Steely Dan at the O2 Arena, London - 29/10/2017

“We are a little different from what we were a few months ago. But I’ve got to live with that,” Donald Fagen told the audience a few songs in to Steely Dan’s first UK gig in just under a decade. This reference to the recent passing of the band’s co-founder, Walter Becker, was accompanied by a poignantly placed empty mic stand that remained centre stage for the duration of the 90-minute Bluesfest headline set at London’s O2 arena.

Despite an understated onstage entrance, perhaps made more evident following The Doobie Brothers’ electric opening set, “The Steely Dan Organisation” – a term Fagen used in acknowledgement to his 12-piece band – kicked off the performance with the rousingly upbeat ‘Bodhisattva’. The irresistible funk groove of ‘Black Cow’ was an early highlight, while ‘Hey Nineteen’, the intro of which is so instantly recognisable, set the crowd momentum soaring. It would have been difficult to top this opening trio of songs, had it not been for Fagen then proceeding to surprise the crowd with ‘New Frontier’ – a track from his 1882 solo album, The Nightfly. Arguably a bold decision so soon in the set, albeit one that pleased long-time fans.

For a band that became renowned for their well-crafted and precise studio work, the entire set, which mostly comprised songs from Aja and Gaucho, translated fantastically in a live setting – an especially impressive feat in this instance, given the size of the venue. The skilled complexity of the onstage musicianship was most evident during Aja’s jazz-infused title track, in which a flowing tenor sax solo by Walt Weiskopf effortlessly intertwined with Keith Carlock’s extended drum breaks to perfectly offset against a more spacious keys section. Aja’s other highlight of the evening came by way of ‘Peg’, in which Fagen’s vocal – always confident in delivery, if at times gritty in tone – showed no sign of becoming lost among the bright four-piece horn section. The song was further elevated by Jon Herington’s incredible guitar solo.

Although the set leaned heavily on Steely Dan’s later work, glimpses of the early catalogue shone through to add some diversity to a performance that had potential to be a lot more varied had the band not been restricted to a 90-minute slot imposed by the venue’s 10:30pm curfew, a restriction that didn’t go unmentioned by Fagen – "We'd play a bit longer if we got permission from the substitute teacher". Key moments from the early albums included a soulful rendition of Can’t Buy a Thrill’s ‘Dirty Work’, in which lead vocals were provided by backing trio The Danettes, while later in the set, the band returned to the upbeat funk for ‘Kid Charlemagne’, from 1976’s The Royal Scam, complete with another of Herington’s remarkable guitar solos.

Upon reflection of the gig – my first experience seeing the band live – I could not have been more delighted with the setlist. As a Gaucho fan, I was particularly thrilled that this album was so generously represented; the sublime shuffle of ‘Babylon Sisters’ followed by the rhythmically tight ‘Time Out of Mind’, brought an overriding sense of euphoria that lingered right through to the climactic encore of ‘Reelin’ in the Years’.

Setlist

Bodhisattva

Black Cow

Hey Nineteen

New Frontier

Aja

Black Friday

Babylon Sisters

Time Out of Mind

Dirty Work

Peg

I Want To (Do Everything For You)

Josie

My Old School

Kid Charlemagne

Reelin’ in the Years

The Untouchables