Fans had lined up at 8:30 a.m. Easter Sunday, and the Dogstar performance at Backbeat in Santa Clara 13 hours later was “awesome,” said owner George Karpaty. But what was even more impressive than the band’s performance — “they did a great job; the crowd went crazy” — was the decency of its most famous member.
A friend’s 12-year-old daughter, who had been ill, is a major Keanu Reeves fan, so Karpaty called the star’s managers to see if he would meet her before the show. “He took it to the next level,” said Karpaty. When the girl, who had seen “Matrix” seven times, showed up with posters and pictures and cameras, Reeves signed autographs and posed for pictures with her, put her in his lap and gave her one of his guitar picks. When Karpaty thanked him, “he thanked me for the opportunity of meeting her.”
After the show, Reeves hung around, signed autographs and partied with the staff. “I’ve done concerts with a lot of people,” said Karpaty, “and it’s not always that way. He’s not full of himself.”