Ah, bliss. The Year of Fagen continued, perhaps rose to its crescendo for me, with a lovely summer night, and two hours of Steely Dandom. We arrived at the venue early, found a perfect seat, front and center, on the lawn. We drank seven dollar Budweisers (ah, the liminal space of the concert--or the ballpark, or the airport--that allows you to suspend all notion of acceptable prices for everyday goods!), and ate cheesy pizza. I bought another Steely Dan t-shirt. (Photo to follow at some point when I'm not feeling lazy). We sat in excited anticipation.
Michael McDonald opened the show. He played for an hour and was formidable. (Indeed, MM's voice has held up way better than Donald Fagen's over the decades...) I'm not a huge McDonald or Doobie Bros. fan, though I will admit that I will usually sing along loudly with "Takin' in to the Streets" or "Minute by Minute" when they show up on my car radio. My mom loves McDonald though, and I love my mom, so I was happy to bob my head and think good thoughts about my mom during tunes about which I otherwise wasn't stoked. The biggest crowd response that MM earned was likely for "What a Fool Believes." I got chills--as I always do--at that big noisy rush of crowd appreciation.
At about 9pm, the Steely Dan Orchestra took the stage and played an old Stan Kenton instrumental jazz number ("Turtle Talk"). A nice warm-up, charmingly hip. Its post-WWII jazzy appeal helped defuse some of the annoying local marketing blitz (you know, barking classic rock radio DJs just inside the venue gates, jockeying on the microphone for some Becker-Fagen affiliation). Towards the end of the number Becker and Fagen took the stage. Donald--even admitting that I have no critical distance--was uber-cool for the night: dressed in black, with a tight buzzcut, and dark shades over his eyes. Becker is looking more and more like a calculus teacher on summer break, but Steely Dan are nerd champions, so I won't fault him for that.
What followed was a splendid mix of Steely Dan favorites. No solo material from either WB or DF this time around, and unfortunately, from my perspective, no music from the Steely Dan renaissance efforts, Two Against Nature and Everything Must Go. There are a few chestnuts that have found their way on to the setlist this time around (like, say, "Time Out of Mind," and "I Got the News"), but mostly it's a cornucopia of popular favorites. The highlights for me were "Hey 19" (the second verse of which, in which aging hipster has to explain to 19 year old who Aretha Franklin is, seems more eerily appropriate to me with every passing semester); "Show Biz Kids" (reconfigured as a James Brown-ish funk number); and the two encore tunes, "My Old School" and "FM." Seriously, is there a more fun song to sing along with than "My Old School?" The answer is no, (though "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" perhaps comes closest) and Guadalajara still won't do, child.
In all, a totally satisfying evening out. The Fagen show we caught in Vegas in March was definitely tighter and more polished, but this concert was a good one given the loose, get-your-ya-yas-out feel of outdoor summer concert venues.
If I were rich, I would totally hit the road and follow them around for another handful of concerts before Labor Day rains on all our summer fun.
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8 comments:
I'm so jealous....
Not to rub it in, but you should be. Awesome concert. :)
Have you ever seen them live before?
Not to disparage "My Old School" but on the topic of sing along songs - "Tempted" by Squeeze. It's been in my car for a week and I belt it out every time I drive to work.
Oh, and PW, come on down to Jersey and go with me to the show!
No, I haven't seen them live before. :(
And EDW, I'd love to come to Jersey to go to the show! But money talks and it says, WTF? Oh, no you don't!
Yeah, that Squeeze song is cool. I used to dig it on that Levi's commercial that was on frequently a year or two ago, even though I TRY not to like commercials.
But still, "My Old School" is the bomb.
PW, mortgage your house; see Steely Dan.
Naw, can't mortgage the house...though, there are some people I could bump off for the cash...
This is the day of the expanding man,
That shape is my shade, there where I used to stand,
It seems like only yesterday, I gazed through the glass
At Ramblers, wild gamblers, that's all in the past
You call me a fool, you say it's a crazy scheme
This one's for real, I already bought the dream
So useless to ask me why, throw a kiss and say goodbye
I'll make it this time, I'm ready to cross that fine line
Growabrain, that is my all-time favorite song.
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