The star of the 2000 football flick The Replacements is now touring with a cover by The Replacements.
Dogstar brought the All In Now Tour to Steelhouse Omaha on Monday (8/31), delivering a 19-song set of mostly originals led by guitarist and singer Bret Domrose, drummer Robert Mailhouse and bassist Keanu Reeves.
The show drew heavily from the trio’s new album, All In Now, which dropped in May through Dogstar’s Dillon Street Records. The 12-song record which was co-written by the band, was produced by Nick Launay (Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, IDLES and Amyl and the Sniffers).
The LP was the group's second album since they reunited after a 20-year break a few years ago. It came just three years after their comeback offering, Somewhere Between the Power Lines and Palm Trees (2023), whose tour included a club date where they opened for Weezer.
Monday's show was mostly songs from the new wax, four tracks from Power Lines and Palm Trees and one delicious cover from the kings of pre-grunge, The Replacements, “Can’t Hardly Wait.”
Dogstar doesn't really do covers. Since they began in 1992 they've only played a half dozen tunes by anyone other than themselves.
Now that they've played the Minneapolis legends' closing track from 1987’s Pleased to Meet Me, seven times, it's just one shy from being the second-most covered tune in their history.
So, yes, Keanu Reeves who starred as Shane Falco in the film directed by Howard Deutch, where he played the replacement quarterback for the fictional Washington Sentinels, coached by Gene Hackman on a strikebreaking team that included Jon Favreau and Orlando Jones, has agreed to cover a fantastic song by a great band of the same name.
The Replacements performed "Can't Hardly Wait" live for years before they felt good enough to release it. The sweet tune got its live debut in 1984 at Chicago's Cubby Bear bar where they placed it second in the set (early enough before they got too drunk to pull it off, probably).
They recorded it during during the Tim (1985) sessions but never felt... satisfied with any of the approaches. They didn't like the full band versions or the lo-fi acoustic takes.
Those recordings never made it onto the studio version of Tim, but a couple of decades later they surfaced to the delight of fans, like Mr. Reeves.
The “Can’t Hardly Wait” (Acoustic Demo) was recorded in January 1985 in Minneapolis with producer (and Box Tops legend) Alex Chilton, before the band really got serious about making Tim.
The demo remained shelved away for nearly 40 years until it appeared on Tim: Let It Bleed Edition on Sept. 22, 2023.
The “Can’t Hardly Wait” (Electric Demo) [Alternate Mix] was also recorded during those early pre-production Tim days, and also didn't get heard until the amazing Let It Bleed edition came out.
That box set also revealed a “Can’t Hardly Wait” (Cello Version) which was cut later in 1985 at Nicollet Studios with Mats frontman Paul Westerberg on acoustic guitar and Michelle Kinney working the cello.
It wasn't until the band was working on their second major label album, Pleased to Meet Me (1987), at Memphis' famous Ardent Studios that it finally got a home.
Producer Jim Dickinson who had produced Big Star in that very studio invited Chilton to provide guitar fills, secured the Memphis Horns’ Andrew Love and Ben Cauley to bring the tenor sax and trumpet heft, and Max Huls for the string arrangement. Dickinson also played keyboards on the track.
The song was so influential the teen comedy Can’t Hardly Wait (1998), which starred Jennifer Love Hewitt, Ethan Embry and Seth Green took its name but also included the song in the soundtrack.
Eleven years later, the romcom He’s Just Not That Into You (2009) who's all star cast of Jennifer Aniston, Drew Barrymore, Jennifer Connelly, Scarlett Johansson and Ben Affleck, also nabbed it for its soundtrack.
Dogstar continues their tour on the west coast where their stops will include gigs at The Fillmore in San Francisco and Pappy & Harriets in Joshua Tree.
Get your tix on Dogstar's website.
Dogstar 2026 Tour
9/15 The Showbox, Seattle, WA
9/16 Vogue Theatre, Vancouver, BC
9/17 Crystal Ballroom, Portland, OR
9/19 Knitting Factory, Boise, ID
9/20 Silver Legacy Grande Exposition Hall, Reno, NV
9/22 The Fillmore, San Francisco, CA
9/24 Golden State Theatre, Monterey, CA
9/25 Majestic Theatre, Ventura, CA
9/27 The Sound, Del Mar, CA
9/29 The Fonda Theatre, Los Angeles, CA
9/30 House of Blues Anaheim, Anaheim, CA
10/2 Pappy + Harriet’s, Pioneertown, CA
10/17 Hollywood Casino Aurora, Aurora, IL
