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

Thu Sep 22 00:49:18 EDT 2011

she did us proud

CC: nyc at dandom.com
From: e.beatty at roadrunner.com
Date: Wed, 21 Sep 2011 21:39:21 -0700
To: nyc at dandom.com
Subject: Re: [DANDOM-NYC] SPOILER: 9/17- Rarities & B-Sides, A Dream Come True!

hfs 

On Sep 21, 2011, at 9:27 PM, DanFiend <the.danfiend at gmail.com> wrote:

Margaret

You are quite the writer.  I could not have chronicled Saturday night better if I tried.  You captured each moment perfectly.  *sigh*

 So it's Wednesday night and I'm overcome with sadness at the reality that this experience is two days away from being over.  These 7 days and 5 shows have whisked by so fast it's hard to keep any of it straight.  However, I find temporary solace in the fact that it is not over.  We get one more show together--one that is sure to invoke more whoops, hollers and tears from us both.  This is what makes life worth living and I could not imagine a better person to experience it with.

Let us not allow another 5 years to pass before we go 'back jack do it again' when the 2011 towel beating is over for good.  See you Friday, my Steely Sis and hopefully in 2012 for a new tour.

Until then
Tee aka Danfiend

On Wednesday, September 21, 2011, by way of Dandom Digest Submittals <GirlMargaret at aol.com> wrote:
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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?!
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> 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.
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> 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!
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> 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.
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> 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.
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> 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.
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> 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.
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> 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".
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> HOLY. FUCKING. SHIT.
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> SERIOUSLY?!?!
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> 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.
>
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> 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!"
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> 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.
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> When the house lights came on, I dropped to the floor and declared "You can literally scrape me off the floor now."
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> 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.
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> 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"
>
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