Steely Dan, essentially Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, personified hipness in the '70s so completely that they coolly appealed to violently divergent audiences with little effort. Rockers, stoners, jazz purists, soul fans, hipsters and pop lovers could embrace them without compromise. Just having a copy of Katy Lied ( ABC Records, 1974 ) or Aja ( ABC Records, 1977 ) in your record collection gave you instant credibility.
Since some of Becker and Fagen's humor was hidden by obtuse writing and production ( the band was actually named after a strap-on dildo featured in William S. Burroughs' Naked Lunch ), it hardly mattered that the millions who bought the records were not in on the joke. After all, Steely Dan was really about grooving.
Backed with a full band and horn section, Steely Dan rolled into The Venue Aug. 17 and proved that those grooves haven't aged a bit. Yes, it was a greatest-hits show but nobody in the SRO space cared much. They also didn't care that Fagen's voice is good and tattered, or that Becker seemed to stand on the sidelines for most of the set. What did matter was what went down on that stage.
Hearing a protracted and funky slow jam through "Hey 19," a syncopated and layered "Show Biz Kids" or a nuanced take on "Dirty Work" in this setting made this show far more than a polite Sunday social for the Maalox set. ( To be fair, there were lots of twentysomethings who shook their asses just as violently as all the senior citizens. ) The hits piled up toward the finish ( "Josie," "Reelin' In the Years," "Peg," "My Old School" ) but the inevitability couldn't diminish what came before. There were so many moments of pure magic crammed into the evening ( a wistful "Aja," a precise and elegant "Time Out of Mind," an epic show stopping "Bodhisattva" ) that you couldn't complain.
It's been 35 years since the album Damn the Torpedoes made Tom Petty and his band, The Heartbreakers, bona fide stars. Now that Petty has ripened from a hard-edged rocker to a venerated statesman ( he is now 63 ), in hindsight the most remarkable thing about his career is in his consistency.
Working early on with producer Jimmy Iovine, Petty and The Heartbreakers patented a sound that was instantly recognizable and damn near perfect. Rather then fiddle with that sound they created an assortment of un-fussy, crisp rock and roll. Even when an oddball like Eurythemics' Dave Stewart worked with them, The Heartbreakers still sounded like The Heartbreakers.
This all brings us to the new album Hypnotic Eye, which is and is not "more of the same." Yes, "American Dream Plan B" is a freedom song reminiscent of "Runnin' Down A Dream" but with layers of crunchy guitars, Petty's measured deliberate vocal and a certain degree of humor ( "But I'm half lit/I can't dance for shit" ) the song is entirely enjoyable on its own terms.
The really good stuff on Hypnotic Eye comes at the halfway mark. "Red River," with its massive sound and crashing guitars, is the most compelling song and lyric ( "she's got a rosary and a rabbit's foot" ) here. At the other extreme is "Shadow People," a snarling, slow burner built on equal parts elegance and dread—and is an epic of another sort. The recording is feral, scary, downright sinister and hardly what I've come to expect from these guys. Its also pure rock 'n' roll at its finest.
The varied tones on Hypnotic Eye couldn't anticipate Petty's blow-out at the United Center Aug. 23. It was sweet of Steve Winwood to open and barrel through his hits, but this was Petty's gig without question. Looking both relaxed and overwhelmed ( the SRO crowd stood for a good 40 minutes of his show ) Petty bounced through a set full of surprises ( an ironic "So You Want to be a Rock and Roll Star" and a cryptic "Last Dance with Mary Jane" in the first 15 minutes ) along with a welcome and sloppy "American Dream Plan B" and an assortment of hits ( "Free Fallin,'" "Refuge," "I Won't Back Down" ) that proved that you actually can please everyone all of the time.
