Donald Fagen has made countless on-stage appearances over the years, but primarily as part of Steely Dan or else a rock ‘n’ soul revue like last summer’s Dukes of September shows with Michael McDonald and Boz Scaggs.
In fact, after a lengthy period apart, the new-millenium edition of Steely Dan has been a touring machine.
Over the 18 years since their 1994 reunion tour, Steely Dan has toured in 1996, 2000, 2003, every year between 2006-09 and in 2011, according to the band’s web site. Remember that this is a group that played regular concerts from 1972-74, but beginning in 1975 stuck strictly to the studio all the way through their eventual split at the turn of the 1980s.
Fagen, meanwhile, wrote much of his well-received new album Sunken Condos while touring with Walter Becker in Steely Dan — and is returning to the concert trail with the Dukes of September this month for shows in Hawaii and Japan.
So, the question of solo shows was bound to come up, right? Fagen says he considering it, though he’s still waiting for all of the critical notices on Sunken Condos to arrive.
“I’d really like to do it,” Fagen tells Billboard. “We actually did a very brief tour after Morph the Cat came out, and that was a lot of fun. It was a little scary for me; I’ve been the frontman for Steely Dan for a long time, but it was a whole different thing, being the center of attention with your own band. It was kind of a heavy deal for me, but it was a lot of fun. So we’ll see what happens with (Sunken Condos); if it’s a total turkey, I don’t want to be associated with it at all. But if it seems like it’s worth doing, we probably will do something.”
*** STEELY DAN SUNDAY INDEX ***
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- Angell & Crane, “Himalayan Dial-Up” from ‘Angell & Crane’ (2024): Video Premiere - November 22, 2024
- Michael Attias, “Avrils” from ‘Quartet Music Vol. II- Kardamon Fall’ (2024): Streaming premiere - October 11, 2024
- Bryn Roberts, “Aloft” from ‘Aloft’ (2024): Video Premiere - September 20, 2024
To say Sunken Condo is a masterpiece would be a understatement. It is without a doubt the finest piece of work coming from either Donald Fagen or Steely Dan since The Nightfly, which was released 30 years ago.
Donald summarizes himself and Sunken Condo with the lyrics ” I feel much stronger than I have in years. My mind is sharp, and my spirit’s high “. Listen to CD and those words became very apparent and true. Every song is so strong and wonderful. It’s like Donald on steroids.
Sunken Condo demonstrates what a incredible talent this genius of a man is.
My advice to Donald Fagen is you don’t need Walter Becker, you don’t need Dukes of September. Your better by yourself. Did Van Gogh need help with his paintings?
Please tour by yourself, I’ll be there.