What does it sound like?:
It seems to be in vogue these days for bands to perform entire albums in concert, and The Doobies join the party here with renditions of 1972’s Toulouse Street and its follow up from the subsequent year The Captain and Me. Original band members including Patrick Simmons, Tom Johnston and John McFee are joined by long time bass man John Cowan among others, with the further addition of two members of the Steely Dan horn section on sax and trumpet. Despite the band being rather long in the tooth now, they still perform the music with obvious joy and look like they’re enjoying every single minute of their time together on stage. Over familiarity with some of these songs has certainly not bred contempt for either band or audience, and the airing given to some of the now almost forgotten lesser known songs on the records, some never performed live before, seems to be welcomed by all concerned. Although these albums are fast approaching their fiftieth anniversaries, the songs still sound as fresh as when they first debuted back in the halcyon days in the early seventies.. OK there’s no great message on offer, but this is good time music played to perfection, and the punchy horn section really beefs up their familiar sound. Needless to say, the audience lap up these old favourites, fleetingly recapturing perhaps their long gone days of youth. A great show perfectly captured on cd and also on a super accompanying dvd.
What does it all *mean*?
Any album that includes Long Train Runnin’, China Grove and Listen To The Music is alright with me.
Goes well with…
A perfect soundtrack for a hot July evening.
Release Date:
Out now
Might suit people who like…
Soft rock US style.
Twang says
I saw them supporting the Dan with Bill Payne along on keys and they were terrific.
nickduvet says
I’m seeing them in a couple of weeks at Bethel (Woodstock) supporting Santana. Should be a good night.
Junior Wells says
Should indeed. Still got everyone who matters.
Feedback_File says
To be fair @Twang we missed the first part of the set due to the insufferably long airport style check in and security process at the godawful O2. They were excellent though.
Twang says
Don’t remind me. What a hideous venue.
Neilo says
Twang, I saw the DBs supporting a sadly depleted Steely Dan in Dublin in 2017 (thin guitar sound, poorly miked drums, general post-Walter malaise – God, I hate the 3 Arena). Much, much better than the headliners with only one excellent pass at the Mike McDonald era.
Vince Black says
Prior to joining the Doobies as a dep during regular bassist’s ill-health John Cowan had his own bluegrass band who were big on the bluegrass circuit. I saw him many times at Merlefest in the noughties. He played electric bass guitar whereas most bluegrass bands have a stand up double bass but other than that it was pretty much trad bluegrass with ac guitar, fiddle, banjo & mandolin. He loved to sing soul – gospel stuff and often did acapella songs by Sam Cooke & the Soul Stirrers during the set. One year at a Merlefest event called the Noodle Dance I saw him as part of an amalgam of 2 bands sing a very impressive “When A Man Loves A Woman”. And in 2008, when I wasn’t there, he sang the Robert Plant role when the Waybacks did their inaugural Classic Album set and performed Led Zeppelin 2