Steely Dan: Still Amazing After All These Years

By Scott Lewis
Portland Oregonian

Steely Dan Not many bands can take seven years between tours and two decades between studio albums and sound like they haven’t missed a beat. But then, not many bands are like Steely Dan.

While the Blazers took a break from the Western Conference playoffs, Steely Dan nearly filled the Rose Garden Arena in Portland, Oregon on Thursday (June 1) for the first stop of a North American tour to promote the group’s latest batch of musical musings, Two Against Nature (Giant).

The unpretentious crowd of 30, 40, and 50-somethings, a few with their teens in tow, cheered warmly as the top-flight, 11-piece touring band (not including the sign language interpreter) took the stage and dove into “The Boston Rag,” eventually roaring when ringleaders Donald Fagen and Walter Becker strolled onstage.

Looking a bit like a bizarre mobster in his dark suit, tinted glasses and closely-cropped grey hair, Fagen took his post behind the electric piano and channeled nearly every aspect of Ray Charles’ performance style (upward gaze, strained mouth, head flinches) as he sang in his singular style. Fagen’s voice, though understandably aged and not as polished as on record, is still clear and clean, even packing a bit more punch live.

Walter Becker’s guitar work remains impeccable after all these years and he’s lost none of his dexterity or precision. Steely Dan has always been about crafting the perfect union between jazz, pop, and R&B, and the band certainly had the chops to accomplish the task. “Bodhasattva” was heavy on the jazz end, featuring a few gassed-up guitar solos from John Herrington, while the true-to-form, classic “Josie” had the appreciative audience dancing in their seats and showcased a boiling drum solo by Ricky Lawson.

The four-piece horn section stole the show on several occasions, especially during the punched-up rendition of “Peg,” and one of the three back-up vocalists, Victoria Cave, sounded like a Motown version of Rickie Lee Jones, adeptly handling the lyrics of “Dirty Work” (originally sung by David Palmer). With Fagen strapping on the portable keyboard, a blues-heavy rendition of “Don’t Take Me
Alive” had the standing crowd hooting every time Fagen crooned “I crossed my old man back in Oregon,” despite pronouncing the state’s name as “Orygone.”

Moving evenly between seven of their eight studio albums (1980’s Gaucho was entirely ignored as were some hits such as “Rikki Don’t Loose That Number” and “Reelin’ in the Years”) throughout the two-hour set, the ’70s singles machine treated the crowd to just a two-song encore. “My Old School” sounded just as fresh, full and clean is it did in 1973, and the concluding “FM” contained the only noticeable sonic flaw of the evening: a goosed note from Becker which had a ripple effect through the rest of the crackerjack band. Grinning widely, Fagen thanked the audience and prior to parting and promised, “We’ll be back next year.”

Steely Dan set list:

1. “The Boston Rag”
2. “Bodhisattva”
3. “Night by Night”
4. “Janie Runaway”
5. “Josie”
6. “Black Friday”
7. “Daddy Don’t Live in that New York City No More”
8. “Jack of Speed”
9. “Do It Again”
10. “West of Hollywood”
Intermission
11. “Hank’s Pad (Henry Mancini)”
12. “The Royal Scam”
13. “Deacon Blues”
14. “Cousin Dupree”
15. “Monkey in Your Soul”
16. “Dirty Work”
17. “Peg”
18. “Don’t Take Me Alive”
19. “Kid Charlemagne”
Encore:
20. “My Old School”
21. “FM”

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