Doobie Brothers entertain 24,404 at SPAC Concert

By Candace Hollar for The Saratogian

The Doobie Brothers closed out the 1975 summer season at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center with a fiery display onstage, and a surprising lack of fireworks from the crowd of 24,404 that gathered in the cold drizzle.

Opening a long show with a number that testified “Jesus Is Just Alright” they literally smoked their way through new songs, jam sessions and old favorites from their best-selling album, “The Captain and Me.”

The lighting for the hard rock group was probably the best it has been for any like performance all summer, with white rays emanating from light poles in the back of the stage to startling fireworks in the front.

Illuminating the back of the stage during several of the numbers were photos of the Doobie Brothers’ album covers, “Stampede” and “The Captain and Me.

The most memorable–or immemorable-aspect of the one and one half hour concert was its loudness. Those sitting in the amphitheatre were faced on each side with a wall of speakers, and in anticipation of being bombarded with screeching screams from the electric guitars, one listener was passing out cotton for the ears of those sitting in front.

Those with cotton-stuffed ears were well-prepared, too. The sound of the Doobie Brothers on record, marked by pleasing vocal harmonies and unusual melodies, was recognizable, but only slightly, since it was loud enough to be felt, rather than heard.

The sound was probably best out on the lawn, though listeners there had to suffer through cold rain and muddy grass.

For those on the lawn, and for those in the amphitheatre with cotton in their ears, the sound of the Doobie Brothers ranged from hard rock to jazz. Halfway through the show, the Memphis Horns brought the brass tones of trumpet, trombone and sax to the electric guitars of the original group.

The Doobie Brothers really took the audience in hand with their top ten hit, “Blackwater, which stands out among rock hits today for its unaccompanied vocals and almost Dixieland sound. “Blackwater” played on the SPAC stage was much more than on record, however, with the Memphis horns adding a jazz jam to the end of the song.

Youth turned out for the concert in droves, although the majority of them could not see the show. Aside from the fireworks, lighting and backgrounds, the Doobie Brothers are showmen, not entertainers in the true sense. They play their music, shake their lion’s manes and stamp, but are poor speakers when addressing the audience, which, for the most part, could not understand what they said anyway.

Warming up the crowd was a group called the Outlaws, which during the first song promised to be an exceptional warmup group. They died, however during a long piece which really couldn’t be called music by any stretch of the imagination. There was nothing unique about the Outlaws, from their cowboy hats to their one-two drum beat.