By RAMIRO BURR
San Antonio Express-News
With extended, jazz-flavored rhythms and quirky tunes about odd heroes and bad girlfriends, Steely Dan transported fans to another place and time during their concert Saturday night at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater.
From the 9:05 p.m. start of an almost two-hour set, the group’s performance was like a hits retrospective, with so many songs and memories that brought back Steely Dan’s ’70s heyday.
After so long an absence (the band hadn’t played in San Antonio for more than 30 years), it would have been enough fun to see keyboardist Donald Fagen and guitarist Walter Becker. They warmed up the fans easily with a captivating opening that included old faves like “Bodhisattva,” “Aja,” “I Got The News,” “Hey Nineteen” and “Josie.”
But about an hour into the set, singer Michael McDonald joined the band on stage, and the house went wild. It was like a reunion: McDonald, the band’s opening act, had played with Steely Dan in the 1970s.
Steely Dan is not an easy group to classify. They play on the far fringes of rock, mixing in a little jazz fusion and funk in songs that run beyond the typical 3 1/2-minute pop song. You could call the music experimental, or even smooth, sophisticated jazz-rock.
Lyrically, most of the songs feature strange observations, odd characters, dangerous nightlife and back-stabbing or emotionally detached girlfriends. But what works is plain enough: toe-tapping grooves, hooky melodies and intricate, jazz-flavored rhythms.
McDonald joined in on keyboards as Fagen introduced the hit “Do it Again.” The intensity steadily rose as the band then tore through “Peg,” “Don’t Take Me Alive” and “Kid Charlemagne.”
Fagen, in gray shirt and blue jeans, was the leader of what he called the Steely Dan Orchestra, calling out songs and making small talk in between. Seated behind his keyboard, with his shades and animated gestures, he evoked the big-smile exuberance of Ray Charles.
By contrast, Becker was all business, focusing on his intense guitar workouts. The entire 11-piece band, complete with a four-man horn section, played with impeccable musicianship.
The stage backdrop was spare, with only one video screen, more for mood than anything else.
The memories became even sweeter during Steely Dan’s encore, as they played the funky “My Old School” and “FM.” Missing from the set list were two of the band’s most popular songs, “Reelin’ in the Years” and “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number.”
The sun was still blazing and the temperature was still in the high 80s when McDonald took the stage for his opening set, which mixed Doobie Brothers classics such as “What a Fool Believes,” solo hits like “Sweet Freedom” and Motown favorites. A seven-piece choir joined McDonald for rousing versions of “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” and “Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing.”
From San Antonio Express-News, July 16, 2006
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