Molson Amphitheatre - June 28, 2000
Steely Dan are an enigma. Somehow they managed a long, successful music career while avoiding the "album-tour" rut that so many other bands find themselves in. Their history was more along the lines of "album, tour, fire band, stop touring, hide away in studio endlessly crafting jazz-rock with (the most expensive) rented talent, stop recording". Donald Fagen and Walter Becker skipped the horrible drudgery of touring for about 7 years because they were too busy turning out masterpieces like "Pretzel Logic", "Aja" and "Gaucho". Then they went a step further, and got out of the horrible drudgery of making albums... Their fans endured a long dry spell from 1980 until 1994, when Becker and Fagen decided to resume touring after a twenty year hiatus.

Steely Dan's recent Toronto appearance gave the band a chance to get out of the studio and bring some of their finely-honed compositions to life. Since the band's output has required a lot of studio time and much help from the best session musicians around, Becker and Fagen would obviously have to find some extraordinarily talented musicians to help realize the band's diverse catalog onstage. And that's just what they did. The two studio whiz kids brought a crack team of ace musicians with them, including Cornelius Bumpus and Bob Sheppard on sax, John Herington on guitar, Tom Barney on bass and ace R&B drummer Ricky Lawson. Fagen spent most of the evening singing from behind his electric piano, while Becker happily noodled on guitar. The focus was on the entire ensemble, and Becker seemed amazed to be on stage with such a talented crew. Latter-day Dan has been heavily salted with jazz influences, and the show that was definitely not about serving up carbon copies of their greatest hits. Instead, players were encouraged to stretch out on the tunes and ordered not to play the solos as they were originally recorded. The audience enthusiastically greeted the show's openers, "The Boston Rag" and "Bodhisattva", despite the fact that Donald Fagen's vocals were drowned out by the band and the backup ringers, er, singers. A total of four selections from the band's latest release, Two Against Nature, were warmly received by the audience. "West of Hollywood", a brooding new track with a self-proclaimed "gnarly downside", closed the first set. The second set included most of the hits or almost-hits, starting with a lush version of "Deacon Blues". from Aja. "Dirty Work", sung back in 1972 by David Palmer, showcased the backup singers' considerable talent, with the girls each taking alternate verses. Impeccably tasteful versions of "Peg", "Kid Charlemagne" and "Don't Take Me Alive" closed the set. The encore started with a thumping, singalong version of "My Old School", and closed with "FM". Instead of hogging the spotlight and playing showy solos, Becker and Fagen seemed more interested in finding out what a talented ensemble could do with their tunes. The show was richly diverse and thoughtful, and Steely Dan's founders can be justifiably proud of their trip out of the studio.

First album release in twenty years
What's at the top of the charts today? Pre-fabricated, young, soulless product aimed at the wallets of teens. One exception, Carlos Santana, is this week's chart-topper. Another exception debuted last week at number 6. It's Steely Dan's new release, Two Against Nature. Steely Dan have made a career out of being the exception. Donald Fagen and Walter Becker met in 1967 and, after finding that they shared common musical and philosophical interests, teamed up and started writing songs. After a brief stint at the Brill Building, they formed Steely Dan and started cranking out the hits. Initially, they played the game by the rules, selling lots of albums and making themselves miserable. In 1975, they decided to ditch the rest of their band, hole up in the studio with session players, and begin crafting the new era of Steely Dan. The resulting "Katy Lied", "The Royal Scam", "Aja" and "Gaucho" releases were wildly successful, combining a smooth, jazzy sound with some hilariously subversive lyrics. And then they released... nothing. Their Steely Dan well ran dry. They released a trio of well-received solo albums, but couldn't come up with anything deserving of the Steely Dan name.

A dozen or so years later, the guys were reunited by circumstance, and decided to get onstage and try out a few of their old tunes. They had fun. So they booked a tour, had a good time, did another successful tour and decided that they needed some new songs to play. They went into the studio and emerged three years later with Two Against Nature. The tunes are lean and strong, with the kind of carefree efficiency. They aren't simple; jazz and funk elements are mixed in, producing a sound that's both diversely elegant and ruthlessly carefree. This is the soundtrack to a cooler, smoother, more refined life than any of us would ever lead. And a good thing that is, because the denizens of the Two Against Nature universe are people you don't want to get to know. In "Gaslighting Abby", the two main characters make a game out of driving an acquaintance insane. "Cousin Dupree" chronicles a failed set of feeble sexual overtures made to a newly-bloomed cousin Janine. She's too savvy for our hero, though, and when pressed into revealing exactly how she can resist such a man, she replies "Maybe it's the skeevy look in your eyes/ Or that your mind has turned to applesauce/ The dreary architecture of your soul". Ouch. A recurring theme is that of the older man who should know better, sabotaged by any of a wide palette of tragic flaws. And definitely not getting the girl. The standouts? "Almost Gothic" is one of the best of a good bunch. Musically it's a cousin to "Deacon Blues", with a subject who's fallen for a woman who is "pure science with a splash of black cat/ she's almost gothic and I like it like that". After being hit by the steamroller of love, he's "sizzling like an isotope". The track's so good, you can even forgive Becker and Fagen for that simile. "Jack Of Speed" is a slow motion glimpse of an impending drug-related wreck, with an incongruously light melody. The boys are back, and in prime form.

The Dan have legions of loyal fans who have been waiting for years for the next album. Well, now they've got it, and they love it. But will the kids buy Steely Dan? Probably not. If asked whether they would be interested in hearing the new Steely Dan track, the person buying the Sisqo CD in the CD shop would probably put on an even more ignorant face and say, "What's a Steely Dan?" You are, dude.