Steely Dan And Steve Winwood Bring The Hits To Mansfield (SHOW REVIEW)

There’s a special feeling that comes from a balmy summer night in New England. Maybe it’s the lushness or the seemingly care-free feeling that comes from not dealing with cold weather and a sense that everyone is on some kind of vacation. Whatever it is, summer in New England may be the perfect time and place to revel in the nostalgia of a true thinking man’s rock band. There is only one band that truly embodies that term – Steely Dan – who made their way to Mansfield, MA’s Xfinity Center on Thursday night.

As sunburned grey-hairs in Tommy Bahama shirts puffed on stogies and shuffled into the corporate confines of the Live Nation-run venue, Steve Winwood was making the mugginess bearable with a set of blue-eyed soul and feel-good rock and roll. Winwood is the opener for every date of The Dan Who Knew Too Much Tour, an appropriate one at that as he has enough hits to make it worth showing up early for. Playing with a fairly stripped down lineup, Winwood took a quick jaunt that touched on classic Traffic tunes like “Pearly Queen”, “The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys”, and of course “Dear Mr. Fantasy”, the latter of which was one of the heaviest rocking moments of the night with Winwood’s fiery, dramatic guitar solo. As expected, “Higher Love” pulled the fans from their seats, despite feeling a bit tame and scaled back from the original. That would have been different with a larger band and backup singers, but by the time Winwood played his version of “Gimme Some Lovin’” the crowd was properly loosened up and ready for the main attraction.

“By the end you’ll feel like you were rode hard and put up wet,” said Walter Becker when talking about what himself, Donald Fagen, and their large backing band intended to accomplish by the end of Steely Dan’s set. This was during the middle of “Hey Nineteen” and they had already been riding hard right out of the gate with “Black Crow” and the hypnotic mellow groove of “Aja”. Steely Dan these days are looking to please the biggest crowd possible, opting for mostly fan favorites over lesser-known cuts. And, sure enough, as the show progressed the band kept rolling out one classic after another. “Kid Charlemagne” featured one of the thickest jams of the night with hints of flamenco and expansive guitar playing from both Becker and Jon Herington. “Babylon Sisters” showed off the complexities that have made Steely Dan such a compelling act for nearly fifty years, and the talented trio of background singers the “Danettes” injected soulful vocals into “Dirty Work”. The one-two punch of “Bodhisattva” and “Daddy Don’t Live In That New York City No More” took things in different direction with light-hearted, upbeat rock and slow-burning blues. “Josie” would be a definite highlight with a slinky organ solo from Fagen that melted into a funkified groove, which would be doubled up with the infectious disco funk of “Peg”. By the time Steely Dan cruised into the end of their set with “My Old School” and “Reelin’ In The Years”, even the older audience members were out of their set and bopping along to their favorite tunes.

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For many in attendance on Thursday, nostalgia was the first order of business and Walter Becker and Donald Fagen were more than happy to indulge their fans. But what they also got was a chance to see the type of band that was hugely influential yet could never be copied. Most impressive was to see two musicians capable of not only leading such a huge band, but utilizing every single element all at once, a talent that was truly hammered home by the time they finished the night with “Pretzel Logic” to massive applause. Indeed, a perfect New England summer night.