Heavy Roller's Tour 2007

This review is of the 2nd night of their Heavy Rollers Tour. Steely Dan played 2 nights in California, this past winter. I was lucky to attend one of their shows.

Dateline: Santa Ynez 1/19/07

As I promised on the Blue, I woke up to a beautiful Southern California day. After the past few days of ice and snow and freezing weather, this was a WELCOME change. I took a quick look at the damage to my plants and saw that I lost many of them to the freeze, including my Steely Dan rose. Knowing roses, I am sure it will be back with us, soon reminding us that "Perfect Moments" do happen more then once. Got myself packed and ready for the road, washed and gassed the car...is there gas in the car?...oh yes there is...and off I went. The drive up was through the citrus orchards of California and thankfully, it looked like most of them had survived the weather. Blue sky, mountains and then...the Pacific Ocean as I turned north at Ventura. Put in a CD of America's Ventura Hwy and then Hwy 101 by Herb Albert as the soundtrack to the drive...turquoise water, green trees, yellow grasses, beautiful sites. Folks, it just doesn't get better then this. Finally, I turned off the 101 at Buellton and made my first stop, a place calledOstrichland. Paid my money and made my acquaintance, up close and personal, with the resident ostriches and emus. Interesting creatures to photograph.

Another 2 or so miles down the road and there was Solvang and my stop for the night, the Vagabond Inn. Pulled in and got settled. Changed out of my Donald Fagen tee shirt and put on my clothes for the evening. Then drove over to Santa Ynez, to check out the casino and the Maverick Bar, location for the pre gathering. Since it was already starting to get late, I pulled into the Maverick first at 4PM. I saw the room where we were obviously going to gather, but no one was there yet. Since I wanted to do reconnaissance on the Casino, I went back over to where it was. Found the parking garage and walked over. The showroom was all the way in the back, forcing me to have to walk through the Casino and slots. Lots of smokers and the room reeked of smoke. This Angelino has mentioned it before, but living in California lo these 28 years, I no longer like or tolerate well, the smell of smoke. Oh well. The Samala room area was guarded, but I heard no sounds that would indicate a sound check going on, so I then decided to go back the the Maverick. Well, in the 45 minutes I had been gone, people had showed up, Steely Dan music was playing, Robert and Laurie were hosting and there were tee shirts for us all. The black shirt did indeed come out excellent, kudos to both our hosts and to Denise in Hinktown for the design. I bought one and put it on immediately. As the room got colder, that extra layer of clothing was welcome. I had not eaten since 11:30, so I ordered a chicken breast sandwich and a beer, sat down with some fans from Torrance and we had a pleasant time chatting about last years tour and Soboba. The more I hear of that event, the more I am pleased that I chose the San Diego date, instead. I was ready to head over to the casino at about 6:45, but then in walked Rajah, Gretchen, Steve and Alan from Australia, who I had never had the pleasure to meet in person. So I ended up staying until about 7:15. By then we had about 30 or so people, including Ed Beatty, Hoops, Little Wild One and Geoff Lloyd. Pictures taken, lots of talk and drinks flowing and then I rounded up a bunch of concert goers and we drove back to the Casino. We stopped at the Rajah's room for a quick freshen up break and then I saw a little water bottle on the maids cart and snuck it into the showroom. The tradition continues... :-) Walked into the Samala Room and saw how very small it was. Great views from all seats and I was congratulating myself on saving almost 100 dollars by buying the cheap seats just behind the soundboard. Great view, slightly elevated. The show begins and the Casino announces that if you want to dance, please use the sides of the showroom. GREAT! I know I will want to dance to Bodhisattva, so as the band breaks into Turtle Talk, I work my way over to the side. Don and Walt walk on and off we go, with this angel dancing her butt off. They started at exactly 8PM and were done around 9:45P. No break but Donald was given time off during Dirty Work and Haitian Divorce, to rest his voice. Donald was in excellent voice and he had a short hair cut that looked just too hot! Kudos...59 looks great on him! :-)

Set List:

Turtle Talk (Band Only)
Bodhisattva
Time out of Mind
Aja
Godwacker
Hey 19
Josie
Babylon Sisters
Green Earrings
Dirty Work (The Girls take lead)
Haitian Divorce (Walter on Lead Vocals)
Peg
Kid Charlemagne
My Old School
Last Tango (Band Only)

The songs were basically as we have seen in the past. Godwacker, from their 2003 CD "Everything Must Go" was good to see after a 4 year absence. I had seen this one for the 2nd night of the 2003 tour at Paso Robles and the change from that poor attempt, to tonights excellent version was icing on the cake for me. So good to hear that "trusty angel girls" line from Fagen. It made me feel that they picked it out for me alone, to bail out my sorry butt in regard to saying that Walter would do 2 tunes from his forthcoming new one. I didn't get that, but I got something not from the Jurassic Steely Dan era (with my handle in it) and it was enough. Carlock on drums was just on FIRE! I can't say enough about him and this time, being I was slightly elevated on the risers, I could see him clearly between his cymbals. Jeff Young had his whirly and during Green Earrings he just let that thing fly! Great stuff all around from the guitars, to the bass, to the horns on that tune. Never a disappointment to me. Walter did the Cuervo Gold part of Hey 19 this time around and he did this hilarious talk about driving over from Santa Barbara this morning and then something about "the decay of the social order" He mentioned that we could settle on the shores of Lake Cachuma (which is just over to the east of the Santa Ynez area) and later mentioned in his talk about the drink that could not be named from this stage at this venue (the Casino is dry). The back up singers then broke into "The Cuervo Gold" part of the song and they finished it up. By the time Peg came on, I could feel that the show was winding down toward the end and I returned to the side of the room. Well, there was Ed Beatty, Little Wild One, Hoops and others dancing and enjoying Peg. So I started dancing again and then we went into Kid Charlemagne and the Band took it into overdrive. Then came the encore time. We made our way to the very front of the stage and I was right under Jon Herington and his guitar. As many of you are aware, Jon hailed a cab for me in 2003 and it was just so nice to be able to watch him rip through those guitar parts during My Old School and then the final tune, Last Tango in Paris. Walter was just behind him so this guitar loving girl got 2 guitars for the price of one and took several pictures of them in action. Donald was across the stage and I had an OK view of him, too. A very nice, unforgettable 5 minutes of my life.
So then the lights come on and we are told to go over to the hotel and the after party was in room 216. So I head up and others follow and we had a nice hour or so rehashing the concert, meeting more people who post over on the Blue and all in all a decent end to the evening. Got back to my hotel before Midnight and off to bed.

Thanks again Donald and Walter for the great music and for sharing it with us.

Detroit: Steely Dan & Michael McDonald

All this current talk of the 2003 tour and Detroit, brings back memories of my trip to Detroit last year, to enjoy a show with my internet friend these past 6 years, Snakehips.
Into Steely Dan or Michael McDonald? Read further.


Dateline Detroit: 9/2/06

Arrived early in the morning at 5:15A and got to my hotel by 8:30A. A nice new La Quinta. I had set up an early check in and managed to augment my 4 hours of sleep with 3 more. A better condition then I normally have to deal with, flying east. Met up at noon with Snakehips and she and I went to lunch at in the Rugby Grille in The Towsend Hotel. It was a beautiful hotel, harkening back to a kinder gentler time. We both had chicken salads and as a surprise for the out of towner, the waiter gave me a sample of Sanders Ice Cream and hot fudge. The fudge looked more like caramel sauce, then fudge, but it was excellent!
Spent a bit of time at Snakie's lovely home and then over to the concert.
The DTE Energy Music Theatre is way out to the north and west of Detroit, in the Auburn Hills area. Snakie's Hubby drove us to the venue and we had a pleasant conversation pre concert, with the album Gaucho playing on the CD player. As we walked through the outer area of the venue, there was a waterfall and behind the theatre was a ski slope with a chair lift. I was informed that Pine Knob is a ski area that just happens to have a Music Theatre built in front of it.
Dinner consisted of hot dogs, nachos and a beer from one of the concession stands. The food was good, but expensive. The normal for these kind of events. While out in the concession area, I finally bought my Steely Dan t-shirt. It is the gray one with the circle surrounding the Countdown to Ecstasy era Steely Dan logo. A fitting purchase for an evening with Michael McDonald and Steely Dan. We then went to find Snakehip's seats. We got past the Nazi ticket takers and I found a nearby seat and almost immediately, Michael McDonald took the stage. He said how much he really loved Detroit and the crowd was quite pleased. As many have mentioned before, I ended up being quite impressed with Michael's set list. Old songs, Doobie songs "New" song (Heard it through the Grapevine) Motown songs, everything was done well by a real nice band.
The drummer was great, as was the sax player. The sax man also played flute for one of the numbers, which impressed this Moody Blues fan.
Songs I remember are Minute by Minute, Keep Forgettin', What a Fool Believes, Ain't No Mountain, and the finale, Takin' it to the Streets. About 2/3's of the way through his set, Michael brought out a Detroit Choir to back the band up. They were excellent and quite a nice addition to the evening. In bad news for me, somewhere along the way during his set, the Nazi ticket taker figured out I didn't belong and sent me off to my real seat. I said goodbye to Snakie and moved over to the Donald side of the stage. A quick set change and there came the rhythm section, breaking into Turtle Song. Donald, Walter and the girls come out and off we go again.

Set List

Turtle Song
Bodihissatva
Time out of Mind
Aja
Hey 19
I've Got the News
Home at Last
Black Friday
Chain Lightening
Green Earrings
Dirty Work
Funky Band Intros that go into Showbiz Kids (With Michael McDonald)
Do it Again
Peg
Don't Take Me Alive
Kid Charlemagne

Encore
FM
My Old School

Some disjointed thoughts of the evening.
There have been many comments about how much Walter has been taking the lead on guitar this tour and some of the songs that I noticed Walter taking long nice solo's on were "I've Got the News", "Home at Last" and "Black Friday". He seemed in good spirits and did a great band Intro. Donald did nice work on the between song banter and was in fine voice this evening. He was not so tight on lyrics when I saw them last month in San Diego, so I was very happy to see him perform flawlessly. Michael McDonald was also in very fine voice and did a great job on the chorus of Peg. Many have commented that they could not hear him, but tonight he was clear and definitely did Peg justice. I also noticed that I heard the bass much more then at any other concert I have seen from 2003 and 2006. Freddy Washington did a great job, especially on the funky band intros. Keith Carlock was again in fine form. He is just such a joy to see live with his boundless energy. Jon Herrington was off on the side, as usual but just smoking on his solos. I particularly love the back and forth between Walter and Jon during "Bodhissatva". The girls were doing just fine this evening and due to the cold, they were dressed in pants and long sleeve blouses, Carolyn with a sweater tied around her waist. The brass was hot and Jeff Young did some real nice work on his Hammond B7. He did backing vocals, especially noticeable on Dirty Work.
My favorite moment was after the band finished Showbiz kids and Donald says something like: "Back in the 70's I was talking to Jeff Porcaro about the fact that we really needed another vocalist to help me with the tour we were planning. Jeff said that he knew someone and would ask him to come by the studio. So he did and one day in walks Michael McDonald with his keyboard in hand. We hired him to join us on tour and we did this next song, exactly like this." They then broke into "Do It Again". I was thrilled!
Somewhere along the evening, they called their guitar tech, Skip Gildersleeve, out and gave him a banjo. He seemed quite pleased with the gift.
Show lasted til around 11PM and Snakie and I hooked up again and drove back to my hotel, where they dropped me off. Snakehips and I said our goodbyes, promising to try to see each other again. It was a great day and evening and I was so sorry to see it end. My only regret is that it turned out that it was not the final night of the tour. That distinction goes to St. Louis.

Crashed at the hotel and checked out in the morning with just enough time to make a quick trip over the Canadian Border to Windsor.
I wanted to take pictures of Detroit from the other side of the Detroit River. There are 2 ways to accomplish this. One is a bridge and the other is a tunnel from Downtown Detroit to Windsor. I elected to try the tunnel first and then take the bridge going back to the US. As I drove through the tunnel, I could see a long line of cars waiting to go through US immigration. That made me definitely decide to take the bridge back home.
The Canadian side had a beautiful park and I took many pictures. I wish I had more time to visit, because it definitely had a French feel, especially the buildings and citizens. But that must wait for another occasion. Then I recrossed the river, declared my US Citizenship and was back on the road to the airport. A great but short trip to Detroit. I hope someday to return.

My thanks again to Donald and Walter, for putting up with us fans.

San Diego Bayside At The Marina - Steely Dan

Steely Dan Bayside at the Embarcadero 7/24/06

Drove down to San Diego after spending a blistering day in LA. My house hit 90 degrees in full air conditioning and we couldn't wait to drive down on Sunday Morning. Made it down by 2:30PM and went for a swim in our pool in the La Quinta Old Town San Diego. Nice warm water that felt great, after the heat of the past 2 days. Got dressed and headed to Casa Guadalajara to have dinner. It was an excellent Mexican restaurant with lots of atmosphere, especially on the patio. Checked out the trolly station right down the street, but decided we did not have enough time for a trip down to Mexico this time around. For a minor fee, the trip brings you to San Ysidro and the border. Maybe next time. We decided to call it a night and headed back to the hotel and to bed. Monday morning we headed out to the Downtown San Diego Waterfront area to check out the Aircraft Carrier Midway . We took the tour and it was quite interesting, but pricy. Kidlet has a love of all things moving and we figured he would enjoy it. We all did and we ended up spending over 3 hours touring the ship and eating lunch at the nice cafe on board. We decided to do a bit or reconasense, before heading back to our hotel. We had great difficulty finding anything having to do with the venue, parking or even how to get there. We finally tried pulling into the back end of the Convention Center and there were so many trucks unloading that we turned around. This ended up being a mistake because 2 hours later, this was exactly where the signs pointed for parking. So not knowing what we were going to do later in the day, we returned to the hotel, showered and got the kidlet settled in the hotel room, with food and TV. Made a quick call to Aja to find out if she was going and if she knew anything. Unfortunately, she was not going and she knew nothing about the venue. I was sad to hear that, because it would have been nice to see her again. Headed back to Downtown and swung by the Convention Center again, to see if we could figure out more. Now there were signs showing where to park and we were in business. We went over to Seaport Village to have some dinner. Before we decided on a dinner choice, I called my favorite DHS G-Man and found out that he was within 4 minutes of the venue and had underage daughter in tow. We made plans to hook up later and looked around. We decided that we wanted to try for the sound check, so we ate at a take out seafood place, rather then a sit down restaurant.

It ended up being the right thing to do because as we parked in the area we were directed to, we could hear the band playing Glamour Profession. Instant excitement! All in all we heard 6 tunes: Any World, Monkey, Black Cow (all business, no Uptown Baby" this time around), Showbiz Kids, and Cousin Dupree. The definite more obscure tunes that this fan was looking to hear, so that wasn't bad at all. Took a few digital pictures and then stowed the camera back in the car.

When I returned Sociology Man from Phoenix asked if we knew what they had played before he got there and I read him my set list. After the Sound Check, Ed Beatty did indeed turn up with his now much older daughter in tow. Last time I had seen her was in 2003 for the EMG tour. She has grown up quite a bit. Pete Fogel also turned up with his wife Shari and her Mother. It was good to see them all again. Went through the check point, got everything in again and checked out the seat selection. We ended up being in row 17 on the left side of the stage. Just behind us and over a bit was the soundboard, so we looked forward to having good audio for this show. After checking out our seats, we decided to check out the concessions behind the seats. Drinks and food, but no real dessert, except kettle corn. Sigh... Bought my Steely Dan keychain (becoming a tradition, I now have 3 of them). I really liked the shirts and actually helped the seller with his sale just before me. Maybe I will break down and get one of them when I go to Detroit. The hoodie sweatshirt is great, but very expensive. Back to our seats and Ducky walks by and we talk. She is loving the life in San Diego and I was glad to see her. Then spotted Steveedan and his son Jonah up toward the front. He was indeed gimping around with a bright blue leg cast (call me Deacon Blues?). It was good to see both of them. Then the lights went down and the band came up on the stage. Turtle song began and off we went.

Set 1

Turtle Song (Band only)

Bodhisattva

Time Out of Mind

Aja

I've Got the News

Hey 19

Cousin Dupree

Josie

Any World (Jeff Young vocals)

Glamour Profession

Black Friday

--

Set 2

Steely Dan Show

Green Earrings

Monkey in Your Soul (Walter Becker vocals)

Band Intros by Walter and into Showbiz Kids

Black Cow

Do It Again

Dirty Work

Peg

Don't Take Me Alive

Kid Charlemagne

--

Encore

My Old School

FM

The band was hot so. Everyone seemed to be having a good time, even to giving them a standing ovation after every song in the beginning and then during Hey 19, the folks who could, got up and danced. My feeling is that these folks have a very active tribute band "The Steely Damned" and that they are used to going up to the front dance floor during the dance songs and so the did so. Donald commented at the end of the song that he liked seeing that, it was OK with him, so they stayed. I did not see people getting upset, but I am sure there were some who did.

Bodhisattva: I have heard Bodhisattva live on the bootlegs from '74, but nothing could compare to the way this song kick started the concert. Great song and great solos.

Time out of Mind: I heard this in 2003 and it was basically unchanged. Donald does the melodica thing on this song.

Aja: Again a tune from 2003 and it too was basically unchanged. Carlock Rules!

I've Got the News: Now we're talking. I love this tune and was really looking forward to watching them perform this song. Great rendition and I loved the Broadway Dutchess part. Thanks guys for finally putting it in the set list.

Hey 19: Well, in spite of Owen Wilson saying that this was the title of his next film, it was good to hear this again in concert. Aretha was back, I do believe and so was the worm.

Cousin Dupree: Owen Wilson's current movie is called "You, Me and Dupree" and the boys must have gotten bored on the tour and wrote a fake nasty letter to Luke Wilson, telling him that his brother stole their Grammy Winning Song. In honor of all the flap going on right now, the boys brought it back into the set list for this tour and began performing it. I have never seen it live, so it was a treat for me.

Josie: No drum solo, but exactly as seen before. Nice riffs by both guitarists.

Any World: This was highly anticipated, but the reggae beat and Jeff Young on vocals, though interesting, lost a lot of the sorrow from the original. Still, it made me happy to hear it at all and so that was a good thing. Glad to hear it twice, both at the sound check and live.

Glamour Profession: I have heard this song before, but only on boots of the 2000 tour. Donald was all over the place on the lyrics and I seem to think this is deliberate. Anyway, glad to hear it, no matter what lyric was sung.

Black Friday: Guitar tune end to the first set. Nice to hear live.

Went out back to the concessions for some lemonade and kettle corn. Met Ed Beatty and he was on the phone with Little Wild One. So I got to talk to her about the lyrics to Glamour Profession, for one. :-)

Back to the front and talked some more to Steveedan. He is playing a gig out in my neck of the woods and I am trying to set something up for him and his band.

Back to my seat and off we go again.

--

Set 2

The Steely Dan Show: Hubby singing this? I don't know for sure, but he did comment that it wasn't hard since they projected the lyrics on the stage.

Green Earrings: My SONG! Great trading 4's going on and wonderful stuff all around. Sorry angel...

Monkey In Your Soul: Walter steps up to the mic and gives us his rendition of this Pretzel Logic era song. I have heard him do it before and generally like it a lot, but I was not impressed with his vocals on this night.

Band Intros/Show Biz Kids: After finishing up Monkey, Walter keeps the mike for intros, as the band breaks into a real funky tune that eventually evolves into Show Business Kids. The girls take the "F" line. High point for me. Good song live!

Black Cow: Same as we have heard before. Jeff Young takes the solo, but it was better during the Donald Fagen band tour, in my opinion.

Do It Again: Donald introduced this song with words something like "Walter and I moved to LA in 1971 and formed a band and this was our first hit". I have heard this tune, but never saw it performed live. Very well done. Good guitar work.

Dirty Work: Donald dedicated this to David Di something and Danielle. Girls did a real wonderful job on the song.

Peg: Kicking it into guitar God overdrive, we start with Peg. Not my favorite tune, but well done. Great Herrington solo.

Don't Take Me Alive: As usual, I have now officially died and gone to heaven, love this song. Great guitar work.

Kid Charlemange: Number 2 in great Larry Carlton solos, Herrington on his 335 goes at it. Fagen says goodnight and see you next time. He has learned his lesson regarding saying see you next year.

--

Encore

My Old School: One jumping number. Got us up and dancing and clapping and all around having a good time.

FM: Thought I had had enough of this tune. I was wrong,. Well done and a wonderful end to the evening.

--

Walked out of the venue, watching the crowd and up ahead we see Steveedan and Jonah making their way to the car. I take the large bag that Jonah is carrying (because Steve is on crutches) and grab his hand to keep the drivers from running the little one over. We get to his car, say goodnight and stroll over to our own. Nice mellow evening, friends to add the the excitement, what more could you want?

Thanks Donald and Walter for pulling out the dog and pony show, one more time. I truly enjoyed it.

The Donald Fagen Band At The Wiltern Theatre

This was written on a train, with very little sleep, so apologies in advance for any disjointedness to the narrative. Some form of this will probably get posted onto my website, with pictures and such, but for now, here are first impressions of Monday evening. Enjoy.

Donald Fagen Band 2006

Set List

Here at the Western World
Green Flower Street
The Nightfly
New Frontier
Maxine
Home At last
Black Cow
The Goodbye Look
Third World Man
Mary Shut the Garden Door
Misery &the Blues
Brite Nightgown
Black Friday

Encore
Pretzel Logic
Viva Viva Rock N’ Roll

We started our evening by meeting at my work place, which is about 3 miles from the venue. Ate a quick dinner, before heading to the Wiltern Theatre. Our plan included checking out the scene at the Opus Bar and then hooking up with my Steely Dan friend from work, for the show. Rain was just beginning to fall, which I considered a blessing because my guys made good time getting to my work place. We parked in the structure behind the Wiltern, which set us back $10 and then walked to the front. The marque had Donald Fagen Band 2006 (sold out) on it. My informal tally found that I was asked more times if I had tickets to sell, rather then having someone asking me if I wanted to buy a ticket. We went across the street and took a quick shot of the marque and then over to the Opus. There was the Rajah right out front with Pete Fogel’s wife Shari. I was told that Pete was inside and that in addition, she had her mom accompanying her this evening. Rajah told me that Gretchen was in the bar and so we headed into the Opus and there indeed was Gretchen, sitting with Still Sparkin’. He had come all the way from Hong Kong to see the show and it was a real thrill to meet him. Then Hubby mentioned that Ed Beatty was over on the other side of the bar and so I walked over to Ed and we did a quick hug between “Roseland” Wife and Husband. It was good to see him again. Pete Fogel showed up and I got in a quick hi and asked him if there had been any taping of this tour for a DVD. He told me no. I was sorry to hear that and hope that it turns out to be incorrect. In bad news for that wild hope, I did not see any cameras taping, so I do not think we were taped. Too bad, because it ended up being a great show.

We decided to try to find our friend and so we split from the bar. Walked over to the door of the Wiltern and got searched for camera and drinks. Got both in, no problem. I am getting good at this, after my horrendous Roseland experience back in ‘03. We found our seats and sat down to wait. Felice Hernandez came over to me and we talked a bit. She is one of the singers for the Pretzel Logic Band and it was nice that she remembered me. My friend Peter finally showed about 10 minutes to 8:00 and we talked a bit. Right around 8:10 the lights went out and the band entered from camera left. They immediately broke into the uptempo “Here at the Western World”. I had heard it several times (thanks, friend) and was quite used to the different feel of the song. I think that made it more enjoyable to me. Good upbeat start to the show (I can’t believe I am saying that about a depressing song like Western World, but it was).

Impressions of the show.

Carlock was just fabulous, as usual. He is mostly the timekeeper for the band, which limits him. Once in a while he breaks from his time chains and is allowed to fly. What a thrill when that happens. He is one powerful drummer and a pleasure to watch. Guitarists Wayne Krantz and Jon Herington, were a study in contrasts. Both cool, but in different ways. Jon always slightly removed from the action, mostly self imposed. Krantz on the other hand was closer in, but with a cool wild edge to him. I enjoyed watching them both. We had an upper balcony view of the evening and that actually gave us a slightly different view of Donald. We could actually see him playing the Rhodes piano. At Roseland I couldn’t see anything except him singing. I thought the bass was a bit low in the mix, or maybe it was my ears, since I remember commenting on the same thing at Roseland.

Things I remember about the songs.

Green Flower Street - One of my favorite songs from Nightfly. I always enjoy hearing it when The Steely Damned play. So it was quite a thrill to have Fagen doing his own song. One thing kind of confused me a bit. Carlock didn’t seem to do all the beats on some of the parts of the song. He did get the end right though. His choice in how to drum it, I guess.

Nightfly - Yes, Donald channels Lester and some of the lines were very funny in a concert setting. I can’t believe I am saying this but it dragged on a bit.

New Frontier - I laughed when Donald sang about “Yes we’re gonna have a Wing Ding”.

Maxine - I loved the vocal harmony on this song. I truly enjoyed it. I believe Carolyn took the “Mexico City” solo.

Home at Last - Basically as we saw it in ‘03. Carlock doing the Purdie Shuffle. I like this song and enjoyed this foray into the Steely Dan file, especially after that huge chunk of Nightfly songs.

Black Cow - Another one from the file and again, mostly as we saw it in ‘03, but the change I noticed was Jeff Young on the organ taking the Victor Feldman solo. It was great.

The Goodbye Look - What can I say. I had real high expectations for this song and every one of them came true. It was one cooking end!

Third World Man - Back to its original form, I think A great song and the guitar solo’s by both Krantz and Herington were so exquisite to watch that I had shivers running up and down my spine. An unforgettable moment.

Mary Shut the Garden Door - Finally, Finally, Finally I got to hear something off the new one and it did not disappoint. The band really looked like they just fit right into the sync locked groove and showcased their work on the album they helped Fagen create. Great song and it could have gone on forever, if I had my way.

Misery and the Blues - I had also heard this one several times, so I knew what to expect. My feeling on this song is that Fagen is paying tribute to the music of New Orleans, in his own, low key, way. I really loved Michael Leonhart’s solo and then Walt Weiskopf’s, during this almost 10 minute piece. I enjoyed the song better then I expected to and as others have said, anywhere Fagen wants to send me, I will gladly go.

Brite Nitegown - 2nd song from Morph and it went well, considering I did not think they were going to be able to carry the weird vocals. I enjoyed it, but would have preferred either Security Joan, or Mona. Just my choice.

Black Friday - Not my favorite song, as a general rule, but it was great. Herington and Krantz traded gnarly guitar work on this one and I loved it. What a wonderful end to the show.

Encore:

Pretzel Logic - A better choice couldn’t be found, in this girl’s book. One heck of a song and Jeff Young picking up the “Stepped up on the Platform” vocal, was just icing on the cake for me. Herington guitar solo, similar to the one he did on the Plush.

Viva, Viva Rock and Roll - Very short, but a rockin’ way to finish off the concert. A nod to his very 50’s Rock and Roll roots, I think. I enjoyed the energy. Donald going out in style and on his terms.

Walked out to the lobby and checked out the Donald Fagen tee shirts and finally decided to pick up 2 Morph the Cat keychains. I have a $10 Steely Dan keychain from ’03 and I saw that inflation had hit the keychain market. I paid $15 each for them, which made it tough to impulse buy a few extras for Steely Dan friends. I did get one for my sister, who is a huge cat fan and who loves the title track from the album. There was Ed Beatty and Still Sparkin’ again, standing in the lobby and we talked some more and then we got kicked out of the Wiltern, so they could close down the place. We said our goodbyes and walked out back toward the parking structure and I bought a cheapie Donald Fagen tee shirt from the “entrepreneurs” out back for $5. We will see how many washes it goes through before it totally disintegrates, but hey, I only bought it for me and I will be the only on suffering the “you get what you pay for” result of this impulse buy. Then we bumped into Felice Hernandez again, on the top level of the parking structure. She also had a cheapie tee shirt in tow and you could tell she loved the concert. She mentioned that she would love to work the back up singer position, if Donald ever needs someone. :-)

Great evening, great time, great people. Thanks all.

Universal Ampitheatre - Steely Dan 2003

SET ONE:

1. Cubano Chant, (Ray Bryant Tune, before Donald and Walter take the stage)

2. Aja (Aja)

3. Time Out Of Mind (Gaucho)

4. Godwhacker (Everything Must Go)

5. Caves of Altamira (Royal Scam)

6. Black Cow (Aja)

7. Babylon Sisters (Gaucho)

8. Daddy Don't Live In That New York City No More (Katy Lied) (sung by Walter, featuring Band intros)

9. Peg (Aja)

10. Home at Last (Aja) (Empire State Building Images)

SET TWO:

11. The Steely Dan Show (band and backup singers without D + W, debuted on 2000 European tour)

12. Janie Runaway (2vN)

13. Hey Nineteen (Gaucho)

14. Haitian Divorce (Royal Scam) (sung by Walter)

15. Lunch with Gina (Everything Must Go)

16 Parker's Band (Pretzel Logic) (Sung by the girls)

17. Josie (Aja)

18. Kid Charlamagne (Royal Scam)

19. Don't Take Me Alive (Royal Scam)

ENCORE: Dean Parks on Guitar!!!!!

20. My Old School (Countdown to Ecstasy)

21. FM (FM Soundtrack)

After the Roseland Concert, just 2 weeks earlier, I had no real hope that this very anticipated concert could be even half as good. LA crowds just sit in their seats, LA is so laid back...you know the cliches. Well, Wednesday evening arrived and so did my 2 guys. Off we went, driving West on Sunset, to the Hollywood Freeway (or the 101 as it is also called). Only a few short exits and we were at tonight's venue, Universal. I had not been up to the complex that contains the Ampitheatre in several years, but there were few changes. We walked the length of City Walk and got to the meeting point for the pre Dan Show, the Saddle Ranch Chop House. There was a sign saying welcome Steely Dan Fans, but I looked around the place and didn't see anyone. Just when I was ready to give up and enter the venue, my husband spotted Steveedan and the 4 of us talked for about 15 minutes. At that point, South of Hollywood arrived with his guest, and off we went on the line to get into the venue. We caught up with Dan (W1P) and his wife and said a quick hello, then into the mob, for bag checks (saved my water and camera this time) and then over to the theatre itself. Met up with our guest for this evening, a work friend of mine, who is the man that got me past just a casual interest in the Dan. It was wonderful getting to share an evening with him, listening to Dan music. We all loved the seats and it was my best sight line view yet. We were in the 1st row of the third section, on Donald's side. Being we were on the aisle, the late comers got in our way a bit, but not too bad at all.

8:15 came and a few minutes later, the band appeared and off we went, Cubano Chanting. This time something must have clicked with this song, cause I really got into it and even remember some of it, weeks later. It was hot, the crowd enjoyed and then, on came Donald and Walter and life just got better. They went into Aja and at the conclusion the crowd went wild up in the front section and even gave them a standing ovation. I was shocked. This crowd wanted to be here and I relaxed and enjoyed the show. Donald was hot and as far as I could tell he did not miss any lines. His only vocal problem seemed to come during Godwacker, it sounded like he could have used a drink of his soda, at the top of the song. But things got better fast and I heard no other weakness in vocals after that. He has an economy of wording the songs, leaving out a word here and there, especially the first word of a line. I almost think he is saving himself. The other thing he was doing both this evening and at Roseland was drawing out ends of words, especially in Aja. He would put a beat in there before ending it. You almost wanted to hit him over the head sometimes.

Since I finally had decent sight lines, I watched them playing much closer, then at the other 2 concerts. Carlock was hot again and it was a pure pleasure to watch him do his magic. I got a better look at Jon and Walter trading guitar parts. I actually got to see Jon do that little riff in Godwacker this time. Someone mentioned that he did the whole thing and that was correct. I believe that on the album, he and Hugh go back and forth, since it switches between the right and left channel. Walter seeming to do whatever needed to be done, some lead guitar work and then other rhythm guitar parts. Trying to keep things sounding good. The horn work was excellent, especially on Godwacker and Lunch With Gina. Someone asked me what did the outro to Lunch with Gina and yes, it is the horns. Nice job, they did.

The only thing I wanted to add was that Dean Parks made my night!!!!! I missed when he came up on stage, so when they ended My Old School, I noticed an extra body standing there playing and wondered who he was. Donald then gave him the intro, Very cool. Then Dean did a killer solo in FM, that so reminded me of how you hear him play on that Making Aja video and I was charmed. What a guy. You could see that Walter was so happy to have him on stage.

This is the first time I saw them perform Daddy Don't Live and I found it interesting to note that Michael Leonhart moves over to the Professor Baker position and plays the keyboard, while Ted does the piano. Donald is doing his thing on the Fender Rhodes (or whatever it is), so you have 3 performers playing keys at once. Very cool stuff. Michael then moves back to trumpet, during the band intros, so as to take his bow on his main instrument. Tom Barney got introduced TWICE!!!!! What a hoot! It was like Walter wanted him to do it again. And guess what, it was better the 2nd time around. Damn, I wish I could see him playing . Girls were in black, which fit the formal occasion of Universal.

The consenus from both my guys was that there was no comparison between the Paso Robles show and last night. Universal wins, hands down. My work friend is very into audio and he said it was the best sounding SD concert he had ever attended and he has seen them several times over the years. So he gave it high marks. For me, Roseland had the energy and the dancing, so this night was mellow and laid back, very LA, but nice.

Glad I was there.

Roseland Ballroom - Steely Dan

Set 1

Cubano Chant (Band Only)

Aja

Time Out of Mind

Godwacker

Caves of Altamira

Black Cow

Babylon Sisters

Slang of Ages (Walter)

Band Intro

Peg

Home At Last

Set 2

Steely Dan Show

Janie Runaway (segue into)

Hey 19

Haitian Divorce (Walter Sings)

Lunch With Gina

Everything Must Go

Parker's Band (Back up Singers do lead)

Josie

Kid Charlemagne

Don't Take Me Alive

Encore

My Old School

FM

Dateline: 3:30P Friday September 12th, 2003.

Here I am, NYC at the Novetel, waiting for the big moment to arrive. When I arrived in NYC I immediately went to the Roseland Ballroom to find out what was going on. I spoke to security and asked when the soundcheck would be and found out that the load in was not yet complete. I decided to walk over 1 block to 53rd and see what I could see and low and behold, the guy was right. There were doors and people and stuff going in and out. There was also a building right across the street, getting cement hoisted way up to the top and I decided to not hang around for long. There was also a bouncer type dude back there who I really didn't want to mess with. So I returned to the Novetel (I had scouted it out earlier). Nice balcony overlooking the street. Pete Fogel was right on. Oh, I did ask for a SD poster at the Roseland Box Office and the woman doing Will Call said they did not have any extra. Damn.

It is now 3:45P and I went out onto the terrace and people with Steely Dan tee shirts came out. I asked and found out it was Lucky Henry and his wife. We talked for a few minutes and he mentioned that he had listened to the sound check at the back doors back in 95. So when they decided to go off in search of some dinner, I decided to brave big and burly and walked back over to 53rd street. I got there in time to see the back door of Roseland actually open. I stepped into the doorway and saw that it was just behind the stage on the far right. People were doing the check, check microphone stuff. In retrospect, I figured out it must have been the sound guys. Big and burly decided to make an appearance at that point and I got put behind a barrier. Almost immediately, Keith Carlock came up to the door and he had to pull out his identification, before B & B would let him in. A minute or two later, along comes Walter walking down 53rd talking on his cell phone. As he came to the door, I managed to catch a picture of him.

A much better open then at Paso Robles, the bass was a bit high in the mix, but the band had no problems at all. You could tell that they were feeding from the frenzy that was the audience and everyone was trying his hardest to please and amaze. Carlock owns Aja's drums and Herington manages to do almost all the guitar parts on his own. Walter is there, but most of the work was Herrington, from what I could see. Then on to Time Out of Mind. For me, the funniest part was everyone trying to hold the mystical sphere. Us and the background singers. It made me laugh.

Godwacker. Donald using the Melodica for this tune, though still not as complex as in the CD. The good part was that I heard real improvement on the horns. I remember hearing it going no where fast, the first time around. This time the horns had their act together and were definitely taking it on the road, during the bridge/trading 4's part. I still wish Donald and Walter would do it, but this has evolved into quite a nice piece of work. On to Caves of Altamira. This song did nothing for me at Paso Robles and I was real impressed with the improvement tonight. Donald's voice doing the song justice, considering it was written back in the Brill Building days. I expected to see some cave paintings on the background, but that didn't seem to be the case. Black Cow up next and during the sound check Donald had done the "Uptown Baby" open and I was kind of wondering if he was going to do that tonight, but no, he sang it straight. The Victor Feldman part is always my favorite and tonight didn't disappoint. Babylon Sisters was another song that I did not see them do on this tour, so it was nice to hear. The band is doing it even better then I saw it on the Plush and the girls were really into it. So was the audience, we would shout the line about "you've got to shake it baby" along with them. Nice work. Walter gets introduced and did Slang of Ages without any substitutions that I could hear. Of course the fact that my part of the audience was singing along, may have had something to do with that. No slang me at the end. Damn.

Band introductions focused on the fact that they are all from the NYC area, minus Cynthia. It was very hot music during the intros and much better then I remember. Peg came up next and Jon Herrington does his magic, Carlock does a masterful version of Rick Marotta on drums. Finally Home at Last ended the first set. Being that Bernard Purdie will be performing Saturday at Le Bar Bat, I almost expected him to turn up as guest Drummer on this tune that carries his Purdie Shuffle. We were out of part 1 and not a minute too soon.

It was boiling on the floor and we were just right up against each other. I decided to get a beer and cool off a bit, knowing that it was going to be a challenge to get back to the front. I actually found a seat on the side and sat for about 5 minutes to give my feet a rest and then decided to get back. Thank goodness for Ed Beatty being so tall. I used him as a compass and told the people I was trying to squeeze past, that he was my husband. When I got to the front I kidded him and told him what I did and he yells out at the crowd that he is not my husband. It was just too funny. We talked a bit more and then on came the band for part 2. Someone gave Cynthia an Aja scarf, I thought it was Danfiend. Cynthia seemed real touched.

On to The Steely Dan Show (with lyrics). I had lots of fun singing this, since the words were not projected in Paso Robles and then we had Donald and Walter back and we went off into the Jail bait medley of Janey Runaway and Hey 19. Donald does indeed give the audience a chance to sing on this tune. It was fun. Back into the Walter version of Haitian Divorce and that film was a riot. Definitely added to the feeling of the song. Yes, Herington did great on guitar for that tune. I felt they did better then what I heard at Paso Robles. Walter more at home with the sound and Herington had the wa-wa's right.

The band broke into Lunch with Gina and it was just perfect, like the album. The waiter never comes? Not in this case and they audience appreciated the change. Then, OMG, it was EMG itself. Carlock working those drums on the open and just feeding on the fact that we went wild when we heard the opening chords of that song. We knew we lost TIMTM, but what a substitution, 2 tunes!!!!! It was well worth it and a wonderful song. Walt Weiskopf did the sax right on (like I expected anything else from him). The girls did Parker's Band and how appropriate was it that 52nd Street's the junction. A wonderful dancing tune.

Next up was a beautiful piano piece that Cara Mia swore was Maxine but off we went into Josie. Tom Barney's bass work was excellent and Carlock was indeed on fire in all senses of the word. During Keith's drum solo, Donald grabs his Coke can and disappears from our view. When he returned, the can was gone. Hmmmm, they didn't want it around to end up on Ebay, perhaps? :-)

I commented that we were now kicking into overdrive and yes, here came Kid Charlemagne.

Herington feeding off the frenzy from the crowd, kicked it up a notch and then brought it even higher with my favorite song, Don't take me Alive. Watched Mr. Tom Barney as he did a wonderful version of the bassline on that song. I couldn't see him well this time, but it was more then I could see him at Paso Robles, so it was a real treat to catch some of his work, especially some of the Rainey stuff. Of course, I yelled for the infamous Luckless Pedestrian.

End of show and the crowd wanted more and of course, we got it. My Old School and Herington still working hard. Audience appreciates the effort. Donald makes the comment about "we have time for..." and a bunch of us go 2 more. He looked a bit confused and then said "1 more". Well, we tried. FM is done beautifully and we applaud as the band leaves the stage.

I picked up my stuff, lose Ed and gang and made my way over to Le Bar Bat. My feet by this time were dying and I took a table down below and got a soda. The place was packed! I finally got up the energy to go upstairs and someone points me over to a table in the back and there are the missing Ed Beatty with such people as Aussie and Utah, YGK and Lisa G, Andy Metzger, Dan Fiend. Others around the area are Cara Mia, Pete and Shari, Hoops and Moonflower, Hat too Flat and Mr. Sam and Lady Bayside. Also around are Tom Barney, Cynthia Calhoun and Jon Herington. I manage to speak to each of them and they are all incredibly nice people. I was getting tired and worried about catching a taxi out of there and I finally decided to cut my losses at 2:30P and take the taxi earlier, rather then in an hour or so. That ended up being the right thing to do, because I stuck my hand out to try to call a taxi and none of them stopped. Then Jon Herington moved out into the middle of the street, right in front of me and stuck his hand out. I kiddingly joked that he was trying to steal my taxi and at that moment a taxi stops. I guess because I am such an non New York wimp and he is a NYC expert. He graciously opens the door and informs me that here is my taxi. I was so charmed and impressed and grateful that this piece of unknown business was finally taken care of, that I climbed in and off I went. The rain that held off all night, finally appeared when I got to Kennedy Airport. I could not have asked for better. I stayed in terminal 4 until the other terminals opened up and flew back to LA, a tired but happy traveler. Thanks to all who made it a true night to remember.

========================
A poem from Wormy....

angel

an angel descended and hailed a cab
a six string wonder beckoned jestures graceful
a memory instill that night

Steely Dan At Paso Robles

This post was brought over from my old Angelfire account. It is here for historical purposes only. Enjoy reading it, if you happen to find it here on my blog.

"Let's go to the California Mid State Fair", I said to my husband one sunny March day.

"Uh, Why?" he replied.

"Because Steely Dan will be playing there on July 24th and it's only $38 a ticket. What a deal.!"

Well, we scored the tickets and made some reservations, for a very short 2 day vacation. At the last minute my husband actually got out of work early enough for us to start the journey Tuesday Evening, July 22nd. So off we went to Ventura, Ca. Made it to our hotel by 7PM and were eating chowder in a buoy, by 7:30PM at Andrea's Seafood. A favorite place of ours, when we visit that area. What a nice way to watch the sun set on the Pacific Ocean. Swam in the hotel pool and spa and off to bed, due to the long trip in the morning. Woke up to a typical summer morning on the coast, no sun and lots of fog. We had the hotel breakfast and we were on the road by about 9AM. Once we moved inland, the sun broke through and we traveled by Santa Barbara, Buelton, Santa Maria, Pismo Beach, San Luis Osbispo, Morro Bay and finally our destination for the day, Cambria. We were there just in time for lunch and had some pizza at the JBJ's Roundup Pizza. It was quite good and fortified again, we decided to hit the road up Highway 1 for an hour or so. We made a short stop at Hearst Castle's Gift store. My 12 year old had never been there and we figured it was at least an introduction to the Castle. Did some shopping and buying of fudge (yum) and off we went again, to Hwy 1. The last time I had driven that road, was around 11 years ago and all that I remembered were the steep and dangerous curves. Amazingly, there are actually long stretches of roadway where you can do speeds of at least 40 to 50 miles an hour. We made it up to Lucia (about half way to Monterey) and then had to turn around. The views on the way back are even more spectacular then the ones on the way up and we enjoyed it immensely.

We then came back to Cambria and checked into the San Simeon Pines Resort. A lovely and (relatively) inexpensive older resort on Moonstone Beach Drive. San Simeon Pines Seaside Resort Website
It had croquet, shuffleboard, golf, a pool and access to Moonstone Beach. A throwback to another era and we were totally enthralled with it. Our room was lovely, too. Lots of wood beams and a sliding glass door that opened to our patio and pool area. We decided to go have an early dinner and ate right on Moonstone Beach Drive. Then it was time for the sunset and we sat by the water and took pictures as we watched it. We then went back to the room and wanted to swim, but there were no lights at the pool, so we decided to stay in and just watch TV. The next morning we woke up and went to breakfast at the Pine Tree Inn. It was similar to the Sunday breakfast we have at our local cafe. We then shopped in town a bit, stopping at Seekers (a glass gallery) and the Soldier shop (a place with lots of miniatures of battle scenes, chess sets, pins and prints). Bought a few souvenirs and moved on to Paso Robles. The drive over took us thorough some of that areas lovely vineyards and we would like to return there to check them out, another time. We had lunch and checked into our hotel the Paso Robles Inn. What a lovely place to stay. They have waterfalls in the spa and gardens, that the rooms overlook. There are thermal spas in some rooms, too, though we did not have that.

We went in the pool and spa and found lots of people in the pool were going to the concert that evening. So it was pretty nice. Some were already doing some libations, though we did not partake. We went and got dressed and picked up the shuttle bus right in the front of the hotel. What a great service that was. You did not have to worry about drinking and driving in a strange town. Kudos to the city for providing the service. A five minute drive and there we were at the gate of the Mid State Fair. We looked around a bit and then had some ribs and hero sandwiches for dinner. Looked around some more and just before we entered the area where the concert was, we had our ice cream dessert.

As we headed for the entrance, I suddenly saw Ed Beatty and Pete Fogel having a drink before entering the grandstand area. Ed and I were thrilled to find each other and talked for a bit. Then Pete came over and talked to me. He actually was with Q (Down in Tampa) and some others, who I did not know. I assume they were spouses, though. Finally Ed Beatty's family came over and we got to talk to them, too. It was very nice, to see them all again. We then passed through the turnstiles and we were there. There were Steely Dan Tee-shirts and other things to buy for lots of money. I called up Blaise and ran some of the choices by him, but they were way too pricey at $35 for a tee-shirt. So off we went to our seats.



From the pictures, you can see that we were way over to the left. What actually was nice about it was that when Donald and Walter left the stage, they came our way and we could watch their reactions. After I settled down I saw that Ed and his family had arrived at their seats and that they were not far from ours. I went over there and along came Steveedan. We talked a bit and then another gentleman came over and Steve introduced him to me as South of Hollywood. The 3 of them had all been at the concert the night before and were beginning to talk about the set list and I did not want to hear about it, so I left them all and returned to my family.




Paso Robles July 24, 2003 (Second day of their tour)

Set 1

Cubano Chant (Band Only)

Aja

Time Out of Mind

Godwacker

Caves of Altamira

Blues Beach

Do it Again

Slang of Ages (Walter)

Band Intro

Peg

Home At Last

Set 2

Steely Dan Show

Janie Runaway (segue into)

Hey 19

Haitian Divorce (Walter Sings)

Things I Miss the Most

Parker's Band (Back up Singers do lead)

Josie

Kid Charlemagne

Don't Take Me Alive

Encore

My Old School

FM






Soon after, the band came on and played a jazz instrumental. The people took their seats (for the most part) and then Donald and Walter appeared and off they went into Aja. What a start to the concert!. The first set there was a wind blowing and it was quite cold. Donald and the Back up singers were all wearing leather jackets, though the girls had on their Steely Dan Tee-shirts, underneath. The wind died down and the 2nd set, it was a bit warmer. Maybe it was all those people, being in the same place, warmed it up. A lot of the details are a blur to me now, because the concert was about 3 weeks ago, but things I do remember are that the first few numbers seemed a bit tentative, I think due to the crowd still coming to their seats. Godwacker in particular, was a bit off. I loved it anyway. The having to sit and not dance, did get to me a bit, but I endured and finally toward the end, people were up and dancing and I could do that. It was the best part. Walter did do a great job with Slang of Ages and he held his own with Haitian Divorce. The Jail bait segue between Hey 19 and Janey Runaway was quite funny and so was the Divorce mini suite of Haitian Divorce and Things I miss the Most. Yes, there were lots of their older material, but lots of new stuff for us to enjoy, too. As far as I could tell, the audience had a good time and so did we. As we left, we stopped at the tee shirt shop again and we picked up the "Things I Miss the Most" tee shirt. The three of us figure we will share it. :-)

Some of the other shirts were a black Aja Shirt, a Coffee and a Kiss picture shirt, a wonder waif style tee shirt with the Steely Dan logo from Can't Buy a Thrill. There was also a EMG tee shirt (traditional tour type thing), a mouse pad of the cover of EMG and a computer case (I believe). It was late, we were getting tired and off we went to the bus and the trip home. Friday morning we got up at 6AM and got out of town at exactly 7AM. We hustled down the 101 Freeway and got to our house by exactly 10:10AM and managed to get the car unpacked and get my husband to work by 11AM and me to work by 11:30AM. What a vacation! We managed to cram quite a bit into 2 days and hope to return to the Central Coast again, soon. We also plan to have another go at Steely Dan, when they return to LA for a show at Universal. We can't wait.