Showbiz Kids ("they got the Steely Dan t shirt ...")
The title of this entry (and quoted portion) is borrowed from the song "Showbiz Kids" by Steely Dan so you can guess correctly that this intro will be about my experience at my FIRST Steely Dan concert. And all I can just say is ... WOW .. and it was better than I had ever dreamed/hoped/wished for/imagined it would be.
Just this past Saturday (ok, to be technical it was September 2nd, I am a bit tardy on this one), myself and my good buddy Boogers went to Clarkston, Michigan to see Steely Dan at the DTE Energy Music Theater and what I experienced was .. well ... just as I introduced up above. I will say again that it was beyond and above what I thought my first Steely Dan show would be after all these years of listening to their albums and seeing whatever live video bootlegs I could see and even what was on TV in the past. They say that you haven't experienced a band until you see them live and even afterwards you become a BIGGER fan of them
Well folks, I can safely say that I am now a BIGGER fan and it was a surreal experience. Also it's one I am still stunned and in awe by that I finally saw them.
The musicianship was just simply amazing. It seems as though this version of the band is the best touring band that they had ever assembled (and that's saying alot considering the members who have been in their touring bands in past). They had people who made you think you were listening to the original recordings and even musicians who just made your jaw drop (drummer Keith Carlock in particular and guitarist Jon Herington was his equal). If you're going to perform the music of Walter Becker and Donald Fagen you had better have the best musicians and background singers you can get because it's no small feat.
I am sure you're wondering if I got the tour shirt. And to that I say ... absolutely! I got the black shirt with the AJA album cover on the front and on the back it says "Steely Dan Summer Tour 2006". They had another shirt that was beige and had the Steelyard "Sugartooth" McDan (and the Fab-Originees.com) tour logo and what not on it but I just thought the one I wound up with was way, way, way better in the end (plus much cooler looking and it's one of my favourite albums by The Dan).
So what did they perform? Well here's the setlist from the show:
Turtle Talk or Night In Tunisia (I can't remember but both sound somewhat similar) - Stan Kenton (Instrumental)
Bodhisattva
Time Out Of Mind
Aja
Hey 19
Home At Last
Black Friday
Chain Lightning
Green Earings
I Got The News
Dirty work
(Instrumental introductions and Micheal McDonald joins Steely Dan on stage)
*Show Biz Kids
*Do It Again
*Peg
Dont Take Me Alive
Kid Charlemagne
Encore:
FM
My Old School
Hanks Pad - Henry Mancini (musical jam outro)
* Indicates songs performed by McDonald and Steely Dan together
Also I wish that I could give you my full thoughts on the supporting act, Michael McDonald's set but I arrived about 15 minutes late and was rushing about to find our seats and get something to drink. I will try and provide what I can but from what I heard it was simply amazing. As a matter of fact as I was waiting in line to get my t shirt I heard McDonald perform his biggest hit with The Doobie Brothers, "What A Fool Believes" and it was awesome! I was sitting in my wheelchair grooving along to the song and lip synching the words as he sang them.
To close McDonald's show he did another Doobie Brothers song called "Takin' It To The Streets" and for this he had a full church choir out with him to provide the back up vocals and they sounded awesome too. The McDonald band was solid and the execution also had me thinking I was listening to the original recordings.
All and all it was a magical night of excellent music.
Just this past Saturday (ok, to be technical it was September 2nd, I am a bit tardy on this one), myself and my good buddy Boogers went to Clarkston, Michigan to see Steely Dan at the DTE Energy Music Theater and what I experienced was .. well ... just as I introduced up above. I will say again that it was beyond and above what I thought my first Steely Dan show would be after all these years of listening to their albums and seeing whatever live video bootlegs I could see and even what was on TV in the past. They say that you haven't experienced a band until you see them live and even afterwards you become a BIGGER fan of them
Well folks, I can safely say that I am now a BIGGER fan and it was a surreal experience. Also it's one I am still stunned and in awe by that I finally saw them.
The musicianship was just simply amazing. It seems as though this version of the band is the best touring band that they had ever assembled (and that's saying alot considering the members who have been in their touring bands in past). They had people who made you think you were listening to the original recordings and even musicians who just made your jaw drop (drummer Keith Carlock in particular and guitarist Jon Herington was his equal). If you're going to perform the music of Walter Becker and Donald Fagen you had better have the best musicians and background singers you can get because it's no small feat.
I am sure you're wondering if I got the tour shirt. And to that I say ... absolutely! I got the black shirt with the AJA album cover on the front and on the back it says "Steely Dan Summer Tour 2006". They had another shirt that was beige and had the Steelyard "Sugartooth" McDan (and the Fab-Originees.com) tour logo and what not on it but I just thought the one I wound up with was way, way, way better in the end (plus much cooler looking and it's one of my favourite albums by The Dan).
So what did they perform? Well here's the setlist from the show:
Turtle Talk or Night In Tunisia (I can't remember but both sound somewhat similar) - Stan Kenton (Instrumental)
Bodhisattva
Time Out Of Mind
Aja
Hey 19
Home At Last
Black Friday
Chain Lightning
Green Earings
I Got The News
Dirty work
(Instrumental introductions and Micheal McDonald joins Steely Dan on stage)
*Show Biz Kids
*Do It Again
*Peg
Dont Take Me Alive
Kid Charlemagne
Encore:
FM
My Old School
Hanks Pad - Henry Mancini (musical jam outro)
* Indicates songs performed by McDonald and Steely Dan together
Also I wish that I could give you my full thoughts on the supporting act, Michael McDonald's set but I arrived about 15 minutes late and was rushing about to find our seats and get something to drink. I will try and provide what I can but from what I heard it was simply amazing. As a matter of fact as I was waiting in line to get my t shirt I heard McDonald perform his biggest hit with The Doobie Brothers, "What A Fool Believes" and it was awesome! I was sitting in my wheelchair grooving along to the song and lip synching the words as he sang them.
To close McDonald's show he did another Doobie Brothers song called "Takin' It To The Streets" and for this he had a full church choir out with him to provide the back up vocals and they sounded awesome too. The McDonald band was solid and the execution also had me thinking I was listening to the original recordings.
All and all it was a magical night of excellent music.
posted by Spatchula at 2:24 AM
2 Comments:
Magical nights are always good. Are they ever coming to Ottawa? I can't say I've ever been across the border. Glad it was satisfactory. I haven't heard of Steely Dan before. I guess I've been missing out.
No they aren't coming to Ottawa. Usually when they tour in Canada they will go to Toronto.
This tour was a summer tour that did 30 dates in the US and the closest to Canada this time around was Clarkston, Michigan. Of course Donald Fagen (lead singer) toured for his new solo CD "Morph The Cat" and did shows in Toronto and (I believe) Ottawa over the spring.
Satisfactory hardly sums it up!
Steely Dan is a band from the 70's and regrouped in the early 90's. The principal members of Steely Dan are Walter Becker and Donald Fagen and the rest are all touring/session musicians.
Check out their music .. you may like it.
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