Tom Johnston and Michael McDonald Bring Both Sides of the Band’s History to One Local Stage
As a kid in the 1980s, I learned that the Doobie Brothers had broken up from Michael Douglas — or, more accurately, from his character in Romancing the Stone. His character looked genuinely rattled by the news, as if somebody had announced that the family dog was moving out. After the movie, I asked my father, who had taken me, whether it was true: Did the Doobie Brothers really break up? He said yes, and I suddenly realized I had somehow missed an important meeting. Decades later, the Doobie Brothers pulled off the part I didn't expect: They got back together. Now that reunion is headed to Wilmington for an Oct. 6 concert at Live Oak Bank Pavilion. The outdoor show begins at 8 p.m., rain or shine.
The Doobie Brothers play Live Oak Bank Pavilion in Wilmington on Oct. 6 at 8 p.m. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster.
(Below) The Doobie Brothers perform “Listen to the Music” on The Midnight Special.
The Tom Johnston Era
Before the hits and the reunion, the Doobies were a road band in the truest sense. They got their start playing Chateau Liberté, a biker bar tucked among the redwoods in the Santa Cruz Mountains, where Hells Angels were part of the regular audience. It was a rough-and-ready way to learn the trade. The place left a mark: the band later named its 2021 album Liberté after the Chateau.
That rough-and-gritty setting found its way into the music. Tom Johnston's guitars pushed songs such as “Long Train Runnin'” and “China Grove” with the steady pull of tires on pavement. Patrick Simmons brought “Black Water,” acoustic picking and harmonies that could make a carload of people sing whether they knew all the words or not.
Then Michael McDonald arrived, and the room shifted.
(Below) The Doobie Brothers reflect on Michael McDonald’s arrival and the soulful turn he brought to the band’s sound.
The Michael McDonald Era
McDonald's keyboards and deep, weathered voice helped steer the band toward soul and polished rhythm. Takin' It to the Streets, released in 1976, was the first Doobie Brothers album to feature him on lead vocals and keys. The record turns 50 this year.
Some fans sorted the band’s history into two camps, as if liking one era meant taking a pass on the other. The Johnston songs put a little more gasoline in the tank; McDonald’s songs brought a smoother, after-dark glow. But the catalog was never a loyalty test. The Doobie Brothers made room for both sounds, and listeners could enjoy the full ride.
(Below) Kenny Loggins performs “What a Fool Believes,” the Doobie Brothers classic he co-wrote with Michael McDonald, in this live performance from Outside: From the Redwoods, Oakland, California.
With the current lineup, that old distinction feels less important. Johnston, Simmons, McDonald and multi-instrumentalist John McFee are touring together, carrying the guitar-heavy songs and the keyboard-led records under the same name.
They have made new music, too. The 2025 album Walk This Road, which gives the tour its name, marked the first time all four appeared together on a Doobie Brothers album.
(Below) The Doobie Brothers perform “Takin’ It to the Streets” at Daly City’s Cow Palace in 1976, in a previously unreleased clip marking the album’s 50th anniversary.
We don’t know the Wilmington setlist or opening act, but this is more than a tribute built around a familiar logo. Johnston, Simmons, McDonald and McFee are still playing together, pairing new songs with a catalog listeners have carried for decades.
Come October, under the open sky on the bank of the Cape Fear River, the Doobies will fill the pavilion with songs we have carried for years. When they reach “Black Water,” the song’s Mississippi and New Orleans imagery will feel especially close to home.
(Below) The Doobie Brothers perform “Black Water” in this clip from Rockin’ Down the Highway: The Wildlife Concert.
0 Comments