Steely Can
by DeaconYu on 2016-11-01Beacon Theatre - New YorkRating: 5 out of 5The last of this years 'residency' at the Beacon was incredibly good. As Walter Becker said, it is the best Steely Dan Band ever (although my favourite is the mesmerising percussionist Keith Carlock) and we glimpsed one of them in the warm up act, Madeleine Peyroux, who was accompanied by Jon Herington, the Dan's lead guitarist, who showed another side of his musical palette, as an understated, precise but empathetic partner to Madeleine's thoughtful set. Good warm up for the Dan who came out swinging, concentrating on the usual albums of Aja, Countdown to Ecstasy, Royal Scam etc., with only a couple from their post Gaucho output. Difficult not to have a fantastic concert given their back catalogue; I could have done with more Gaucho, but then the concert would have to be 3 hours instead of 2, which might be a bit past the bedtime of the, admittedly, older crowd. "See you next year, assuming there is still an America" was the only nod to the election season from Donald Fagen. But it was a good, sharp comment, and, sure, I'll see you there in 2017.