Not wruff.
Glasgow's gone to the Dogs...well not quite as it was hardly a sell-out but it was a large sized venue for the band to be playing. Perhaps there were no more suitable venues available on the evening but if this show had been held in say King Tuts, the excitement and energy would have been far greater for all concerned.
Kicking off with current single 'This Stone Is A Bullet' and a plea to get it high up the charts, Dogs unleashed a track that immediately brought to mind The Jam, with 'Eton Rifles' being strangely familiar. The sense of closeness to what gone before ran throughout the show with Dogs recalling era after era of laddish bands who had gone before. Lead singer Johnny Cooke has clearly picked up tips from all the vaunted and praised front men of the last few decades.
The swagger of Gallagher, the sneer of Rotten, the political posturing of Weller, they've all been repatriated and laid out on display for all to show. The ironic thing is that bass player Duncan Timms completely outshines Cooke in the rock n roll stakes as he is a dead ringer for Lou Reed.
Dogs are one of they bands that will have their own loyal fanbase and do a turn on festival afternoons and early support slots. Theres nothing much of note, theres nothing great but theres definitely nothing bad – things just tend to pace along, it's just that its all been done before a few hundred times. Then again, you can find Dogs in a far more intimate setting at a far cheaper price than what you would pay for one of the key acts, if indeed at all. So its all a matter of choice and Dogs could just be one of the best Lidl or Aldi range indie bands around, if that's your budget, tuck in.