Keanu Reeves reunites with his band for first public performance in more than 20 years

Keanu Reeves reunited with his band, Dogstar, for the first time in more than two decades.

In July 2022, the rock band teased the end of their hiatus with a simple, "We're back," on Instagram.

Nearly a year later, the trio — which features Reeves on bass alongside Bret Domrose and Rob Mailhouse — performed publicly for the first time together since 2002 at the BottleRock Napa Valley music festival on May 27.

Dogstar celebrated their Saturday performance on Instagram, sharing a snap of the group as they performed during their festival set.

“Great to be back on stage! What a fantastic day we had,” they wrote in the caption.

Mailhouse shared the same photo on his own Instagram, thanking the festival in the caption along with “the beautiful crowd for being so gracious.”

“It feels so great to be back and performing,” he added.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the group’s set for the second day of the festival included music from the group’s first two studio albums, “Our Little Visionary” and “Happy Ending,” as well as music from an upcoming album.

The group revealed on social media in December 2022 that the forthcoming record was in the final stages of being mixed. The band then hosted a private show for “the incredible people who made our new album possible.”

On May 10, the band announced on Instagram that they were added to the BottleRock lineup, which marked their official return to the spotlight.

In the week leading up to the big performance, Reeves spoke to Billboard about the group’s reunion after a two-decade hiatus.

Despite Reeves’ prolific career in the 23 years since the release of Dogstar’s last album, he told the outlet, “I missed playing together, I missed writing together, I missed doing shows together. It’s something I’ve always missed.”

“We came to a spot where we weren’t playing anymore, and I missed it,” he added. “Once we started to play, and it felt good, and really positive and creative, that’s when it was like, ‘Okay, let’s make this happen.’”

Even in the group’s break, Reeves, Domrose, and Mailhouse remained friends. Over the years, the trio would meet at Mailhouse’s rehearsal space at his house and play together.

During the early jam sessions, the group didn’t come up with new material. However, things changed during the pandemic in 2020 when their time together was extended due to quarantine and travel restrictions.

“We played the catalog songs, and then we can’t help it — we just started writing,” Reeves said.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com