The Rock Hall members are on a summer trek
“This brings back so many memories!” exclaimed one fan behind me as The Doobie Brothers played their first notes.
One of American music’s most important rock bands performed to a capacity crowd at Jiffy Lube Live on Saturday (Aug 9th) as part of their Walk This Road Tour, supporting the album of the same name.
Classic line-up members Tom Johnston, Patrick Simmons, John McFee, and Michael McDonald bring nostalgia to audiences across the country, thanks to a catalogue that has reached mythic status in American culture. They kicked things off with “Take Me in Your Arms (Rock Me a Little While)” and followed with “Here to Love You.” The first song to receive an extended instrumental break was the jazzy “Dependin’ on You.” It showcased the group’s excellent touring musicians on saxophone and percussion.
This core four lineup has been back together since 2019. And it’s clear fans love seeing McDonald back in the fold. His lead on the new tune “Walk This Line” received a rousing ovation. It was the first of four new songs the Doobies would play in this set. Michael’s voice is a soulful as ever, powerful and textured, rich yet bright. It is one of only a handful of voices that have reached the stratosphere of “must be heard in person to be believed.”
But the Doobies prefer to be thought of as a unit. Often, the band swaps lead vocals within the same song. Johnston shone on the country-flavored “Angels & Mercy,” with McFee on fiddle. While Simmons—the longest contiguous member—offered his long-haired soulful voice on several numbers, including “Black Water.”
The late Jimmy Buffett’s Coral Reefer Band opened the night with over an hour of Buffett’s best beachy bangers. Singer and hit-making legend Mac McAnally fronted the 13-piece group, who used to back the barefoot emperor of “Margaritaville.” As they gave Jiffy Lube Live “License to Chill” and fed thousands a “Cheeseburger in Paradise,” the group kept an empty mic stand center stage, right at Buffett’s spot. It was transportive, and made you hope Jimmy is off piloting a yacht somewhere where it’s always five o’clock. “Bubbles Up,” for the master of leisure music. Doobies’ Johnston pointed out that the Reefers and the Doobies are on one bill. “Whose idea was that?” he chuckled.
The Doobies are great musical shape shifters. From the twangy flavors of “Black Water” to the hard-rock guitar of “Without You” and the pensive songwriting of “Long Train Home,” you cannot put these Brothers in a box. Of course, they’re a product of their time too: their biggest hits often feature strum-heavy backing that carries hummable melodies, bridging 60s hippy music with 70s grooviness. That formula landed the Doobie Brothers in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Those mega-hits came in rapid succession at the end, with “Listen to the Music” closing out the Doobies’ night. I like to think it was to send the crowd off with the encouragement to keep the music alive. Something they certainly will seem to be doing themselves for a long time to come. “
