Get ready to go back to the late '70s with Steely Dan this weekend at Merrillville's Star Plaza Theatre.
The Grammy Award winning group starring Donald Fagen and Walter Becker brings their "Rent Party Tour" to Northwest Indiana Saturday for a two-hour show featuring their entire "Aja" album.
This 'single album' concert concept has taken off in a big way this year for Steely Dan, who performed a different album each night in concert during various tour stops last summer.
"We've been having a great time with it. And a lot has to do with the audience," said Donald Fagen, during a recent phone interview.
In early September, they filled the Chicago Theatre for a four-night stint featuring entire compilations of "Aja," "Gaucho," "The Royal Scam" and on the final night a "Takin' It to the Seats" set of audience requests.
"Many of the songs we're doing on this tour, we've never played live before. We just did them in the studio. But we thought they'd be good on stage. So we had to learn a lot of new material," Fagen said, adding it keeps the band vital.
"And we generally made some changes in arrangements," he said.
At Saturday's show, fans will groove to "Aja's" hits such as "Peg" and "Deacon Blues," and then enjoy other signature Steely Dan numbers during the second half of the concert.
Steely Dan's Fagen and Becker, both lovers of jazz, originally met while students at Bard College in New York and honed their craft in various local bands. As Steely Dan, they released their first major album "Can't Buy a Thrill" in 1972 which produced the hits "Reelin' In the Years," and "Do It Again." Other noted albums followed during the mid- to late '70s including "Pretzel Logic," and "Katy Lied."
The group, whose tunes can be heard daily on classic rock stations across the country, is known for its innovative blend of rock, jazz, pop and rhythm and blues. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001.
According to Fagen, the band continued to evolve through the years and got more adventurous with their sound in studio recordings. Among musicians to step into the studio to work on Steely Dan's roster of albums were Jeff Porcaro, Larry Carlton, David Sanborn, Michael McDonald and Tom Scott.
About their tunes which have enjoyed past commercial success, Fagen said "the songs that were the most popular or artistically successful anyway were generally the ones from the latter part of the '70s." Overall, the band's 1970s studio work saw them experimenting greatly with their music.
Fagen said he's honored music lovers are still paying attention to the band. During recent concerts, old and new fans have packed venues to check out the new shows.
The decision to put a single album in the concert spotlight, Fagen said, was actually the brainchild of someone from their management team.
"At first we didn't see the point. We were surprised when we started doing it how much the band likes playing albums all the way through," he said.
Fagen said these days they're enjoying the touring process more than decades ago. As a matter of fact, they pretty much left the road for several years during the '70s to concentrate on recording.
"We're not miserable on tour now," he said.
Steely Dan, 8 p.m. Saturday
WHERE: Star Plaza Theatre, I-65 and U.S. 30, Merrillville
COST: $81.50 and $71.50
FYI: starplaza.com or TicketMaster at (800) 745-3000
