Doobie Brothers set to reunite with old friend
San Jose band sets Shoreline show with Michael McDonald
The Doobie Brothers are ready to celebrate a half century of making music.
The Bay Area classic rock act has announced plans for a 50th anniversary tour.
And, for the first time in nearly 25 years, the band lineup will include Tom Johnston, Pat Simmons, John McFee and Michael McDonald.
The 30-city trek includes a big South Bay homecoming show on Sept. 12 at Shoreline Amphitheatre at Mountain View. Tickets are $29.50-$149.50 and go on sale at 10 a.m. Dec. 6, www.livenation.com.
“We’re truly excited about our 50th Anniversary Tour, as it’s a celebration of the band’s entire history,” Johnston said in a news release. “We’ll be performing songs from our full catalog, as well as new music.”
The band formed in San Jose in 1970.
The 50th anniversary tour announcement was reportedly made during the band’s recent concert at the famed Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee, where the Doobies played two of their most treasured albums, “Toulouse Street” and “The Captain and Me.”
During the encore of the show, McDonald — who hasn’t been a regular part of the Doobie Brothers since the mid-’90s — reportedly joined the rest of the band on the hit “Takin’ It to the Streets.” Simmons then followed up with the announcement “that the entire band would be teaming up for a North American tour,” according to a news release.
“With the Doobies, everybody in the band was proud to be a Doobie Brother. And to this day, I think of myself as a Doobie Brother — all these years later,” McDonald reportedly said on NPR’s Ask Me Another in late October.
The anniversary trek is a key part of what could be a very big year for the band.
Notably, the Doobies learned back in October that they had finally received their first nomination for Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, despite having been eligible for induction since the mid-’90s.
If the votes go their way — and there’s plenty of reasons to think they should — then the Doobies will be enshrined with the rest of the Class of 2020 in May.
The band’s stats are undeniable, having sold nearly 50 million albums worldwide, five top-10 singles, 16 top-40 hits and 10 platinum-plus-selling albums during a career that now stretches five decades.
The band’s best-known songs include “Listen To The Music,” “Takin’ It to the Streets,” “Long Train Running,” “Black Water,” “What a Fool Believes,” “China Grove,” “Minute by Minute,” “It Keeps You Runnin'” and “Jesus Is Just Alright With Me.”