Steely Dan may not be attracting any younger fans to their shows, but then again, that isn’t to say Donald Fagen and Walter Becker’s music hasn’t aged well. Still relishing in the posh sheen of their urbanized funk, everyone from rappers to EDM artists have dropped a Steely Dan sample or groove — from assorted G-Funk songs to Girl Talk mash-ups. So while The Dan can still fill rooms, their demand has downsized some since their 1993 rebirth, when this once non-touring outfit decided that modern technology was now adept at making their later day studio masterpieces (The Royal Scam, AJA, Gaucho) shine on stage.
Fagen and Becker’s live vision wouldn’t have come to fruition if not for the powerhouse live band that is accompanying the team on their 2014 Jamalot Ever After Tour. Over the course of a two-hour-plus set in Phoenix, the 11-piece band — featuring three sparkling female vocalists, a four-piece horn section, a renowned keyboardist, rock-solid bass player and monster drummer — dug deeply into their extensive catalog of jazz-rock. Biggest standout was drummer Keith Carlock, who — between outrageous fills and relentless funk beats — channeled his inner Buddy Rich (“Josie” solo) in his pink fluorescent T-shirt. Guitarist Jon Herrington, a touring member since 2000, continued to outdo himself, whether tearing up the iconic classic rock radio solos in “Reeling in the Years” or adding intricate nuances to “Green Earrings,” “Aja,” and “Bodhisattava.”
Fagen, looking more and more the creepy old man he sometimes wrote about in his songs (“Cousin Dupree,” “Hey Nineteen”), reluctantly walked onstage to a standing ovation with his hand half-raised, while partner Becker appeared more inclined to dust off the grooves. In fact, it was during the middle of “Hey Nineteen,” during a banter spot that Fagen used to own on prior tours, that Becker called Phoenix “the only city in America that rises from its own ashes – or something like that.” He then offered a flashback to the numerous baby boomers in the crowd, talking about someone’s old stash of the “buds of the best chiba-chiba money can buy” and then hitting a bottle of Cuervo Gold, which led to the song’s hedonistic refrain of “The Cuervo Gold/The fine Columbian/Make tonight a wonderful thing.”
And although Fagen may be a reluctant frontman, he still executes the white Ray Charles thing better than anyone, particularly with his shades and mouth agape, delivering vocals that remain as quintessentially Steely Dan as they did blaring out of wood-paneled basement rec rooms in ’78. Whether combing “banyan trees” with “dude ranches” on the dreamy “Aja” or offering to “throw down the jam till the girls say when” on the funk titan “Josie,” Fagen remained a resident bad-ass, mixing obscure lyrics and name-drops atop polished grooves.
The boomers kept their Tommy Bahama apparel pinned to the seat cushion for the show’s majority, but there were enough “oohs” and cheers to show they approved of the song choices. The real steamer was during the four-song run of “Black Friday,” “Show Biz Kids,” “Time Out of Mind,” and “Green Earrings,” all played at a scorching tempo — a sort of seminar in Jazz-Rock 101. The sneaky groove of “Show Biz Kids” was rearranged, with a dramatically slower tempo from the studio version, while Gaucho’s “Time Out of Mind” triumphed with Fagen front-and-center on melodica, crooning with gums and teeth abound. (“Son you better be ready for looooove…..”)
Throughout all the sit-down dancing the band allowed for, there were a couple flat-liners that called for toilet breaks, most noticeably the humdrum, Becker-sung “”Daddy Don’t Live in New York City No More” and “Dirty Work” sung by the Danettes, a trio of singers featuring Cindy Mizelle, La Tanya Hall and Carolyn Leonhart-Escoffery. But what is most choice about a Steely Dan concert is their unique setlist design, refraining from playing certain hit songs while mixing the obvious with the obscure. The endless list of songs left out in Phoenix includes “Bad Sneakers,” “Do It Again,” “Hiatian Divorce,” “Rikki Don’t Lose Than Number,” ”The Fez,” “Deacon Blues” — not to mention the complete absence of material from their two comeback albums: 2000’s Grammy winning Two Against Nature and 2003’s Everything Must Go.
And who’s to say that Fagen and Becker need to do anything that’s expected? They’ve been the antithesis of rock stars since the early 70’s — the Woody Allens of classic rock, shunning the red carpet for the studio and editing room. With the duo pushing 70, some of their best unrecorded work might still unravel to craggly freedom in these pending golden years – one can only hope, as listening to Steely Dan never gets old.
One Response
Steely Dan do indeed attract younger folks to their gigs, I have attended two recent gigs in the past 5 years where young jazz musos, kids well brought up by their boomer parents and exposed to the good stuff were delighted by the musical agility and sheer awesomeness of the band. My own daughter of 21 loves ‘The Dan’ – their music is as perennial as the grass – to quote another 70’s music-byte. Long live Steely Dan, a true flowering of musical genius and all round magic.