Kevin Bronson on April 14th, 2015

0

Who: Steely Dan at the Outdoor Theatre.
In 3 or Fewer Words: Doing it again.
Memorable Because: Eyebrows were raised, snark was dispensed and questions were asked when Steely Dan was booked for Indio, but the veteran jazz-rock fusionists made it look like a genius move. They brought their A game to a hit-laden set, which included “Black Friday,” “Aja,” “Hey Nineteen,” “Josie” and “Kid Charlemagne” (but not “Do It Again” or “Peg”), and the crowd was big (bigger than for last year’s Replacements reunion show) and populated by a healthy number of young fans. “Hi there, kids, we’re your Uncle Wally and Uncle Don,” Donald Fagen said in introducing the 13-piece band he helms with Walter Becker, who delivered a cool-cat, stream-of-consciousness soliloquy during which he wryly acknowledged “there were some financial considerations” for Steely Dan being there and boasted “we still got it and if you want it, come and get it.” Even if that’s Steely Dan being typically (and off-puttingly) haughty, both seemed true. That guitar solo in “Reelin’ in the Years” endures, and Walt Weiskopf’s sax solo in “Show Biz Kids” was a work of art. By the way, a verse in the latter song (from 1973) goes, “Show biz kids making movies of themselves / You know they don’t give a fuck about anybody else.” That pretty much endures too.
What I’d Tell My Friends Who at Gorgon City: I hope that Jennifer Hudson cameo was worth it.
— K.B. (Photo by Bronson)

More Coachella mini-reviews