Steely Dane: The Ultimate Steely Dan Tribute at the Coralville Center for the Performing Arts -- January 24.
Saturday, January 24, 7:30 p.m.
Coralville Center for the Performing Arts, 1301 Fifth Street, Coralville IA
Their shows composed of hits and deep cuts sure to have fans leaping out of their seats and singing along, the tribute musicians of Steely Dane headline a January 24 concert event at the Coralville Center for the Performing Arts, the group playing in the same configuration as the Steely Dan touring band, and their sets including a four-piece horn section, two guitars, two keyboards, and female background singers.
Steely Dan is a rock band formed in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, in 1971 by Walter Becker (guitars, bass, backing vocals) and Donald Fagen (keyboards, lead vocals). Originally having a full band lineup, Becker and Fagen chose to stop playing live by the end of 1974 and continued Steely Dan as a studio-only duo, utilizing a revolving cast of session musicians. Rolling Stone has called them "the perfect musical antiheroes for the seventies."
Becker and Fagen played together in a variety of bands from their time together studying at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson. They later moved to Los Angeles, gathered a band of musicians and began recording albums. Their first, 1972's Can't Buy a Thrill, established a template for their career, blending elements of rock, jazz, Latin music, R&B, blues, and sophisticated studio production with cryptic and ironic lyrics. The band enjoyed critical and commercial success with seven studio albums, peaking with their top-selling album Aja, released in 1977.
After Steely Dan disbanded in 1981, Becker and Fagen worked sporadically on solo projects through the 1980s, although a cult following remained devoted to the group's work. Since reuniting in 1993, Steely Dan has toured steadily and released two albums of new material, the first of which, 2000's Two Against Nature, earned a Grammy Award for Album of the Year. Their final album of new studio material was 2003's Everything Must Go and the band has continued to release compilations, box sets, and live albums on a regular basis. After Becker's death in 2017, Fagen reluctantly continued the group with himself as the sole official member.
Steely Dan have sold more than 40 million albums worldwide and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001. VH1 ranked Steely Dan at number 82 on their list of the "100 Greatest Musical Artists of All Time," while Rolling Stone ranked them number 15 on its list of the "20 Greatest Duos of All Time."
As stated at SteelyDane.com, "In 2010, co-founders David Adler and David Stoler (The Steely Daves) thought it'd be a great idea to put together a tribute 'SHOW' for Steely Dan, featuring the best musicians in the Madison, WI music scene. Madison is located in Dane County, WI, thus the name. The first Steely Dane show featured over 30 of Madison's best rock and jazz musicians, and it sold out the High Noon Saloon. Not ones to waste a herculean effort of arranging a full night's worth of the Dan's best stuff, the crew decided to do it again, and again ... and oops, now it's no longer a show, it's a BAND.
"Since then, the band has trimmed down to the current 14-piece family that features a four-piece horn section, two female backup singers, two guitars, two keyboards, vibes, and percussion ... all of the instruments necessary to recreate the amazing mixes of the Dan's albums and live performances. The band has won multiple awards for best tribute band, they've sold out theaters from Chicago to Minneapolis, and packed summer festivals scattered throughout as well. Their songbook features over 50 songs from both Steely Dan and Donald Fagen's solo career, allowing them to play different shows night after night, even including complete album shows for The Royal Scam, Aja, and Gaucho."
Steely Dane: The Ultimate Steely Dan Tribute brings their tour to the Coralville Center for the Performing Arts on January 24, admission to the 7:30 p.m. concert is $29-39 and more information and tickets are available by calling (319)248-9370 and visiting CoralvilleArts.org.
