I had the absolute best time at The Viper Room on Thursday night, June 20th, When I went to see Bret Domrose live with his other band at The Viper Room in West Holllywood.
We got there about an hour early. Got a chance to see the man pull up while we stood in line and BONUS, Rob Mailhouse was there, too. We stood there trying to be all cool while two-thirds of Dogstar chatted on the sidewalk 10 feet away. I think I was the first paying customer to go into the club, and I proudly proclaimed I was there to see "Bret!" as I paid and walked up the stairs and, of course, straight to the bar. I ordered a Corona and thought about breathing calmly as Rob walked up and stood right beside me. I felt his jean jacket up against my arm, and frankly, it was all I could do to control myself to not just heave a giant sigh and lay my head between his shoulder blades. Yay for impulse control, eh?
Anyway, I squeezed my lime and headed over to what I officially consider "my spot" at the Viper Room. The right hand pillar with the little ledge for setting drinks on. I've stood there each time I've been at the Viper room. The friends I came with, Maria and Lori, came in a few minutes later, found me, and we basically drank and mingled and tried to appear as though we belonged there.
Chat. Drink. Look around. Repeat.
About halfway through my second beer I mustered up the cajones to walk up to Rob. I apologized for my boldness, but just had to tell him "Yadda Yadda big fan, looking forward to Dogstar shows , blah blah fangirlcakes". He was very very nice about it, asked me my name (aieeee!) which I somehow managed to not forget at that very moment. I met his girlfriend. We talked about the possible Dogstar show in Vegas (looks like end of August). I think I tried to be witty or something at some point.
Can't say as I recall how that turned out.
Whatever. I talked to Rob Mailhouse. Yay me.

Before they hit the stage, I maganged to snag Bret and say hello. He's so great. The man just glows with warmth and friendliness. And a huge talent, but you should know that already.

While I worked on my third five-dollar beer, Bret was handing out copies of a 6 song sampler CD. You know I'm all about the swag so I waved him over and asked for a copy. I'm not really about autographs, but I do think it's neat to have an artist sign a CD when you are buying it straight from their hand. So I dug out the sharpie. As Bret was signing my CD I asked him about the Ceasars Palace gig, and he gave me further confirmation. (So I'm going to make that show the next countdown over in the sidebar.) He also said that his new CD (which should have the songs on the sampler and more) should be out in the next few weeks.
So, so far the night has been pretty damn good, and the band hasn't even hit the stage yet. More drinking, more chatting. Around 10 pm, they start. The band consists of Bret, a second guitarist: Ben (more on Ben later), Mike Nightingale on drums and Tony Jardine on bass. Tony was playing the most beautiful 5-string (custom?) bass I've seen up close in a long time. Swoon.

Here's the set list (which I snagged solely for the purpose of writing this, really...):

Blinded+
Anything+
Comfort Me+
Fall*
4th of July+
Volcano*
Just Like You
I Burn
Walls*

+ right click and save mp3 sample
* from the Rough Around The Edges CD

I was going to give the lowdown on each song, but I'm going to let the samples speak for themselves. I will say that yes, it is Comfort Me (not Come For Me as my dirty mind believed previously) and what an amazing song it is. That and I Burn were definitely the stand-out tunes of the set.
Not to say that each and every song wasn't rockin'. And different from Dogstar, too. Fuller and Richer.
Part of that is due to Ben, the other guitarist.

Ah, Ben. I could gush about how abso-fucking-lutley adorable Ben is for the rest of this. But I should point out that he's obviously a fabulous guitar player. He's not flashy, but you can't take your eyes off of him. He compliments Bret perfectly both vocally in backup and melodically. Ben is joy in a raunchy t-shirt. And a sweetie to pose for a pic, too.
Take it from me. You LOVE Ben. I see many flung-onstage panties in his future.

Of course, you love Mike and Tony, too. They provide the flawless, solid rhythm to these great songs. Bret said between songs that 4th of July was named because the drums sound like fireworks. Ooooh and Ahhhh for sure.
I got a chance to talk to Tony afterward. I had to swoon over that bass. He's awesome and fully responsible for my relapse into bass-player-addiction. I was so thrilled to be talking to him, I completely forgot to geek out and ask to take a picture.

I do want to thank Bret for posing for the picture above, and for indulging me further by saying 'Hi' on the phone to a friend of mine that could not make the trip this time because of some recent health stuff. The first thing he said to her was "How are you?". In addition to being such a talented songwriter/musician/performer, he's such a great guy. I can't stress that enough. Genuine great guy. It was my pleasure meeting his beautiful girlfriend, too. Also, nice as nice can be.

So it was a great night. It was great to talk to everyone but the music is what made it. Bret Domrose rocks. His music caresses your cheek, runs its hands into your hair, then pulls you close and growls "FEEL THIS" into your ear.

Comfort You? Fall for You? Burn for you?

Yes. Absolutely.

Thank you to everyone, including the second band Jones (Check them out. They brought the funk! Hell, yes.) for such a great night. Worth the trip as always.

[note: since this was written, lost and reposted, the Vegas show has been scratched, along with some previously scheduled dates in Japan.]