Cat and I went out last night to hear the great Steely Dan at the Fabulous Fox Theater in downtown St. Louis. It had been a couple of years since we got to see them, so we were excited for the show.

I was actually pretty excited for the opener, as well, the Sam Yahel Trio; a trio of four members, last night, at least. Sam Yahel is a great jazz organ player from the New York area to whom I was first exposed while tracking down various Joshua Redman recordings. When I found out that his group would be opening for the Dan, I was cautiously optimistic that I'd get to hear both Steely Dan and Joshua Redman in the same night, as Redman played on Yahel's most recent recording.

I have to say that this would very nearly have been THE Holy Grail of concerts for me. Alas, there was no Joshua Redman on the premises at show time. Instead, the very capable Walt Weiskopf and Michael Leonhart, also of the SD band, were playing along with Yahel and his drummer, whose name I never got.

Even without Redman, though, I was looking forward to the opening set. My hopes were dashed from the first few notes I heard. It's not that any of the group played poorly, quite the contrary, or so I believe. The sound reinforcement was so bad, I couldn't tell if they were playing well, or not. I could barely hear the organ, except when he started banging on his high notes, I could hear the drums OK, but it sounded as if the weren't even mic'd. The horns (sax and trumpet) I could hear, but they became painfully loud as they hit notes in their higher registers.

The end result was sound comparable to what I expect to hear from the little wimpy speakers in the laptop: washed out and WAY too heavy on the high frequencies.

Ah, well. They finished their set just as I was nearing the bar counter to procure drinks and snacks for Cat and me. Refreshments in hand, I went back to my seat.

About ten minutes later, the Dan came on. First, only the rhythm section and horns took the stage. They played an introductory medley that featured each of the musicians, and then Walter Becker, Donal Fagan and the backup singers (Peeps) took the stage for the first full song. Here's the set list, with some comments to follow:

1. Intro Medley (Everyone's Gone to the Movies/The Fez) >
2. The Royal Scam >
3. I Got the News
4. Showbiz Kids
5. Bodhisattva
6. Two Against Nature
7. Hey Nineteen
8. Godwhacker
9. Babylon Sisters
10. The New Frontier
11. Gaucho*
12. Black Friday
13. Parker's Band+
14. Josie
15. Aja
16. Get Up - Band Intros&
17. Peg
18. My Old School
19. E: Kid Charlemagne

Both of the medley tunes were really nice surprises. The Fez was particularly nice because Palmer's Room used to cover it, and I had fond memories of covering Steely Dan in front of an audience. Likewise, I was pleased to hear Showbiz Kids, in spite of the F-bomb - it's just so out of place in that setting. But they've changed it into something much better than the original album version. Adding sections and generally making it groove more. Nicely done.

Cat and I were both please by Babylon Sisters. That's the first song that she really liked of theirs. We used to dance to it in our dorm rooms at IU. If we have a song, that's it.

Walter Becker sang Gaucho, which I could live without, but I love the song itself.

The Peeps sang Parker's Band, which was another highlight. Cat loves watching them dance as they sing, and they sing so much better than Becker or Fagan.

The crowd - almost uniformly my parents' age - went predictably bonkers when the big hits (Hey Nineteen, Black Friday, Peg, My Old School) came up, but all around, it was a great set of music, full of songs we both really enjoyed hearing. I can't wait until next time we get to hear the Dan.