Hershey, PA – The reunited trio built its 20 song set around All In Now and left no room for the celebrity side story.
Dogstar did not need Tuesday night at Hershey Theatre to prove it could draw attention. Keanu Reeves on bass guarantees that before the first note. What the band did have to prove was whether the attention would remain on the music once the set began. By the end of a 20 song performance built around every track from All In Now, the answer was clear.
The August 18 stop on the All In Now Tour placed the trio’s newest chapter directly at center stage. Guitarist and vocalist Bret Domrose, drummer Robert Mailhouse and bassist Reeves opened with “Siren,” then moved into “Lust,” “How the Story Ends” and “Everything Turns Around.” Those first four songs established the night’s structure: new material up front, the 2023 comeback record close behind and very little interest in turning the set into a nostalgia package.
Released May 29 and produced by Nick Launay, All In Now is Dogstar’s fourth studio album and its second since the band reunited after two decades away. At Hershey, the band played all 12 songs from it. That choice said more about Dogstar’s current identity than any speech could. Reunion tours typically keep new material on a short leash. Dogstar gave it the majority of the night.
“Joy,” “Wing” and “This Sphere” continued the album heavy opening before the band reached outside its own catalog for The Replacements’ “Can’t Hardly Wait,” the only cover in the set. The selection fit Dogstar’s alternative rock foundation without changing the direction of the show. “Glimmer” then returned to Somewhere Between the Power Lines and Palm Trees, followed by a stretch of All In Now tracks that included “Math,” “The Whisper,” “Shards of Rain” and “Exalted.”
That sequencing also kept the spotlight where it belongs. Reeves may remain the name that attracts outside curiosity, but Dogstar is not structured as a celebrity showcase. Domrose carries the lead vocal and guitar role, while Mailhouse and Reeves form a direct, economical rhythm section. The Hershey set was an argument for the trio rather than any single member, and the decision to perform so much current material made that point without forcing it.
“Runway,” “What Is” and “Marmalade” filled out the final stretch before “All In Now” closed the main set. The title track worked as more than an obvious tour centerpiece. It gave the performance a thesis. Dogstar is no longer testing the waters after its return. The band is writing, recording and building shows around what comes next.
The three song encore opened with “Punch the Sky” and “Shallow Easy,” then closed with “Breach” from the 2023 comeback album. Across 75 minutes, Dogstar played 12 songs from All In Now, five from Somewhere Between the Power Lines and Palm Trees, two nonalbum selections and one cover. The numbers matter because they show exactly where the band sees itself in 2026.
Before Dogstar took the stage, The Backfires opened with a compact seven song set led by “Stardust” and “Super 8.” The New York based group, originally formed in London, also worked through “Replace It All,” “What If?,” “Grow,” “Heaven’s Sold Out” and “I Want You,” giving the evening a current rock pairing instead of a legacy support act.
Dogstar’s return may have started in 2023 with the weight of two decades behind it, but Hershey Theatre saw a band concerned with the present. The strongest proof was not the famous face on bass or the inevitable attention surrounding the show. It was the setlist: a new album played in full, a comeback record given real space and an encore that ended with one of the songs that opened Dogstar’s second chapter. The story in Hershey was not that Keanu Reeves still plays bass. It was that Dogstar has moved beyond needing that fact to carry the night.
