REVIEW: Doobie Brothers keep long train running at Allentown's PPL Center
ALLENTOWN, Pa. — On one of The Doobie Brothers' biggest hits, the band tells everyone to "Listen to the Music."
That song was sage suggestion for those who saw the band Saturday at PPL Center.
The story of the show could be told in the song's lyrics:
Don't you feel it growin' day by day?: The Doobies, on a coronavirus-delayed 50th anniversary tour played a 25-song set that pushed just past two hours and spanned the band's still-growing career, from its 1972 sophomore disc "Toulouse Street" to a song off 2021's "Liberté" and next year's planned "Walk This Road."
People gettin' ready for the news: The news was that The Doobie Brothers — playing with four classic-lineup members and a four-man backup band — retained much of their appeal.
Latter-day singer Michael McDonald's voice was especially good. From the night's second song, the 1982 deep cut "Here to Love You," he sang forcefully and seemingly without restraint (more about that later). And again on 1983's "You Belong to Me."
Original singer Tom Johnson's voice also has held up well, with just the slightest hint of age that actually sometimes gave more gravitas to the hits. On the 1972 radio hit "Rockin' Down the Highway," also offered early, Johnston also showed off his guitar chops, stretching and elongating the song to make it better (also more about that later).
Some are happy: The concert was as long as it was because The Doobie Brothers played (nearly) all its hits. It opened with the 1975 hit "Take Me in Your Arms (Rock Me a Little While)" — on which McDonald surprisingly sang (it was a Johnston song). And early on they offered 1974's "Another Park Another Sunday," on which Johnston nailed the vocals. ("We're pulling out the nuggets," Simmons said after the song).
"Minute by Minute," a 1979 hit from the McDonald era, again showed his strong vocals, and later in the show, the 1972 hit "Jesus is Just Alright" was especially well performed, with Simmons' vocals very good, indeed.
Some are sad: The show also had some less successful moments. The arrangements for a few songs — even the opening "Take Me in Your Arms' — edged into over-produced Vegas treatment." That caused the 1976 hit "It Keeps You Runnin'" to lose some of its power, despite McDonald's strong vocals.
Saxophonist Marc Russo, who has been with the band for more than 25 years, is a great player but contributed perhaps too much. The sax was intrusive on "Long Train Runnin'" and especially ill-placed on the group's biggest hit, 1979's "What a Fool Believes," though that still was among the concert's best because McDonald varied his vocals ever-so-slightly, making the song new again.
Several songs also seemed like padding.
"We're going to try to do some interesting songs for you," Simmons told the crowd in one of the few times the band addressed the audience. "Songs we haven't played for a while, sometimes never."
But the early offering of the 1979 lessor hit "Depending On You" seemed designed to give Simmons a lead singer part. The 1974 deep cut "Spirit" was saved by McPhee on fiddle, and that same year's "Eyes of Silver" at least was funky.
The 1980 song "One Step Closer" gave McPhee a chance to sing, but was superfluous, as was 1975's "Sweet Maxine" and the 2011 single "World Gone Crazy" (one of just three post-millennium songs on the night!)
And in such a long set, The Doobies skipped one of their best songs, 1980's "Real Love," perhaps to keep from McDonald having too much of the show. They also skipped their last hit, 1989's "The Doctor."
Oh... we got to let the music play: That's not to say some of the lessor songs weren't good. The 1973 deep cut "Clear as the Driven Snow," which Simmons sang and he and Johnston played acoustic guitars, was a side of the band seldom seen — and was good.
The new songs also were strong: The Simmons-sung "Cannonball' from "Liberté" was unlike The Doobies, but very good. "Walk This Road," the title cut from the upcoming disc, had both McDonald and Johnston on lead vocals.
Whoa oh whoa, listen to the music: The last 40 minutes of the concert showed that the night's pacing could have been better, as it added a rush of most of the group's biggest hits.
After "Minute By Minute," the group played the hard-rocking 1973 deep cut "Without You," which prompted the largely older crowd (also smallish at perhaps 7,500) to finally stand (and some danced).
That tied tight to "Jesus is Just Alright" and "What a Fool Believes" before a very good "Long Train Runnin'," which ended with a two-minute instrumental that led right into another of the night's best, a full-bore, Simmons-sung "China Grove" that closed the main set.
The encore opened with another highlight, "Blackwater," with Simmons' voice playing nicely off McPhee's fiddle, and the audience singing unabashedly along, thought it was too short.
