The last show of the short Donald Fagen solo tour is tonight, 3/31, at the Arlington Theatre in Santa Barbara, CA. The only news I have seen of a Steely Dan tour this summer was mentioned in an article in Entertainment Weekly (Issue 869) a couple of weeks ago titled "Back to Annadale: The origins of Steely Dan -- Donald Fagen returns to campus and revisits the origin of his old grudge". In that article, it stated:
Take that for what you will. I was certainly surprised to read it, and was quite excited, until I remember just how often these guys plan things and then take forever to execute said plans.
However, it takes a lot of pre-planning to string together a series of consecutive dates reserving amphitheaters and/or arenas in several cities within a couple of days of each other. In scheduling a summer tour, a band doesn't just go out touring "on a whim," so perhaps something is in the pipeline. We will just have to wait and see.
I've seen Steely Dan in concert twice, and I have to say - once you've seen them live, you've seen everything they've got. Spontanaity is not exactly their strong suit. Great to see, but once you've seen them, there's no need to go back. You might as well just play the record again.
The only thing that has me concerned about this pairing is that since there is now a "shared bill" whether Steely Dan goes from a two-set show to a one-set show. In the past, Steely Dan has always toured as a one-act show playing two sets. Adding Michael McDonald and his band to the bill may cause a one-set Steely Dan show, which after all the two-set touring they've done, would be disappointing.
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Steely Dan and Michael McDonald Announce Summer 2006 Tour
Walter Becker and Donald Fagen reunite with a bandmate of the early '70s when Steely Dan shares the bill with Michael McDonald and his band for a summer circuit of U.S. venues.
The as-yet unnamed tour is slated to open in the midwest in early July.
More details are coming soon, so bookmark http://steelydan.com/tour06.html for all the updates and on-sale dates as they become available.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++ Preliminary Tour Schedule All Entries Are Subject To CHANGE!
Jul 08Chicago IL / First Midwest Bank Jul 10Nashville TN / Starwood Jul 12Dallas TX / Smirnoff Jul 14Houston TX / Cynthia Woods Jul 15San Antonio TX / Verizon Wireless Jul 18Phoenix AZ / Cricket Jul 19Irvine CA / Verizon Wireless Jul 21San Jacinto CA /Soboba * Steely Dan Only Jul 22Las Vegas NV / Aladdin Jul 24San Diego CA / Bayside * Steely Dan Only Jul 25Mt. View CA / Shoreline Jul 27Portland OR / Clark County Jul 28Seattle-Tacoma / White River Jul 31Denver CO / Red Rocks ------------------ Aug 07Atlanta GA / Chastain Aug 09Hollywood FL / Seminole Hard Rock Aug 10Tampa FL / Ford Amph Aug 12Charlotte NC / Verizon Wireless Aug 13Bristow, VA / Nissan Aug 15Virginia Beach VA / Verizon Wireless Aug 17Wantagh NY / Jones Beach Aug 19Camden NJ /Tweeter Waterfront Aug 20Scranton PA / Toyota Pavilion Aug 23Holmdel NJ / PNC Bank Arts Aug 24Hartford CT / NE Dodge Aug 26Atlantic City NJ / Taj Mahal Aug 27Boston MA / Tweeter Aug 29Cincinatti OH /Riverbend Aug 30Pittsburgh PA /Post Gazette Sep 01Cleveland OH / Blossom Sep 02DetroitMI / DTE
That's pretty exciting, I've been wanting to see Steely Dan for quite some time now, I'm not a huge McDonald fan but I'm sure it will be an entertaining show.
As long as McDonald does the background vocals for 'Peg,' I'm alright with this. I caught McDonald's show in Henderson, Nevada in the summer of '04, and it was pretty good. He did a lot of his Doobie Bros. material, as well as his Motown covers. McDonald is not a deal-breaker for me on this tour, though I would definitely only like to see him as an opener, rather than a co-headliner.
I'm going to try to catch the Irvine and Soboba shows, with the Vegas show at the Aladdin a distinct possibility (Yet another excuse for blackjack).
Not just Peg, Jan. I want to hear McDonald come out and sing backing vocals with the Dan on a bunch of the classic 70s songs that his singing was so important to. "Peg" is a must, but I also want to hear "Kid Charlemagne", and "Bad Sneakers" among others.
I'll go back and see Steely Dan, though I probably wouldn't if they weren't touring with McDonald.