2000-January-28/29 Steely Dan In The Spotlight (PBS) Sony Studios New York, NY DVD 1 - 88.15 1 Green Earrings 2 Cousin Dupree 3 Bad Sneakers 4 Janie Runaway 5 Josie 6 FM 7 Gaslighting Abbie 8 Black Friday 9 Babylon Sisters 10 Kid Charlemagne 11 Jack Of Speed 12 Peg 13 What A Shame About Me 14 Pretzel Logic 15 Pete Fogel inteview by Becker & Fagen 2.10 I think these songs are all that was put on the official DVD that was released by PBS. The official release, however, includes "additional documentary footage and a few new edits". Notes about this recording: PBS - In The Spotlight: On January 28th and 29th, 2000, PBS and filmmaker Earle Sebastian taped an "In The Spotlight" Special at the Sony Studios in New York City. The resulting film features both performance and documentary/interview footage, and aired on most PBS affiliates during March 2000. Pete Boggle Walter Becker Guitar Donald Fagen Keyboards, Vocals Ted Baker Keyboards Tom Barney Bass Cornelius Bumpus Sax Jon Herington Guitar Ricky Lawson Drums Michael Leonhart Trumpet Chris Potter Sax Jim Pugh Trombone Cynthia Calhoun Backing vocals Victoria Cave Backing vocals Carolyn Leonhart Backing vocals VH-1 - Storytellers: On February 1, VH-1 taped a "Storytellers" featuring Steely Dan, also at Sony Studios in New York. It is scheduled to air on April 24, 2000. ******************************************************* Comments from contest winner Thomas Shea: I can't say how happy I was to get the opportunity to see Steely Dan live, especially given the venue. I flew in from Los Angeles just to take in the show. There was certainly an attendant amount of bullshit involved (being moved from seat to seat; more than one industry type suggesting that I couldn't sit where I was told to sit; that there were no bad seats, but no word on why I had to move if there weren't any bad seats); but the show was more than worth all of the inconveniences. The Dan's sound is as tight as ever. The new songs were all excellent, and the fact that over a third of the set was dedicated to new stuff shows me that Steely Dan isn't a nostalgia act. They tweaked a few of the old tunes, but I wouldn't have minded seeing more adventurous forays beyond what has become such a tightly structured sound. Donald's voice seemed weak at moments; strong at others; it seemed like he wasn't always hitting the mike right at moments, at other moments, the audio level of the mike seemed too low. His crotchety onstage demeanor is hilarious; Walter Becker's guitar is strong as always. Their music is as compelling to me now as it ever has been. The happiest surprise of 2000 (of course, in addition to winning the taping passes) is a new Steely Dan album; and one of such high quality... I can't wait for the tour! By the way, if it can be avoided, don't try sleeping in a terminal at JFK. That's one of my New York lessons. ******************************************************* Comments from contest winner Gabe Sasso: The excitement started when I checked my e-mail on January 20th. Amongst the ads, solicitations, and other assorted refuse and spam were some legitimate messages. One of them informed me that I'd won 2 tickets to see Steely Dan tape their PBS special on January 29, 2000. To say I was thrilled would be putting it mildly. My first step was to confirm acceptance of the tickets by return e-mail. After that I called my friend Dave to see if he'd come along as my guest. A silly question really since I knew that barring actually being bedridden any self-respecting Dan fan would kill to be at the taping. Of course he accepted. The excitement of the event seemed to build as the day got closer. It was only just over a week but it seemed much longer. Finally when we were ushered out of the line by [website assistant] D. and into Sony Studios the time had come. We had great seats dead center and about 5 rows back from the stage thanks to D. providing VIP passes. Truthfully the studio which I would guess seats less than 300 people doesn't look like it has a bad seat. Intimacy was definitely at a high. The time from seating to the actual show passed and the band was brought on. Last onstage of course were Walter and Donald. They thanked everyone for coming and Donald commented that everything about the night would seem like a show but in fact it was not. Actually he said it was just television. Then the band launched into "Green Earrings." It was a terrific opener and the crowd, which was clearly primed and ready, was into it from note one. The band's intensity never seemed to ebb as they moved seamlessly from old favorites to brand new songs from the upcoming album. My impression was that the new tracks retain the classic Dan sound while adding a new flavor to the mix here or there. Of the new tunes played at the taping my favorite at this point is "Gaslighting Abbie." Of course this is subject to change once I've had the opportunity to listen to all of "Two Against Nature" a few dozen times. Throughout the night the band took a couple of breaks. Donald mentioned that this was due to the TV aspect of things. One of the breaks was due to a lighting issue that needed correcting. Each time they came back on stage the crowd was back into it instantly. Breaks like that which one would think might stifle the crowd's momentum did anything but. I must mention the band Donald and Walter have surrounded themselves with. Comprised of both veterans of the Steely Dan tours of the 90's and newcomers to Dan this group can flat out play. The horn section made up this time of 2 sax players, one trumpet and for the first time a trombone was particularly fantastic. The trio of backup singers also shone particularly on tunes like "Babylon Sisters" where their vocals were brought to the forefront. These are just two examples. At points throughout the evening every member of the band had his or her exceptional moments. Donald and Walter for their part looked like they were having a blast. And well they should, everyone else was too. All told it was a fantastic evening of great music in an intimate setting. And of course with a new album due and a tour on the horizon 2000 promises to be a new and exciting chapter in the world of Steely Dan. I'm already looking forward to the special when it airs March 1st on PBS. ******************************************************* Comments from contest winner Russell Greenberg: What a night!!! Thank you so much for one of the more special evenings. The band sounded great and both Donald and Walter were in top form. The new stuff was excellent as well as all the classics. The arrangement on "Do It Again" brought tears to my eyes .......Mind boggling stuff!!!! Thanks to all the staff at the theatre who where helpful throughout.