Cincinnati, OH (August 26, 2026)—The Doobie Brothers’ recent 25-date Walk This Road North American amphitheater tour, the first in 40 years to reunite Michael McDonald with the other principal members, featured a Cohesion Audio system.
Front-of-house and system engineer Andrew Black, who previously mixed monitors for the Doobie Brothers before inheriting the FOH role from Greg Nelson, selected Cohesion as the P.A. “Greg had Cohesion, and I wanted to keep it,” Black said. “It’s incredibly friendly to production, and sonically, it’s my cabinet of choice.”
The audio system, deployed by Clair Global, comprised 12–16 Cohesion CO12 left-right for the main hangs and another 10–12 CO12 on the side hangs, the exact count dependent on specific venue geometry. Three Cohesion CP218 II+ subwoofers were flown per side in cardioid configuration, and another six were vertically stacked on the ground, also in cardioid. A Cohesion CP118+ was used as a drum sub. Six Cohesion CP6+ self-powered fill speakers were placed across the stage to cover the first few rows of seating, which included VIP areas.
Vocalist and keys player McDonald, back on tour with the Doobie Brothers for the first time in decades, had a specially designed setup of fill speakers and monitors. He used two Cohesion CF24 fills on stands and two Cohesion CM22 wedges on the ground.
Monitor engineer Mike Klowas described the configuration: “I’m using [the CF24] for keyboard, organ and a little mandolin. Frequency-wise, they’re great, and they have a super-low profile. They’re excellent short-throw with good clarity. It sounds like a bigger speaker than it is. You see this tiny speaker, and you’re surprised how punchy it is. It packs a lot of power for its form factor.
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“We use this setup with the CM22 and the CF24 to bring the sound up in front of Michael and [increasing signal to noise to] help with the room sound,” he continued. “It’s worked out very well.”
Walk This Road was one of the first tours to use Cohesion’s novel aerial amplifier rack designed specifically for use with its new amplification technology. The aesthetically integrated solution dramatically reduced cable runs and improved audio quality.