Originally published on July 17, 2008 By Jas Tynan Westword After the Joey DeFrancesco trio warmed things up, the Steely boys (and girls) kicked off their set with “The Royal Scam,” and then went into “Show Biz Kids,” where the lead saxophonist shredded his alto sax in a manner that would have made even David […]
Tag Archives | Concert reviews
At the Montreal Jazz Festival, July 2, 2008
By John Kelman Allaboutjazz.com Like the audience at Return to Forever’s show at the 2008 Ottawa International Jazz Festival a week earlier, the crowd waiting for Steely Dan to hit the stage was undeniably dominated by gray-hairs and no-hairs. Most have been following the band since its inception in the early 1970s and, based on […]
Steely Dan jazzes up a summer night
By David KieleyBoston Globe Originally published on June 24, 2008 Pity the usher, tiny flashlight in hand, trying to keep a throng of Boston couples from dancing in the aisles during a Steely Dan show. Bandleaders Donald Fagen and Walter Becker brought their legendary jazz-rock outfit to the Bank of America Pavilion on Monday night […]
Pop Veterans Still Pumping Anti-Charisma
By Ben Ratliff New York Times Donald Fagen and Walter Becker seem like the kind of late-1960s hypercerebral born-cynical East Coast hipsters who are often found valorizing authenticity in aesthetic expression. You know: collectors of pre-war blues 78s, memorizers of outdated jazz argot. But instead of turning away from pop gloss, they acted like good […]
Steely Dan at Hammersmith Apollo, London
By John L Walters guardian.co.uk “Hiya kids,” says Steely Dan’s Donald Fagen, “we’re going to play songs from the recent past, and going back to the deep 70s… if you know what I mean.” Everyone knows what he means, as the 12-strong band hammer out the golden repertoire: Time Out of Mind, Hey Nineteen, Bad […]
Steely Dan Reels in the Glory Years
By Paul Kosidowski Milwaukee Journal Sentinel The 21st century still holds the Me Decade in ironic reverence, as any Abba or AMC Gremlin enthusiast can testify. But Steely Dan, the precision-engineered and subversive pop phenomenon of the 1970s, isn’t a likely candidate for nostalgia. Still, its Marcus Amphitheater concert Thursday night was the perfect start […]
Steely Dan Plays It Smooth At Freedom Hill
By Gary Graff The Oakland Press STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich. — For a band that defiantly didn’t tour for so many years, Steely Dan has become a pretty smooth live act. Of course, Walter Becker, Donald Fagen and company have had some practice at this point, having resumed Steely Dan as a performing entity in 1993 […]
Steely Dan Fills Need for ‘Deep ’70s’ Fusion
By Sarah Rodman Boston Globe BOSTON — There are very few summer concerts one can go to and find the lead guitarist raunchily riffing on Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. But then there are very few, if any, bands like Steely Dan. Tuesday night the revered fusion duo of Walter Becker and Donald Fagen brought […]
Steely Dan Stands Test of Time
By Christopher John Treacy Boston Herald Don’t expect Steely Dan frontman Donald Fagen to smile until the show’s almost over. Letting up any earlier would entail blowing his cool — not his style. And in the end, Fagen’s demeanor means that Steely Dan gets to remain unsoftened and undiluted with age. Sure, Fagen’s getting old, […]
Rockers Simmer Through Jazz-Influenced Set
By Jay N. Miller For The Patriot Ledger BOSTON — If there’s anything better than hearing Steely Dan’s best music performed by the rock band, it has to be hearing it performed by an expanded 12-piece outfit, which is what 4,000 fans at Bank of America Pavilion in Boston were treated to last night. The […]
