A friend of mine who is into music, got me some info that I had not yet seen on Steely Dan boards.
Peter Jones is publishing a full book about the life of Donald Fagen.
Being I have heard nothing about it, I hesitate to recommend it, but I will be watching what happens around September 13th.
Is it the same things we hear about all the time, or is there something new that is worth the large investment.
You can make up your own mind by checking it out on Amazon, HERE.
The big news on Thursday was the cancelation of the remainder of the Florida part of the Steely Dan Tour.
As a matter of fact, they also canceled the stop in South Carolina, which makes it the next 5 tour stops and a total of 10 days.
They have been fighting positive COVID-19 tests for several weeks and it just got to the point where too much of the band was positive.
From what I heard, a positive test even knocked out the guitar tech, the man who keeps all the guitars going.
We know nothing about Donald Fagen himself, but people who have been quarantined over the past few weeks are Carolyn Leonhardt (who has been back stage singing behind Plexiglas). We also think that Keith Carlock has been stricken, because he has been wearing a mask up on the drum stand. Imagine trying to drum with a mask on.
I had noticed that both guitarists were masked recently and I showed that to my Husband. Though I think that may have been preventive, since neither of them sing.
Some of these dates have been canceled before, back in late 2021.
Glad we were tour day 3 and got to see them, finally.
21 years ago, Donald Fagen and Walter Becker (among many other performers) were asked to contribute a song for a Joni Mitchell album.
They chose the song, Carey.
When the tribute album came out in 2007, the cut was missing because (reportedly) Joni did not like it.
Guess what turned up on my Facebook group Thursday? Carey. (Click the link)
Never having heard the Joni Mitchell song, on first listen, it is all Steely Dan in the EMG era.
Can't wait til I have time to listen to it again.
Here was the Setlist for the Hollywood Bowl Concert and a few thoughts.
Phantom Raiders (Stanley Wilson cover) Intro
Night by night
Hey 19
Black Friday
Aja
Kid Charlemagne
Home At Last
Green Flower Street
Time Out Of Mind
Babylon Sisters
Green Earrings
FM
Dirty Work (Danettes)
Bodhisattva
Keep That Same Old Feeling (Crusaders cover) Band Intros
Peg
My Old School
Reeling In The Years (encore)
A Man Ain’t Supposed To Cry (Joe Williams cover) Outro
Quick thoughts on the concert.
Adam Rogers was a masterful choice for the second guitarist. He was doing an excellent job replacing his friend, Walter Becker. Great technique and he went places with his solos. I wasn't happy to have lost Conner Kennedy, but Adam was a great replacement.
Snarky Puppy, the opening act, were great! I really enjoyed them, but missed lyrics in songs.
Some of the extended openings and mid sections were pretty wild. Adam Rogers was a part of that, I think. Green Flower Street comes to mind.
Donald did well with the songs but seemed a bit lost when he had to speak between songs. Almost like he didn't know how to put into words the things he was feeling about being in a town he had spent a decade creating these songs in. It truly must bring up memories for him. Many of them, not good.
From the setlist I had, they ended up pulling Josie and put in FM. It was a straight up version of the song and was probably added for the LA audience.
The two year hiatus did not do the band any good and it did not do the audience any good. We have changed and they have changed. We won't get that innocence back.
They were happy to give us what they could and it was a solid show.
I am way late to the party on this tour.
Being I have had tickets to see the show since 2020, I think I have a right to be a little behind in reporting about it.
The tour started on the night I was returning from my vacation, traveling by train. So I had no real communication for large parts of the journey.
Things that are different this tour, is that Conner Kennedy has left the band and Adam Rogers has been added. Something new to watch for, as I listen to the show.
We have an opening act at the Hollywood Bowl show, this time around. Snarky Puppy. I have no idea how that will work with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra.
Note that Snarky Puppy is only the opener, until June 19th. Then the Dave Stryker Trio takes over, for the remainder of the tour.
DATE -- VENUE -- LOCATION
MAY 20, 2022 VETERANS MEMORIAL COLISEUM PORTLAND, OR.
Opening act: Snarky Puppy
MAY 21, 2022 WHITE RIVER AMPHITHEATRE AUBURN, WA.
Opening act: Snarky Puppy
MAY 25, 2022 CONCORD PAVILION CONCORD, CA.
Opening act: Snarky Puppy
MAY 27, 2022 HOLLYWOOD BOWL HOLLYWOOD, CA.
Opening act: Snarky Puppy
MAY 28, 2022 NORTH ISLAND CREDIT UNION AMPHITHEATRE CHULA VISTA, CA.
Opening act: Snarky Puppy
MAY 31, 2022 AK-CHIN PAVILION PHOENIX, AZ.
Opening act: Snarky Puppy
JUN 02, 2022 DICKIES ARENA FORT WORTH, TX.
Opening act: Snarky Puppy
JUN 03, 2022 CYNTHIA WOODS MITCHELL PAVILION HOUSTON, TX.
Opening act: Snarky Puppy
JUN 05, 2022 ACL LIVE AUSTIN, TX.
JUN 06, 2022 ACL LIVE AUSTIN, TX.
JUN 10, 2022 WALMART AMPHITHEATRE ROGERS, AR.
Opening act: Snarky Puppy
JUN 11, 2022 LIVE AT THE GARDEN MEMPHIS, TN.
Opening act: Snarky Puppy
JUN 14, 2022 CADENCE BANK AMPHITHEATRE AT CHASTAIN PARK ATLANTA, GA.
Opening act: Snarky Puppy
JUN 16, 2022 RIVERBEND MUSIC CENTER CINCINNATI, OH.
Opening act: Snarky Puppy
JUN 18, 2022 DTE ENERGY MUSIC THEATRE CLARKSTON, MI.
Opening act: Snarky Puppy
JUN 19, 2022 HOLLYWOOD CASINO AMPHITHEATRE TINLEY PARK, IL.
Opening act: Snarky Puppy
JUN 21, 2022 SARATOGA PERFORMING ARTS CENTER SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY.
Opening act:The Dave Stryker Trio
JUN 23, 2022 ST JOSEPH'S HEALTH AMPHITHEATER SYRACUSE, NY.
Opening act:The Dave Stryker Trio
JUN 25, 2022 WOLF TRAP FILENE CENTER VIENNA, VA.
Opening act:The Dave Stryker Trio
JUN 26, 2022 WOLF TRAP FILENE CENTER VIENNA, VA.
Opening act:The Dave Stryker Trio
JUN 29, 2022 NORTHWELL HEALTH AT JONES BEACH THEATER WANTAGH, NY.
Opening act:The Dave Stryker Trio
JUN 30, 2022 PNC BANK ARTS CENTER HOLMDEL, NJ.
Opening act:The Dave Stryker Trio
JUL 02, 2022 XFINITY CENTER MANSFIELD, MA.
Opening act:The Dave Stryker Trio
JUL 03, 2022 BETHEL WOODS CENTER FOR THE ARTS BETHEL, NY.
Opening act:The Dave Stryker Trio
JUL 13, 2022 FIRSTBANK AMPHITHEATER FRANKLIN, TN.
Opening act:The Dave Stryker Trio
JUL 15, 2022 LANDMARK THEATER RICHMOND, VA.
Opening act:The Dave Stryker Trio
JUL 16, 2022 OVENS AUDITORIUM CHARLOTTE, NC.
Opening act:The Dave Stryker Trio
JUL 19, 2022 DURHAM PERFORMING ARTS CENTER DURHAM, NC.
Opening act:The Dave Stryker Trio
JUL 20, 2022 MORAN THEATER JACKSONVILLE, FL.
Opening act:The Dave Stryker Trio
JUL 22, 2022 THE MAHAFFEY ST. PETERSBURG, FL.
Opening act:The Dave Stryker Trio
JUL 23, 2022 THE MAHAFFEY ST. PETERSBURG, FL.
Opening act:The Dave Stryker Trio
JUL 28, 2022 SEMINOLE HARD ROCK HOTEL And CASINO
Opening act:The Dave Stryker Trio
HOLLYWOOD, FL.
JUL 30, 2022 BARBARA B MANN PERFORMING ARTS HALL FT. MYERS, FL.
Opening act:The Dave Stryker Trio
AUG 01, 2022 DR. PHILLIPS CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS ORLANDO, FL.
Opening act:The Dave Stryker Trio
AUG 02, 2022 DR. PHILLIPS CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS ORLANDO, FL.
Opening act:The Dave Stryker Trio
AUG 04, 2022 NORTH CHARLESTON PERFORMING ARTS CENTER NORTH CHARLESTON, SC.
Opening act:The Dave Stryker Trio
AUG 06, 2022 BORGATA ATLANTIC CITY, NJ.
Opening act:The Dave Stryker Trio
AUG 07, 2022 HARTFORD HEALTHCARE AMPHITHEATER BRIDGEPORT, CT.
Opening act:The Dave Stryker Trio
AUG 10, 2022 THE CAPITOL THEATRE PORT CHESTER, NY.
Opening act:The Dave Stryker Trio
AUG 12, 2022 THE CAPITOL THEATRE PORT CHESTER, NY.
Opening act:The Dave Stryker Trio
AUG 13, 2022 THE CAPITOL THEATRE PORT CHESTER, NY.
Opening act:The Dave Stryker Trio
==========
Photo is from the Santa Barbara 2019 Concert.
What a nice way to end a year of disappointments. An audio version of a concert I attended, back in 2016 (when Walter Becker was still alive).
My thanks to Dan Belcher on a Steely Dan board I belong to. He did all the hard work. :-)
For your mostly audio pleasure. Enjoy an orchestra...with Steely Dan.
Steely Dan At The Hollywood Bowl
Set list at the Hollywood Bowl 6/18
LA Phil star spangled banner.
LA Phil/various
Green Earrings (Yay, angel!)
Aja
Caves of Altamira
Hey 19
Royal Scam
Deacon blues
Night by Night
Time Out Of Mind
Third World Man
Home at Last
Josie
Bodhisattva with fireworks!
Kid Charlemagne
The last day of the Northeast Corridor mini-tour was Tuesday, in Syracuse, NY.
My old stomping grounds!
They seemed to get through it all OK, minus Michael Leonhart, who came up positive and had to quarantine for 10 days.
I think they learned a lot along the way and will be better prepared going out next year.
People who went to the shows all seemed to enjoy it and Donald was very upbeat and cheerful.
May 27, 2022 is my date at the Hollywood Bowl. We will see if it feels safe enough to go to it.
Steely Dan 10-25-21:
Hippodrome Theatre, Baltimore, MD
The only comment I heard was that Donald was very happy to be back performing and it showed.
Set List:
Phantom Raiders
Night By Night
Bodhisattva
Hey Nineteen
Kid Charlemagne
Aja
Home At Last
Janie Runaway
Josie
Time Out of Mind
Dirty Work
Rikki
Let the Good Times Roll (Band Intros)
Peg
Pretzel Logic
Reelin' In the Years
My Old School
A Man Ain't Supposed to Cry (Walk Off)
Concert photo by Maria Byrne
Soooo, what did I think of the 2 Live Steely Dan CD's?
Northeast Corridor: I was not impressed with most of the music, though they had to go with the hits (you can see the track listing HERE).
I felt the audio over-dubbing of singing was a bit obvious.
I did appreciate how clean the top and bottom were and of course, no audience talking during the performance. So, good and bad.
The Nightfly Live: Well, this one I really like...surprisingly.
I tend to not like a Nightfly song in a Steely Dan/Donald Fagen show, but playing it top to bottom was outstanding.
Also, the audio was better, I think. Maybe the songs were written more in Fagen's key.
All in all, I was glad I put out the money for them and will listen again and again.
During the Pandemic Donald Fagen did something he normally never does. He decided to put together some of the sound board recordings of tours in the past few years.
The last time live shows were released was Alive In America back in 1995.
It was time.
The Northeast Corridor is 12 tunes on one CD. The tunes on the CD are:
Black Cow, Kid Charlemange, Rikki, Hey 19, Any Major Dude, Glamour Profession, Things I Miss The Most, Aja, Peg, Bodhisattva, Reelin', and A Man Ain't Supposed To Cry.
Vocals were re-recorded, when needed, but otherwise it is a chance to hear the band live.
The other CD he released is Nightfly Live. The 8 tunes on this CD are:
I.G.Y., Green Flower Street, Ruby Baby, Maxine, New Frontier, The Nightfly, The Goodbye Look, and Walk Between Raindrops
If you are into live recordings that are not bootlegs, it's a good thing to add to your collection.
