This summer’s Doobie Brothers 50th anniversary tour would have marked the first time Michael McDonald, guitarists Tom Johnston and Patrick Simmons (the only lifelong member of the Doobs) and multi-instrumentalist John McFee have toured together in nearly 25 years.
The announcement of the reunion and tour was made in November during a Doobie Brothers showat the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. During the show, the group performed their early ’70s albums Toulouse Street and The Captain and Me in full, then brought out surprise guest McDonald to play “Takin’ It to the Streets.”
The extensive reunion trek was supposed to hit Cincinnati’s Riverbend Music Center on Aug. 4 this year. The show has been rescheduled and will now take place Sept. 8, 2021. Which makes it their 51st anniversary tour? Original tickets will be honored.
The Doobs said in a statement, “This decision has been made with the health and safety of The Doobie Brothers’ fans, crew and local employees in mind.”
The Doobies are also slated to be inducted into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame when the Inductions take place in November.
“I’m sure we’ve all paused to reflect, and I think I speak for all the other guys when I say that it seems rather odd we haven’t been selected before,” guitarist Johnston told Billboard upon the band’s nomination. “But at the same time we don’t take it for granted and we are honored to be nominated, and if we can just carry it all the way to getting in it would be awesome.”
The potential induction seems to have sparked the 2020 road trip. In the Billboard article, Johnston said he was looking forward to just seeing all of his bros.
“I haven’t seen most of these guys in a while,” he said. “It’s a great reason to get together, too, finally getting recognized after all this time. I think most everybody would be pretty jacked up about the whole thing.”
Support local journalism in these crazy days. Our small but mighty team is working tirelessly to bring you up to the minute news on how Coronavirus is affecting Cincinnati and surrounding areas. Please consider making a one time or monthly donation to help support our staff. Every little bit helps.
Other ways to support CityBeat: subscribe to our newsletters, advertise with us, or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
This article appears in May 6 – Jun 14, 2020.