Saturday Night Headliners: Main Stage

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And if fans have any understanding of what to expect from the Doobie Brothers, it’s probably the unexpected. “In a certain sense, it’s vintage Doobie Brothers,” Simmons says. “It certainly has the two original writers and there’s a certain signature there in terms of the vocal sound that comes from each of us as writers. As far as the songs are concerned, there are elements of things we’ve done in the past and some new ways we’ve applied them. There are also some newer approaches and elements we haven’t used.”

McFee says “The one thing that has always been true of the Doobie Brothers is an avoidance of limiting the music stylistically – it’s always been about making the best music the band can do, no boundaries involved.”

“The band is the band, and that’s a good thing,” Johnston says. “You don’t want to go so far that people say, ‘Who the hell is that?’ The vocals are big identifiers as Pat and I have voices people seem to know. And a song like ‘Old Juarez’ has a Doobie-ish feel even though it’s a Latin style track.”

“That’s been the goal with all of our records,” Simmons sums. “To try to achieve that diversity but at the same time remain true to ourselves.” And if World Gone Crazy is a microcosm of the (greater) Doobie Brothers, then the Doobie Brothers are as appropriate a projection of American music as can be found in one long running association of musicians. “This band represents a lot of American music styles,” Johnston says. “From the finger-picking stuff that Pat does – and John can do as well – to blues, jazz, rock and roll. By the time you get done you’ve got, to lift a song title from another group, an American band.”

Like the nation that spawned the many musical styles they’ve adopted, the Doobie Brothers’ deepest traditions are change, growth, striving and an abiding faith in the future. And so World Gone Crazy pays tribute to the Doobie Brothers legacy the most appropriate way possible … by moving resolutely forward.

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