Live Nation offering $30 all-in tickets at Blossom Music Center
Live Nation 's new summer concert promotion kicks off Wednesday with the live music behemoth offering $30 tickets to roughly 1,000 concerts around the country.
Zoom in: The " $30 Ticket to Summer" begins at 10am and applies to over 15 of the nearly 30 upcoming shows at Blossom Music Center.
The list includes Halsey, James Taylor, Nelly, Cyndi Lauper, The Black Keys and the Doobie Brothers.
Flashback: The promotion replaces Live Nation's annual "Concert Week," which lasted a decade and featured $25 tickets over a week.
This new promotion will add more tickets throughout the summer, giving fans more flexibility.
The fine print: Tickets purchased through the offer include all fees in the $30 cost, according to Live Nation.
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USA Today
5 hours ago
- USA Today
Doobie Brothers on new album, tour, hall of fame: 'You have to think beyond your age'
Doobie Brothers on new album, tour, hall of fame: 'You have to think beyond your age' Show Caption Hide Caption Fans of Jimmy Buffett fill the Key West streets at parade in his honor Key West residents and fans of Jimmy Buffett gave the singer-songerwriter a last goodbye with a parade in his honor. Ariana Triggs, Storyful With a new album, tour and impending induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Doobie Brothers are takin' it to the streets like it's 1976. The quartet of Patrick Simmons, Tom Johnston, John McFee and Michael McDonald will hit the road Aug. 4 partially to jam through their 50-plus years of hits such as 'Listen to the Music,' 'Black Water,' 'What a Fool Believes' and 'China Grove,' but also to support their 16th studio album, 'Walk This Road,' out June 6. The album, which features Mavis Staples and Mick Fleetwood, also marks their first with McDonald in the studio in more than 40 years. A bit of nostalgia also colors their upcoming live shows, as the six-week tour will spotlight openers The Coral Reefer Band, the beloved touring and recording outfit of Jimmy Buffett, who died in 2023. Recently, Simmons – from Maui, his home of 30 years – and McDonald – from his 100-year-old hacienda in Santa Barbara, California – talked about the inherent positivity in the new album, the Doobies' history with the Coral Reefer Band and why Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones might end up directing their documentary. The Songwriters Hall of Fame is such a huge honor. What went through your mind when you heard about it? Michael McDonald: To be inducted alongside my friends Pat and Tom means all the more to me. Those were the guys who gave me the opportunity to be recognized as a songwriter. To be recognized with a group of people you've admired all your life is pretty meaningful. Patrick Simmons: It's a little surreal. You never think of yourself as having that credibility. When you're first starting out writing songs you never have confidence in anything and when people start responding to your songs, it's such a kick. You're always in search of the next song. Do you remember the first song you wrote? Simmons: I can't specifically, but it was probably some kind of blues-gospel thing with religious overtones from my Lutheran heritage (laughs). I was 15 and singing it in a coffeehouse while I was doing mostly covers and people politely applauded. You've got another lengthy tour coming up. How do you physically prepare? McDonald: Since I don't do anything, I'll let Pat answer. Simmons: I've got a hill I live on and walk it several times a day and am always working on a project. Not that that counts as calisthenics. But I try to always stay in motion and on the road try to get out and walk every day. We're all in our 70's now. I used to think that was old. I do feel it, but it's hard to believe we're out here doing it at this age, and in my head I'm still 16. You have to think beyond your age. It's a life adventure. What went into the decision to tour with the Coral Reefer Band? Simmons: The concept was more of, who is somebody we can tour with who will be complementary musically and be of interest to the audience. I think everybody went, that's really cool. Were you friends with Jimmy Buffet? Simmons: I would run into him occasionally. We had toured with him for years and years in the '70s. He was such an understated guy. He was always quality. Great playing, great singing, some funny songs with eccentric and esoteric concepts in his music. We got to be friendly with all the guys, so this is coming full circle. With this new album, Michael, how did it feel to be back recording with the guys? McDonald: It's been a while since we did it that way and the technology has changed, for better or worse … The new procedure is interesting. As you're writing the song you're recording it into a file and that is the basis you use for the track even if it's just a feeling. So it's kind of fun to feel like the song hasn't had to morph into something else. Some of my fondest memories of being in the studio are the first time I heard the band play 'Takin' It To the Streets.' I was like, wow! When the band started playing it, it took on a whole new life. The title track features Mavis Staples. What was it like recording with her? McDonald: (Producer) John Shanks came to us and said, "You've been walking this path for 50 years. Let's write about that." It became a broader message and what better ambassador for humanity and with empathy for each other and someone who remembers we're all on this path together than Mavis? That was always the message of (The Staple Singers). It was a thrill, though, when she came into the studio. What's the status on a new Doobie Brothers documentary? Simmons: We're still fumbling around. We have so much film and archives and so much film from 1973, stuff we shot on 16 millimeter and for a whole tour back then. But I think what's happening is we're so mired down in that there are so many documentaries out there so do we want to do this right now? It's almost a little saturated now, so we thought let's put it on the back burner for now. We'll wait 'til we're 90. It can be directed by Keith Richards.
San Francisco Chronicle
12 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Why the Doobie Brothers still matter in 2025
Since the early 1970s, the Doobie Brothers have provided the soundtrack to countless road trips and backyard parties with songs like ' Listen to the Music,' ' Long Train Runnin' ' and ' What a Fool Believes,' among many others. Yet half a century into their storied classic rock career, the band finds itself stuck with an unlikely label: yacht rock pioneer. After a 2005 web spoof went viral, the Doobie Brothers got lumped into the R&B-influenced soft rock subgenre promulgated by acts like Boz Scaggs, Kenny Loggins and Christopher Cross. Nostalgic heartstrings were tugged, yacht rock cover bands spread the gospel, and a recent HBO documentary exposed new generations to this invented but totally legit phenomenon. 'The whole idea of yacht rock, comically, is not lost on me,' Michael McDonald told the Chronicle, on video call from his Santa Barbara home. 'If I have to be attached to any group of musicians or bands or songs, I couldn't be prouder to be counted among bands like Steely Dan and Hall & Oates.' It's another curious twist of the tail for the Bay Area music legends. During their Carter-era peak, the Doobie Brothers were hitting cruising altitude in their DoobieLiner jet, high off a string of instantly recognizable hits and readily available substances. By 1976, they already had a greatest hits compilation that has sold more than 10 million albums in the U.S. to date. Now 56 years after their humble San Jose beginnings, the Rock and Roll Hall of Famers are back with their 16th studio album 'Walk This Road,' out Friday, June 6. A week later, members Patrick Simmons, Tom Johnston and McDonald will be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame on June 12. Johnston credits the band's success and longevity — they survived addiction, deaths, lineup changes and a five-year hiatus — to the strong connection fans have made with their music. 'They look fondly on the band because our songs are associated with good times,' said Johnston, on joint video call with his bandmates, from his home in Visalia (Tulare County). 'We're extremely fortunate to have that.' Johnston and Simmons are OG San Jose like the Winchester Mystery House. They met at San Jose State University in the '60s, and together they would prowl Bay Area clubs and bars. In the process, they scooped up like-minded souls like drummer John Hartman and bassist Dave Shogren who would eventually form the Doobie nucleus in 1970. 'Living in the Bay Area had a profound influence on me musically because there was so much live music all the time,' said Simmons. 'It really sparked my imagination.' A regular gig as the unofficial house band at Chateau Liberté in the Santa Cruz Mountains sealed their reputation as a favorite among local Hells Angels, who would ride their hogs into the joint without complaint. Moby Grape's Skip Spence was a key contributor to their rootsy hybrid sound. Hits like 'Black Water,' 'Take Me In Your Arms (Rock Me a Little While)' and 'Jesus Is Just Alright' revealed regional inspirations outside the 408, from swampy blues to joyous R&B. 'One of the things I really like about the band was that it never put stylistic limits on the music,' said Doobies guitarist John McFee, who joined the band in 1979, from his Santa Barbara home. 'We try to find things that work and just be as creative as possible.' The addition of McDonald in 1976 opened up the band's sonic palette further into R&B and gospel territory, and set the wheels in motion for a sound reset. 'Takin' it to the Streets' and 'What a Fool Believes,' the latter which won a 1980 Grammy for song of the year, showcased McDonald's bearded brogue that would later define the yacht rock aesthetic. On the band's new album 'Walk This Road,' the Doobie Brothers have matured like fine whiskey. Their voices have mellowed a touch, yet still have a satisfying residual burn. Mortality is a naturally occurring topic for the members whose average age is 74, as the group reflects on strengthening bonds ('Call Me'), achieving peace ('State of Grace') and pondering life's eternal lessons (the title track, a duet with gospel and R&B legend Mavis Staples). 'We have a lot of common feelings about where we've been and where we're going,' Simmons explained, joining the Zoom from his Maui residence. 'And it comes out in the songs.' 'Walk This Road' is a homecoming for McDonald, who hasn't recorded with the Doobie Brothers since 1980. He contributed 'Speed of Pain' and 'Learn to Let Go' to the new album, both imbued with his inimitable voice and keyboard touches. Even during the peak of his solo popularity, McDonald said he's always stayed in touch with his Doobie brothers. He especially enjoys playing different instruments with the group, which he doesn't get to do in his own band. 'It's a great opportunity to become a part of the band again,' McDonald said. 'I've always enjoyed playing the music of the Doobie Brothers every bit as much, and sometimes more than, my own.' Having a string of hits has resulted in a wide swath of Doobie admirers across a spectrum of genres. A 2010 tribute album, 'Southbound,' highlighted their lasting give-and-take connection with country music, featuring artists like Zac Brown Band and Brad Paisley. There are pop, house, funk, even Cuban jazz renditions of the Doobie Brothers songs. They've been sampled by producers and DJs like J Dilla ('367') and Daft Punk ('Face to Face'). And McDonald's 'I Keep Forgettin' (Every Time You're Near)' forms the foundational bed for Warren G and Nate Dogg's G-funk classic 'Regulate.' Oakland R&B great Raphael Saadiq included 'China Grove' in his 2025 NBA All-Star Game medley, and yacht rock cover bands keep sprouting up as a new generation taps in and climbs aboard. All this interest keeps the Doobie Brothers hype train on track. In July, they'll kick off their 2025 'Walk This Road' tour in the U.K., with U.S. dates following in August. Johnston doesn't take the transformational power of live music for granted. He said the goosebump-raising feeling of an audience reacting to familiar opening chords of hits like ' Rockin' Down the Highway ' never gets old, even after more than five decades. 'If you can get that, man, take that to the bank and hang on to it,' Johnston said, 'because that's one of the reasons people keep coming back.' 'It's like we've been invited into people's lives, and we've become part of them,' added McFee. 'And that's an amazing thing. What a great benefit of playing music — to be lucky enough to make that kind of connection with people.'
Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Yahoo
50 years on, the Doobie Brothers are more harmony than testosterone
These days, the Doobie Brothers are much more relaxed and open when heading to the recording than in the band's heyday in the 1970s and early 1980s. "Anything goes, we don't really have any presuppositions entrenched," singer and keyboardist Michael McDonald tells dpa in London. "We might have done that more like in the old days when we all suffered from more testosterone than we do now," he says with grin. A milestone in the band's long history "Walk This Road" is the name of the new Doobie Brothers album, a work marking a milestone in their history. After more than 50 years of music making, it is namely the first record which has been jointly recorded as a band by Tom Johnston (76), Pat Simmons (76), John McFee (74) and Michael McDonald (73). There were the occasional guest appearances and tours, but never - until now - were the four Doobie veterans together in a studio as full-fledged band members. Amid the differing musical ideas of guitarist and singer Johnston and the later band member McDonald, the two men never worked together for any length of time. Johnston stood for classic rock'n'roll, blues and boogie and for such hits as "Long Train Runnin'." Later, McDonald helped the band achieve megahits such as "What A Fool Believes" with his style of soulful pop and R&B sounds. The many musical sides of the Doobie Brothers The Doobie Brothers now agree that their versatility is one of their strengths. This was in evidence during the recently concluded tour marking the band's 50th anniversary, during which Michael McDonald returned as a firm member. "We can present all eras of the band. That's pretty cool. Because it gives you a variety," a jubilant Johnston said. "There's really no downside to any of this." The same thing can be said about the new album, although the members mostly wrote the songs separately with successful producer John Shanks (Bon Jovi, Take That). "We're shooting for the songs that work best for the band and that we think the band can express and represent as the Doobie Brothers," said McDonald. The method worked perfectly for the new LP. Highlights include the rousing Southern rocker "Angels & Mercy" sung by Simmons and the soulful "Learn To Let Go" featuring McDonald's uniquely unmistakable voice which still sounds powerful and warm at the age of 73. A stroke of fate as source of inspiration McDonald had written some of the songs years before in an attempt to come to terms with a stroke of fate, the death of his friend and Doobies drummer Keith Knudsen in 2005. "It rattled the hell out of me," the singer recalled. "It was a big loss for me, the family, and the whole band." And so he began to write. The best example for the harmony that today defines the Doobie Brothers is, by the way, the good-natured title song with soul legend Mavis Staples - with Tom Johnston, Pat Simmons and Michael McDonald all singing along, together. The different styles harmonise as well with each other as do the band members. "Walk This Road" combines the qualities of such different album classics as "The Captain And Me" and "Minute By Minute" seemingly effortlessly. A wonderful late work by the Doobie Brothers.
