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Wish Upon a Dogstar Keanu Reeves is as awkward onstage with his band, Dogstar, as he is onscreen By Sarah Quelland LAST SATURDAY (Dec. 9), Dogstar (featuring actor Keanu Reeves on bass, Bret Domrose on guitar and vocals and Robert Mailhouse on drums) performed at the Catalyst in Santa Cruz with Bottlefly supporting. At $12-$14 a pop, tickets to the show sold out. Dogstar is a nonthreatening rock band that appears to be influenced by artists like Frank Black. But unlike Black, Dogstar is only decent without being dazzling. It was cool to watch a major celebrity like Reeves perform in a fairly intimate club. Interestingly, the actor/bassist looks as awkward onstage as he tends to appear onscreen. He tried to give the ladies--who kept climbing onstage only to get carried off by club security--what they wanted, but he just seems uncomfortable with his fame. Bottlefly is much more exciting. Despite its slight mish-mash of styles (alternative rock, '60s pop, reggae), this sexy London-based band has a lot of style and personality. Influenced by the Beatles, Bottlefly's self-titled album and its single "Lemoneyez" are really catchy. In October, rock band Tesla reunited for the 98 Rock Jambo Freakin' Ween Halloween party held Oct. 25 at the Arco Arena with Oleander and 3 Doors Down. Just last week, Tesla played a few warm-up shows to get ready for a minitour planned for next year. A national tour and live album are also possibilities for 2001. Guns N' Roses (which features original member Axl Rose and the new lineup of Buckethead, Robin Finck, Tommy Stinson and ex-Primus drummer Brain) have a date lined up New Year's Day at the House of Blues in Las Vegas. The new album, Chinese Democracy, should be out next June. ... The Youth Music Foundation is holding a benefit for Our House, a San Jose homeless shelter for teens, Friday (Dec. 15) at the WORKS/San Jose Gallery. The concert features local bands Stunt Monkey, Moodfrye, HBA, Curbside, Products of Public Schools, Aggro, Geezer, Nobody Wins and PEN15. Tickets are $7, and doors open at 6pm. The eighth annual Dysfunctional Family Xmas will be held (Dec. 22-23) at the Cactus Club. This year's event is a benefit, and the club is asking people to bring toys and canned food to be given to local food banks and homeless shelters. Tickets are $7 with $2 discounts with donations. Doors open at 7:45pm. There may be some changes to the initial lineup, which included Krenshaw, Reaction 31, Shortie, Breach, Drift, Mr. Roper and Setacide on Friday and the Forgotten, Outtaline, HBA, Moodfrye, Monkey and Los Bastardos de Amor on Saturday. Look for an update next Thursday. ... Krenshaw will be on KSJS-FM (90.5) promoting the Cactus show today (Thursday, Dec. 14) at 8pm. The station will also air the band's three-song release Peeling Inside the Pig, which features "Pig," "Inside" and "Peel." The band also performs Dec. 20 with Refuse at the Covered Wagon in San Francisco. ... There's been talk that the Cactus Club may stop booking local and regional metal and punk bands on Friday and Saturday nights. Apparently the smaller groups haven't been drawing well, and the club may decide to save those nights for more established bands. If a greater demand is shown for these types of shows, the club may reconsider. Triple Seven's second Naughty Night Out with Carpet Room brought a lot of people to the Usual last Thursday (Dec. 7), but George Clinton was not in attendance. ... Backstreet Boys will be performing Mar. 2, 2001, at the Oakland Arena. Tickets are $52.25-$61.75 and available at Tickets.com outlets. PLAN AHEAD: Fuse, Outtaline and Clay Wheels, Dec. 14 at the Usual; LIVE 105's Not So Silent Night with Green Day, Papa Roach, Disturbed, A.F.I. and Deftones, Dec. 15 at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco; Alice in Wonderland with Everclear, Fastball and Nelly Furtado, Dec. 15 at the Warfield in San Francisco; Samiam, Lonely Kings and Weston, Dec. 15 at the Catalyst in Santa Cruz; Crazy Town, Slaves on Dope and Shuvel, Dec. 16 at the Cactus; RX Bandits, Outtaline, Drain 26, Prop 808 and Mall Security, Dec. 16 at the Fishbowl in Sunnyvale; Dan Bern, Dec. 16 at Amaranta Gallery in Palo Alto; Peeled Back, Fetus by the Pound and others, Dec. 17 at the Gaslighter Theater in Campbell; the Ataris, Lonely Kings and others, Dec. 17 at Palookaville in Santa Cruz; Hayride to Hell, Dec. 23 at the Aptos Club in Aptos; Remoter, Dec. 28 at the Usual; Marilyn Manson and Godhead, Jan. 8 at the SJSU Event Center; Pantera and Soulfly, Feb. 6 at the SJSU Event Center. [ San Jose | Metroactive Central | Archives ]