Men of Steel return to Vegas

Spencer Patterson

Friday, Sept. 26, 2003 | 9:29 a.m.

For a band that has never done much touring, Steely Dan has still always made a point of hitting Las Vegas.

Starting with a 1974 concert at the Las Vegas Convention Center, the Los Angeles duo has made three stops in Southern Nevada. Saturday night's 8 p.m. show at the Mandalay Bay Events Center will be the fourth.

Not bad for a band that went 20 years between live appearances, from 1974 until 1994.

Steely Dan co-founders Walter Becker and Donald Fagen reunited in the studio in 2000 to record "Two Against Nature," their first album together since 1980's "Gaucho." "Two Against Nature" went on to win two Grammys, including Album of the Year.

Surprisingly, the notoriously road-shy pair have been touring regulars since 1996, treating their fans to live versions of many 1970s classics that were never performed during that decade.

Steely Dan is also touring in support of June release, "Everything Must Go," the band's second studio CD in three years.

Supplementing the two Steely Dan mainstays will be an 11-member backing ensemble, including four horn players and three vocalists.

Who: Steely Dan.

Where: Mandalay Bay Events Center.

When: 8 p.m. Saturday.

Tickets: $45, $85, $125.

Call: 632-7580.

Opening act: None.

Personnel: Walter Becker (guitar), Donald Fagen (vocals, keyboard).

Additional musicians: Ted Baker (keyboard), Tom Barney (bass), Cornelius Bumpus (trumpet), Cynthia Calhoun (vocals), Keith Carlock (drums), Jon Herington (guitar), Carolyn Leonhart (vocals), Michael Leonhart (trumpet), Cindy Mizell (vocals), Jim Pugh (trombone), Walt Weiskopf (trombone).

Latest release: "Everything Must Go" (Reprise, 2003).

Album feedback: "Though it's tempting to read apocalyptic premonitions into Donald Fagen and Walter Becker's suave pessimism, this is the same worldview they've purveyed since 1972's 'Do it Again.' " (Rolling Stone, 3 stars.) "Though it's as expertly produced as always, there's less emphasis on production and a focus on the feel, often breathing as much as a live performance, another new wrinkle for Steely Dan." (All Music Guide, 3 stars).

Essential releases: "Can't Buy a Thrill" (1972), "Pretzel Logic" (1974), "The Royal Scam" (1976), "Aja" (1977).

What to expect: Two sets, with an intermission and a one- or two-song encore. During their tour's second leg, Fagen and Becker have skipped over greatest hits such as "Do it Again," "Reelin' in the Years" and "Rikki Don't Lose That Number" for semi-obscure tracks from the '70s like "The Caves of Altamira" and "Daddy Don't Live in That New York City No More." And that's just fine with the band's longtime followers.

Recent set list: Sandia Casino's Outdoor Amphitheater, Albuquerque, N.M., Tuesday: (First set) "Cubano Chant," "Aja," "Time Out of Mind," "Godwhacker," "The Caves of Altamira," "Black Cow," "Babylon Sisters," "Daddy Don't Live in That New York City No More," "Peg," "Home at Last." (Second set) "The Steely Dan Show," "Janie Runaway," "Hey Nineteen," "Haitian Divorce," "Lunch With Gina," "Everything Must Go," "Parker's Band," "Josie," "Kid Charlemagne," "Don't Take Me Alive." (Encore) "FM." (from message board dandom.com/guestbook/).

Tour feedback: "Must of the new material sounded self-consciously jazzy, as if they've outgrown linear progression in melodies or compositional structures with even the remotest connection to the blues form that's still at the heart of most pop music." (Los Angeles Times); "By sticking to what they and their fans know best, and surrounding themselves with excellent musicians, Becker and Fagen continue to offer a far livelier evening of music than we would have ever suspected back in the '70s, when they were considered rock 'n' roll's most famous hermits." (Fort Worth Star-Telegram).

Previous Las Vegas appearances: May 4, 1974 (Convention Center); Aug. 10, 1996 (The Joint); June 10, 2000 (Mandalay Bay Events Center).

Says Fagen: "I noticed ... that the Grammy glow of celebrity lasts exactly 24 hours. The day after we got the Grammy, everyone was my friend. Everyone on the street knew who I was. Then the next day, they still recognized us but they didn't care to approach us anymore. It was old news." (Rolling Stone, 2001).