Concert Review: STEELY DAN

[Captain Bacardi]

I finally got to see Steely Dan on Wednesday night at the Bass Concert Hall in Austin. This is their first trip to Austin since the early 70's when they played at the old Armadillo World Headquarters. The place was packed and it was clear that they struck gold with this show.

There was a brief opening group called the Deep Blue Organ Trio, who performed four tasty treats for the crowd.

Then the Steely Dan band came out (sans Becker & Fagen) and played Gerry Mulligan's "Blueport" to start things out. All of the horn players got a chance to solo. The band consisted of Jim Beard on keyboards, Keith Carlock on drums, Jon Herington on guitar, Michael Leonhart on trumpet, Jim Pugh (!) on trombone, Roger Rosenberg on baritone sax, Walt Weiskopf on tenor and soprano sax, "Ready" Freddie Washington on bass (from Herb's Magic Man album), along with singers La Tanya Hall, Catherine Russell and Carolyn Leonhart-Escoffery. As "Blueport" was winding down both Donald Fagen and Walter Becker came on stage to a roaring applause.

SD then opened with "Your Gold Teeth", then whipped right into "Aja", with an incredible drum solo by Carlock (who got several solo spots). They ended up playing most of the Aja album. Here's the set list:

Blueport (Gerry Mulligan cover)
Your Gold Teeth
Aja
Hey Nineteen
Show Biz Kids
Black Friday
Black Cow
Time Out of Mind
Godwhacker
Daddy Don't Live in That New York City No More
Bodhisattva
Razor Boy
Babylon Sisters
I Want To (Do Everything for You) (Joe Tex cover)
Josie
Peg
My Old School
Reelin' in the Years

Encore:
Kid Charlemagne
Outro: Untouchables theme

The highlight for me was trombonist Jim Pugh getting several solo opportunities, and he did not disappoint at all. I had heard of Pugh since the early 70's when I was in high school and he was with Woody Herman's band. Guitarist Herington also dazzled the crowd with his playing.

The only touch of a negative was with Fagen's voice. He wasn't really nailing some high notes like he used to, especially on tunes as "Aja". But he did let the lady singers, whom he called the "Border Brats" cover for him as the show went on. Becker did a humorous monologue in the middle of "Hey Nineteen" and doing guitar fills when he wasn't talking. Becker and Fagen then left the stage as the band did the theme to "The Untouchables" which ended the show.

This was one of the more memorable concerts I had ever seen and I'm glad I finally got to see these guys play. Nothing like listening to real music with actual chord changes and talented musicians to make me smile.



Capt. Bacardi

 

[Mike Blakesley]

I'm surprised they didn't play "Do It Again" since it was one of their biggest hits....but they were always too cool to do the obvious thing.

 

[Rudy]

I'm surprised they didn't play "Do It Again" since it was one of their biggest hits....but they were always too cool to do the obvious thing.

I think Fagen hates the song, and I don't think they've ever done it in concert (except maybe back in the 70s during the few years that they toured).

I had wanted to see the Dan's "rarities" shows but they are always in major cities. It's the only legit way we'll ever be able to hear "The Second Arrangement" (best song from Gaucho sessions IMHO).

 

[jfiedler17]

No "Rikki Don't Lose That Number" either? Wow. I think that one was actually their highest-charting hit, so to exclude both that one and "Do It Again" (which, if memory serves me right, was similarly a Top Ten hit) was a bit gutsy! Steely Dan was always one of the most solid album acts of the '70s, though - a stunning amount of their album tracks measure up to the quality of the singles (I probably listen to songs like "Bad Sneakers," "Don't Take Me Alive," "Doctor Wu," and "Bodhisattva" - ever hear the live version of that one that popped up on the B-side of "Hey Nineteen"? That one's worth hearing just for the band introduction alone! - as much as I do genuine hits like "Do It Again" or "Rikki") - so they could have played even fewer bona fide hits than that and it would have still been an excellent show.

 

[Captain Bacardi]

A recent interview of Steely Dan in Rolling Stone mentions their outright disgust with "Rikki Don't Lose That Number". Fagen called it the worst song they ever did. I was kind of shocked by that since I love the song myself, but I guess they have their reasons for not doing it. Even though they didn't record all that many albums each of those tunes are high quality, so it's hard to be disappointed by what they did choose to play.



Capt. Bacardi

 

[Rudy]

When the Dan toured in '06, Michael McDonald opened. The neat part was that about halfway through their set, McDonald came out and played/sang the rest of the gig with them. Having some of those old harmonies back made it different than the other two times I'd seen them. McDonald is quite an accomplished keyboard player himself, albeit overlooked since the focus has been on his voice and songwriting.