Steely Dan Still Full Of Life At Close Of 30-City Tour

Steely Dan

Saturday, Aug. 17, The Gorge

They didn’t play “Deacon Blues.”

But that was about the only negative at Saturday’s high-energy, memory-filled Steely Dan concert at The Gorge. The two-plus hours of jazz, funk and pop kept the near-capacity crowd dancing and singing along to every song. The duo, backed by a seven-piece band, plunged into the ‘70s from the start with “Do It Again,” appropriate for a band that ended its 30-city tour in George.

“I think I speak for the whole band when I say we plan to end our American tour with the most kick-ass show of the whole tour,” Walter Becker told the appreciative crowd. “And we couldn’t ask for a better place or a better night to do it.”

At that, the band launched into a retrospective of its best-known hits, peppered with a few songs - “Jack of Speed” and “Cash Only Island” - pegged for an album expected later this year or next. The new songs went over well, but it was the oldies this crowd had come to hear.

A collective “ahhhhh” took over the crowd at the haunting five-note intro to “Peg.” “FM” had everyone wailing along with the chorus, and “My Old School” whipped up the crowd for the encore.

The songs were familiar, but the musicians did more than just mimic the studio cuts. You knew it was going to be an evening of great music and innovation when Becker slipped a riff from “Blue Moon” into “Hey Nineteen.”

But a lead guitar player from Corvallis, Ore., did most of the heavy lifting with amazing solos on “FM” and “Bad Sneakers.” Cornelius Bumpus, better known as a Doobie Brother, lead the tight horn section on tenor sax.

Donald Fagan was at his soulful best, his voice still impressive after 30 cities in 45 days. Overall, this “studio band” gave one of the best live performances I’ve ever heard.

, DataTimes