KEANU REEVES's Rock Band DOGSTAR Announces First Live Performance In More Than Two Decades

Keanu Reeves's 1990s and early 2000s grunge band DOGSTAR has announced its first concert following a two-decade-long hiatus.

The group will return to the stage on May 27 at the BottleRock music festival in Napa Valley, California. Reeves and his bandmates will debut new music from their forthcoming album.

DOGSTAR, which hasn't performed live since October 2002, announced its return on Instagram last summer and has been posting regular updates on the progress of its recording sessions.

DOGSTAR's upcoming release will be the band's first collection of new music since its 2000 sophomore effort "Happy Ending".

In a recent Instagram post, Reeves and his DOGSTAR bandmates confirmed that they will begin making some of its new music available this summer.

"Thank you everyone for the kind comments. We are overjoyed to see such a response," the band wrote. "Honestly, didn't expect this. It makes us want to play out even more.

"We will be rolling out some new music this summer, followed by some gigs. As soon as it's all figured out we will let everyone know immediately. So much to do, but rest assured, we are on it and have assembled a fantastic team that are helping us. We are also going to make a music video to support our first tune. That's all I can say now.

"Can't wait to share our new music with everyone. It's the most satisfying and meaningful batch of songs we've ever done. Thanks again for being so patient with us. We truly have the best, most loyal fans!"

Reeves co-founded DOGSTAR in 1991, and the band subsequently released two albums, toured with BON JOVI and opened a show for David Bowie. Keanu handled bass and backing vocals for DOGSTAR, but eventually his increasing fame made it difficult to find time for the project, and the band broke up in 2002. He later played in the spinoff group BECKY with DOGSTAR drummer, co-founder and actor Robert Mailhouse, but he left that band after just a year.

In a 2019 interview with GQ, Reeves shared a fond memory from when DOGSTAR was inexplicably booked at the 1992 Milwaukee Metal Fest, alongside acts like AGNOSTIC FRONT, CANNIBAL CORPSE, OBITUARY and DEICIDE.

"We played Milwaukee Metal Fest. Got killed. I think we played close to [New York hardcore punk legends] MURPHY'S LAW. Imagine," Reeves told GQ. "So we played a GRATEFUL DEAD cover, at Milwaukee Metal Fest. We were, like, 'They hate us. What are we doing here? What can we do? Let's do THE GRATEFUL DEAD cover…They were just like, Fuck you, you suck. I had the biggest grin on my face, man."

Photo courtesy of BottleRock