The Doobie Brothers commemorate their 50th anniversary

Blood is thicker than water, they say, and so it was with the Doobie Brothers – though unrelated – as they performed a tight set at Singapore’s Star Theatre on March 29, 2023, as the first part of their Asian leg, and part of the Doobie Brothers’ ongoing 50th-anniversary tour. The tour also covers Japan and Australia, prior to resuming their U.S. run of 35 dates from June through October 2023, an extension of their anniversary tour that first commenced in 2021.

The four-time Grammy Award winners, which included winning a Grammy for ‘Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group’ for their 1978 album, ‘Minute by Minute’, and Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame inductees in November 2020, the Doobie Brothers’ present line-up consists of founder-member-guitarists Tom Johnston and Pat Simmons along with long-time members, keyboardist Michael McDonald and multi-instrumentalist John McFee, who return to live performances together for the first time in over 25 years. “We are thrilled to be back on the road in 2023, playing some cities we haven’t gotten to yet on this tour,” said Johnston, prior to his arrival. Accompanying the band were Marc Russo (saxophone), Ed Toth (drums), John Cowan (bass), and Marc Quinones (percussion).

John McFee, Michael McDonald

With a delayed start of 19 minutes, certainly a rarity in Singapore’s passion for punctuality, the band opened with the uptempo, acoustic-flavoured and harmony-filled “Nobody” from their 1971 eponymously titled debut album, before moving into Motown territory with the R&B of “Take Me In Your Arms (Rock Me A Little While)”, followed by the funk – and soulful vocals – of Michael McDonald on his keyboard-laden “Here To Love You”, and an extension of similar sounds on “Dependin’ On You”. But the audience had to wait for the familiar beginnings of Johnston’s “Rockin’ Down The Highway” to get energized, which showed the band what they really are while working at a higher wattage of rock sound while moving into Creedence Clearwater Revival territory. Taking a dip in pace with another McDonald ballad, “You Belong To Me”, which would not have sounded out of place on a Steely Dan album, an inference that is obvious keeping in mind that McDonald became a member of Steely Dan’s touring band in 1973, singing lead and backing vocals, and having played on a large number of  Dan’s key albums.

The Doobie brothers then indulged with a sample off their latest effort released in October 2021 and their fifteenth studio album, ‘Liberté’, with the

Tom Johnston

fast-paced “Easy”, a sing-along rock and roll song, before moving into Eagles’ country-rock territory with Pat Simmons’ “South City Midnight Lady” with member John McFee playing effective pedal steel guitar. This was followed by “Clear As The Driven Snow” and McDonald’s “It Keeps You Running’”. Thereafter, following his “Another Park, Another Sunday”, a welcome return to rock sounds soon occurred with Johnston’s “Eyes Of Silver”. Two quick-fire songs from ‘Liberte’ continued the rocking boogie that the band has been playing for 50 years now with the very Bruce Springsteen-sounding “Better Days” and guitar-based “Don’t Ya Mess With Me”. Constant tempo changes occurred thereafter with songs shuffled between McDonald’s soul (“Real Love”, “Minute By Minute”, “What A Fool Believes”} and Johnston’s foot-stomping “World Gone Crazy”, containing a fine sax solo from Marc Russo and amazing guitar licks from John McFee, and “Jesus Is Just Alright”, a gospel song containing a musical arrangement similar to the Byrds rendition.

Pat Simmons

All restrictions for the audience to remain seated took a tangent as the Doobie Brothers shifted to top gear by entering the final segment of the setlist by playing their more popular hits; the punchy, catchy “Long Train Runnin’”, a piece the band had been playing for years as an instrumental — a reluctant Johnston subsequently being persuaded by producer Ted Templeman to write lyrics – and the slashing, fast-tempo, and extended “China Grove”, which had the crowd swaying and dancing away until the band left the stage after one hour, 19 minutes, only for the Doobie Brothers to return for the expected encore as the band ran through Simmons’ “Black Water” with McFee on violin, followed by McDonald’s “Takin’ It To The Streets” and the fitting conclusion with Johnston’s “Listen To The Music” on which the band supported the audience while singing the chorus. What a perfect ending to a concert that lasted two hours and 20 minutes.

With super acoustics at the venue, the sound was near perfection but for the sound of drums often being overbearing and the keyboards sounding subdued on the non-McDonald compositions. However, the Doobie Brothers were in fine fettle – the three-member guitar line-up of Tom Johnston, Pat Simmons, and John McFee was certainly a fabulous sight to see – although Johnston, at 74 (and born, to date, precisely one year after India’s Independence), finding it obviously challenging on reaching the vocal highs of the past. The constantly changing visuals on the screen, as a backdrop, covered the band’s heydays and often depicted album/single covers mapped with the songs being performed.

For over five decades, the Doobie Brothers have been known for delivering roots-based, harmony-laden, predominantly guitar-driven rock. In selling over 48 million albums worldwide, the Doobie Brothers have had two no.1 singles, “Black Water” and “What A Fool Believes”, five ‘top 10’ singles, 16 ‘top 40’ hits, three multi-platinum albums, seven platinum albums, 14 gold albums and a rare diamond record (ten million sales) for their 1976 compilation album, ‘Best Of The Doobies’, the first album of the band that this reviewer heard during college days. Additionally, the Doobie Brothers released their autobiography, Long Train Runnin’ on July 26, 2022 co-written by various members of the band.

The guitarist trio

Any band that has a repertoire wherein they can skip songs from their albums – in this case, 1989’s ‘Cycles’, 1991’s ‘Brotherhood’, and 2000’s ‘Sibling Rivalry’ – certainly goes to show the power of their repertoire. Nevertheless, travelling across city platforms year on year, the solid performance from the Doobie Brothers effectively showed that there is still enough steam in them to support their long train runnin’ for several more years, if not decades…

Setlist at Singapore [with the name of album contained in parentheses]

1. Nobody [The Doobie Brothers]
2. Take Me In Your Arms (Rock Me A Little While) [Stampede]
3. Here To Love You [Minute By Minute]
4. Dependin’ On You [Minute By Minute]
5. Rockin’ Down The Highway [Toulouse Street]
6. You Belong To Me [Livin’ On The Fault Line]
7. Easy [Liberte]
8. South City Midnight Lady [The Captain And Me]
9. Clear As The Driven Snow [The Captain And Me]
10. It Keeps You Runnin’ [Takin’ It To The Streets]
11. Another Park, Another Sunday [What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits]
12. Eyes Of Silver [What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits]
13. Better Days [Liberte]
14. Don’t Ya Mess With Me [Liberte]
15. Real Love [One Step Closer]
16. World Gone Crazy [World Gone Crazy]
17. Minute By Minute [Minute By Minute]
18. Jesus Is Just Alright [Toulouse Street]
19. What A Fool Believes [Minute By Minute]
20. Long Train Runnin’ [The Captain And Me]
21. China Grove [The Captain And Me]

    Encore: 

22. Black Water [What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits]
23. Takin’ It To The Streets [Takin’ It To The Streets]
24. Listen to the Music [Toulouse Street]