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Date: Thu, 27 Jul 2000
From: Gregg House
To: steelydan.com
Subject: Buy & Boogie Winner Sounds Off
I had the great pleasure of attending the July
14 concert at Merriweather-Post. Let me say from the start that the
seats were great for me & my guest, my father. 2 generations surviving
nature, making it to and from the gig. ( the from
part nature almost won. )
I have been to 3 prior SD concerts & 1 NY Rock & Soul Revue. All of
these shows were great & memorable in their own way but the 2vN show at
Merriweather-Post was something special. I'm sure that the fact that I
had great seats had something to do with it considering
my previous seats left something to be desired.
Twice before the seats were made of grass.
But I think my proximity to the action was only
a small part of this magic night. To begin with
the group D & W have put together for this tour is outstanding. Jon
Herington whips on guitar,
the horns are nice & tight , the rhythm section
well oiled and the girls who are all extremely
easy on the eyes can sing their asses off.
(sorry for not being PC).
Now down to Donald
& Walter. I thought Donald's voice was stronger & more true than I had
heard in years. And
it was cool to hear Walter sing a couple of
old greats. His conversational guitar style is
always nice to hear. He was on that night.
Everything came together musically extremely
well. The X factor was the crowd. These people came to have a great time
and hear their favorite music. Steely Dan delivered in spades.
The last half hour or so the crowd was on their
feet and it was like a community sing. The
atmosphere was unbelievable. At one point
I could see Donald and Walter looking at each
other as if to say " This is why we're doing this".
I will never forget this night and I appreciate
the great tickets I won. Thank you to
everyone involved and especially to Donald
& Walter for coming back to the fans who have
thrived on and appreciated this music for so long.
Always listening,
Gregg House
Date: Sat, 22 Jul 2000
From: Jim Talbott
To: steelydan.com
Subject: Raleigh
That was the best concert I've ever been to.
So much to say but that one sentence is the bottom line. We got to
meet so many great folks last night and enjoyed the best Steely Dan show
I've ever
seen. It was great to get to meet and chat with Pete & Shari,
Amanda Parks & Matt, oleander, Zeke, jOkEr, worm tom, steviedan, Chris
Osmond, the
mysterious Jive Miguel who gave ole the BACK STAGE PASS, and the
lovely Marion, who took our pictures for the "Buy & Boogie" contest and
so
much more. Each and everyone of these people were so nice and
friendly and the love of the music was so strong that it really felt
like a big family
atmosphere. Thanks to ole for the coolest party favors (Shirl has
FAGENGRUVEN on her computer monitor as I write this) and it was really
nice to
meet most of her family as well. Thanks to Pete & Shari, who sat
beside us from before the first set to after intermission. Pete was
really great, sharing a
few stories of Dandom and as nice as guy as you'll ever meet
anywhere. Amanda & Matt were very cool. I thought it was her the first
time we spoke
and asked if it was her the second time and she was happy to chat
about the tour, her most excellent camera equipment and her dad, the
DEAN of
Steely Dan guitarists. I wish we had had more time to talk with
everyone but we were all there for the music so when it began you know
where all eyes
and ears were. We had most excellent seats in the center section,
row G, right between Donald and the oh so lovely choir of wonderful
singers. I must
take a second to say a very special thanks to Marion, production
assistant extraordinaire! She came out and chatted with us before she
took our pics
and then again as she and Jon Herrington were talking. She came
back out just before the start of the show and gave me something I will
cherish as long
as I live. A thousand thanks to you Marion, you're the greatest!
I didn't take notes this time like I did back in '96. I didn't even
write down the setlist. I just wanted to be fully immersed in the
audio/visual experience
with no distractions. The band cooked and played the tunes I was
hoping they would. I really wanted to hear Royal Scam, Don't Take Me
Alive &
Jack of Speed and they did all three! I know they've been rotating
the setlist around a little but they got all the ones in I had to have.
They did three
songs off Two Against Nature but didn't play West of Hollywood. So
many good songs, so little time! I thought the crowd could have been a
little more
into it the first set but by the start of the second set the
audience was pretty much a deafening roar between songs. I don't think I
sat down the whole
second set. All this talk of to dance or not to dance. I really
just thought I'd sit back and groove to the tunes but I couldn't help
myself. We were all up
on our feet, jamming, dancing, just doing whatever came naturally.
Walter sounded great on guitar and vocals on Monkey & Daddy. Donald was
in fine
form, seeming to enjoy the night more as it progressed. Jon was on
fire! I wasn't all that impressed when I saw him play on VH1 but I feel
like he has
really gotten comfortable with the songs and made them his own. He
kept the spirit of the original solos intact but put his own stamp on
each and it
worked every time. No offense to Wayne Krantz but Jon just made the
songs in a way that no one else I've seen can. The horns were hot but
Cornelius
was in a world all his own. He laid out some solos that were out of
this world. I guess I've seen him play seven times now between the Dan
and the
Doobies but he was in the ZONE last night! Ricky and Tom laid out
some awesome grooves and each shined in his own right. Killer solo by
Ricky and
great funked up bass from Tom. Ted played the most beautiful piano
interlude that had me spellbound. His playing was great all night but
that one thing
was a thing of beauty. The girls really wailed and sounded great
all through the night. They really got to shine on Dirty Work as they
traded turns taking
the lead for a couple of lines and then passing off to the next.
Cynthia was on the end, nearest the crowd and she worked us like a
borrowed mule!! She
was personally responsible for keeping us on our feet and singing
along through most of the show. Carolyn really suprised me when she did
her solo in
Dirty Work. How in the world can that deep down, soulful voice come
from one so tiny? Great vocal girl! Vicki just blew me away in more ways
than
one. She sounded great and took the first lead on Dirty Work and
was so into the music. She grooved the hardest for sure. That beautiful
green dress
contrasted by her lovely red hair just about knocked me out of my
chair. I see why worm tom is so smitten with her now. She's beautiful.
So from one
side of the stage to the other, the band was so great and the music
left me in high as a kite and giddy as a schoolboy. I hate to gush but
gushing is
deserved in this case.
And of course, my enduring gratitude and life long loyalty to
Walter Becker and Donald Fagen. The music you two have provided us has
been the
soundtrack for the lives of many of us. From the time Can't Buy A
Thrill was first released until today, your music has permeated my life
in way that few
things have. May you both live long and happy lives and continue to
produce the music that helps make life bearable for the rest of us.
Jim Talbott
aka
Midnite Cruiser
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