland: We stayed at our friends John and Kathy Thompson’s family’s 1970’s “Goodfellows styled PuNk RoCk Palace in Shaker Heights. The gig at the Beachland was high energy and met our rocking friends from the Australian the band “Muscle Car”

Lansing: Macs Bar: A hot and sticky Midwest thunderstorm night it was amazing that tons of old friend s and young and wild DoGs showed up and kicked out the jams. We had Ronnie Wood DoGs original bad boy come and close the show.

Toronto: NXNE The Bovine Sex Club: The Dogs first trip to Toronto and we loved the city and the people we got to hang with our cool Manager Mario Escovedo and Maren Parsul. The gig was wild and I know The DoGs will be back to rock Toronto soon.

Loren DoG

LIVE IN LANSING, MICHIGAN

FROM DETROIT JACK!

DoGs ROCK ANN ARBOR!

MCB's newest contributors Christian and Nicole were out late and for the highly anticipated return of The Dogs who kicked ass and took names all night.

Look for a show review to be added here later today (see below) and if you missed the show head on out to Lansing tomorrow for another great night of detroit punk at Mac's Bar.

Ann Arbors' rockin' history came full circle last nite (June 17, 2009) at the Blind Pig, when The Dogs ripped open the wounds they last inflicted some 35 years ago. For the young punters, a chance to find out if they were 'Tuff Enuff' to handle the full onslaught of an old school high energy Detroit/Lansing band. For the older Dogs fans, it was more of the band that refused to give up the fight back in the day! It was crystal from the outset, that their beloved Dogs had upped the antee with new and enhanced ass kicking energy. The Killed By Death heros went for the juggulars of the pups who dared to venture too close to the cage. Veteran packs just howled up at the moon from the safety of their Lazyboys, rationalizing it to be safer than taking the Dogs by the tail!

-- Detroit Jack

"MCB IS DETROIT"
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Classic Lansing Punks Unplug For Rare Gig

From The City Pulse

by Rich Tupica

Since forming in 1969, Lansing’s classic punk band The Dogs have only performed two acoustic gigs, one of which was June 15, at The Record Lounge, a small vinyl store in downtown East Lansing.


The warm room was packed with new fans, former band mates and people who grew up watching The Dogs throughout the ’70s.


Most of that same crowd will likely also attend The Dogs gig this Friday, June 19 at Mac’s Bar in Lansing, where the band will be its loud, usual self.

However, those who packed into The Record Lounge Monday witnessed not only great songs, but between song banter and memories from the band’s rock ‘n’ roll past. Also, this show was completely unplugged. No amps, microphones or drums were used. The “drums” were a barstool, and bassist Mary “Dog” Dryer (apparently without an acoustic instrument), simply tapped drumsticks on her stool and the wooden record bins that surrounded her.


Loren “Dog” Molinare lead the show, singing and bashing on his acoustic guitar while occasionally springing off his stool with guitar hoisted in the air.


“I wanted to do something different that we’re not doing at Mac’s or the other gigs, songs I wasn’t prepared for,” Molinare said moments after the show. “I think spontaneity makes magic happen.”


Molinare said the band picked songs not commonly played at recent dates.


“We did ‘Class of ‘70,’ and ‘Younger Point of View,’” he said. “We played ‘Everything is Cool,’ that’s from our second album.”


The set was closed out with a tribute to Ron Asheton, guitarist for The Stooges, who died in January.


“It bummed me out when he died. The Stooges were a huge influence on us,” Molinare said. “I mean, ‘I Wanna Be Your Dog.’ I got that 45 and I got the idea to call the band The Dogs, Which offended people in Lansing. They were like, ‘That’s what you think of yourselves? Your just some dogs?’ I was like, ‘If this is pissing everybody off, it’s a great name.’”


Molinare said his band hasn’t turned its back on its Michigan roots in the 40 years its been in existence.


“Ron Asheton’s primitive, Ann Arbor sound was just a huge influence,” Molinare said. “We fly that Detroit and Ann Arbor rock ‘n’ revolution flag for guys like him and [the MC5’s] Fred Sonic Smith and Rob Tyner.”

THE DOGS SCHEDULE

The Dogs return to their home turf in the Northeast three-excluse shows before NXNE in Toronto


June 17th The Blind Pig-Ann Arbor, Michigan
June 18th The Beachland Ballroom-Cleveland, Ohio
June 19th Mac's Bar-Lansing, Michigan
June 20th Bovine Sex Club-Toronto Canada


The Dogs
www.myspace.com/thedetroitdogs
This is the real Detroit Rock ala The Stooges and and MC5. The Swami (John Reis from RFTC) aired The Dogs live on his radio show and started a resurgence of this Iconic three piece band that is still as raw and fresh as it was in 1978. Just finished demos and are ready to hit the studio…Just wrapped a packed west coast and Northwest Tour and SXSW. Slash your face!


Mario Escovedo
WWW.REQUIEMME.COM
Mario@requiemme.com

THE DOGS SHOW IN CLEVELAND

The DoGs Coming to Ann Arbor, MI June 17