By CARY DARLING Star-Telegram Pop Culture Critic GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas — Back in the ’70s, keyboardist Donald Fagen and guitarist Walter Becker — aka Steely Dan — were notorious recluses. Touring and granting interviews were rare in their universe. Instead, they locked themselves in the studio, pouring their passion into crafting a pristine, note-perfect style […]
Tag Archives | Concert reviews
Pop: Steely Dan Reels in the Years
Old times as good as ever at Nokia By CHRIS VOGNAR The Dallas Morning News GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas – They may never go back to their old school, but Steely Dan was happy to jump into the time machine Wednesday night at Nokia Theatre. The masters of jazzy rock welcomed old bandmate Michael McDonald back […]
Review: Donald Fagen Concert
By Richard Cromelin Los Angeles Times LOS ANGELES — The first song in Donald Fagen’s show on Monday at the Wiltern LG was a pretty good clue that this first solo tour by the Steely Dan principal would be neither a greatest-hits joyride nor an infomercial for his new solo album, Morph the Cat, the […]
Fagen’s Steel Somewhat Blunted but a Crowd-Pleaser Still
By Ricardo Baca Denver Post DENVER — Steely Dan co-frontman Donald Fagen was supposed to play the Paramount Theatre on Tuesday night, but his trucks got stuck on snowy Nebraska highways. Fagen was forced to postpone until Wednesday, when the sold-out crowd warmed him and his band from the cold outside with a display of […]
Fagen relaxes his grip
By Thomas Conner Chicago Sun-Times The fastidiousness of Donald Fagen is well-documented among his band’s considerable contributions to rock ‘n’ roll. In the studio for Steely Dan records, six-hour sessions were common just to polish 12 bars of rhythm guitar. Noted session musicians would be brought in at great expense to play jazzlike guitar and […]
Donald Fagen Band at the Chicago Theatre
By Paul Olson AllAboutJazz.com CHICAGO — Steely Dan founder/vocalist Donald Fagen’s concert at the storied Chicago Theatre wasn’t exactly the sound of surprise — this isn’t a jamband he’s fronting and anyone who came expecting loose, improvisational flights of fancy was destined to be disappointed. But the full house knew pretty much exactly what to […]
Fans Welcome ‘Steely Don’
By Vit Wagner Toronto Star TORONTO — You can take Walter Becker out of Steely Dan. But you can never take Steely Dan out of Donald Fagen. While Fagen, the 58-year-old singer-keyboard player for the 1970s jazz-pop pioneers, performed a nearly sold-out set last night minus his other half, guitarist Becker, the effect was more […]
Donald Fagen Stows Away the Time Nicely
By Jane Stevenson Toronto Sun TORONTO — “How ya feelin’ Donald?” a male fan shouted out to Steely Dan singer-keyboardist Donald Fagen on Monday night at Massey Hall. “I’m feeling groovy, baby,” smiled the 58-year-old, who’s taking part in the first solo tour of his three-decade-plus career. And groovy Fagen, who postponed his Boston show […]
Mixing Songs, Fagen Finds the Groove
By Siddhartha Mitter Globe Correspondent BOSTON — No one has taken the place of Steely Dan. A generation ago, guitarist Walter Becker and singer-keyboardist Donald Fagen built an unmatched creative hub connecting rock, jazz, blues, and soul. Their taut sound, technical yet warm, and their lyrics, crucial vignettes of ’70s dystopia and Reagan-era dyspepsia, sped […]
Steely Dan’s Voice, Wry as Ever, if Less Sure
By Laura Sinagra New York Times NEW YORK — Those meticulous jazz-rockers Steely Dan built a career on seeming coolly unfazed. But the solo efforts of its principals, Donald Fagen and his snarkier counterpart, Walter Becker, prove what we all knew: that insouciant affect is usually the result of peer pressure. We can only be […]
