They got their Steely Dan t-shirts
Jul. 28th, 2006 09:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sunnyskywalkerIt's the gray one with red lettering on the right. The picture doesn't show the words around the outside of the circle, though, which is the best part: "Any major dude or show biz kids will tell you this is the official/ STEELY DAN T-SHIRT/ Old school 100% true authorized El Supremo outrageous." Full of song-reference goodness :D
The concert itself was wonderful. Of course, I'm a Steely Dan fangirl with a Steely Dan fanboy for a dad, so it would have to be pretty bad to register as "less than wonderful" on our radar. And there were a few minor annoyances. (ME: *cough cough* *throat feels raw* Was it my imagination, or did the sign out there say 'No smoking beyond this point?' DAD: Well, they think marijuana smoke doesn't count. ME: The sign didn't specify! And anyway, I see people smoking cigarettes too.) Still, I thought it was a fantastic concert even for the less enthusiastic.
The tour was not just Steely Dan, but Steely Dan and Michael McDonald, which was different. Michael McDonald was with the band for several years, though they spent most of those years in the studio. (Steely Dan spent about twenty years exclusively in the studio, in fact, before they started touring again.) Once we realized just how long he had been with the band, we started listening more closely, and in fact you can pick him out in the backup singers in the song "Peg." So this was really a reunion tour, I guess.
We spent the first half hour or so snarking about Michael McDonald. A bit unfairly, as it turned out. Michael McDonald started out singing some of his Doobie Brothers songs. I have only a passing familiarity with their songs, so I had to rely on my dad for the band history and list of hits and such. He said that he was sure MM was a good musician, but had always been biased against him because he (my dad) felt that MM had stolen the band from the original lead singer. Then MM and his band started up, and he sounded awful. His voice was hoarse and he had trouble hitting notes, and it really sounded like he must have blown out his voice with too much raw shout-singing decades ago. It was painful to watch, because we were wondering whether it was just charity letting him open for Steely Dan or what. Strangely, he didn't even sing many Doobie Brothers songs. (ME, after about ten songs: So this is only about the third one of his own songs? DAD: Maybe he's just sick of his songs. I am.) So we were not the most contented audience. (DAD: Did the guitarist just cut him off? ME: Yeah, I think he did! DAD: Even the guitarist wants to hear Steely Dan.)
But then, about half an hour in, he got much better. I think part of it was that he just needed to warm up. He isn't young anymore, after all. And I think the other part of it was the style of songs he was singing. He started off with songs that he could sort of shout-sing back when he was younger, and that didn't work so well with his older voice. But things started to pick up when he sang a tribute to Billy Preston. Then he brought out some gospel singers and did some more gospel-style rock, and that suited him much better. It was upbeat, fun, and sounded pretty good.
And then we saw Donald Fagen's new look, and Walter Becker proved he still owns that guitar. Michael McDonald and co. vacated the stage for Steely Dan after about an hour. As soon as Donald Fagen walked on stage, we realized he looked awfully familiar. And not because we'd seen him in concert before. DAD: He looks like a white Ray Charles! And he really, really did. Almost certainly on purpose, because he loves acknowledging other artists like that. The song "Midnight Cruiser" starts off with the line, "Thelonius, my old friend/Step on in and let me shake your hand." "Everything You Did" has "Turn up the Eagles/The neighbors are listening." (And I've heard some interesting speculation that the line "Stab it with their steely knives/But they just can't kill the beast" in "Hotel California" is a counter-reference. My dad says Don Henley said "Hotel California" was their attempt to write a song like Steely Dan.) "Razor Boy" has "Even Cathy Berberian knows/There's one roulade she can't sing." There's another song called "Mr. Parker's Band," and my dad says that during the 1996 tour, they had a cardboard cutout of Charlie Parker on stage with them. So this was probably part of that tradition.
The band sounded even more incredible than I remembered, and I don't think it's just because they've had a few years of practice since last time I saw them. (Fagen and Becker are the cornerstones, but most of these guys have been with the band for years and are incredibly talented musicians.) They've stopped even pretending to do the songs like the original recordings. The original recordings are great, of course, but now they've really started experimenting with the instrumentation and going on minutes-long jazz riffs in the middles of songs. It fits in perfectly, and is just amazing. There aren't enough superlatives. And Walter Becker moved his fingers in a way that would be impressive for a young guitarist, and he must be near sixty now. We were worried about him, because he seemed to be slowing down a few years ago. Apparently not!
And then out came BONNIE RAITT. I don't think Donald Fagen ever sings "Dirty Work." David Palmer sang that one originally, back when he was part of the band, and I've only ever seen one of the backup girls sing it in concert. So that's what I was expecting. I was definitely not expecting Bonnie Raitt to make a surprise appearance and sing it, that's for sure. It was pretty cool. I'm still hoping someday Aimee Mann will show up and sing "Dirty Work," but I'm not complaining about free Bonnie Raitt!
Michael McDonald came back out and did a very good job, and we felt sorry we had been so hard on him earlier. First Walter Becker introduced each band member while they did their improv thing (oh yeah - earlier, in the middle of "Hey Nineteen," the trombone and the trumpet had a really funny musical "argument"), and then it turned out that this was a very long intro for "Show Biz Kids," which MM sang very nicely. Actually, he sounded pretty damn good in this song. Then he alternated verses with Donald Fagen for "Do It Again," which Donald said was the way they did it in 1974. After that, MM sang backup (and played keyboard), and the guys seemed like good old buddies reunited onstage, and it was all very touching. And the music was awesome, of course. Did I mention how AWESOME they were?
Finally - though this actually happened near the beginning - I started wondering whether the song 'Green Earrings' is actually about a serial killer collecting souvenirs from his victims. My dad thinks I might be right. It's typical Steely Dan to have an upbeat, jazzy song about something morbid, and I haven't thought of anything else that makes sense. (Trying to figure out what the hell it all means is part of the fun of Steely Dan songs.) "Sorry, angel/I must take what I see" and "I get hungry like a child" could be a klepto character, but what about "I remember/The look in your eyes"? Maybe "the look in your eyes when you find out what I've stolen today," but that just doesn't quite seem right. Souvenirs from victims makes more sense to me. I'm getting a "Tom Riddle and his Collection" vibe.
My dad then started wondering whether Royal Scam was the "criminal" album. There's "Kid Charlemagne," which is about a drug kingpin; there's "Don't Take Me Alive," which is about a guy who's listening to the police megaphones and alternately thinking that he can hold out all night with his dynamite and that he doesn't want to shoot anyone after all; there's "Sign In Stranger," which is about a lawless planet; there's the title track, which is about... well, I'm not sure what it's about, but scammers (even in highly metaphorical scams?) are usually not nice people. But then there's "The Caves of Altamira," which doesn't seem to involve any crime or shady dealings, unless you count "loss of childhood innocence" or "Hollywood." "Haitian Divorce" and "Everything You Did" are about really screwed up marriages. Though the guy in "Everything You Did" threatens to "shoot the lover down," and gets even creepier by the end, so who knows. And "The Fez" is about safe sex. So I don't know what that does to the theory.
And they write about so many shady characters anyway that it's hard to say that this album has more criminals than any other, though it would be interesting to try to count.
Also, some lady had not a t-shirt, but a Steely Dan purse with the album cover for "Can't Buy A Thrill" on it. How cool is that?
Okay, /squeeage.
The concert itself was wonderful. Of course, I'm a Steely Dan fangirl with a Steely Dan fanboy for a dad, so it would have to be pretty bad to register as "less than wonderful" on our radar. And there were a few minor annoyances. (ME: *cough cough* *throat feels raw* Was it my imagination, or did the sign out there say 'No smoking beyond this point?' DAD: Well, they think marijuana smoke doesn't count. ME: The sign didn't specify! And anyway, I see people smoking cigarettes too.) Still, I thought it was a fantastic concert even for the less enthusiastic.
The tour was not just Steely Dan, but Steely Dan and Michael McDonald, which was different. Michael McDonald was with the band for several years, though they spent most of those years in the studio. (Steely Dan spent about twenty years exclusively in the studio, in fact, before they started touring again.) Once we realized just how long he had been with the band, we started listening more closely, and in fact you can pick him out in the backup singers in the song "Peg." So this was really a reunion tour, I guess.
We spent the first half hour or so snarking about Michael McDonald. A bit unfairly, as it turned out. Michael McDonald started out singing some of his Doobie Brothers songs. I have only a passing familiarity with their songs, so I had to rely on my dad for the band history and list of hits and such. He said that he was sure MM was a good musician, but had always been biased against him because he (my dad) felt that MM had stolen the band from the original lead singer. Then MM and his band started up, and he sounded awful. His voice was hoarse and he had trouble hitting notes, and it really sounded like he must have blown out his voice with too much raw shout-singing decades ago. It was painful to watch, because we were wondering whether it was just charity letting him open for Steely Dan or what. Strangely, he didn't even sing many Doobie Brothers songs. (ME, after about ten songs: So this is only about the third one of his own songs? DAD: Maybe he's just sick of his songs. I am.) So we were not the most contented audience. (DAD: Did the guitarist just cut him off? ME: Yeah, I think he did! DAD: Even the guitarist wants to hear Steely Dan.)
But then, about half an hour in, he got much better. I think part of it was that he just needed to warm up. He isn't young anymore, after all. And I think the other part of it was the style of songs he was singing. He started off with songs that he could sort of shout-sing back when he was younger, and that didn't work so well with his older voice. But things started to pick up when he sang a tribute to Billy Preston. Then he brought out some gospel singers and did some more gospel-style rock, and that suited him much better. It was upbeat, fun, and sounded pretty good.
And then we saw Donald Fagen's new look, and Walter Becker proved he still owns that guitar. Michael McDonald and co. vacated the stage for Steely Dan after about an hour. As soon as Donald Fagen walked on stage, we realized he looked awfully familiar. And not because we'd seen him in concert before. DAD: He looks like a white Ray Charles! And he really, really did. Almost certainly on purpose, because he loves acknowledging other artists like that. The song "Midnight Cruiser" starts off with the line, "Thelonius, my old friend/Step on in and let me shake your hand." "Everything You Did" has "Turn up the Eagles/The neighbors are listening." (And I've heard some interesting speculation that the line "Stab it with their steely knives/But they just can't kill the beast" in "Hotel California" is a counter-reference. My dad says Don Henley said "Hotel California" was their attempt to write a song like Steely Dan.) "Razor Boy" has "Even Cathy Berberian knows/There's one roulade she can't sing." There's another song called "Mr. Parker's Band," and my dad says that during the 1996 tour, they had a cardboard cutout of Charlie Parker on stage with them. So this was probably part of that tradition.
The band sounded even more incredible than I remembered, and I don't think it's just because they've had a few years of practice since last time I saw them. (Fagen and Becker are the cornerstones, but most of these guys have been with the band for years and are incredibly talented musicians.) They've stopped even pretending to do the songs like the original recordings. The original recordings are great, of course, but now they've really started experimenting with the instrumentation and going on minutes-long jazz riffs in the middles of songs. It fits in perfectly, and is just amazing. There aren't enough superlatives. And Walter Becker moved his fingers in a way that would be impressive for a young guitarist, and he must be near sixty now. We were worried about him, because he seemed to be slowing down a few years ago. Apparently not!
And then out came BONNIE RAITT. I don't think Donald Fagen ever sings "Dirty Work." David Palmer sang that one originally, back when he was part of the band, and I've only ever seen one of the backup girls sing it in concert. So that's what I was expecting. I was definitely not expecting Bonnie Raitt to make a surprise appearance and sing it, that's for sure. It was pretty cool. I'm still hoping someday Aimee Mann will show up and sing "Dirty Work," but I'm not complaining about free Bonnie Raitt!
Michael McDonald came back out and did a very good job, and we felt sorry we had been so hard on him earlier. First Walter Becker introduced each band member while they did their improv thing (oh yeah - earlier, in the middle of "Hey Nineteen," the trombone and the trumpet had a really funny musical "argument"), and then it turned out that this was a very long intro for "Show Biz Kids," which MM sang very nicely. Actually, he sounded pretty damn good in this song. Then he alternated verses with Donald Fagen for "Do It Again," which Donald said was the way they did it in 1974. After that, MM sang backup (and played keyboard), and the guys seemed like good old buddies reunited onstage, and it was all very touching. And the music was awesome, of course. Did I mention how AWESOME they were?
Finally - though this actually happened near the beginning - I started wondering whether the song 'Green Earrings' is actually about a serial killer collecting souvenirs from his victims. My dad thinks I might be right. It's typical Steely Dan to have an upbeat, jazzy song about something morbid, and I haven't thought of anything else that makes sense. (Trying to figure out what the hell it all means is part of the fun of Steely Dan songs.) "Sorry, angel/I must take what I see" and "I get hungry like a child" could be a klepto character, but what about "I remember/The look in your eyes"? Maybe "the look in your eyes when you find out what I've stolen today," but that just doesn't quite seem right. Souvenirs from victims makes more sense to me. I'm getting a "Tom Riddle and his Collection" vibe.
My dad then started wondering whether Royal Scam was the "criminal" album. There's "Kid Charlemagne," which is about a drug kingpin; there's "Don't Take Me Alive," which is about a guy who's listening to the police megaphones and alternately thinking that he can hold out all night with his dynamite and that he doesn't want to shoot anyone after all; there's "Sign In Stranger," which is about a lawless planet; there's the title track, which is about... well, I'm not sure what it's about, but scammers (even in highly metaphorical scams?) are usually not nice people. But then there's "The Caves of Altamira," which doesn't seem to involve any crime or shady dealings, unless you count "loss of childhood innocence" or "Hollywood." "Haitian Divorce" and "Everything You Did" are about really screwed up marriages. Though the guy in "Everything You Did" threatens to "shoot the lover down," and gets even creepier by the end, so who knows. And "The Fez" is about safe sex. So I don't know what that does to the theory.
And they write about so many shady characters anyway that it's hard to say that this album has more criminals than any other, though it would be interesting to try to count.
Also, some lady had not a t-shirt, but a Steely Dan purse with the album cover for "Can't Buy A Thrill" on it. How cool is that?
Okay, /squeeage.
