Dogs In A Pile & Natalie Brooke Close Joint Run With Sit-In Swap

Dogs In A Pile and Natalie Brooke's spring stint together came to a close at Mr. Smalls Theatre near Pittsburgh on Thursday. Both bands traded sit-ins, featuring Phish and The Doobie Brothers covers, to wrap the run.

Baltimore-based keyboardist Natalie Brooke and her band got the evening underway with “HANDS,” a track off Brooke’s 2025 debut full-length album, Measured In Moments. Dogs In A Pile guitarist Brian Murray emerged in the fourth song slot to help Natalie and company on a boisterous rendition of Phish instrumental “First Tube.”

Dogs In A Pile launched their two-set outing with a relatively new tune, “116 Days,” debuted in late 2024 and finding steady play since. “G-Song” then led into a cover of the Grateful Dead‘s “Mr. Charlie.” DIAP will conduct their “Dogs Play Dead” concert on April 20 at Ardmore Music Hall near Philadelphia.

The first set came to a close with a pairing of “Happy Song” and “Writing on the Wall.” Staple “Look Johnny” kicked off the four-song second set followed by “Stevie Lew,” “Time Stands Still” and “The Bag.”

The encore saw both Dogs In A Pile and Natalie Brooke’s band loading onto the stage for a DIAP first time play of Michael McDonald-led Doobie Brothers classic “Takin’ It To The Streets.”

DIAP Setlist (via go-set.net)

Set 1: 116 Days, G Song-> Mr. Charlie[1], Hesitate, Happy Song > Writing on the Wall

Set 2: Look Johnny > Stevie Lew, Time Stands Still-> The Bag

Encore: Takin’ It To The Streets[2]

Footnotes:

• [1] Grateful Dead
• [2] FTP, Doobie Brothers, with Natalie Brooke and her band