Las Vegas Weekly

August 29, 2009 · 2:02 PM

Photo Gallery: Steely Dan reels in the years at The Pearl in the Palms

By Robin Leach

Donald Fagen of Steely Dan performs at The Pearl in the Palms.

Photo: Tom Donoghue/www.donoghuephotography.com

Fans packed The Pearl Concert Theater in the Palms last night and were dazed and dazzled by the Steely Dan music spectacular.

Our contributing photographer Tom Donoghue was front and center to capture all the stage action close-up for our Vegas DeLuxe photo gallery.

At 61, vocalist and keyboardist Donald Fagen is still at the top of his rock and roll game with Walter Becker, 59, on guitar! Despite their “old man” status, they can still show all the up-and-comers how it’s done on their Rent Party 09 tour.

Tom told me: “Steely Dan has been more of a conceptual framework for inventive music-making than a typical rock band. They have done nothing by the books. The band’s very name is a human biological reference from a novel by Beat Generation anti-hero Williams Burroughs. They have always identified with the very soul of jazz but have connected with rock fans with such songs as “Reelin in the Years,” “Do It Again” and “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number.”

The two music masters met in 1967 while attending Bard College in upstate New York, and before launching Steely Dan in 1972, they were touring musicians with Jay and the Americans, who played the Cannery this summer.

Click HERE for Senior Editor John Katsilometes’ take on the Steely Dan concert.

Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.

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