Guy Foulard | Saturday, January 22nd, 2022
Photo: Adam Levy Zapshots
This article was writtten and published for Live For Live Music, linked here for posterity and pasted below for your convenience.
Dogs In A Pile kicked off their first national headlining tour on Thursday night with a stop at the Space Ballroom in Hamden, CT. With multiple guest sit-ins from Cal Kehoe (Pink Talking Fish) as well as opening support from Residual Groove and One Time Weekend, a triple bill on a Thursday night represented a diverse spectrum of regional talent poised to burgeon onto the national scene.
Fairfield County native Residual Groove is exactly as its name indicates—if not perhaps a little more brazen about its intentions than implied by the word residual. Kiran Edwards and company led the crowd into an easy and natural groove behind their unique brand of proggy funk fusion. Cal Kehoe would make his first guest appearance of the night for a cover of Phish’s “Undermind” before Dogs In A Pile’s Jeremy Kaplan shared keyboard duties with Edwards to put a spirited finish on the opening set.
One Time Weekend, a genre-melding quartet that ran the gamut from ska to punk to funk with a touch of psychedelia for good measure, was next to capitalize on its opening slot. With progressive, cutting edge vocals highlighted by crisp lyrics and four-part harmonies, dual guitars, and Sublime-esque rhythms, discovering this band on a Thursday night in rural Connecticut is exactly what livemusic’n is all about. With the spirit of collaboration still permeating the vibe, Jeremy Kaplan would make his second appearance of the evening, guesting on keyboards for a rousing cover of King Harvest’s “Dancing In The Moonlight”. I mean, who doesn’t like progressive cutting-edge yacht rock? That’s rhetorical; everyone does.
After a couple of statement sets from opening support, headliners Dogs In A Pile had their work cut out for them and proved early and often that they were more than tall to the task. Capitalizing on a warmed-up and enthusiastic crowd, Dogs opened with energetic originals “Can’t Wait” and “Snow Day” before mowing the room down with a funky take on the Grateful Dead’s “Feel Like A Stranger”.
Guitarist Brian Murray dazzled on his namesake “Blues For Brian” while dueling guitar partner Jimmy Law melted faces on “G-Song”, “Bubble”, and “Fenway”. But it was the rhythm section of Sam Lucid(bass) and Joey Babick (drums) that would lead the way on this night, continuing to hold attention even as they created space for guitarist Cal Kehoe’s second guest appearance of the evening. Taking his place between Murray and Law, Kehoe would play back and forth between the two guitarists, listening, reacting, and urging each in turn as they took “Trunk Rum” to new heights before a short encore break.
Dogs In A Pile ft. Cal Kehoe – “Trunk Rum” – 1/20/22
[Video: Fuzzy Dunlop]
Returning for a triumvirate of “Spun” > “Tillie” > “Charlie”, Dogs kept the room rocking right up until a hard midnight curfew. Small to mid-size shows outside of a band’s local market are fundamental building blocks for up and coming bands, and building a fan base by two’s and three’s and ten’s is a proven method for success. Undoubtedly, everyone in the room last night will boast to say, “I saw them when…”