PROMOTER RENEN DE GUIA sounded very disappointed on the phone, two hours before the Michael McDonald-Boz Scaggs concert Tuesday night at the Araneta Coliseum.

This might be his biggest flop, he said of the show, because the people he expected to buy tickets were nowhere in sight. How could he continue bringing in these type of gigs, he wondered, without an audience? What the heck, we thought. It?s the show that matters, not whether there?s a big or small crowd.

Happy ending

Around midnight, De Guia sent this happy text message: ?Strong walk-in sales. Ang husay nila!?

Some 6,000 people actually bought tickets that night?maybe not a resounding financial success for the promoter, but certainly not a flop, either.

And the best part? The show was not bad at all.

There were uncomfortable moments when McDonald?his once jet-black hair and beard now all-white?struggled to hit the high notes in the early part of his set. But the never-say-die spirit in his blue-eyed soul vocals, coupled with the solid musicianship of the band, saved the day.

Saxophonist Vincent Denham blew some hot solos and guitarist Bernard Chiaravalle had fiery moments in songs that underlined McDonald?s R&B influences.

Black female backup singer Andrea Merrit provided excellent support, her presence strongly felt in most numbers, climaxing in ?Takin? It To the Streets??a pop-rock tune about activism which ended with a passionate gospel touch.

As the crowd grooved on ?Minute By Minute? and ?What a Fool Believes,? it became apparent where McDonald dug up his musical roots: Motown, from which sprang ?I Heard It Through the Grapevine?; and country, from which ?You Don?t Know Me? crossed over to pop and R&B.

He sang those classics with heart and soul, and blues-y intros on his keyboards.

A dash of jazz

Scaggs carried on the soul-driven mood, fusing it with a dash of jazz, impressive guitar-playing and cool vocals that seemed to have withstood the test of time.

His repertoire, mostly from the 1976 smash-hit album ?Silk Degrees,? had a vitality preserved by an equally topnotch band. Like McDonald, Scaggs had a black female backup singer, Conisha Owens, who put her own stamp on the Afro-influenced numbers.

Scagg?s own singing had an interesting variety of styles: from easygoing jive in ?Jojo? and ?Lowdown,? to straight-ahead rock in ?Lido Shuffle,? to emotive pop in ?We?re All Alone??all of which exuded an appeal that we?ll never get tired of hearing.