The Monday, August 18 concert at Saratoga Performing Arts Center featuring the Doobie Brothers with warmup by Jimmy Buffett’s Coral Reefers, provided a nostalgic evening of comparisons and contrasts.
Both bands were large, well-known groups chock full of talented musicians who dished out hit after hit to adoring fans, but in the grand analysis, they were like night and day in some respects.
Leading off at 7p.m. “Jimmy Buffett’s Coral Reefers” featured many of the late Buffett’s original entourage, and they paid great tribute to Buffett’s legacy – even in the timbre and Southern twang of their voices and their laid-back dress code. (Three out of nine musicians sported Hawaiian or tropical-motif shirts; some were in shorts and cut-offs, and one had bare feet.) Of course, there were beachballs almost instantly to add to the fun.
“Jimmy was a happy guy, a good role model,” long-time guitarist and vocalist Mac McAnally said in respect to Buffett.
The Coral Reefers’ show was one of simple melodies with narrative, often humorous lyrics laced with feel-good tinges of steel drums, pedal steel and bongos for a Caribbean flavor. The light-hearted island theme was helped along by background graphics that were bright, sometimes almost childlike, and humorous, such as palm trees made out of stacked cheeseburgers for “Cheeseburger in Paradise” or simple videos of rolling surf, islands, boats, tropical sunsets, circling sharks or sentimental shots of Jimmy.
The Doobies, who followed at 8:45 p.m., by contrast, pumped out perhaps a higher-octane brand of music with complex layers, abundant instrumental interludes, arguably more serious and less narrative lyrics, and background voices that were almost as integral as the lead vocals to the message and the music.
Several songs penned by frequent lead vocalist and keyboardist Michael McDonald veered toward social problems and contained soulful elements that blended gospel zeal with rock and jazz. For example, “Walk This Road” seemed to mix rock and gospel and was backed up by video clips of black protests, boycotts and citizenship scenes.
In “Taking It to the Streets,” McDonald, now with a full head of white hair and a white beard, crooned, “You don’t know me but I’m your brother…You tell me the things you’re gonna do for me,” and the backdrop featured a shifting montage of street scenes, protests and old footage of the band.
Jazz elements came front and center when saxophonist Mark Russo, with the band since 1998, literally “took it to the streets” or at least to the aisles of the amphitheater when he roved amidst the audience to play solo bits before returning to the stage.
In one of the final numbers, McDonald on keyboards and Russo (who must have lung capacity and core muscles to die for the way he could make that sax squeal) joined in a spotlit instrumental duet that started out with phrases of “Auld Lang Syne” then built and careened to what came off as a high-intensity, improvisational conversation between instruments. Slick playing galore!
Both bands, to the audience’s delight, drew the crowd in with references to Saratoga. The Doobies, at one point, called Saratoga Springs and SPAC “a beautiful city, a beautiful venue and beautiful people.” Later, guitarist and vocalist Pat Simmons, original to the band and now wearing long grey hair and a hefty collection of ear jewelry, substituted “New York” for “Mississippi moon, won’t ya keep on shinin’” in “Black Water.”
McAnally of the Coral Reefers wove in “Saratoga” as a place to which he would go among places that “No, no, no” he wasn’t sure about “when the Volcano blow(s).”
A couple numbers later, McAnally introduced “Boat Drinks,” eighth in the lineup, by noting, “We don’t always sing this, but it’s relevant to Saratoga…Jimmy really didn’t like cold weather.” Per McAnally’s anecdote, Buffett was drinking in a Boston, MA bar on a cold winter day when he saw a travel ad for the Caribbean, left the bar, jumped into an unmanned cab with the door open, went back to his hotel to pack quickly and drove to Logan Airport and got himself a ticket.
“He left it [the cab] just as he found it,” McAnally said, and Buffett got “zero consequences for stealing a taxi cab.” It was a great yarn, as are so many of the lyrics in Buffett’s musical repertoire.
By contrast, the lyrics of the Doobie Brothers’ songs are less linear like stories and sometimes take a back seat to instrumentalism, repeated refrains (examples: “It Keeps You Runnin’” and “Minute by Minute”), vocal riffs (oohs, ah-ah-ahs and soulful interjections) and almost a jam-session quality to some of their music. All good stuff, just very different from the Coral Reefers’ style.
Of course there are exceptions, especially with the Doobies’ new material, some of which they shared from their latest album, Walk This Road, the name of their current tour, which is coming to an end.
“Angels & Mercy,” for instance, had more of a rock and country vibe, maybe even rockabilly or outlaw rock, as band member John McFee, on and off a member since 1979, joined guitarists on the fiddle.
“Call Me,” led vocally by guitarist and original band member Tom Johnston, had a lighter, simpler, upbeat melody.
The Doobie Brothers’ lineup switched frequently between up-tempo and moodier fare, whereas the Coral Reefers’ mellow style and beach-and-boat repertoire may not have accommodated such extremes.
The Reefers, however, did mix things up by having female backup singer Nadirah Shakoor sing two numbers, “One Particular Harbour” and “Fins” (with shark-fin hand motions) and included plenty of vulnerable, soul-searching songs, “Come Monday,” “A Pirate Looks at Forty”, and “Bubbles Up,” co-written by Buffett and Reefer Will Kimbrough, who sang the number in homage to Buffett.
The Reefers also included a couple of covers, “Southern Cross” and “Brown Eyed Girl” to add variety.
The Doobies, however, seemed to have more variety within their hybrid genre to showcase diverse musical approaches. For example, they swung from their eleventh number, “Without You,” where they “kicked things up a notch,” per Simmons, and all four guitarists, including bass guitar player John Cowan gathered at the front of the stage for an electric interlude, to their gospelly blues rendition of the Art Reynolds Singers’ “Jesus is Just Alright” against a church-window backdrop.
Their lilting harmonies of “What a Fool Believes,” replete with nostalgic footage of the band, similarly segued sharply to the strong rhythm and pulsing of “Long Train Runnin’” with the audience belting out “Without love, where would you be now?” and roaring an extended “Lo-ove” on the chorus.
The diversely talented McFee pitched in to the energy with a harmonica solo.
The Doobie Brothers closed their regular lineup with a rousing singalong of “China Grove”, which included another three -guitar interlude, before returning to the stage for their first encore, perhaps their most atypical hit, “Black Water.”
Both bands were terrific about involving their audience. For the Doobies’ final encore, Johnston urged the crowd to participate, noting, “We’ve got one more song. Can you help us out?” The song, “Listen to the Music,” had the crowd on their feet singing the chorus a capella.
The Coral Reefers were not outdone in their finale, however, as the audience sang along to the well-known, self-examining lines of “Margaritaville” and chanted “Salt, salt salt” after a reference to Buffett’s “lost shaker of salt” and “Hang on, hang on, hang on” after the line about a frozen concoction helping him to hang on.
Perhaps one of the biggest and most endearing commonalities between the two groups was their mention of “family” after performing together for decades and their reverence for and appreciation of their respective bands as teams.
Hey. Differences? Similarities? Variety is the spice of life, and these two bands made it “Five O’clock Somewhere” – namely, SPAC – and provided a “License to Chill” for a lot of appreciative fans who relaxed and enjoyed an evening of diverse entertainment.
The Coral Reefer Band Setlist: License to Chill, Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes, It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere, One Particular Harbour, Come Monday, Volcano, Son of a Son of a Sailor, Boat Drinks, Bubbles Up, Cheeseburger in Paradise, Southern Cross (Crosby, Stills & Nash), Fins, A Pirate Looks at Forty, Brown Eyed Girl (Van Morrison)
Encore: Margaritaville
The Doobie Brothers Setlist: Take Me in Your Arms (Rock Me a Little While) (Eddie Holland), Here to Love You, Dependin’ on You, Walk This Road, Rockin’ Down the Highway, It Keeps You Runnin’, Call Me, Minute by Minute, Learn to Let Go, Angels & Mercy, Without You, Jesus Is Just Alright (The Art Reynolds Singers), What a Fool Believes, Long Train Runnin’, China Grove
Encore: Black Water, Auld Lang Syne Instrumental Duet, Takin’ It to the Streets, Let the Music Play
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