With his band Dogstar
Keanu Reeves’ first performance in 20 years
Keanu Reeves quickly felt at home on the concert stage again.
© imago/ZUMA Wire
Slightly nervous but excited, Keanu Reeves performed in front of a live audience for the first time in 20 years with his band Dogstar.
Even Hollywood superstars can get nervous. For example, when they appear as musicians in front of a live audience for the first time in 20 years. Keanu Reeves (58), who thanks to films like “Matrix” and “John Wick” has long been one of the top ranks of the dream factory, performed last weekend at the Napa Valley’s BottleRock Festival for the first time in two decades with his indie rock band Dogstar. But only after his bandmate Robert Mailhouse (61) had calmed his nerves as the star told the San Francisco Chronicle.
Drummer Mailhouse was “super positive”. “He said to me, ‘Listen to the music, just be present in the song – everything will go from there.” Reeves apparently heeded this tip, because on stage he seemed like he was in his second element. Together with guitarist Bret Domrose (54), the trio performed songs from the first two albums “Our Little Visionary” (1996) and “Happy Ending” (2000) as well as new songs from the forthcoming third album.
The band announced at the end of April this year that they would be making a comeback. At the time, the group shared a behind-the-scenes picture from a photo shoot in Los Angeles on Instagram. “Exciting news coming soon. Thanks for being so patient,” read the accompanying comment.
They have performed together in private
At the end of 2022, the band wrote about several pictures, which also show the actor, that a new Dogstar album was just being mixed. Shortly thereafter, Reeves and his bandmates performed at a private concert for everyone “who made our new album possible”. When exactly the new record will be released is not yet certain.
Dogstar formed in Los Angeles in the mid-1990s. So just when Reeves’ Hollywood star was rising with films like “Speed”. At the latest when “Matrix” followed in 1999, life in the band increasingly faded into the background for the now 58-year-old – until now.