THE DOOBIE BROTHERS LIVE AT THE MOHEGAN SUN ARENA
By Kat Gullage
THE DOOBIE BROTHERS BRING THEIR 50th ANNIVERSARY TOUR TO MOHEGAN SUN ARENA
As I write this a Chevy “Truck Season” commercial came on and the music they used was “China Grove” by The Doobie Brothers. I shit you not.
Rock and Roll Hall of Famers, The Doobie Brothers made a stop at Mohegan Sun Arena on their “50th Anniversary Tour”. The four time grammy winners formed in 1970 in California and have sold more than forty million records. They hit on ten of their fourteen studio albums in a loaded twenty-six song set.
The lineup consisted of original founding members Tom Johnston (vocals, guitar) and Patrick Simmons (vocals, guitar), Michael McDonald (vocals, keys) member since 1975, John McFee (guitar, vocals) joined 1979, John Cowan (bass, vocals) joined 1993, Marc Russo (sax) joined 1998, local CT guy Ed Toth (drums) joined 2005, and Marc Quinones (percussion, vocals) joined 2018.
The venue was packed to the rafters, ninety percent full. Impressive considering they just played The Amp in Bridgeport two months prior. The fans voiced their enthusiasm as each member took their respective spot, but McDonald won the applause award.
They opened with a hit from Stampede, “Take Me In Your Arms (Rock Me A Little While)” followed by two from Minute By Minute, “Here To Love You” and “Dependin’ On You”. During Toulouse Street’s “Rockin’ Down The Highway” they showed classic videos of their youthful selves on the big screen behind their current day selves. Simmons addressed the fans “Here’s a new song we just finished writing for a new album coming out early next year, blues rock vibe, walk this road with me.” McDonald took lead vocals for “Walk This Road”, which I believe will be the title cut. This will be the first album The Doobie Brothers, with Michael McDonald, have released in forty-four years.
It was followed by “Sweet Maxine”. Two fans behind us, Delta and Beth, kept saying “They’re wicked good!”. Guess where they were from. McDonald stayed on the mic for “You Belong To Me” off Livin’ On The Fault Line. This is the original folks, before Carly Simon released her version. The song is co-written by Simon and McDonald. Band intros were next and they saved drummer Toth for last as he grew up thirteen minutes away from the venue and had a lot of supporters in the audience. Simmons announced “His Mom is here tonight!”. The fans went wild! But, once again, McDonald won the applause award.
Simmons continued “It’s our 50th anniversary! We’re on our second fifty now. Thanks so much, it’s good to be back. Here’s a song I wrote when I was so stoned I couldn’t see. It’s about being on the road.” It’s “Clear As The Driven Snow” from The Captain And Me. The floor section had chairs so everyone in the place had a seat. I noted about eleven people up front on the floor stood up and danced.
Simmons: “Here’s a song from our most recent album (2021’s Liberte). It’s about motorcycles. Shout out to all the motorcyclists out there.” “Cannonball” is followed by two from What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits with a hit tucked in between – “Another Park, Another Sunday”, “It Keeps You Runnin’” and “Spirit”. The audience was still engaged and the hits kept coming. The Doobie Brothers served up the title track “One Step Closer” and “Eyes of Silver” before they performed one of their Grammy winning hits, “Minute By Minute”.
Next up was another title track, this time it was “World Gone Crazy” and then “Without You” was on deck before one of my favorites “Jesus Is Just Alright”. The band’s three time Grammy winning song, “What A Fool Believes” got a majority of the fans on their feet, and there they stayed as the set wrapped with “Long Train Runnin’” and “China Grove”.
After a reasonable pause and adequate amount of crowd excitement, The Doobie Brothers returned to the stage and gifted the fans an encore of “Black Water”, an instrumental of “Amazing Grace”, and title track “Takin It To The Streets”. Simmons called Russo a daredevil as the sax player did a quick solo on a stairway in an upper side section. He rejoined the group on stage for the final song “Listen To The Music” where the fans nearly overpowered the band by singing along.
The sound quality was good, but I found the tunes where McDonald sang lead hard to decipher and either slightly off or the arrangement was tweaked or something. His voice is unmistakable, but I watched people’s brain mechanisms turn trying to place the songs. I much preferred the tracks with Johnston or Simmons on lead vocals. McDonald did flex his other talents by playing keys and mandolin throughout the show. I found Russo and his sax to be the highlight. And I gotta give these guys props, five of the eight members are over seventy years old.
Did The Doobie Brothers leave a mark on your youth? Time to revisit those good ole days and add em to your playlist. Be on the look out for new music from the hitmakers in 2025. Don’t know who The Doobie Brothers are? Look up their hits, cuz yes you do. I had to attend an event before I made my final edits on this review. The music coming from the bar was The Doobie Brothers‘ “Takin It To The Streets”. I shit you not.
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