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Stage

A treat for Dan fans: 2 concerts, 1 new disc

By STEVE PERSALL
Published May 10, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT [Getty Images] Steely Dan co-founders Donald Fagan (top) and Walter Becker will play Monday and Tuesday at Ruth Eckerd Hall.

Oh, those sultry 1970s nights when listening to Steely Dan LPs and 8-tracks through beer can-sized headphones was the perfect accompaniment to anything.

Today, vinyl and tape have given way to polycarbonate plastic and headphones are earplugs, yet Steely Dan is still my all-time favorite band. I flew to California in 1994 for one of their first concerts in 19 years, just in case they got fed up with touring before they got to the East Coast.

Next week, they're playing practically across the street from my home. Ruth Eckerd Hall, with its acoustic walls, should be a perfect setting for the band's complex melodies and cinematic wordplay.

Co-founders Donald Fagen and Walter Becker duck many of the open-air venues and cavernous domes of past treks. Intimacy should suit the Dan better than those expansive tours they mocked long ago in their 1973 song Show Biz Kids, or more recently with Fagen's H-Gang single.

Meanwhile, Fagen has prepared an interactive boxed set titled The Nightfly Trilogy that showcases his acclaimed solo recordings – The Nightfly, Kamakiriad and Morph the Cat. It hits shelves June 26. Bonus audio and video tracks make this a must-have for Dan fans, but perhaps not as much as a concert ticket.

Monday's show is sold out, but seats ($69.75-$79.95) remain for Tuesday's 7:30 p.m. concert. (727) 791-7400 or www.rutheckerdhall.com.

[Last modified May 9, 2007, 21:06:47]