steely dan on tour

• Moscow concerts Moscow concerts Moscow concerts See all Moscow concerts ( Change location ) Today · Next 7 days · Next 30 days
• Most popular artists worldwide
• Trending artists worldwide

• Tourbox for artists

Search for events or artists

• Sign up Log in

• Get the app
• Moscow concerts
• Change location
• Popular Artists
• Live streams
• Deutsch Português
• Popular artists

Steely Dan  

• On tour: yes
• Steely Dan is not playing near you. View all concerts
• Moscow, Russian Federation Change location

589,598 fans get concert alerts for this artist.

Join Songkick to track Steely Dan and get concert alerts when they play near you.

Nearest concert to you

Touring outside your city

Be the first to know when they tour near Moscow, Russian Federation

Join 589,598 fans getting concert alerts for this artist

Upcoming concerts (7)

Similar artists with upcoming concerts, tours most with.

Steely Dan is a Jazz fusion band led by founding members Donald Fagan and Walter Becker. They were one of the most prominent music acts of their time and despite the extreme saturation and trending of rock music, Steely Dan’s jazz inspired sound managed to breakthrough into the mainstream.

Though Steely Dan was not fully realized until 1972, the roots of the band trace back to 1968 when the core members, Fagan and Becker, first met at Bard College in New York. Fagan overheard Becker playing the electric guitar in a nearby cafe. Immediately impressed by his performance Fagan introduced himself and asked if he wanted to be in a band. The two shared similar tastes in music and ideas for strong constructions. They formed several bands in college one, which included Chevy Chase as the drummer.

The band played blues and rock cover songs by artists ranging from Willie Dixon to Moby Grape; however, they would focus more on their original compositions with their move to Brooklyn, New York in 1969. Fagan and Becker assumed various roles in the music industry contributing to the soundtrack of the Richard Pryor film “You’ve Got to Walk It Like You Talk It or You’ll Loose that Beat” and acting as touring members of the group Jay and the Americans.

Fagan and Becker eventually formed their own band and recruited the help of drummer Jim Hodder, singer David Palmer, and guitarists Denny Dias and Jeff “Skunk” Baxter. Considering Fagan and Becker were advent enthusiasts of the Beat Generation movement, they named their newly formed group after a reference to William S. Burroughs’ novel “Naked Lunch”.

Steely Dan initially struggled to find their footing in the recording studios, releasing the poorly received single “Dallas”; however that reputation quickly dissipated with the release of their 1972 debut album “Can’t Buy a Thrill”. This album housed the classic rock standards “Reelin’ in the Years”, which reached #11 on the Billboard singles charts and “Do It Again” which peaked at #6. The band followed this release with the critically acclaimed, but commercially unsuccessful, “Countdown to Ecstasy”. This was the band’s first album without Palmer as lead vocalist. In addition to Fagan replacing Palmer as vocalist, Steely Dan also added future Doobie Brothers keyboardist Michael McDonald to the line up. The band put out another critical and commercial success with “Pretzel Logic” and made it to the #4 spot on the Billboard Charts with their hit single “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number”.

After the release of “Pretzel Logic” Steely Dan abandoned touring and committed themselves completely to the studios. Fagan and Becker were utter perfectionist in recording sessions and would sometimes make their studio musicians play a total of 40 takes per track. As Fagan and Becker continued hiring incredibly talented studio musicians, the significance of the roles of the other members began to diminish and they would subsequently leave the band. Equipped with a diverse and highly competent set of studio musicians Steely Dan went on to record the most texturally elaborate and polished sounding albums of their career. 1977’s “Aja” was a landmark album for the band and a groundbreaking record for its time. This album raked in a number of accolades including two Grammys for Best Engineered Recording and Non-Classical album. The album was also immensely popular with the general public, reaching #5 on the US Charts and becoming one of the first American albums to be certified platinum. The album showcased the bands craft as innovative and complex songwriters and added validity to their reputation as masterminds in the studio. Aja also featured a long list of jazz aficionados such as saxophonists Wayne Shorter, Pete Christlieb and Tom Scott, guitarists Larry Carlton and Lee Ritenour, and bassist Chuck Rainey (to name a few).

Steely Dan released their follow up to “Aja”, “Gaucho” 3 years later. Though the band endured personal, technical, and legal trouble during the album’s production, it ended up being another major success. Steely Dan’s next studio album would not be released until 20 years after “Gaucho”. Their long awaited comeback album, “Two Against Nature” dominated at the Grammy Awards, taking home Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical, Best Pop Vocal Album, Best Performance by Duo or Group with Vocal, and Album of the year. Steely Dan recorded yet another album entitled “Everything Must Go” and supported it with an extensive tour. The band’s “Two Against Nature” tour would be the band’s first time on the road since the ‘70s. Steely Dan continued touring well through out the 2000s and even did a tour in 2013 where they played “Aja” in its entirety.

Live reviews

Steely Dan’s music was definitely a new sound to people when the band started playing in the early seventies and their musical style still holds its defining characteristics that make them so unique. They have the ability to mix the diverse elements of jazz, funk, and rock into one musical style and make it sound cool and smooth.

When performing live Steely Dan does an excellent job presenting their signature style of laid-back music that allows the audience to sit back, relax, and take in the smooth breeze of their music. Donald Fagen is highly responsible for delivering the chilled vibe that we all love so much about Steely Dan’s music. Fagen is the driving force behind the catchy chord progressions ,which he smoothly plays on the Fender Rhodes Electric Piano and the Wurlitzer Electric Piano. Fagen also has a polished, pristine voice that he delivers with much clarity over the jazz-funk rhythms of the music. Walter Becker also adds much of the edge to the sound with the jazz like scales he plays on his guitar. Steely Dan’s sound has a loose feel to it and while at one of their concerts you can see them present this style in a free-form kind of way. Steely Dan is also able to get a full sound by having a backing band consisting of saxophone players that add to the smooth jazz element of the music, as well as having background vocalists that harmonize with each other to create a great depth to the performance. Steely Dan always looks cool and suave when they are on stage. The members wear sport jackets and ties, and sport dapper sunglasses. Their sound has garnered them much praise for their innovated style having already been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and having sold over 40 million albums.

You will always be thrown for a surprise when you see Steely Dan. Their rhythmic and melodic shifts are always changing in ways that captivate the audience and keep their toes tapping to the floor.

Report as inappropriate

What a show! Steely Dan, known most for their studio albums was in rare form last night. I closed my eyes a couple of times (on purpose) and could not tell if I was listening to a CD or a live show. They were in top form, and the young ladies they chose to accompany them on stage could not have been better. They went through most of their most popular songs, but, intentionally or not, did none of their songs that had to do with Las Vegas. I tend to believe it was the former not the latter. But that's okay, considering the massive catalog they had to choose from. Now, on to the audience. What a bunch of dead heads! and I don't mean a Grateful Dead reference here. The show was not sold out, which surprised the hell out of me. There was rarely (if at all) a standing ovation given to a band that clearly deserved a few. But, all in all, I had a great night and would go to see them again in a heartbeat!By the way, I'm 64 and grew up listening to them. Just a point of reference for you all.

Occasionally I am quite proud that I am not so young anymore as it means I can say I have seen some bands that others might regard as legends. Steely Dan fits the bill here. It is difficult to remember a lot about the concert as I saw them back in the 1970s at Leeds University (a great place for gigs in those days and probably still is). I also saw the Doobie Brothers in the same year. I tend to group Steely Dan, Doobies and Eagles together (Eagles I didn't see until many years later). What I remember is a great gig, all the hits like "Do it Again," "Reeling in the Years," "Haitian Divorce."

Sorry I cn't recall much more, but what I do suggest is you check out their music as it is far from old-fashioned.

I am unsure if they are still around, but I am certain there is at least one tribute band! They are American rock with a jazz feel and in my opinion one of the best of that genre.

Okay, this review comes in two parts - a review of the band and a review of the SSE Wembley Arena.

The band. Brilliant musicians and they played magnificently. They go on a bit, though! And any Steely Dan set that omits Do It Again, Haitian Divorce, and Rikki Don't Lose that Number, is below par. Perhaps if they'd spent less time showing off (a drum solo for Chrissakes - who cares?!), they might have squeezed in another tune or two.

The Arena. I haven't been to Wembley Arena for many a year and was surprised to see how little has changed. I spent £95 each for two 'good' seats on the floor of the arena - easily the most expensive non-festival tickets I've ever bought - and they were dreadful. Almost impossible to see the whole stage with someone sitting in front. I would not return to Wembley unless it was a reincarnated David Bowie, supported by XTC and Kate Bush!

This concert began with fine, vintage music from the DOOBIE BROTHERS singing all of their hits from the '70s & '80s ... naturally, this stirred up good memories for those of us at JIFFY LUBE LIVE who are in our 50's & 60's! After the intermission, STEELY DAN (Donald Fagen and company) arrived on stage and began playing what I considered to be contemporary jazz tunes that did not cross over to the pop charts/American Top 40 ... . It is quite clear that Donald Fagen has not lost his supreme talent for music and for the selection of excellent, new band members; however, he seems to have forgotten his "old" fans in that he did not perform his top hits-"PEG" and "DO IT AGAIN" ... this sadden Me. Maybe, his band member, "Lord" Harrington, should tell him how many of Us love these vintage tunes ... .;)

I loved the Steely Dan concert I saw last Thursday! Donald Fagin was in fine form. he seemed looser than the last concert I saw him in at the Sony Centre in Toronto in 2015. He really seemed to be enjoying himself. The Rama Theatre Centre looked to be sold out and everyone there was adoring, especially me. His music resonates somewhere deep in my chest. Is that my soul?

I hadn't expected to find the concert so flawless considering half of the original team was missing with Walter Becker's death, but John Harrington proved to be a master guitarist!I did miss Walter Becker's vocals though. And didn't there used to be four Danettes?

I'm thrilled that Donald Fagan is still touring and I'll sign up to see the next one.

Gratefully I remain,

GailKendall

I should start by saying I have weird obsession with Steely Dan. They're the greatest band ever. "America greatest maybe rock non-band" in their own words. I really enjoyed the concert at the overture center in Madison. Their band for the Jamalot Ever After tour is really solid, and the sound quality was great. I've seen them a few times, and they're really starting to get over themselves and play what the people want to hear: the hits! There was a time when they wouldn't play Reelin in the Years live. They played it! They played almost all of my favorite songs. I would've liked it if they got into their deep cuts more, but you can't say no to one great tune after another.

First...I have never missed a Steely Dan concert!!

I was fortunate enough to win a trip to meet and see them in concert in London,England back in September 2000.

When I met Walter Becker and Donald Fagan at the Apollo Hammersmith in London back in 2000..It was a dream come true..meeting my all time favorite band. Talking with Walter..he was a cordial .great guy to talk to...like he was your next door neighbor..in fact If you had asked Walter to come over and mow your lawn..he was THAT nice and would probably do that. That trip of a lifetime I will ALWAYS remember..and meeting the two who formed Steely Dan! RIP Walter....

Saw Steely Dan with Doobie Brothers in Charlotte PNC pavilion. Had a good sized crowd there of people 4O to 80. The musicianship was excellent. I would have preferred some deep cuts from Steely Dan such as Doctor Woo, Pearl of the Quarter, or Razor Boy, but you can't have it all. I got in and out of the show in about 15 minutes. Beer is around 15 dollars, so I saw the show completely sober. I particularly liked the dance groove Green Flower Street and Natural Thing.

Oddly, the first time I knowingly heard Steely Dan (Reeling In The Years) I didn't like them. It wasn't until a few years later that I heard "Deacon Blues" on the radio and asked who that band was. When I learned it was Steely Dan I did an about face and began listening to their earlier works. After that I was hooked and they are now the only group that I have in their entirety on my iPhone songlist. By the way, I still don't like "Reeling In The Years".

Posters (9)

Past concerts

Spectrum Center

United Center

View all past concerts

Steely Dan tour dates and tickets 2024-2025 near you

Want to see Steely Dan in concert? Find information on all of Steely Dan’s upcoming concerts, tour dates and ticket information for 2024-2025.

Steely Dan is not due to play near your location currently - but they are scheduled to play 7 concerts across 2 countries in 2024-2025. View all concerts.

Next 3 concerts:

• Manchester, UK

Next concert:

Popularity ranking:

• Jamie Foxx (625)
• Steely Dan (626)
• Rich the Kid (627)

Concerts played in 2024:

Touring history

Most played:

• New York (NYC) (101)
• Los Angeles (LA) (50)
• Philadelphia (39)
• Las Vegas (32)
• Chicago (29)

Appears most with:

• Steve Winwood (56)
• Doobie Brothers (46)
• Bobby Broom (45)
• Eagles (31)
• Deep Blue Organ Trio (20)

Distance travelled:

Similar artists

• Most popular charts
• API information
• Brand guidelines
• Community guidelines
• Terms of use
• Privacy policy
• Cookies settings
• Cookies policy

Get your tour dates seen everywhere.

• But we really hope you love us.

Steely Dan Verified

Concerts and tour dates, steely dan merch.

Live Photos of Steely Dan

Fan Reviews

Fans Also Follow

About steely dan.

• Latest News

57 Mother’s Day Songs: A Playlist Of Classic Songs About Moms

‘dear mama’: 2pac’s complex ode to his mother, the best undisputed truth songs: funky gems worth revisiting, the rolling stones’ ‘exile on main st.”s influences, explained, still in the high life: the decade-spanning brilliance of steve winwood, spiritual jazz: music on a higher plane, ‘exile on main st.’: the rolling stones’ decadent splendour, in their own words, remi wolf returns with two new singles, ‘toro’ and ‘alone in miami’, the los tigres del norte museum opens in sinaloa, olivia rodrigo and daniel nigro earn ascap pop music songwriters of the year, lady gaga’s ‘chromatica ball’ concert film to debut this month, amy winehouse’s parents accept brit billion award to mark one billion u.k. streams, toby keith to receive honorary degree at university of oklahoma commencement, the beatles announce new ‘let it be’ music video, steely dan announce ‘absolutely normal tour 21’ and live albums.

‘Northeast Corridor: Steely Dan Live!’ and a live edition of Donald Fagen’s ‘The Nightfly Live’ will also be released through UMe on September 24.

Published on

Steely Dan set the ‘Absolutely Normal Tour ’21,’ which kicks off with a four-night stand in Miami, Florida from Tuesday, October 5, through Saturday, October 9. The U.S. tour will hit 15 cities over 28 concerts before wrapping at the Orpheum Theatre in Boston. Tickets for the tour, which is promoted by Live Nation, will go on sale starting Friday, July 30, at 10 AM Local through Ticketmaster. A full listing of tour dates can be found below.

Fans can purchase Platinum tickets for the ‘Absolutely Normal’ tour beginning Thursday, July 29, at 10 AM. Presale ticket opportunities begin Thursday, July 29, at 10 AM (local) through 10 PM (times are local). Visit the band’s official website for more information

In album news, Steely Dan’s Northeast Corridor: Steely Dan Live! and a live version of the acclaimed solo album by Donald Fagen – The Nightfly Live – will both be released through UMe on CD & Digital on September 24, 2021. Both albums will be available on 180g-vinyl on October 1, 2021.

Procol Harum‘s ‘A Whiter Shade Of Pale’: A Song Of Many Colors

Classic albums by young musicians: 25 age-defying greats.

The first live Steely Dan album in more than 25 years, Northeast Corridor: Steely Dan Live! was recorded across tour dates at New York City’s Beacon Theatre, The Met Philadelphia, & more, and showcases selections from Steely Dan’s extraordinary catalog of slinky grooves, sleek subversive lyrics, and infectious hits. Donald Fagen’s The Nightfly Live was performed live by The Steely Dan Band.

Concertgoers can expect a hefty draft of the inimitable Steely Dan sonic experience this summer, showcasing selections from Steely Dan’s extraordinary five-decade plus catalog as well as Fagen’s masterpiece, The Nightfly . Each ticket purchased online comes with a CD copy of Northeast Corridor: Steely Dan Live! or The Nightfly Live .

Steely Dan’s ‘Absolutely Normal ’21’ dates are as follows:

Tue Oct 05: Miami Beach, FL The Fillmore Miami Beach at Jackie Gleason Theater Wed Oct 06: Miami Beach, FL The Fillmore Miami Beach at Jackie Gleason Theater Fri Oct 08: Miami Beach, FL The Fillmore Miami Beach at Jackie Gleason Theater Sat Oct 09: Miami Beach, FL The Fillmore Miami Beach at Jackie Gleason Theater Tue Oct 12: Orlando, FL Dr Phillips Center for the Performing Arts Wed Oct 13: Orlando, FL Dr Phillips Center for the Performing Arts Fri Oct 15: St. Petersburg, FL Duke Energy Center for the Arts – Mahaffey Theater Sat Oct 16: St. Petersburg, FL Duke Energy Center for the Arts – Mahaffey Theater Tue Oct 19: Jacksonville, FL Times-Union Center for the Performing Arts – Moran Theater Wed Oct 20: North Charleston, SC North Charleston Performing Arts Center Fri Oct 22: Charlotte, NC Ovens Auditorium Sat Oct 23: Richmond, VA Altria Theater Mon Oct 25: Baltimore, MD Hippodrome Theatre at France-Merrick Performing Arts Wed Oct 27: Philadelphia, PA The Met Philadelphia Fri Oct 29: Philadelphia, PA The Met Philadelphia Sat Oct 30: Philadelphia, PA The Met Philadelphia Mon Nov 01: Red Bank, NJ Hackensack Meridian Health Theatre at the Count Basie Center Wed Nov 03: Morristown, NJ Mayo Performing Arts Center Thu Nov 04: Morristown, NJ Mayo Performing Arts Center Sat Nov 06: Morristown, NJ Mayo Performing Arts Center Sun Nov 07: Morristown, NJ Mayo Performing Arts Center Tue Nov 09: Port Chester, NY The Capitol Theatre Wed Nov 10: Port Chester, NY The Capitol Theatre Sat Nov 13: Wallingford, CT Toyota Oakdale Theatre Sun Nov 14: Bethlehem, PA The Wind Creek Event Center Wed Nov 17: Boston, MA Orpheum Theatre presented by Citizens Fri Nov 19: Boston, MA Orpheum Theatre presented by Citizens Sat Nov 20: Boston, MA Orpheum Theatre presented by Citizens

toni jo syring

July 26, 2021 at 6:00 pm

no Portland?

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

All Upcoming Events

GelreDome | Arnhem, NETHERLANDS

Eagles - the long goodbye, latest setlist, steely dan on march 9, 2024.

United Center, Chicago, Illinois

Note: Opening act for Eagles

Popular Tracks

• Statistics Stats
• You are here:
• September 7, 2023 Setlist

Steely Dan Setlist at Madison Square Garden, New York, NY, USA

• Edit setlist songs
• Edit venue & date

Edit set times

• Add to festival
• Report setlist
• Phantom Raiders ( Stanley Wilson  cover) Play Video
• Josie Play Video
• Hey Nineteen Play Video
• Aja Play Video
• Kid Charlemagne Play Video
• Dirty Work Play Video
• Black Friday Play Video
• Rikki Don't Lose That Number Play Video
• Peg Play Video
• My Old School Play Video
• Reelin' in the Years Play Video
• A Man Ain't Supposed to Cry ( Joe Williams  cover) Play Video

Note: Opened for the Eagles

Edits and Comments

18 activities (last edit by livemusicfan , 20 Jan 2024, 18:15 Etc/UTC )

Songs on Albums

• Reelin' in the Years
• A Man Ain't Supposed to Cry by Joe Williams
• Phantom Raiders by Stanley Wilson
• My Old School
• Hey Nineteen
• Black Friday
• Rikki Don't Lose That Number
• Kid Charlemagne

Complete Album stats

More from this Artist

• More Setlists
• Artist Statistics
• Add setlist

Related News

Today is Billy Joel's Birthday

Fall Out Boy Wraps So Much for (2our) Dust in Minneapolis

KISS Bids Farewell to Touring, Hello to Digital Avatars

Setlist History: John Lennon Joins Elton John for his Final Show

Madison square garden.

• Steely Dan This Setlist Start time: 7:40 PM 7:40 PM
• Eagles Start time: 9:15 PM 9:15 PM

Steely Dan Gig Timeline

• Aug 12 2022 Capitol Theatre Port Chester, NY, USA Add time Add time
• Aug 13 2022 Capitol Theatre Port Chester, NY, USA Add time Add time
• Sep 07 2023 Madison Square Garden This Setlist New York, NY, USA Start time: 7:40 PM 7:40 PM
• Sep 08 2023 Madison Square Garden New York, NY, USA Start time: 7:40 PM 7:40 PM
• Sep 11 2023 TD Garden Boston, MA, USA Start time: 7:40 PM 7:40 PM

23 people were there

• chrispaz486
• crazymama66
• eastwest6566
• Highimpulse5
• JoeTooSerious
• PhilTheElder
• ragamuffin92

Share or embed this setlist

Use this setlist for your event review and get all updates automatically!

<div style="text-align: center;" class="setlistImage"><a href="https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/steely-dan/2023/madison-square-garden-new-york-ny-7ba2f220.html" title="Steely Dan Setlist Madison Square Garden, New York, NY, USA 2023" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.setlist.fm/widgets/setlist-image-v1?id=7ba2f220" alt="Steely Dan Setlist Madison Square Garden, New York, NY, USA 2023" style="border: 0;" /></a> <div><a href="https://www.setlist.fm/edit?setlist=7ba2f220&amp;step=song">Edit this setlist</a> | <a href="https://www.setlist.fm/setlists/steely-dan-7bd6be38.html">More Steely Dan setlists</a></div></div>

Last.fm Event Review

[url=https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/steely-dan/2023/madison-square-garden-new-york-ny-7ba2f220.html][img]https://www.setlist.fm/widgets/setlist-image-v1?id=7ba2f220[/img][/url] [url=https://www.setlist.fm/edit?setlist=7ba2f220&amp;step=song]Edit this setlist[/url] | [url=https://www.setlist.fm/setlists/steely-dan-7bd6be38.html]More Steely Dan setlists[/url]

Tour Update

Marquee memories: cold war kids.

• Cold War Kids
• May 10, 2024
• May 9, 2024
• May 8, 2024
• May 7, 2024
• May 6, 2024
• May 5, 2024
• FAQ | Help | About
• Terms of Service
• Ad Choices | Privacy Policy
• Feature requests
• Songtexte.com

• Manage Account

Steely Dan Drops Off Tour Dates With Eagles Due to Illness

Steve Miller filled in during the Indianapolis shows.

By Rania Aniftos

Rania Aniftos

• Share this article on Facebook
• Share this article on Twitter
• Share this article on Flipboard
• Share this article on Pinit
• + additional share options added
• Share this article on Reddit
• Share this article on Linkedin
• Share this article on Whatsapp
• Share this article on Email
• Print this article
• Share this article on Comment
• Share this article on Tumblr

Steely Dan has reportedly dropped out of a few of their tour dates with the Eagles due to illness.

According to Indianapolis’  Indy Star , Don Henley told the crowd at Gainbridge Fieldhouse that Steely Dan frontman Donald Fagen had been hospitalized, before thanking fellow rocker Steve Miller for filling in at the last minute. “The show must go on,” Henley reportedly said.

Eurovision 2024: Switzerland Defies the Odds to Win With Nemo's 'The Code'

See latest videos, charts and news

Trending on Billboard

The Eagles announced their final The Long Goodbye tour earlier this year. “The Eagles have had a miraculous 52-year odyssey, performing for people all over the globe; keeping the music alive in the face of tragic losses, upheavals and setbacks of many kinds,” read a statement from the group. “Credit and thanks go to our longtime management team, our dedicated road crew, and our exceptional backup musicians for providing skilled and steadfast support, throughout these many years. We know how fortunate we are, and we are truly grateful.”

The tour will wrap on January 6 in Inglewood, Calif. See the full list of dates here .

Get weekly rundowns straight to your inbox

Want to know what everyone in the music business is talking about?

Get in the know on.

Billboard is a part of Penske Media Corporation. © 2024 Billboard Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

optional screen reader

Charts expand charts menu.

• Billboard Hot 100™
• Billboard 200™
• Hits Of The World™
• TikTok Billboard Top 50
• Song Breaker
• Year-End Charts
• Decade-End Charts

Music Expand music menu

• R&B/Hip-Hop

Videos Expand videos menu

Culture expand culture menu, media expand media menu, business expand business menu.

• Business News
• Record Labels
• View All Pro

Pro Tools Expand pro-tools menu

• Songwriters & Producers
• Artist Index
• Royalty Calculator
• Market Watch
• Industry Events Calendar

Billboard Español Expand billboard-espanol menu

• Cultura y Entretenimiento

Get Up Anthems by Tres Expand get-up-anthems-by-tres menu

Honda music expand honda-music menu.

Music + Concerts | The Eagles soar on the first of four farewell…

Share this:.

• Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
• Click to print (Opens in new window)
• Food & Drink
• Amusement Parks
• Home & Garden

Things To Do

Music + concerts, music + concerts | the eagles soar on the first of four farewell shows at the forum, steely dan is the opener on the long goodbye: final tour, which returns to the kia forum on saturday, jan. 6, and again on jan. 12-13..

It’s right there in the name of the tour – The Long Goodbye: Final Tour – but goodness gracious, why?

“Good evening and welcome to whatever this is,” said cofounder Don Henley , who did most of the talking between songs on Friday. “We’ve been playing this joint for 49 years. After next weekend, it will be 26 times that we played here.”

The roar of cheers and applause from the sold-out arena stopped Henley, who sang from behind the drums or with an acoustic guitar, for a moment.

From left, J. D. Souther and Don Henley high-five before performing together during Eagles The Long Goodbye Tour at the Kia Forum in Inglewood on Friday, Jan. 5, 2024. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)

Don Henley of the Eagles performs on first of four sold-out shows at the Kia Forum in Inglewood on Friday, Jan. 5, 2024. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)

Vince Gill of the Eagles performs on first of four sold-out shows at the Kia Forum in Inglewood on Friday, Jan. 5, 2024. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)

J. D. Souther performs with the Eagles on first of four sold-out shows at the Kia Forum in Inglewood on Friday, Jan. 5, 2024. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)

Deacon Frey of the Eagles performs on first of four sold-out shows at the Kia Forum in Inglewood on Friday, Jan. 5, 2024. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)

Donald Fagen of Steely Dan performs at the Kia Forum in Inglewood on Friday, Jan. 5, 2024. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)

From right, Joe Walsh and Don Henley of the Eagles perform during The Long Goodbye Tour at the Kia Forum in Inglewood on Friday, Jan. 5, 2024. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)

The Eagles perform during The Long Goodbye Tour at the Kia Forum in Inglewood on Friday, Jan. 5, 2024. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)

The Eagles perform on first of four sold-out shows at the Kia Forum in Inglewood on Friday, Jan. 5, 2024. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)

Steely Dan performs at the Kia Forum in Inglewood on Friday, Jan. 5, 2024. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)

“We could have done just one night at the spaceship next door and been done with it,” he continued, referring to SoFi Stadium just south of the Forum, a venue he later referred to as the Eagles’ home field. “But it sounds better in here. So we decided to work a little harder and give you a better experience.”

Which is just what fans got: 21 songs over two hours, almost all the Eagles’ hits you could want, a guest appearance by singer-songwriter J.D. Souther, who co-wrote three of the band’s five No. 1 singles, a handful of singer-guitarist Joe Walsh’s hits from outside the band, and a Henley solo hit, too.

“Seven Bridges Road” gave way to “Take It Easy,” one of the songs most associated with the late Glenn Frey . On Friday, his absence was still felt eight years since his 2016 death, but his replacements – son Deacon Frey and country singer-songwriter Vince Gill – are familiar faces in the band now.

Deacon and Gill swapped or shared lead vocals on the songs Glenn Frey used to sing – after Henley sang “One Of These Nights,” Gill handled “Lyin’ Eyes” – and between the son’s vocal resemblance to his father and Gill’s strength as a singer and guitarist, both made it almost possible to forget the guy who’s no longer there.

Early in the set, Henley spoke of old friends who sometimes collaborated on songwriting, mentioning Jackson Browne, who co-wrote “Take It Easy”; Jack Tempchin, who contributed “Peaceful, Easy Feeling” and “Already Gone”; and J.D. Souther, who helped the band with three of its biggest hits.

Souther came out Friday to sing all three of those songs with the band, with the ballads “Best of My Love” and “New Kid in Town” played back to back early on.

That mellow Eagles’ vibe continued a few songs longer: “Peaceful, Easy Feeling” saw Deacon Frey on lead vocals, and finished with a black-and-white photograph of his father on the video screens, while Gill sang a beautiful rendition of “Tequila Sunrise.” And bassist Timothy B. Schmit showed off his lovely high tenor on “I Can’t Tell You Why.”

But things shifted midway through the night as Joe Walsh swapped his acoustic for electric guitar to crank up the volume alongside touring guitarist Steuart Smith, who since 2001 has handled the lead guitar duties once played by former Eagle Don Felder.

Walsh, whose goofy personality is always fun, played four songs written as a solo artist or member of the James Gang, with “Life’s Been Good” delivering a welcome jolt of energy in both lyrics – a comic tale of rock star excess – and guitar licks.

From there, the back half of the set rocked harder to the finish. “Already Gone” featured a terrific Deacon Frey vocal, with he and Smith swapping crunchy guitar riffs. Henley dedicated his solo hit “Boys Of Summer” to the late Jimmy Buffett, a boy of summer if ever there was one.

A pair of Henley lead vocals closed out the main set with two of the band’s biggest hits, “Life in the Fast Lane” and “Hotel California,” the latter being perhaps the Eagles’ ultimate song among many contenders.

Then, after Walsh opened the encore with his own “Rocky Mountain Way,” and Henley sang a lovely “Desperado,” the band plus Souther said so long for now with “Heartache Tonight,” a joyful romp about staying out late even when it’s time to go home, an apt sentiment for a farewell show.

Opening for the Eagles on this tour is Steely Dan, a band with a completely different sound – jazz influences in place of country – but an equally acclaimed history.

As with the Eagles, Steely Dan has continued despite the death of a co-founder, with singer-keyboardist Donald Fagen carrying on its legacy after the 2017 death of his songwriting partner guitarist Walter Becker.

During an hour on stage, Fagen and 12 musicians and singers delivered a good portion of Steely Dan’s hits. After an instrumental opening number, Fagen arrived to deliver the slinky grooves and sophisticated swing of “Josie” and “Hey 19.”

Nearly every player in the band got a spotlight turn, with longtime members such as guitarist Jon Herington and drummer Keith Carlock standouts as always.

Other highlights included “Dirty Work,” with lead vocal shared by the three backing vocalists, “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number,” “My Old School,” and “Reelin’ in the Years,” which wrapped up Steely Dan’s night on Friday.

• Newsroom Guidelines
• Report an Error

More in Music + Concerts

Music + Concerts | This LA and OC concert series is pulling strings for music fans: Meet the Emo Orchestra

Obituaries | Steve Albini dies at 61; alternative rock pioneer produced albums for Nirvana, the Pixies

World News | Fans are following Taylor Swift to Europe after finding Eras Tour ticket bargains there

Music + Concerts | OC Fair 2024: The Aquabats are coming to Pacific Amphitheatre and The Hangar adds a trio of shows

How millennials came to unironically love yacht-rock kings Steely Dan

• Show more sharing options
• Copy Link URL Copied!

This essay is adapted from Alex Pappademas and Joan LeMay’s “ Quantum Criminals: Ramblers, Wild Gamblers, and Other Sole Survivors from the Songs of Steely Dan .

A few months after Steely Dan co-founder Walter Becker died — in 2017, at 67, of esophageal cancer — his widow Delia Becker wrote in a statement that he’d been cremated, per his wishes, “without ceremony or memorial.”

This doesn’t mean he wasn’t publicly mourned. On the day Becker died, Donald Fagen — the other half of Steely Dan’s creative core — issued a statement recalling his longtime writing partner as “cynical about human nature, including his own, and hysterically funny.” Becker’s passing was marked on social media by his generational and actuarial peers — Kiss’ Paul Stanley, the Heartbreakers’ Benmont Tench, Chic’s Nile Rodgers and P-Funk’s Bootsy Collins — but also by Roots bandleader Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, who called Walter an “artist’s artist,” and producer Mark Ronson, who called Becker “one-half of the team I aspire to every time I sit down at a piano.” Opening for U2 in Detroit that weekend, Beck paid tribute to “a rock ‘n’ roll hero” by slipping a few bars of “Josie” into “Where It’s At.” Fans both likely and unlikely came out of the woodwork: Best Coast’s Bethany Cosentino and Bryan Adams, Mac DeMarco and Slash, Julian Lennon and Thundercat, John Mulaney and Just Blaze, not to mention countless regular people testifying that they too had been shaped — or warped — by Becker and Fagen’s work.

Steely Dan had been a popular 1970s rock band for a while, with a bunch of songs that made the charts, and rock ’n’ roll never forgets. But then they stopped being a band for a while, and in the ensuing years, their work — lyrically abstruse jazz-inflected rock songs about sad-sack characters spiraling toward chemical or existential doom, with musical accompaniment by ad-hoc bands of sidemen, recruited for their technical hyperproficiency — had earned a reputation as an acquired taste, like a savory fruit or a funky soft cheese. If you were a fan, the outpouring of sadness and gratitude that followed Becker’s death felt validating, but also discombobulatingly unanimous. Our little cult no longer seemed quite so cult-y.

In 2019, two years after Becker died, the online music magazine Pitchfork ran a week of newly commissioned retrospective reviews of classic Steely Dan albums like “Katy Lied” (rated 9.1 out of 10), “Gaucho” (9.4) and “Aja ” (a perfect 10) . In the 22 years between its inception in 1996 and the day the first of these reviews went live, Pitchfork had published exactly one other piece of critical writing about Steely Dan: writer Brent DiCrescenzo’s vitriolic review of Steely Dan’s 2000 reunion album “Two Against Nature” (1.6). The piece is a snapshot of how negatively Steely Dan were viewed at the turn of this century, particularly by people whose tastes and values were shaped by late-’80s/early-’90s indie rock. There are two separate ponytail jokes in the first paragraph alone; DiCrescenzo goes on to compare “Two Against Nature” to late-period Rush, “a Daniel Lanois–produced collaboration between the Dave Matthews Band and Kenny G,” and the evil robot spider Will Smith blows up at the end of “Wild Wild West.” “Remember,” DiCrescenzo writes, “this glossy bop-pop was the indifferent aristocracy to punk rock’s stone-throwing in the late ’70s. People fought and died so our generation could listen to something better. ... Put down this sports-utility vehicle of a record.”

Entertainment & Arts

From the Archives: The 1993 interview when Walter Becker opened up about Steely Dan’s subversive intentions

Walter Becker, co-founder with Donald Fagen of Steely Dan, died Sunday at age 67.

Sept. 3, 2017

Prior to a few years ago, this was how anyone opposed to the received wisdom of the boomer classic-rock canon was almost obligated to feel about Steely Dan — which is ironic, since more than a few influential boomer critics hated the group too. In the 1979 edition of the “Rolling Stone Record Guide,” writer Dave Marsh — keeper of the flame for a strain of rock and soul that took pride in simplicity and visceral directness — rates no Steely Dan album lower than 3 stars out of 5, but scorns the “unparalleled pretentiousness” of everything they did after 1974’s “Pretzel Logic.” In 1979, Steely Dan’s perceived artiness constituted a betrayal of rock music’s core values — what Marsh, assessing Bruce Springsteen much more favorably in the same Rolling Stone book, calls “the hopes and dreams of the rock tradition as handed down from Presley.” And by the turn of the millennium, the band had come to represent an affront to the values that indie rock had inherited from punk — a genre often romanticized as having emerged as a necessary corrective to slick mainstream 1970s and ’80s music made in expensive studios by self-regarding cocaine addicts.

In the 2000s, reflexive anti-Dan sentiment even found its way into the work of actual Steely Dan fans. On the day Becker died, writer-director Judd Apatow tweeted, “I have played no band more often or enjoyed any music more than Steely Dan.” But in Apatow’s 2007 film “Knocked Up,” Seth Rogen’s character Ben argues about Steely Dan’s virtues with Pete, played by Paul Rudd. Pete insists they’re incredible; Ben doesn’t buy it. “If I ever listen to Steely Dan,” he says, “I want you to slice my head off with an Al Jarreau LP.” Apatow later wrote on Twitter that Ben’s disdain for Steely Dan “was a way to show how immature and not ready for a baby [Rogen’s character] was. Who could trust him?” But the moment can be read both ways. If you think Steely Dan are geniuses, Ben’s inability to appreciate them underlines how little he knows about the world. But if you’re not a fan, there’s nothing in the scene to suggest you’re wrong. Even a Dan fan like Apatow knew that in 2007 a joke at their expense would land, just like the running gag about Michael McDonald’s “Yah Mo B There” in Apatow’s “The 40-Year-Old Virgin.”

Sixteen years after “Knocked Up” came out, though, Michael McDonald is arguably hipper than he’s ever been. And while old-school indie stalwarts like producer Steve Albini have continued to hold the line — “I will always be the kind of punk who s— on Steely Dan,” he tweeted earlier this year” — the world seems increasingly full of Petes, not Bens.

Around 2020 an ongoing groundswell of semi-ironic Dan appreciation became a full-fledged revival — at least online, which in 2020 was technically where most things took place. On social media, Steely Dan memes have become a vibrant comedic subgenre unto themselves, thanks to Dan meme accounts with inside-baseball handles like Lester the Nightfly, I.G.Y. Azalea and Bodacious Callboys. A now-dormant Instagram account called People Dancing to Steely Dan celebrated just how well all forms of human movement seem to sync with the Dan’s smooth sounds. And the most striking thing about the Good Steely Dan Takes account on Twitter — which retweets pro-Dan sentiments alongside other Dan-related esoterica — is how many of those good Dan takes are written by or about people currently getting into Steely Dan (“seeing somebody discover Steely Dan is like seeing a kid that fell into some toxic goo realize they can fly. wholly joyful”). The account’s handle is @baddantakes because it was once an index of derogatory or ill-informed Dan tweets; as Steely Dan’s stock rose, the business model shifted.

The Steely Dan resurgence happened in part because revivalism is now a thermodynamic law of pop culture, and by the second decade of the 21st century, we’d strip-mined the past so thoroughly that there was nothing left to revive but the previously verboten. It’s partly because Becker and Fagen never really broke through as solo artists after Steely Dan went on hiatus at the turn of the ’80s, which means ’80s and ’90s kids didn’t grow up resenting them as classic-rock leftovers hogging MTV and VH1 airtime the way Don Henley or Lindsey Buckingham did. (The high-gloss alienation of late-’70s Steely Dan records like “Gaucho” is a prescient preview of the ’80s both sonically and spiritually, but it’s impossible to imagine Steely Dan as an active ’80s band. Go ahead and try to picture Walter and Donald sharing a mic with Cyndi Lauper on “We Are the World,” or giving earnest interviews to Mark Goodman on MTV — although they probably would have gotten along with the preternaturally jaded Kurt Loder.)

As with the recent resurgence of hipster interest in the Grateful Dead, some of this appreciation is ironic. Anyone who tweets something like “listening to ‘ do it again ’ by steely dan and daydreaming that I’m a quaaludes dealer in 1979 facing a crisis of faith after my houseboat sinks off the docks of Sausalito” is riffing on Steely Dan’s lyrical content but also on the band’s reputation as a CD-changer staple for divorced ’80s dads. Steely Dan are an endlessly meme-able band because they’re a hilarious concept on paper — two grumpy-looking guys obsessed with making the smoothest music of all time.

There’s a case to be made that the current Steely Danaissance really began in 2005, when the web series “Yacht Rock” — great moments from the history of ’70s and ’80s album-oriented rock music, as reenacted in cheap apartments by comedians in even cheaper wigs — posited a nerd-jock rivalry between Becker and Fagen and noogie-dispensing caricatures of Don Henley and Glenn Frey. “Yacht rock” quickly entered the lexicon as a catchy and evocative genre tag for the mellower side of ’70s pop; yacht rock–themed parties and DJ nights have proliferated ever since. But in amplifying what was funny about this bygone style of music and the hirsutely emotive men who created it, “Yacht Rock” and its successors — like the two-part “Documentary Now!” episode “ Gentle and Soft: The Story of the Blue Jean Committee ,” with Bill Hader and Fred Armisen as a faux Eagles — also highlighted the underdiscussed strangeness of a sound that gatekeepers had long dismissed as schlock.

And as surely as the Cuervo Gold leads to the fine Colombian, appreciating Steely Dan ironically is always the gateway drug to appreciating them sincerely. I know this because it happened to me: I bought a copy of “Katy Lied” in college almost as a joke, figuring I’d play it once, compare the original version of “ Dr. Wu ” to the Minutemen’s charmingly awkward 1984 cover , and then put it aside. The joke’s been on me ever since. Even if you come to Steely Dan expecting kitsch, if you have any feeling for craftsmanship at all, you’ll begin to savor the way the music’s individual elements click into place, and the way the content cuts against its tasteful settings, like the phrase “bleeding ulcer” written on a red background in Coca-Cola cursive. You’ll begin to sense Becker and Fagen’s presence in the music, free-floating intellects winking behind their shades, welcoming you in without letting on that they’re glad you’re here.

Another reason more people are ready for Steely Dan in the ’20s than they were in the ’90s — or even the ’70s — is because our fast-warming world is more Steely Dan-ish than it’s ever been. These songs of monied decadence, druggy disconnection, slow-motion apocalypse and self-destructive escapism seemed satirically extreme way back when; now they just seem prophetic. We are all Steely Dan characters now: Citizens Dan, living in an age of malaise and disillusionment as pervasive as the fog of failure enveloping “Gaucho‘s” fabled fools. It’s no surprise that millennials — the oldest of whom are turning 40 right about now — have led the charge on the Dan revival, for the same reason they helped popularize so-called Dadcore fashion. When you’re approaching what used to be called middle age and traditional signifiers of adulthood like home ownership still remain laughably out of reach, dressing like a stockbroker headed to Montauk for the weekend — or listening to music written about and to some extent for wealthy ’70s grown-ups having problems — is a way of cosplaying the comfortably-numb midlife you know you’ll never get to experience.

Writer Matt Fraction once suggested that all Steely Dan songs are about weird sex and heroin, and he’s not wrong. But underneath that there’s a longing for the unrecapturable past and mourning for bright sci-fi futures we won’t ever get to see. Time has caught up to Steely Dan because it’s catching up to all of us. It only took five decades — “Can’t Buy a Thrill” turned 50 last year — but Steely Dan are cooler today than they’ve ever been. This uptick in approval probably wouldn’t have meant much to Becker, who always seemed to care even less than Fagen did about how popular Steely Dan were or weren’t. But I like to think he would have appreciated the irony.

Used with permission from the University of Texas Press, © 2023

More to Read

Steve Albini, influential record producer and musician, dies at 61

May 8, 2024

Duane Eddy, rock guitarist known for ‘Rebel Rouser,’ ‘Peter Gunn’ and ‘twang,’ dies at 86

May 2, 2024

Dickey Betts, guitarist and founding member of the Allman Brothers Band, dies 80

April 18, 2024

The biggest entertainment stories

Get our big stories about Hollywood, film, television, music, arts, culture and more right in your inbox as soon as they publish.

You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.

More From the Los Angeles Times

World & Nation

Switzerland’s Nemo wins 68th Eurovision Song Contest after event roiled by protests over Gaza war

May 11, 2024

Shaquille O’Neal-Shannon Sharpe beef reaches diss track level. Here’s how we got here

May 10, 2024

After shooting, Drake’s mansion gets second trespasser in two days, police confirm

Sorry, not twins: Justin Bieber’s mom clarifies, there’s only one baby on the way

'You’ve gotta stay young': Eagles deliver heroic farewell concert in Phoenix

It was after Vince Gill's first lead vocal performance of the night, a poignant “Lyin’ Eyes” that really tapped into the sadness of the lyrics, that Don Henley took a moment to address the crowd at a packed Footprint Center for the Eagles’ second concert in two days in downtown Phoenix.

“Tonight’s program has been brought to you by American pharmaceuticals,” he deadpanned Saturday, Jan. 20. The crowd responded with applause and laughter.

“It’s the most wonderful time of the year. I got it first, then Deacon got it, now Vince got it.”

One would assume the “it” in question was, at best, a winter cold.

“Only guy I know that can sing that well when he’s real sick,” the drummer said. “Most people can’t sing that good when they’re well.”

Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.

You could hear the impact of that illness on Gill’s vocal, but he soldiered on, visibly straining at times to hit the notes on “Take It to the Limit,” which Henley sent out “to the memory of our original bass player, Mr. Randy Meisner, who we lost this past summer.”

No reasonable person would expect an ailing Gill, at 66, to touch the soulful genius Meisner brought to that recording in his finest hour as a vocalist at 29.

And to be clear, he didn’t.

But it was a nice version regardless, a valiant effort with moments of greatness that spoke to what a talent Gill has always been.

Eagles farewell tour setlist: Every song they played in Phoenix on the Long Goodbye Tour

The Eagles Long Goodbye Tour is their farewell tour

This is the Eagles’ Long Goodbye Tour, which means this may have been the last we’ll ever see of them in Phoenix, a bittersweet occasion to be sure.

Henley, now 76, is the only founding member of the Eagles in the current lineup, joined by longtime members Joe Walsh on guitar and Timothy B. Schmit on bass.

When Henley’s co-lead vocalist and writing partner Glenn Frey died in 2016, even Henley said he didn’t think they’d tour again.

But the Eagles were back on the road in 2018 with two new members — Gill and Frey’s son Deacon. They’ve been through the Valley several times since then, most recently in 2023 on a tour that found them playing the entire “Hotel California” album and a second set of greatest hits.

Don Henley promised 'a 2-hour vacation from all the madness'

The Long Goodbye Tour puts the focus squarely on their greatest hits , as often happens when an artist stages a farewell tour.

“Anyhow, we’re gonna give you about a two-hour vacation from all the madness and the chaos that’s going on in the world,” Henley promised the fans early on.

“We’re gonna do that without any fireworks and no inflatables, no wind machines, no butt-waggin’ choreography, just a bunch of guys with guitars and drums. Go figure.”

It’s doubtful many Eagles fans left wishing the band had splurged on a confetti cannon or worked some aerial ballet into the mix.

They did, however, open their performance with a video montage of vintage clips and photographs to take you through the years, a welcome touch that played to the nostalgic value of a final tour, before strolling on stage to open with the a cappella harmonies of “Seven Bridges Road.”

'We were blown away': Eagles fans share memories of the 'On the Border' tour in Phoenix

Who is playing in the Eagles farewell tour?

There's a reason that became their go-to opener. And it sounded great in Phoenix, with Gill and longtime touring member Steuart Smith trading licks on acoustic guitars.

The five core members of the group were joined by four auxiliary musicians – Smith, who handled the bulk of their signature licks and duplicated several entire solos on guitar; Scott F. Crago on drums and percussion allowing Henley the freedom to step out from behind the kit; Will Hollis on keys and synths; and Michael Thompson on piano, keyboards and accordion.

Smith, Hollis and Thompson also added to the vocal blend that’s been the Eagles calling card from the time they hit the scene with “Take It Easy.”

And now that Gill has joined the fold, they’re blessed with three extremely talented guitarists, often trading leads or harmonizing with each other.

Henley’s voice has aged a bit in the 53 years he’s been doing the Eagles, as has everyone’s.

But that falsetto on “One of These Nights” felt surprisingly ageless, one of several vocal highlights of the night for him, including “Witchy Woman,” “Hotel California” and a heartfelt “Desperado” that couldn’t have been more poignant or more beautiful.

Schmit sounded great on the high notes that continue to define his one song in the vocal spotlight, “I Can’t Tell You Why.”

Deacon Frey has always done a brilliant job of channeling his dad on vocals and that proved to be the case on “Take It Easy,” “Peaceful Easy Feeling” and “Already Gone,” which was further enhanced by Henley’s stellar harmonies.

As for Walsh, the man remains a wildly entertaining goofball who also happens to be an amazing guitarist. Walsh's moments in the vocal spotlight were a blast, from “Rocky Mountain Way” to “In the City,” “Life’s Been Good” and his riff-rocking hit from the James Gang days, “Funk #49.”

On more than one occasion, he was having so much fun investing his delivery with all the personality at his disposal, he had to rush the first few words of his increasingly elastic phrasing just to catch up to the song.

In introducing “Life’s Been Good,” he told the crowd, “I have some advice for you young people. Don’t get old. OK? Don’t get old. I’m 76. I’m not old. That’s why I’m up here. Don’t get old. You’ve gotta stay young.”

Then, upon further reflection, he added, “And out of jail. Stay young and out of jail.”

Staying out of jail is obviously easier (for most of us) than staying young. That’s why the Eagles are packing it in.

And if this does turn out to be their final trip to Phoenix? Even with one member struggling to get through his vocals, they still did their legend proud. And what more could you ask after 53 years?

Steely Dan did a brilliant job opening for the Eagles

Steely Dan’s performance was ridiculously good.

When Walter Becker died in 2017, his longtime partner Donald Fagen issued a statement saying, “I intend to keep the music we created together alive as long as I can with the Steely Dan band.”

To that end, he’s assembled a stellar ensemble of touring musicians to navigate the dizzyingly complex jazz-rock fusion that defined their finest work while in total command of the groove as they dusted off highlights as timeless as “Josie,” “Hey Nineteen,” “Kid Charlemagne” and “Bodhisattva.”

From the time they took the stage without Fagen to open the set with a jazz instrumental, it was clear that we were dealing with some very obviously talented musicians, from drummer Keith Carlock, who brought “Reelin’ in the Years” to a crowd-pleasing close with a stunning solo, to Jon Herington, an awe-inspiring lead guitarist who also serves as musical director, and bassist Freddie Washington.

The touring lineup also features a second guitarist (Adam Rogers), a second keyboardist (Jim Beard), a four-man horn squad and three female vocalists who effortlessly stole the spotlight out from under Fagen with the complex harmonies of “Josie” with Carolyn Leonhart powering through a deeply soulful “Pretzel Logic.”

Fagen’s singing is more conversational than soulful, but the man remains an enigmatic presence and an excellent musician, at times stepping out from behind his keyboards to take a melodica solo.

Musically speaking, these two bands are worlds apart. But if you grew up listening to the radio at all when songs like “Hotel California” and “Peg” were tearing up the charts, it all makes sense.

Best Eagles songs of all time: Their greatest hits, from 'Hotel California' to 'Desperado'

A friend asked if Fagen played “Everything You Did,” the Steely Dan song that includes the line, “Turn up the Eagles; the neighbors are listening.”

He did not.

Some didn't think Fagen has a right to tour as Steely Dan now that Becker is no longer with us.

A wise man once said, “Life goes on within you and without you.”

Eagles 2024 setlist: The Long Goodbye Tour in Phoenix

Here's every song the Eagles played Jan. 20, 2024, the second of two farewell concerts in Phoenix on their Long Goodbye Tour:

• “Seven Bridges Road”
• “Take It Easy”
• “One of These Nights”
• “Lyin' Eyes”
• “Take It to the Limit”
• “Witchy Woman”
• “Peaceful Easy Feeling”
• “Tequila Sunrise”
• “In the City”
• ”I Can't Tell You Why”
• “New Kid in Town”
• “Life's Been Good” (Joe Walsh song)
• “Already Gone”
• “The Boys of Summer” (Don Henley song)
• “Funk #49” (James Gang cover)
• “Life in the Fast Lane”
• “Hotel California”
• “Rocky Mountain Way” (Joe Walsh song)
• “Desperado”
• “Heartache Tonight”

Steely Dan 2024 tour setlist

Here's every song Steely Dan performed in Phoenix on Saturday, Jan. 20:

• “Phantom Raiders”
• “Hey Nineteen”
• “Kid Charlemagne”
• “Dirty Work”
• “Bodhisattva”
• “Pretzel Logic”
• ”My Old School”
• ”Reelin’ in the Years”
• “A Man Ain’t Supposed to Cry”

Reach the reporter at  [email protected]  or 602-444-4495. Follow him on Twitter  @EdMasley .

Support local journalism.   Subscribe to azcentral.com today.

• ⭐ Order 2+ Items to Save 10% using code GET10
• ⭐ FREESHIP FOR ORDERS FROM 99 USD
• Search for:

No products in the cart.

• Read the size chart carefully.
• Buy 2 items GET 5% OFF on all products.
• Buy 4 items or more GET 10% OFF on all products.
• FREE SHIPPING for order over $99 [ on USA ] / over $150 [ INTERNATIONAL ]
• Mother’s Day
• Father’s Day

Did Steely Dan Ever Tour? A Journey Through the Band’s Live Performances

Steely Dan, renowned for their unique blend of rock and jazz, has left an indelible mark on the music world. For those curious about their live performances, you might wonder, “Did Steely Dan ever tour?” In this article, we delve into the band’s touring history, highlighting memorable moments from their live shows and addressing the burning question of whether they’ve embarked on tours.

Did Steely Dan Ever Tour? Touring History

Steely Dan boasts a storied history of touring, with a prolific list of live performances that span multiple decades. They’ve graced stages across the world, mesmerizing audiences with their genre-defying sound.

Since their formation in the early 1970s, Steely Dan has consistently showcased their musical genius and stage presence. Their tours have taken them to venues of all sizes, from intimate clubs to grand arenas, enchanting audiences and leaving a trail of unforgettable concerts in their wake.

The Early Years

In the early 1970s, Steely Dan embarked on their first tours, introducing audiences to their innovative music. These formative years set the stage for their future as a legendary live act.

During these initial tours, Steely Dan began to make their mark in the music world. Their genre-blurring sound, blending rock, jazz, and pop elements, captivated audiences with its uniqueness and complexity. The early 1970s were a time of musical exploration and experimentation, and Steely Dan was at the forefront of this movement.

Their live shows in the early years were not just concerts but experiences. Audiences were treated to a fusion of genres, intricate harmonies, and thought-provoking lyrics that challenged traditional expectations of rock music. Steely Dan’s commitment to delivering outstanding live performances was evident from the start, and it quickly became clear that they were a band to watch.

Hiatus and Return

Steely Dan briefly paused touring activities, focusing on studio work and refining their sound. However, in the late ’90s, they made a triumphant return to the stage, rekindling their live performances with a new fervor.

In the late 1990s, to the delight of fans, Steely Dan made a triumphant return to the stage. Their live performances were infused with a newfound energy and enthusiasm, marking the beginning of a new era in their touring history. This return was a testament to the enduring love for their music and the excitement that live shows brought to both the band and their dedicated fanbase.

Memorable Concerts

Steely Dan’s live shows are celebrated for their impeccable musicianship, featuring an ensemble of top-tier session musicians. Their concerts often include hits like “Do It Again,” “Reelin’ in the Years,” and “Peg,” alongside deep cuts that delight fans.

Steely Dan’s live performances offer an immersive experience that showcases their extraordinary musicianship and highlights the talent of the session musicians who join them on stage. Each instrument, from the intricate guitar solos to the jazzy saxophone, is a testament to the band’s commitment to perfection.

A Steely Dan Experience

Attending a Steely Dan concert is more than just a musical journey; it’s an immersion into their world of intricate harmonies, thought-provoking lyrics, and jazz-infused rock. Their live performances are a testament to their enduring appeal and musical brilliance.

Stay Informed

For those eager to catch Steely Dan on tour, staying informed is key. The band often announces tour dates and locations well in advance on their official website and through social media channels.

Steely Dan recognizes the enthusiasm of their fanbase and takes great care to ensure that their concert-goers are well-prepared. Their official website is an invaluable resource, providing real-time updates on tour dates, venues, and ticket availability. It’s often the first destination for fans looking to secure their spot at one of their electrifying concerts.

In answer to the question, “Did Steely Dan ever tour?”—absolutely, they did. Steely Dan has a rich history of touring, captivating audiences with their extraordinary live performances. Their music is timeless, and their concerts are a testament to their enduring legacy. So, if you’re a fan or someone looking to experience the magic of Steely Dan live, keep an eye on their future tour updates, and prepare for a musical journey that will leave you in awe.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Username or email address  *

Password  *

Remember me Log in

Lost your password?

August 06, 2024

Doors: 12:00 PM - Show: 4:00 PM

Steely Dead - Steely Dan & Grateful Dead Trib.

Wonderland Forest

4812 S Cook Rd, Lafayette, NY, 13084

Tuesday, August 06, 2024

Steely Dead

Hailing from the vibrant music scene of Denver, Colorado, Steely Dead is a national touring band that has satisfied the curiosity of music lovers with their unique blend of Grateful Dead and Steely Dan. Comprised of four exceptionally talented musicians – Dave Abear on guitar, Matt Abear on bass, Chris Sheldon on drums, and Dylan Teifer on keys – Steely Dead has gained a dedicated following with their electrifying performances and soulful interpretations of classic tunes.

Steely Dead’s repertoire is a carefully crafted fusion of Grateful Dead and Steely Dan songs, between the arrangement and precision studio recordings of rock legends Steely Dan, cross-pollinated with the Grateful Dead’s free-flowing, melodic improvisation and masterful song segues. Steely Dead merges these major concepts together infusing the influence into each band, all the while creating an original jam element with the song segues. Steely Dead’s performances are a musical journey that takes audiences on a nostalgic trip through the golden era of rock and roll.

As a national touring band, Steely Dead has built a loyal fan base that eagerly anticipates their shows and follows them from city to city. Their performances are not just concerts, but communal gatherings where fans come together to celebrate the music they love, dance, and create lasting memories.

Steely Dead’s performances are a testament to the power of live music, bringing people together and creating an unforgettable experience that resonates long after the last note fades.

Steely Dead is not just a band; it’s a musical experience that captures the hearts and souls of music lovers everywhere

🌲🌲⛺🌲🌲Grateful Getaway: An Enchanting Cosmic Odyssey Through the Grateful Dead's Musical Wonderland🌲🌲⛺🌲🌲

Attention all music lovers! Prepare to embark on an unforgettable 11-day journey into the heart of the Grateful Dead's mesmerizing universe at the Grateful Getaway. Nestled amidst the rolling hills of the picturesque Central New York, Apple Valley, New York, this captivating event promises to be a euphoric celebration of the band's timeless tunes, where the melodies of the past intertwine with the boundless energy of the present.

Imagine yourself immersed in a veritable wonderland, where the soulful strums of the guitar and the hypnotic beats of the drums beckon you to lose yourself in the moment. From sunrise to sunset, the Grateful Getaway will transport you to a realm where time stands still, and the only thing that matters is the pure, unadulterated joy of experiencing live music in all its glory

But this is no ordinary music festival – it's a harmonious fusion of sound, nature, and community. Imagine yourself swaying to the infectious rhythms, surrounded by a tapestry of fellow Deadheads, all united in their love for the band's iconic legacy. Pitch your tent amidst the lush greenery, breathe in the crisp, apple-scented air, and let the music wash over you, soothing your soul and igniting your senses.

The Grateful Getaway is a veritable treasure trove of delights, from the mesmerizing performances that will have you dancing until the stars come out, to the opportunities to connect with like-minded music enthusiasts and share in the collective experience. Imagine yourself trading stories, trading licks, and trading the occasional "Shakedown Street" high-five, as you bask in the camaraderie that only a Grateful Dead gathering can inspire.

So, what are you waiting for, music lovers? Pack your tie-dye, grab your dancing shoes, and get ready to embark on an odyssey that will leave you feeling more "Grateful" than ever before. The Grateful Getaway is calling, and it's time to answer the siren's song. See you on the other side of the rabbit hole!

Grateful Getaway Packages

August 1st through August 11th

***❗❗❗ INDIVIDUAL SHOWS available through the links below ❗❗❗ ***

Sam Grisman

Friday & Saturday, August 2nd & 3rd

Join by Grateful For Biggie on Saturday

Pink Talking Fish Are Dead

Sunday, August 4th

Artist to be Announced

Monday, August 5th

Tuesday, August 6th

Melvin Seals & JGB

Wednesday & Thursday, August 7th & 8th

Dark Star Orchestra

Friday & Saturday, August 9th & 10th

Sunday, August 11th

© 2024 Opendate

• Share full article

He Sang ‘What a Fool Believes.’ But Michael McDonald Is in on the Joke.

The singer and songwriter with a silky-smooth voice has written a memoir with Paul Reiser that recounts his story of pain and redemption with dashes of humor.

Michael McDonald’s new memoir is titled “What a Fool Believes,” after the Grammy-winning hit he wrote in 1978 with Kenny Loggins. Credit... Ariel Fisher for The New York Times

Supported by

By Alexandra Jacobs

Reporting from Santa Barbara, Calif.

• Published May 9, 2024 Updated May 11, 2024, 12:19 p.m. ET

The voice of Michael McDonald has been compared to velvet , silk and sandpaper , melted chocolate and last year, by a besotted 11-year-old girl, an angel . He has harmonized with the best in the business. But his latest duet might cause even the most Botoxed foreheads of Hollywood to furrow.

“How you like us so far?” joked Paul Reiser, the actor and comedian, from one corner of a squishy sofa in McDonald’s Santa Barbara, Calif., aerie on a recent Tuesday morning. He was there to talk about the singer’s memoir, which they wrote together and will be published by Dey Street Books on May 21.

In the other corner, emanating the equanimity that’s as beloved as his baritone, was the man whose 50-plus-year career has included backup vocals for Steely Dan, Elton John , El DeBarge , Toto , Bonnie Raitt and on and on — backup so extensive and distinctive it’s inspired playlists on Apple Music and Spotify . He was wearing a paisley-patterned shirt, black trousers and, as one might expect of an angel who must tread this cursed Earth, puffy Hoka sneakers .

McDonald, 72, has also spent decades in the spotlight, albeit sidlingly, often with his famous blue eyes shut . (“Singing is such an intimate act,” he explains in the book, “and like kissing, it does no real good to see what the other person is doing.”) He led the Doobie Brothers in various iterations with his gospel-inflected keyboard style; released nine solo studio albums traversing multiple genres and continues to make live appearances at venues from Coachella to the Carlyle .

The book is titled “What a Fool Believes,” after the Grammy-winning hit McDonald wrote in 1978 with Kenny Loggins, though with some hesitation. “I thought, ‘Well, that’s just too obvious,’” he said. “I wanted it to be something clever and mind-provoking, and I couldn’t really think of anything because, you know, I have a problem provoking my own mind.”

He was convinced by Reiser, who among many other projects wrote the best-selling books “Couplehood” and “Babyhood” in the 1990s, and a follow-up, “Familyhood,” in 2011.

“I mean, how lucky am I?” McDonald said.

“Awwww,” Reiser said. But seriously: “He’s very introspective, which you don’t see at first and then you go, ‘Oh, this guy is deeper than you think.’” A beat. “Not that I thought you were shallow!”

As if in a marathon therapy session, they plunged together back to the past. McDonald grew up Irish Catholic, bracketed by two sisters in a suburb of St. Louis. His father was a streetcar driver and ex-Marine, a teetotaler with an eye for the ladies and a beautiful singing voice. His mother worked in a trading stamps store and had a weakness for pep pills. The marriage didn’t last.

He had an Aunt Mame with a Victrola from which, at age 5, he learned to imitate Mario Lanza warbling “ Love is a Many-Splendored Thing ”; an Aunt Bitsy who introduced him to Rodgers and Hammerstein; and an Aunt Ann Catherine whose record collection included, revelatorily, Ray Charles. Burt Bacharach was a big influence, too. Beatles-wise, he gravitated more toward McCartney than Lennon.

“I always related to him,” McDonald said, “because I could sense from him that he heard a lot of the same music I heard — that kind of barroom, Tin Pan Alley chord progression.”

In one devastating passage, McDonald writes of getting his girlfriend pregnant in eighth grade and biking over to confront her parents, who insisted, along with his own, that she give the baby up for adoption. Too young to sort through this emotional wreckage, he steered away. “Disappearing became my MO,” he writes. “Distancing myself from whatever it was that might require accountability.”

He dropped out of high school and joined a series of colorful-sounding bands — the Majestics, the Sheratons, the Delrays, the Guild, the Blue. Old ballrooms; natty threads. Beer and marijuana became staples, and later, after he moved to Los Angeles and began breaking into the big time, cocaine.

Referred to Steely Dan by the drummer Jeff Porcaro in 1973, he “came to rehearsal a few days later and knocked everyone out,” Donald Fagen, the band’s surviving founder, wrote in an email. “There was a serious discussion about whether he should replace me as the lead singer, which would have been my personal preference. But, for some dumb reason, I was voted down. I didn’t insist, and I’ve regretted it ever since. I mean, here’s this monster singer and musician, and he’s also really funny and a sweetheart of a guy. What’s not to like?”

Patti LaBelle called about recording “ On My Own ” (1986) with McDonald, after a solo version went sour. “I said, ‘The person I would love to sing it with is quiet, beautiful Michael,’” she remembered. Recently they crooned it together on a jazz cruise on the Norwegian Pearl where, she said, he confessed nerves beforehand; when he emerged onstage, the crowd went bananas. “He’s one of a kind. He comes out whispering and then — all this power. It’s like he doesn’t even open his mouth, he’s just so laid back.”

Indeed, so constitutionally low-key is McDonald that Loggins, with whom he also composed “ This is It ” and “ I Gotta Try, ” and who released his own memoir, “ Still Alright ,” in 2022, didn’t even know his old collaborator is about to join him on the bookshelves.

On the phone, Loggins remembered the first time he heard McDonald in the Doobies’ “ Livin’ on the Fault Line .” “I just felt like, ‘Oh, this is going to be a major American voice,’” he said. “He kind of goes into a trance when we write, and if I say ‘play it again,’ he won’t remember, so I have to record all the time. We have completely different styles vocally, but blend really well. It’s not logical.”

In 2005, the duo, along with Hall and Oates, Christopher Cross, Toto, Steve Perry and others, were affectionately spoofed in J.D. Ryznar’s web series, “ Yacht Rock .” A strain of the much-maligned catchall “adult contemporary” category was suddenly rebranded as “smooth music”: gleaming with high production values and a general mellifluence; the polar opposite of punk. McDonald was portrayed as the genre’s earnest common denominator: its anchor, its intergenerational secret sauce, who stumbles out of fashion and then rises again when “ I Keep Forgettin ’” is sampled by Warren G in 1994.

McDonald compared the yacht-rock phenomenon to oldies radio. “Even though I was a little ambivalent about both, at first, they turned out to be the two best things that ever happened to us from the ’70s,” he said, “because we kept getting airplay.”

This wasn’t his first time as a figure of comedy. In 1981, in an SCTV sketch, Rick Moranis portrayed McDonald driving intently down a highway in a convertible to clap on headphones and sing bits of backup for Cross’s “Ride Like the Wind” before rushing off to his next gig. McDonald contributed a song to the 1999 “South Park” movie and sang at a fictional “30 Rock” benefit . In “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” (2005), an electronics-store manager played by Jane Lynch is excoriated by an employee for broadcasting a McDonald concert video ad nauseam. (“If I have to hear ‘ Yah Mo B There ’ one more time I’m going to yah mo burn this place to the ground!”) And in 2013 Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake donned silver McDonald wigs to sing “ Row, Row, Row Your Boat ” with him.

We have his current writing partner to thank, or blame, for the chapter title “Doobie or Not Doobie, That Is the Question.” Reiser, an accomplished musician himself who can sit down at the Yamaha and spontaneously ripple off a Rachmaninoff concerto, first encountered McDonald performing during an event at a neighbor’s house. “And in a surge of moxie, I went, ‘I live literally next door, and I got a music studio with two pianos that I put in just in case this ever happened,’” Reiser recalled. “Would you like to come over?’”

A jam session ensued. A friendship developed. Then the pandemic descended. McDonald thought that during lockdown he might apply himself with renewed vigor to his painting hobby . Reiser had another idea. “He’s the only reason the book exists, as far as I know,” McDonald said. “Putting one foot in front of the other was never my strong suit, on my own power. By myself, I become like a blob.”

McDonald’s wife, the singer Amy Holland, wandered briefly into their living room, which is large, cozy and barnlike, with plenty of blankets and candles and a banjo mounted on the wall bearing the visage of her mother, Verna Sherrill Boersma, who did a hillbilly routine as Esmereldy in the 1940s and resembled …. was it Bette Davis? “Celeste Holm,” McDonald said.

He and Holland were married in 1983, with David Pack, the lead singer of Ambrosia performing “Biggest Part of Me” at the reception. They have two adult children, a submissive golden retriever, and a possessive Chihuahua who sleeps in between the couple.

One of their previous pooches cringed at his singing, McDonald noted, and would try to pry his master’s hands off the piano keys every time he played.

“Everyone’s a critic,” Reiser said.

Working with McDonald, he said, was often just a process of having him slow down and fill out anecdotes that, to him, seemed like no big deal — Steely Dan partying in the penthouse of a London hotel, for one. “I’m going, ‘That’s like a Fellini movie!’” One chapter is devoted to an extended bender with the band’s co-founder, Walter Becker , who died in 2017; another features an unintentional acid trip. ( David Gest also makes an appearance.)

“I remember looking to the guys who seem to manage it well — guys who did a little of this and did a little of that but didn’t have a problem like I suspect that I already did,” McDonald said. “Their whole thing was ‘You just got to manage it — you can’t overdo it, man.’” He paused. “And every one of those guys, to a man, is gone.”

Sober since the mid-80s — he said his current vices are “food and sloth” — McDonald is not only still here, but discreetly ubiquitous.

Forget about velvet and silk: The more you read and think and listen, the more his voice seems like a connecting thread running through America’s popular-music tapestry that, if pulled, might unravel the whole thing — or at least, leave a significant, unmendable hole.

And yet, he said, “to this day I keep expecting the doors to fly open and the impostor police to come and grab me and take me out.”

Alexandra Jacobs is a Times book critic and occasional features writer. She joined The Times in 2010. More about Alexandra Jacobs

Find the Right Soundtrack for You

Trying to expand your musical horizons take a listen to something new..

Cass Elliot ’s death spawned a horrible myth. She deserves better.

Listen to the power and beauty of African guitar greats .

What happens next  for Kendrick Lamar and Drake?

He sang “What a Fool Believes.” But Michael McDonald  is in on the joke.

Hear 9 of the week’s most notable new songs on the Playlist .

Advertisement