Steely Dan.

I saw Steely Dan last night at the historic Paramount Theatre in Seattle. Most of you are already painfully aware of this, and nobody will be shocked when I declare that the show was amazing. I assure you, it was as brilliant and tight as I expected. I was especially surprised at how lo-fi and stripped down the music was despite a whopping 13-piece band.

Donald Fegan is a dictator with the music direction of those he shares the stage with. For instance, there was a false start during Dirty Work that left my mouth agape. I think everybody in the building expected Fegan to snap and kill the guitarist who made the misstep. He calmly halted the song and stated pleasantly “We want everything to be harmonically elegant for you.”

The event was historic as well. Steely Dan's first professional gig happened at the Paramount in 1972, opening for none other than James Gang. Fegan mentioned this and called Joe Walsh's world destroying group a "nice little power trio."

I expected to see a lot more bald white dudes wearing berets and sport coats. Instead, there were a lot of silver haired men with pocked faces and recovery eyes. There was also a fair share of drunken women in their late 50's dancing in the aisles. I was the youngest person there by at least 20 years. Wise beyond my age, I know. I imagine at least 72% of the concertgoers smoked a pinner joint behind a dumpster or in the parking ramp before the show. Stoners are never too grown-up to care where they hit a joint after all.

All in all it was a memorable concert. So many people abuse the phrase "face-melter" these days, but it truly filled the bill in that regard.

Here's what totally obsessed music nerds do after they see a show they've waited 1/3rd of their life to see. I give you the set list!

Entire Aja album:

Black Cow
Aja
Deacon Blues
Peg
Home At Last
I Got The News
Josie


Black Friday
TOOM
Daddy Don't Live (Walter Becker on vox)
Bodhisattva
Babylon Sisters
Show Biz Kids
Hey 19
Dirty Work (false start)
Dirty Work
Itchin/Intros
Do It Again
DTMA
My Old School
Kid Charlemagne

Encore

Reelin' in the Years
Closing/Last Tango



Photos by Jackie Canchola.