If there was any doubt that Chicago and the Doobie Brothers belonged together, it was dispelled last night at the First Niagara Pavilion. The audience clearly knew music from both of them -- of course, with all the hits generated by these two stalwart bands of the 1970s and early 1980s, they would have been hard to miss.
The Doobies, who were up first, had only two original members performing. Fortunately, they were Tom Johnston and Patrick Simmons, from the beginning the band's primary vocalists and songwriters. Mr. Johnston was especially in fine form throughout. You did hear much of the old catalog, such as the opening covers of "Jesus is Just Alright" and "Take Me In Your Arms"; the country/acoustic "Black Water"; and the stomping "Long Train Runnin'" and closing "China Grove."
But the South Bay Guitar Army came up with some new and obscure stuff as well. Mr. Johnston was featured on the lyrically upbeat "A Brighter Day," from the Doobies' most recent album "World Gone Crazy"; and Mr. Simmons switched to an acoustic on the Celtic/Appalachian-influenced "Pure as the Driven Snow," which came from "The Captain & Me" and which featured the trademark extremely tight vocal harmonies. Mr. Simmons and fellow guitarist John McFee teamed up to perform an all-acoustic instrumental duo piece that represented the musical highlight of that set.
I can't say enough about Mr. McFee, who played pedal steel on "South City Midnight Lady," added the classic fiddle fills on "Black Water" and blew the harp on "Long Train Runnin'." Whatever the band is paying him, he's earning every cent.
Chicago, by contrast, was a bit of a comedown. Opening with a truncated "Ballet for a Girl In Buchannon" -- it cut out everything save the opening/closing "Make Me Smile/Now More Than Ever" and "Colour My World" -- its set didn't seem to match the punch of the Doobies despite the considerable musicianship. Much of the band's material, such as "Just You 'n' Me," "(I've Been) Searchin' So Long" and "Beginnings" seemed a tad routine.
"Street Player," the band's solid attempt at disco when it was in vogue, was a major surprise -- not only for that reason but also that it was written by former drummer Danny Seraphine, who was fired 22 years ago. However, bassist/vocalist Jason Scheff's repetition of the line "Street sounds swirling through my mind" was quite irritating.
For the past few years Chicago has held an auction to raise money for breast cancer research, the local winner getting to sing "If You Leave Me Now" at a concert. If Josephine Crooks was nervous, it didn't show in her performance as she nailed every note. And after more than 30 years, Chicago has finally found the vocal replacement for the late Terry Kath, as keyboardist Lou Pardini, who replaced Bill Champlin in 2009, demonstrated on the first part of "Dialogue."
The strongest part of the show was the last, when both bands came out do to each other's music, recalling Chicago's amalgam about a decade ago with Earth, Wind & Fire. Seeing nine men singing in harmony on those six songs was quite impressive in its own right.
"Takin' It to the Streets," which of course was originally recorded with horns, was the only Doobies song from the Michael McDonald era that made the set list. "Free" featured saxophonists Marc Russo (now with the Doobies but formerly of Tower of Power and the Yellowjackets) and Ray Herman (subbing for Chicago reedman Walt Parazaider) trading off. No Chicago concert would be complete without "25 or 6 to 4," tailor-made for this ensemble, with Chicago's Keith Howland trading off with the three Doobie Brothers guitarists. But that bombastic ending has, to be truthful, lost some feel.
First Published: August 3, 2012, 7:00 p.m.
