Steely Dan Last Night at the Beacon

[TonyNYC]

Never was a huge fan when they were making their records and being the critics' darlings; but gradually learned to like them more and more through the years. Didn't go for the fact that they rarely played live in their search for studio perfection with their quasi cool lyrics and their mix of jazz and white boy soul that at the time sounded sterile to me and my favorite cut by them was Reelin' In The Years which sounded nothing like mostly everything else they ended up doing and I particularly didn't like AJA...

But I was really looking forward to last night's showed billed as fan's request set list night which turned into AJA-because every song from that record got voted in-from beginning to end and then another maybe dozen songs.

The stage was filled with Fagen out front behind his keyboard, 3 guitarists with special guest Larry Carlton, a great four man brass section, three Supreme looking background singers, another keyboard guy, 3 guitarists including Becker, a real hard working drummer, and bass and they all played tight and funky and injected life in every song.

Yes, they started with Aja and it sounded good even to me although the songs started to sound pretty similar to me and the weakest part of the show was Fagen's voice. Though still pretty good and enhanced nicely by the three background singers, it was clear he was straining and it was difficult to hear any of the words. (I really enjoyed this cool touch where the singer after the fourth song moved to an on stage record player and turned the record over). I especially liked Peg, Deacon Blues and I Got The News.

I enjoyed the second half even more and was surprised and pleased to hear that I recognized nearly every song. Loved the speeded up blues of Black Friday, the groove of Hey Nineteen, that slow and low down dirty rhythm that built into Babylon Sisters-Shake It, the three women singers taking turns on the verses and joining together for the Dirty Work chorus, that easy groove of Dr Wu, that airy beginning of Ricki Don't Lose That Number. They did five or six others and then closed with a disappointing Reelin' In The Years that despite the killer guitars came out too pretty and perfect especially when the women singers sang the chorus way too sweetly instead of making it gritty. The one song encore, My Old School, was tremendous, completely fun and I still can't get that infectious melody out of my head.

Yes, a great great show and I still love that idea of an old band doing one album through and then tacking on a whole additional set. Glad to hear Poco will do that at Wildwood and I sure wih I was going.

[TonyNYC]

Oh man, doubled it up again. Wish this site had a way to delete....

[jerzeypocofan]

Wow...sounds like a great show...Would have loved to see them play Aja from start to finish. Aja is on my all time top 20 list of favorite albums

[litlfeat]

Yo Tony!
I feel much the same way about these guys. The first two LPs were pretty good but the "cool jazz" reach and the obscure lyric turned me off. Skunk Baxter was the man for me, but when Michael McDonald joined, that was it.
I do, however, respect their place in music history but I have no desire to see them. I was apparently one of 4 folks who didn't care for Fagan's "Nightfly".
Just no accountin' for some folks' taste...I'm talkin' 'bout mine!

[TonyNYC]

Got to admit I had gotten to like them better through the years and last night's show was really good, Bob. It's got me ordering their albums...

[litlfeat]

Got to admit I had gotten to like them better through the years and last night's show was really good, Bob. It's got me ordering their albums...

I have Aja on lp...the sound is really great! I bought a lot of their stuff on reputation alone. The production and playing are always top rate! No doubt. It's probably my musical tastes that cause me to be a bit wishy-washy on Dan.
However, when I listen it's usually "Thrill", "Countdown" or "Pretzel". I have always felt that "Royal Scam" was a terrible album. Did nothing for me. I was a big Southern Rock fan at that time (Marshall Tucker...), which explains where I was at the time.

[CurlyQfromLI]

Thanks for the update. I'm looking forward to my night at the Beacon..next Monday, 8-10. Hope the music is great. I finally saw them at Jones Beach about 8-10 years ago and I wasnt disappointed.

[waldo]

Aja is on my all time top 20 list of favorite albums

Probably on mine, too. I read about the show, that they were going to play the whole album in order, and I immediately listened to it on my MP3 player. The funny part is that I never liked the order of the songs, so I always re-order them. So, the concert would have sounded wrong to me.

I always liked them, but that was the one album where they pulled everything together. Not a bad track (Home at Last may be my fave). Part of the reason I like it best is because in addition to using jazz chords and rhythms, that's the one album where they let the songs stretch out and let the players play.

[Cardinals]

Always liked their music

[Patm]

Always enjoyed this band. Saw them when they started touring in the mid 90's. Based on the fact they had not ever really toured after the first album, I was not expecting much. To my surprise, they were excellent. Would enjoy seeing them again.