Steely Dan Redux

As many of you already know, I saw Steely Dan in Chicago a couple of weekends ago. It was the Chicago Theater - smallish, intimate, the perfect venue. Suffice it to say the band was smokin'. They played the classic Aja in it's sequential entirety, and then proceeded to romp through 14 gems from the extensive back catalog. Donald Fagen is a great band leader, orchestrating the 13 strong back up band while pounding on his Fender Rhodes or strolling the stage tootling his melodica. The crowd got boisterous and the band fed off of it - I've seen the Dan 3 times now and I've never seen so much interaction between Donald, Walter Becker and the crowd. Drummer Keith Carlock is a force to be reckoned with, capable of both extreme precision and loose grooves. Some of his solos were blisteringly good, as were those of the horn section and guitarists. All round worth the big dollars. The full set list is posted below, as well as a few clips of the show that I found on YouTube, all pretty decent in quality. Listen to some Dan songs here.

(Photo by me on theiPhone)

Tomorrow tickets go on sale for their Nov. 8th show @ the Northrup Auditorium in Minneapolis. They will be playing Aja and the hits, and believe it or not I'm considering going again - for real. I like the Dan.









First Set:
1. “Black Cow”
2. “Aja”
3. “Deacon Blues”
4. “Peg”
5. “Home at Last”
6. “I Got the News”
7. “Josie”

Second Set:
8. “Black Friday”
9. “Time Out of Mind”
10. “Daddy Don't Live in that New York City No More”
11. “Bodhisattva”
12. “Babylon Sisters”
13. “Show Biz Kids”
14. “Hey Nineteen”
15. “Dirty Work”
16. “Love Is Like an Itching in My Heart”
17. “Do It Again”
18. “Don't Take Me Alive”
19. “My Old School”
20. “Kid Charlemagne”

Funky Friday - Steely Dan Edition

Yesterday was my 15th wedding anniversary. As a present to ourselves my wife and I are going to Chicago for the weekend. Tomorrow night is dinner @ Blackbird. There is a Calder exhibit to see. There are a couple of Rick Bayless restaurants to consider. And to top it all off, on Monday night we are seeing Steely Dan live at the Chicago Theater. They are playing "Aja" in it's entirety, followed by a set of greatest hits. To say I'm psyched is to put it mildly. It is one of the first albums I bought with my own $ back in the day - Herbergers in Rice lake WI, yo! I love it dearly and can't wait to hear it played out. A kid free (I'll miss 'em a bit...) weekend in the big city doing grown up stuff? Priceless.

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Steely Dan - Kid Charlemagne
Steely Dan - Babylon Sisters
Steely Dan - I Got The News
Steely Dan - The Fez
DJ Ransom - Peg (Edit)

Sunday/ Steely Dan Rarities

Steely Dan - Any Major Dude
Steely Dan - Rikki Don't Lose That Number
Live @ The Power Plant, 3/20/1974
Steely Dan. What can I say? They are one of my favorite bands of all time. My folks listened to them when I was a child, and I never stopped listening. I've seen them live a couple of times, including a very memorable evening under the stars at Poplar Creek in Chicago back in '94 - their reunion tour. I love their ability to tell such gloriously seedy, grimy and gritty stories, all of it couched in seductively recorded grooves. Legendary curmudgeons, they are my kind of people. One of my favorite things about these vast interwebs is how people who have obscure and rare recordings of bands I like are willing to share them. Just recently I came cross a recording of the Dan, live at The Power Plant, March 20th, 1974. It is fascinating hearing these songs live, played by the same band that recorded them. They are a bit rough, but they still give you a good feel for how great they were. Any Major Dude features the soulful lead vocals of Royce Jones who toured with the band for a while. Rikki Don't Lose That Number has great piano vamping - my only complaint is that the guitar solo towards the end is so far down in the mix you can barely hear it. Small quibble for such great music.