(editor’s note – no ex post facto proof for Billy Hinsche or Myrna Smith)
Doobies songs remain same at SPAC for 17,000
by Steve Webb, The Knickerbocker News, July 10, 1981
The Doobie Brothers and opening act Carl Wilson had the first noticeable sound problems of the season among the Saratoga Performing Arts Center’s rock schedule. For two entire numbers, Beach Boy Wilson’s six-person band’s instruments weren’t audible, providing for an unnerving, unintentionally a capella rendering of “Darlin’.”
And in a wry tribute to the theory of plate tectonics, a deafening buzz lasted for five seconds amid the Doobies’ 1977 song, “Living on the Fault Line.”
The Doobies have been the biggest draw of the season two years running, and landed the biggest audience so far this year at 17,000. Last year’s 23,000 was considerably larger, but several of the band’s other tour dates have drawn dismally.
The show was predictable, recorded for a live album and fitting neatly into four sides of music. Almost all the band’s hits were featured, and each received competent treatment.
But by and large, it was the same show this band has done several years running at the center. It doesn’t attempt enough to fail, although it is pleasant enough to frequently succeed in pleasing the crowd. But since the crowd’s number is significantly smaller than last year’s, it would indicate the Doobies are in some kind of rut.
The Knickerbocker News, July 17, 1981
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