Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Steely Dan

Sunday afternoon I headed Travalon’s way, and we thought about going to German Fest but instead went to the Horny Goat Brewery, where we enjoyed watermelon beer and good food by the lake. It was a wonderful time except for the lame singer/songwriter performing there. If there had been a steel drum band playing, and the weather were just a bit warmer (59 in July?!?!), then it would have been utterly perfect.

In the evening we went to the Riverside Theater to see Steely Dan, who were amazing. First a jazz trio opened up for them, then the horn section (the “Bipolar All-Stars”) came on stage and jammed for a few minutes before Donald Fagan and Walter Becker and the rest of the band appeared, including three backup singers called the “Borderline Brats.” They performed a bunch of hits and a couple of songs I didn’t know, but they were all great songs. It made me realize that all Steely Dan songs sound the same: awesome! They played for a couple of hours, then they finished without performing my very favorite song of theirs, “Kid Charlemagne.” We applauded them for several minutes, and then they finally came back out and did my song. My boss said I could sleep in yesterday, then everyone wanted to hear about the concert. Apparently I work with a lot of Steely Dan fans. Why not? They’re a great band!

Famous Hat

2 comments:

Travalon said...

Steely Dan always puts a lot into their live shows, never leaving fans disappointed. I had no doubt that they would do Kid Charlemagne as they have the 4 or 5 previous times I've seen them live. I would also like to mention that we stopped at another tavern in the "Bottoms Up" book located in the Bay View neighborhood of Milwaukee called Kniesler's White House, it was established in 1870. I sampled some very potent Malibu Black Rum, mixed with pineapple juice it was ok, but terrible on the rocks the way I first ordered it. Pretty nice laid back place.

Travalon said...

The bar was established 1891 I should say, not just 5 years after the Civil War ended.