Venue:
The O2 Arena, London
Date: 19/07/2025
The curated pre-show music tells me I’m at the right gig; Little Feat; Chicago; ZZ Top; The Allman Brothers; Mountain; Doors; The Faces and Tower of Power; and the audience reaction, (tapping of feet, singing along, air guitar,) tells me I am with my people.
The eight musicians walk onto the huge stage at precisely 8pm; Nashville bassist, John Cowan; sax player, Marc Russo; drummer, Ed Toth and percussionist, Marc Quiñones join multi-instrumentalist, John McFee; guitarists and originals, Pat Simmons and Tom Johnston; and, on keyboards, the great Michael McDonald who, let’s face it, is the main reason I’m here.
I saw The Doobies in the same venue, in 2017, (a stellar show with Steely Dan,) and saw McDonald at the Hammy O the following year. He sang four of his five biggest Doobie Brothers hits that night; I Keep Forgetting; Minute By Minute; What A Fool Believes and Taking It To the Streets; just omitting It Keeps You Running; but it wasn’t with The Doobies.
The band opens with Take Me In Your Arms and hits the ground running. I do love an American guitar band who comes out fighting, taking no prisoners and hitting with punchy combinations: Rocking Down the Highway into It Keeps You Running? Boom! Jesus Is Just Alright into What A Fool Believes? Bang! The guitar solos are fantastic* and the harmonies are beautiful. Russo is a brilliant foil, covering the whole stage and encouraging the audience, his grey hair flowing in the various fans dotted around. His set-piece with McDonald of an instrumental Amazing Grace, tucked in the middle of the four-song encore, and used as a soulful extended intro to a wild Taking It To the Streets, is superb.
They play four new songs from the album, Walk This Road, and they all sound like perfect Doobies tracks. The main set closes with the ultimate one-two punch; Long Train Runnin’ into China Grove; while the aforementioned encore ends with Taking It To the Streets into Listen To the Music.
And that’s it; exactly at 9.35pm, they’re gone. I leave very happy, especially as I have finally seen the best singer in American rock music sing his five golden moments as a member of the band he created them with. The sound was excellent, (as it invariably is at the O2, these days,) and the crowd was terrific.
*Except for John McFee. He is a stellar player; pedal steel on Van’s Tupelo Honey and St. Dominic’s Preview as well as the guitar on Costello’s Alison; BUT he chooses to play a guitar called a Line 6 Shuriken Variax, one of the ugliest-sounding machines it has ever been my misfortune to hear. Thin, tinny and completely out of place in 70’s rockers like China Grove, it is a horrible, horrible abomination of a guitar. I just hope they’re paying him handsomely.
The audience:
As I say, ‘my people.’ Still too many people in and out of their seats for a drink/piss. Ladies & Gentlemen! The set was exactly 1 hour and 35 minutes at all 3 preceding gigs; the very civilised finishing time of 9.35 meant that the many bars were all still open; COULD YOU NOT GET ALL YOUR DRINKING AND PISSING DONE BEFORE AND AFTER THE GIG, THEREBY ALLOWING THE REST OF US TO ENJOY THE GIG WITHOUT CONSTANTLY JUMPING UP AND DOWN TO LET YOU OUT AND THEN BACK IN?
It made me think..
I grew up with the best music ever made. End of.
I definitely agree with you about the Variax.
Yes they are shite. I’ve heard various generations of them and they are all vile sounding. And don’t get me started on the “acoustic” one.
re Variax: did he need a bunch of alternate tunings throughout the gig?
No excuse!
Guitar tech formula: n = x + t
Where:
n = number of guitars required
x = number of guitars owned
t = number of tunings required
Amazed at the size of the venues the bros are playing.
Apparently struggling to fill the 9,000 seat 3 Arena in Dublin
Surely large areas off places like the 02 and Co-Op Arena
are being curtained off
Sounds a stellar gig I would have loved to attend, also having seeing the Doobies n the Dan in 2017 (and the Doobs also in 1977). Likewise, I think MmcD a fab player and composer. I also agree – in spades – about drinking and peeing. When did buying overpriced beers in concerts become a thing? A gig is not a piss up. Maybe a pint to wet the whistle, and DO NOT release waste fluids till after.
I do find the drinking/pissing issue incredible.
At a Rugby League final at Wembley I went to one group of lads couldn’t have seen more than half the match… and they travelled 200 miles for the privilege.
One apologised to me at the end, I should have said “No I apologise to you, after all it was me who saw the game!”
One hour later after the final whistle, me and my wife are in a great pizza restaurant – two huge pizzas, bottle of wine, liqueur at the end – almost certainly cost less than seven or eight beers served in plastic at Wembley… and, once again, we ‘saw’ the game.
It’s the same at Rugby Union.
A few seasons back I attended “The Showdown”. For their derby fixture against Harlequins, for the last few years Saracens have moved temporarily to Tottenham’s ground (which they manage to sell out – or come very close to it).
I was behind the goal at one end. The constant standing up to let people go the bar or toilet was a constant irritation.
Just before half time there was a despairing shout “The bar has run out – no beer, no cider”.
The second half had kicked off when the shout “The beer’s back on” led to a stampede.
Scores of people off to the bar. Loads of them must have missed a significant part of that half.
Like deramdaze, I am wondering what people are there for overpriced beer or a match.
Some Welsh pals had a canny solution, demonstrated at Twickenham back in the day; carry in enough beer to drown an elephant, drink it all, piss on the floor, watch the English fans lower down the stand try to dodge the waterfall.
“So we handed him the bottle, that once held bitter ale”
But the Western Enclosure in Cardiff Arms Park would have late arrivals climbing into the stand above, only stopping to piss on us. Ah, different times!
Alternatively there’s the Oasis fans’ approach. Piss in a cup then throw it in the air. A spray hits you. Is that beer or…? You might seek some respite from the heat and dryness, rather like coming across an actual oasis but not this warm liquid raining down.
Oasis fans would surely be more likely to piss in a cup and drink it
I’m sorry Mr. niallb but I love The Doobies but I’m not a fan of Michael McDonald but I am a fan of the Doobies without him
But not to rain on your parade I appreciate your enthusiasm and appreciation for the band including Mr McDonald and your excellent review.
Long may you run