[DANDOM-NYC] SPOILER: 9/17- Rarities & B-Sides, A Dream Come True!

[by way of Dandom Digest Submittals]

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To write a review of the events of Saturday night 
any sooner than tonight would have been 
impossible.  I feel as though I have been basking 
in the afterglow of the most amazing of dreams 
for the last several days.  Was I really there? 
Did what happen REALLY happen?  It was 
incredible: I was at Beacon Theater, with my 
Danfriends and family, and hearing songs played 
live - right in front of me! - that I'd never 
imagine I'd hear live ever!  And all those 
wonderful people that were there, it must have 
been a dream!  I haven't seen some of these folks 
in years, and all of a sudden I'm embracing them 
once more.  There's my Steely Parents Ed and LWO, 
my Steely sistahs SueDave and Lady Bayside, my 
long lost partner in crime Danfiend, and so many 
wonderful friends who round out my divine 
Danfamily: Alan, Joe, Hoops, Lisa G, Big Fan, 
Pete and Shari, and my token Canadian, Randy J 
Where else but in my wildest dreams could I be 
sharing the same space with these people and 
hearing The fucking Bear?! 



Forget The Bear (or has the bear forgotten you?). 
Let's start with some of the other songs I'd 
never thought I'd hear, period.  Your Gold Teeth? 
God, does that song bring back some very fond 
memories.  To be honest, the dream was a little 
too real when I started hearing some of those old 
chestnuts being played to me for the 900th time 
(Hey 19, anyone?), although, to be fair, I have 
said and meant that as long as SD is playing, I 
will go see them, even if they're playing the 
same twenty songs over and over again.  But fer 
cryin' out loud, this was the Rarities and 
B-Sides night!  Put those AM Gold hits away and 
start hitting me with those bolts of lightning.



Before I go any further, I should point out that 
I was four rows back from Jon Herington, sitting 
next to my dear friend, Danfiend.  We haven't 
seen each other in five years, and it was like we 
never parted company.  I've been having just as 
much fun with her at these shows as I was on the 
2006 tour.  The young'ns ride again!



So the two of us are reacting the same to every 
song - "Hey 19 is a rarity my ass!" - and begging 
Donald to please "shock us" with something we 
would never expect.  It started with The Bear 
(holy shit, they're doing The Bear!!!), which I, 
in my efforts to remain surprised and avoided all 
spoiler alerts, was completely surprised by (even 
though I did hear Herington mention it in 
conversation two nights earlier).  As Donald was 
telling a story to introduce the song, I 
literally stopped breathing, and had myself so 
worked up that I caused to have an acid reflux 
attack and came thisclose to puking in the aisle. 
It was worth it.



Several other acid reflux attacks stemming from 
my excitement would take place that night.  I was 
beyond stoked to hear Walter sing "Jack of 
Speed", because IMHO the 1996 version is the best 
ever.  EVER.  However, this disco version 
certainly blindsided me ("What the hell is this? 
I can't follow the beat."), and even seemed to 
stump Walter at times.  But it was still pretty 
awesome.



Then we enter into what I swear was one of the 
greatest moments I've ever experienced in my 
lifetime.  In my memory book of Steely Dan 
concerts, this one will be highlighted and 
earmarked til my final days.  Donald starts 
talking about Gaucho and the master tapes 
incident and how this one song was pretty much 
gone, but hey let's play it tonight.  Cut to me 
and Danfiend clinging to the edges of our seats, 
squealing, 
"Ohmygodthey'regonnaplaySecondArrangement!"  And 
lo and behold, I hear those magical opening notes 
of The Second Arrangement.  The Second fucking 
Arrangement!  To say I love love love that song 
is a massive understatement, how does one 
describe the beauty of such majesty?  The tears 
started welling in my eyes, as I drank in this 
magical moment, thinking especially of the late 
Bill Griffin (SpongeBill), who always had a soft 
spot for that song.  I can only hope he was 
looking down at us that night and singing along. 
They finish the song, Danfiend and I lose our 
minds with applause, and Donald mentions that 
"This next song we get a lot of requests for, but 
don't play it a lot, but tonight we're going to" 
(Me: Oh god, it's gonna be Rikki Don't Lost That 
Number).  And damn, if Donald didn't hit me again 
with shock as he played the opening chords of Dr. 
Wu.  DOCTOR FUCK WU!  Danfiend and I lost it all 
over again, as we both burst into tears and gave 
each other a big hug.  Seriously, how in the name 
of Jeff Porcaro do you top hearing The Second 
Arrangement AND Doctor Wu back to friggin back 
live by Steely Dan?  Answer: You don't.  You 
can't!  Ok, MAYBE if they pulled me onstage and 
let me sing with them.  But as long as I'm having 
this magnificent dream, I won't push my luck.



So the evening of rarities and awesomeness 
continues with The Embassy Brats(!) performing a 
song Donald and Walter wrote for Thomas Jefferson 
Kaye called "American Lover."  Personally, this 
one was a huge surprise because not only was I 
not familiar with the song (a rarity for me at a 
Dan concert, period), but because it was a song 
D+W wrote for someone else.  What's next, a Jay 
and the Americans medley (DO IT)?  Not my 
favorite surprise of the evening, but damn if I 
don't love Catherine Russell's voice on lead. 



So the evening wears on, they close with "My Old 
School" and walk off, then I expect them to come 
back on and play something like "Reelin in the 
Years".  Thankfully I was proven wrong, as Donald 
said "We're gonna do what WE wanna do!" and 
announced that for their final song, they would 
end the show like they did back in '74 and do 
"This All Too Mobile Home".



HOLY. FUCKING. SHIT.



SERIOUSLY?!?!



Cut to Danfiend and me jumping up and down 
screaming in the aisle, while I high-fived Big 
Fan who had the good fortune (or misfortune, 
you'd have to ask him) to be sitting behind us. 
Talk about a dream!  If they got out the Ouija 
board and scared up Jeff Porcaro and Jim Hodder 
that song couldn't have been any better. 



Now let's be honest for a minute: we all know how 
we know these songs.  Don and Walt know.  They're 
not stupid.  But I did wonder for a moment if it 
was right to sing along with the unreleased 
 songs, as I have now made it obvious that I'm 
the owner of one or two (dozen) "special" 
recordings.  Like Walter was gonna stop the song 
halfway thru and point to us and scream "BUSTED!"



Thankfully he didn't, and thankfully the best 
band in the world finally gave in and played some 
of the songs that we diehards have been 
fantasizing about hearing live for years and 
years.



When the house lights came on, I dropped to the 
floor and declared "You can literally scrape me 
off the floor now."



There's only thing that could have made this show 
better, and that's if it was at Roseland 
Ballroom, so I could stand shoulder to shoulder 
with the rest of my Danfamily and cry and laugh 
and sing along together.  Incidentally, that's 
where I was first introduced to most of you 
exactly 8 years ago.



What truly solidified the fact that this was 
nothing more than a glamorous dream was that it 
all happened in a whirlwind.  One moment I was 
saying hello to people I haven't seen in two 
years, the next I'm saying goodbye to them.  When 
I awoke the next morning, I felt like Dorothy 
Gale, waking up back at the farmhouse.  "I had 
the most wonderful dream, and you were thereŠand 
youŠand youŠ"