If youre a Steely Dan tribute band, you had better be good. No, scratch that, you had better exceptional. Like them or not, Steely Dan never did anything in half-measures. The level of quality that went into their musicianship and recordings was about as high as it gets, and they demanded extraordinarily exacting standards from top-level players and recording technicians. Some of the best guitar solos in recorded history can be found all over their records. Complicated chord structures, genius arrangements, perfect production, flawless, inspired performances, the whole works. They are the Stanley Kubrick of the music world. The few times Ive heard bands attempt to play Steely Dan songs, they failed miserably, despite being good bands otherwise. One screw up made, one dumbass musical liberty taken, basically collapses the entire song like a house of cards. If you cant do it well, dont do it at all. Just play Freebird instead. So it was with a bit of scepticism that I went to see Pretzel Logic, a Steely Dan cover band that played last night at the Orbit Room. Gotta say that I was pretty impressed and surprised. I wouldnt say they nailed it 100%, but they were good enough that I stayed for both sets. And playing that stuff, you need to be very good to be good enough. The vocal harmonies, in particular, were actually awe-inspiring. For such a small room with a basic little PA system, it sounded ten times bigger. Then again, it was a ten-piece band with horns and backup singers. Paul DeLong from the Kim Mitchell band was on drums. Here are some pics I couldnt resist taking near the end of the night, even though I hadnt intended to take any, and despite being somewhat inebriated by then:
Posted on: Sat, 31 May 2014 03:40:23 +0000
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