Doobie Brothers 2003

[Rudy]

I just rolled in from another great evening at Pine Knob (OK, OK, DTE Energy Music Theater ). Locally, free vouchers are given away for concerts at Pine Knob. With this voucher, you can redeem it for a lawn ticket (IF they are available) or, for a small fee, upgrade to pavillion seating. I picked up some vouchers on eBay for $5 a couple of weeks ago, and we turned them in for a pair of tickets in row "P", 16 rows back from the stage off in the right section....sweeeet! It cost me $7/ticket to upgrade, plus the $3/ticket parking fee. Total cost: $25 for two prime seats.

I wasn't sure what to expect, but I came away quite impressed. Three decades together and the band is tighter than ever! Patrick Simmons is back to his scraggly 70's long-haired look, while Tom Johnston looks about the same as he always has. On a third guitar, pedal steel and fiddle was John McFee (Clover, Huey Lewis & The News, and dozens of session credits), and bass was covered by Skylark. On sax was Marc Russo (Tower of Power, Narada Michael Walden, Yellowjackets).

Without Michael McDonald, I thought the show would be rather limited...but it's not. The only McDonald-led song they covered was "Takin' It To The Streets". On the rest, Simmons and Johnston traded off vocals. If you've ever heard the 10-million-selling Best Of The Doobies Vol. 1, most of the songs from that album were covered, along with some "deep cuts" from earlier LPs (Captain & Me, Vices, Tolouse St., etc.). They performed three from their new recording, Sibling Rivalry, and the "biker" track from Brotherhood called "Dangerous."

Excellent show! Tight band, great sound (better than Steely Dan's sound rig, IMHO), and infectious excitement. By the time the last couple of songs were played (before the encore), the entire audience was either standing or dancing in the aisles. VERY enthusiastic crowd, and the band really enjoyed it. Didn't spot or sniff any "doobies", but Miller Genuine Draft certainly made a killing off of THIS crowd!

 

[Mike Blakesley]

Sounds like they played about the same set I heard about a year ago. That show was in a smallish gymnasium type venue in Billings MT and the sound there was awful! I was severely disappointed.

But the music was great, and you're right...McDonald is not really missed. His songs are good, and many are excellent in fact, but they are not "classic" Doobie Brothers material.

 

[Rudy]

I guess a lot of it may depend on the venue, and how the engineers cope with it. I've heard Steely Dan twice at Pine Knob--under Roger Nichols' care, the sound was really good; in 2003, it was not as good. The bass was ill-defined, more a thud than an actual note. The mix also struggled, and the speakers sounded more strident. Seating locations were nearly identical--center both times, being a few row further back in 2000. The Doobies this time sounded more like the Dan in 2000--we commented on how tight the band sounded. The vocals were just a little bit buried, Johnston's voice carrying the best of them. But other than that, excellent. Toward the end when Skylark plucked out some really low bass guitar notes, I FELT them.

I'm a fan of their McDonald-era songs, so I would jump at a chance to see a full "reunion" of the Doobies. But there was nothing lacking, and nothing left to my wish list, after this concert was through--it was a great set list, and I don't think I've ever heard a crowd sing along with so many songa as at this one. Even with us being in the 40-ish range, we still felt a little young in comparison to some of the boomers there. I can gladly say that while the Miller Brewing Company may have seen a sharp increase in sales, I'm SURE it was nowhere near being the drunk-fest that a Jimmy Buffett concert usually is.

BTW, the show opened with the roar of Harley motorcycles, which segued, of course, into "Rockin' Down The Highway". I think "Long Train Runnin'" closed out the main portion of the show..."China Grove" and "Listen To The Music" were the encore. The set probably clocked in around 90 minutes, but there was so much good music, it felt like we were there longer.