Doc Neeson - 2000 To Present

2000 To Present

In February 2001, Neeson performed at the Tour of Duty Encore! concert at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. In the same year the ABC had featured Doc Neeson and The Angels in the music TV series Long Way To The Top which was an insight to 50 years of Australian rock 'n' roll.

In December 2003, he formed the band Doc Neeson's Angels.

In May 2005, Neeson formed the band Red Phoenix and released a self-titled album. The band lineup was Doc Neeson, David Lowy, Peter Northcote, Jim Hilbun and Fab Omodei.

In 2006, Doc Neeson of The Angels was featured on a postage stamp for Australia Post as part of their "Australian Rock Posters The Stamps" collection.

In August and September 2007 Neeson appeared and toured with the Doc Neeson's Angels for the Countdown Spectacular 2 tour.

During October and November 2007, Doc Neeson's Angels was on the "Tour de Force" tour of Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait, supporting the Australian Troops. Neeson was presented with two military medals in Baghdad while touring across the Middle East as part of a morale-boosting concert series for Australian troops known as 'Tour de Force.'The band lineup for this tour consisted of Dave Leslie (guitar), Mick Skelton (drums), Sara Gray (bass) and Mitch Hutchinson (guitar).

In 2008 Doc Neeson reunited with the original Angels band - Rick and John Brewster, Buzz Bidstrup and Chris Bailey - who have since done extensive national touring. Multiple Angels CD and DVD releases by Alberts Music coincided with the release by Albert Music of the 30th Anniversary edition of the legendary “Face To Face” album, along with previously unreleased material and a sensational DVD of a live concert in Melbourne “This is It Folks!”

In August 2008 Doc Neeson and his songwriting partners in The Angels, the Brewster Brothers, were inducted into The Australian Songwriters Association Hall of Fame in recognition of their songwriting contribution to Australian music.

In 2009 Neeson toured nationally with The Angels to sell-out crowds, and was named by The Irish Echo newspaper as one of the Top 100 Irish People in Australia of all time. He also performed in “A Symphony of Angels” in April 2010 at the Adelaide Festival Theatre with The Adelaide Art Orchestra.

In 2010, he began a solo project. In November of that year he played semi-acoustic concerts with a band including former Angels bassist Jim Hilbun. For the time being he is still involved with The Angels but he is preparing to record a new solo album.

In 2012 the Doc Neeson band continues to perform across Australia. The current band lineup consists of Mitch Hutchinson (guitar), Mark Fenwick (guitar), Dave Roberts (drums) and Justin Bianchi (bass).

On Thursday, 10th January, 2013 it was announced that Doc Neeson has been diagnosed with a brain tumour and will undergo immediate treatment. The Angels 100% Tour management released this statement: "To all The Angels friends, fans, venues and media It is with deep regret and shock that The Angels have to announce that Mr Doc Neeson was admitted to hospital over the recent Christmas/New Year period. He has just been diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer, (brain tumour). This will require immediate intensive radiation and chemotherapy treatment and will continue for the next 6-7 months."

The Angels 100% Tour was cancelled on January 10.

John Brewster and Rick Brewster, who formed The Angels with Doc Neeson in 1974 said: “We are thinking of all the good times we’ve had and the camaraderie that came with them, the hard work that we all did over so many years.

“Our thoughts are with Doc, his family and others close to him, and we wish him a speedy and complete recovery”.