Steely Dan formed in Los Angeles in 1972. 35 years later, America's musician's musicians are finally touring Australia for the very first time.
When witnessing a band for the very first time, expectations are high. Those expectations have been set by the catalogue, which in Steely Dan's case is truly heritage.What is expected from the audience in a scenario such as this is a setlist that mirrors the expectation. Unfortunately, that was not met by the band.
The great thing about the Steely Dan show was that musically, it was faultless. As musicians, Donald Fagen, Walter Becker and crew are the best in the world. That is beyond question.
What a shame that people walked away from the show talking about the songs they didn't do more than the ones they did. Would it have been so hard to include 'Rikki Don't Lose That Number' and 'Reelin' In The Years' in the set? Could you imagine an Eagles show without 'Hotel California' or The Stones dropping 'Satisfaction'?
The Steely Dan setlist covered off all of the classic albums but without all of the classic songs. They were so close, but yet so far. Just those two classic songs extra and fans would have walked away talking about the "concert of the year".
In fact, Fagen even chastised a fan in the front rows for yelling out requests, telling the audience that they were here to play the songs they wanted to play.
It wasn't as if the band performed a set of the two most recent albums. In fact, 'Two Against Nature' (2000) and 'Everything Must Go' (2003) were completely ignored.
The audience highlight came early when they played 'Hey Nineteen'. After that, Steely Dan appeared to have a disconnect with the audience.
Setlist for Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne, September 20, 2007:
Calypso Chat (band only)
Time Out Of Mind (from Gaucho, 1980)
Black Cow (from Aja, 1977)
Hey Nineteen (from Gaucho, 1980)
Home At Last (from Aja, 1977)
Peg (from Aja, 1977)
Babylon Sisters (from Gaucho, 1980)
Green Earrings (from The Royal Scam, 1976)
Haitian Divorce (Walter on vocals) (from The Royal Scam, 1976)
Black Friday (from Katy Lied, 1975)
Dirty Work (from Can't Buy A Thrill, 1972)
Josie (from Aja, 1977)
Aja (from Aja, 1977)
Kid Charlemagne (from The Royal Scam, 1976)
Do It Again (from Can't Buy A Thrill, 1972)
Bodhisattva (from Countdown To Ecstasy, 1973)
Carolyn (band only)
