Dogstar: The Roundhouse, London – Live Review

Dogstar | Fletchr Fletchr
The Roundhouse, London
13th June 2026

Dogstar return to London for the first time in two years in support of their recent album release All In Now. They are ably supported by rising Cornish-based four-piece Fletchr Fletchr. Simon Reed heads down to London’s iconic Roundhouse to take in both bands.

It’s T-shirt weather in Chalk Farm, North London. There’s a tremendous number of them on display in the queue of people waiting to access The Roundhouse. I arrive around 30 minutes before the support come out, and there are already significantly more people inside the venue. For artist personnel reasons, getting a close-up view of tonight’s headline act carries additional Instagram bragging rights, and it seems patrons have exchanged a couple of additional pints in The Enterprise across the street for a squash against the barrier.

Fletchr Fletchr come out to warm applause and take advantage of this big opening slot in front of a larger than expected crowd for an 8pm support slot. To be fair, it’s something they’re used to. People are taking note of this band. Last year they opened for Imagine Dragons in front of 35,000 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. At the heart of Fletchr Fletchr are twin guitarists Rohan Fletcher and Adam Sanders. They’ve been close friends for years; so close in fact they see each other as brothers – hence the stylised reworking and repetition of Rohan’s surname. The quartet are rounded out with Oli Williams behind the kit and George Green on bass.

They open with From Home, a breakout single from 2023 that attracted airplay on Radio 1’s Indie Show. Jet Black follows. It fairly races along and gives the ever-expanding crowd an opportunity to move their feet. Fletchr Fletchr have an anthemic sound reminiscent of Sam Fender and with mainstream support from the likes of Jack Saunders, you can’t help thinking they might one day be regularly playing the kind of venues he does.

The support might be a four-piece, but there are in fact six people on stage. To our left are British Sign Language interpreters Kim Helman and Sam Dean. Having the show signed for the deaf and hard of hearing is a thoughtful and inclusive touch. It also turns out to be educational. When Fletchr Fletchr play Fucking With My Head, I learn how to sign the word ‘fucking’ in BSL. It’s impressively littoral. The band close with Life, dedicated by Rohan to his father Matthew, who passed away in 2023. It’s a powerful tribute with wonderful harmony vocals and a sweet sax solo from Sanders to close it out. Fletchr Fletchr depart the stage with well-earned applause ringing in their ears.

Dogstar come out on the dot of 9pm and with zero fanfare launch into Siren, a cut from their brand-new album release All In Now, which dropped on 29th May. The record was produced by Nick Launay, a legendary name in alt rock and post punk circles whose discography extends back close to half a century and has upon it just about every notable artist in these genres. The band formed in 1991, disbanded in 2002, remained dormant for close to 20 years and were reunited in March 2020 during the Covid pandemic lockdown, when it seems your only options were to go slightly mad or put a band together (see also: The Last Dinner Party, English Teacher, Cardinal Black among others). Comeback album Somewhere Between The Power Lines And Palm Trees was released in 2023, and with All In Now and an extensive European tour to promote it, here we are. Every song played tonight comes from the post Covid iteration of the band.

Dogstar are a classic three-piece: guitar, bass, drums. Vocalist Bret Domrose plays the guitar; Robert Mailhouse takes on the drums, and on bass is some guy called Keanu Reeves. On the basis that there surely can’t possibly be two people on Earth with a name like Keanu Reeves, you’d be correct in thinking that, yes, it’s that Keanu Reeves.

To be fair to Reeves (who comes across as one of the most grounded and humble people you’ll ever meet), this is far from a vanity project. He actively eschews the limelight (literally, he barely has a spotlight on him all night), he does not have a microphone with which to address the crowd, and he spends most of his time making eye contact with Domrose and Mailhouse. This means he’s frequently side on to the audience or has his back to them entirely. This is three genuine mates who jam in a garage and play gigs in spaces like The Roundhouse (tonight) and Download Festival (tomorrow).

The music isn’t complicated, but it is enjoyable and compelling. Domrose’s vocals soar. Whilst he doesn’t deliver the full vocal pyrotechnics and dynamic falsetto of Matt Bellamy, his voice bears a not unreasonable comparison to the Muse frontman – especially on the newer compositions. This, combined with his chiming, jangly guitar lines, makes for an excellent counterpoint to the no-nonsense four to the floor drumming of Mailhouse and the pounding pick attack basslines played by Reeves. And it sounds absolutely fantastic too. The Roundhouse (a converted circular railway turntable shed) is essentially a biscuit tin on steroids, and whilst it’s a fantastic venue with real pedigree and history, the sound in here can sometimes be a little dicey. Not so this evening. The vocals and guitar cut through whilst the drums and bass thud and the whole thing sounds extremely cohesive. Props to whoever’s engineering it tonight. They do an excellent job.

There are several highlights in the setlist. Joy and This Sphere really show off those shiny guitar parts. Math has a bassline which is in danger of knocking some rust from the pillars. Exalted kicks at a fair pace and really gives Domrose an opportunity to deliver on those Bellamyesque vocal takes. There is little time for contemplation between songs either. The last one is barely over before Mailhouse signals the arrival of the next with four clicks of the sticks. They play the whole of All In Now, a decent chunk of Somewhere Between The Power Lines And Palm Trees, plus unreleased tracks Runway and Marmalade in a little over 70 minutes.

So, there are some fine rocking tunes here delivered at pace, and yet there is a strange atmosphere tonight in The Roundhouse. I’m watching from a seat in the circle and the people on the floor before me, who should be bouncing around like microbes in a Petri dish, are stood with feet rigidly fixed to the floor. At a conservative guess, I’d say at least half of the audience are viewing the performance through the back of a smartphone, and they’re all pointing in one direction. It turns out that having one of the most famous Hollywood actors of his generation in the band is both a blessing and a curse. If Keanu Reeves were not in the band, would Dogstar be packing out (or even playing) The Roundhouse tonight? Maybe, maybe not. That Reeves is a draw is not open to question, but if the net result is that your audience fails to engage with the music in favour of gawping at a cell phone all night, you have to start wondering whether it’s all worth it.

I feel for them. Domrose and Mailhouse, despite being great musicians, get scant recognition from the crowd, whilst Reeves (who clearly just wants to be a bass player in a band for the night) must feel like an exhibit in a zoo. I guess it’s the inevitable outcome of living in a celebrity led culture, and I’m as guilty as anybody else. Was I going to pass on the opportunity to get photos of Keanu Reeves? Obviously not, but as the whole evening plays out, the spectacle leaves me a little sad.

The main set ends with the title track from the new record; another one with a heavier sound and a pounding bassline, and the crowd do at least give the whole band a decent cheer as they go off for the briefest of interludes. The encore: Punch The Sky, Shallow Easy and Breach allow a further nine minutes of rocking out before the band are truly done for the night. They meet centre-stage for another big reception before exiting, stage right. Reeves skips off (yes, literally skips off), stopping very briefly to thank the audience through Domrose’s microphone. It’s his only vocal contribution all night. “We were very fortunate to have met up and become the brothers that none of us ever had”, said the frontman whilst the band were doing their introductions in one of the only breaks in the music that occurred all night. It elicited a collective “Ahh” from the audience. Forget the celebrity status for a minute. Ultimately, this is what it’s all about. We could all do with remembering it.

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Fletchr Fletchr are on Instagram and TikTok. Their website is here

Dogstar are on Instagram, TikTok and Facebook. Their website is here

All words and photographs by Simon Reed. His website Musical Pictures is here, and you can visit his author profile for Louder Than War here. He is on Instagram at musicalpictures.co.uk