ShareThe Doobie Brothers performing their Walk This Road Tour at The O2 Arena London on Saturday 19th July 2025.
Review by Kevin Cooper
American rockers, The Doobie Brothers, were at The O2 Arena London on Saturday night to deliver a no frills experience that melted hard rock riffs, Latin rhythms, blue eyed soul and the musicianship of a great jam band, showing that their music stills defies categorisation.
The Doobie Brothers have been around in various permutations since 1970 but this UK tour is a bit special because Michael McDonald has joined founding members Tom Johnston, Patrick Simmons and John McFee who joined the line-up in 1979.
They came out swinging with the one-two combo of the Motown rave up, Take Me In Your Arms (Rock Me A Little While) and the swampy funk of Here To Love You, which set the tone of the evening. Their harmonies are still superb, as they swerved from the bossa nova song, Dependin’ On You to the American roots rocker, Rockin’ Down The Highway, which saw the crowd marvelling at the virtuosity of it all.
Touring to promote their sixteenth studio album, Walk This Road, this classic band showed that they can still create new music that can go toe to toe with the big hits of yesteryear. Showcasing three new songs, Call Me, Angels & Mercy and the title track from the album had the crowd’s attention. But it was the oldies that had the crowd on their feet and whilst McDonald’s world class soulful voice still retains a singular power and gorgeous tone, it was evident on It Keeps You Runnin’ which was definitely funkier whilst Minute By Minute was truly terrific and gelled really well.
As the set barrelled to the end, The Doobie Brothers and a handful of first class musicians pulled out all of the big guns, Simmons took the lead on Jesus Is Just Alright, Long Train Runnin’ was just epic and highlighted the entire band, and McDonald’s What A Fool Believes allowed them to spread the accolades amongst all of the members and band.
It was evident though that whilst all the band are over 70 they did not spend any time building a rapport with the audience so the set finished abruptly after ninety minutes. But not before the encore that included the folksy classic Black Water, a light jazzy stripped back version of Amazing Grace, a soulful Takin’ It To The Streets and a rousing Listen To the Music that still raised the hairs on the back of your neck.
Whilst it was hard to escape the impression that The Doobie Brothers had come to deliver a performance that was intent on relying upon their legendary status to subsidise a lack of any other production effort, the crowd at The O2 had come to listen to music that transported them to a better place, as the songs filled the Arena with unerring ease.