Steely Dan touring without Walter Becker?

So this is same band/singers as The Dan Who Knew Too Much Tour?

 

Yeah, Becker's widow wanted to license the name for her Steely Danskins line. Fagen said no. Hence the lawsuit.

 

I'd pay to see a tour with Stevie Dan and Steely Nicks...that would be awesome...

 

I'm guessing not. I think that was an actual Steely Dan tour? The Night Fliers were definitely different players than SD.

 

very good!

 

I've seen a "Martin Barre" show and I concur.

 

Donald Fagen - Small Clubs

Steely Dan - Bums on Seats in Big Arenas / Theatres

 

It is more likely that some of that was driven by management. Remember, he's an Irving Azoff client.

 

I'm honestly OK with this. While obviously Becker was a vital part of the band and its creative process, live, he really didn't contribute much musically in any of the shows I've seen. What he did add was amazing stage banter—the guy was hilarious. That will be missed. But in terms of the songs, the live performance shouldn't suffer much with his absence. And I think he'd be OK with Fagan leading the band without him, he seemed like a pretty cool guy.

 

Change the name to Steely Don...There fixed..

 

I just went to the SD Show Saturday Night and my brother and I agreed that Jon Harington really covers a lot of guitarists well (Carlton, Baxter, Randall, Graydon) yet there was a gap in the rhythm section that Walter filled, perfectly. I gather Donald left that spot void intentionally. He could have got a hired gun to fill that spot.

 

True, but the manager is supposed to be working for you.

 

Syracuse show was great, despite Donalds cold. He still sounded fantastic. Keith Carlock has got to be one of the best drummers out there on tour this year

 

It works with other Azoff clients, Eagles. The difference here is that Steely Dan had not been a band since the 3rd album. The songs existed only as recordings. Fans generally accepted that Steely Dan was Walt and Don with whatever studio musicians. Same thing live since '93. Then we had that lengthy thread here about "the Walter Becker liability." Some real negative comments were shared. Did not participate myself, but didn't necessarily disagree, having seen The Dan Who Knew Too Much stop in Niagara Falls.

It's just mind-boggling that this is even remotely controversial. Yes, I have tickets for an SD date later this year. Sorry to tell some of you, but there will be no difference in sound.

 

The girls don't seem to care...

 

Heh. Surprised they played the song live. Donald introduced it as a bad movie -- IMO, he should have moved on to a better track.

 

ugly, but unsurprising (and they're by far my favorite band)

 

I don’t have a problem with it.

 

Again I don't have a problem with Fagen touring under the Steely Dan name, they've had good bands and the couple of times I saw them recently, Walter wasn't doing any of the heavy lifting.
Other than his stage patter, I don't think things would be all that different. In fact, Donald should load up his keyboard with some of Walter's best lines and deploy them as appropriate.
I thought about going this year but I can't stand the Doobie Brothers and sitting through them would be the only way I'd be able to keep a good place on the lawn. The setlists look pretty good.

However making some statement that he is touring under the Steely Dan name because the booking agents or his manager requested that is weak. Of course Azoff is a shark and everybody is probably doing better because it's a Steely Dan tour as opposed to a "Fagen plays the music of.."tour. If this is how he is going forward, Donald should've said, "Yeah. I'm the last man standing and this is what I'm calling it." To what this has to do with whatever ongoing litigation with Walter's estate , who knows. Also these shows might have been in the process of being booked before Walter died, so maybe he was stuck.

Donald Fagen Discusses the Loss of Walter Becker and Steely Dan’s Future – Rolling Stone

 

Steele Edward Dan, to be precise.

 

New York Street to Be Named After Steely Dan’s Walter Becker | Pitchfork

 

In spite of the fact that Becker himself gave Fagen his blessing to carry on before Walter died.

Does Skunk even play guitar anymore? I thought he was fully involved in building bigger and better mousetraps for the U.S. Defense Department...

Becker no doubt would have taken that opportunity to retire. He'd already said he wasn't going to record anymore, so why tour? Fagen's sorta stuck in the position where he is the "face" of Steely Dan, Becker wasn't.

And based on the sole audience tape I heard The Nightflyers were a damn good band, I could see Fagen picking it up again with them at some point.

Cool

 

wow, Fagen never even discussed that in his 'press release' about the suit.

 

Agree 100%. What Walter lacked in vocal talent he made up for in wit and that's what I'll miss!

 

keith carlock is a monster!

quite possibly the best drummer i have ever seen live.