Steely Dan delivers thrills for '70s-loving music geeks

It was a big weekend in the Twin Cities for music geeks: Kiss galvanized 13,000 members of the Kiss Army Saturday at Target Center, and Steely Dan thrilled 3,995 Danfans Sunday at Northrop Auditorium.

Both bands started in the early 1970s, and, frankly, they really haven't changed much: Kiss delivered mindless rock 'n' roll escapism for headbangers and Steely Dan dished out mind-provoking jazz-rock for the headphone set. And that's exactly what music geeks wanted.

To be accurate, each band came with a new gimmick: Kiss' Paul Stanley rode a trapeze to a small stage at the other end of the arena, and Steely Dan opened its 130-minute show by playing its classic 1977 "Aja" in its entirety.

That was a good move for Donald Fagen, 61, and Walter Becker, 59, and their 11-member supporting cast. During the seven-song album (Dan's most popular), the duo received thunderous ovations after at least three songs (the band really found its groove during the peppy "Peg"). Not bad considering that Fagen's voice was not loud enough in the mix and he was swallowing his words (the former a sin for the usually sonically pristine Dan, the latter no big deal for the cranky, idiosyncratic Fagen because everyone in the room knew the words anyway).

Danfans seemed to be revisiting the bong-fueled, headphone-wearing days of their youth. The stranger next to me had her eyes closed as she sang every word and danced in her seat. Toiling in the disco era, Steely Dan always made great music for dancing by yourself -- even if it was only in your mind.

Actually, the danceability of Steely Dan's music was more apparent during the post-"Aja" portion of the concert. The band loosened up and proved that, after all these years being regarded as only a studio creation, Steely Dan is a terrific live band. "Time Out of Mind" was groovy, head-bopping perfection. The horns were swinging and Jon Herington's guitar was soaring on the Latin-flavored "Bodhisattva." "Babylon Sisters" became a sexy strut with Fagen spitting out the words with sinister sarcasm.

He left "Dirty Work" to the three female backup singers because the long-departed David Palmer sang that on 1972's "Can't Buy a Thrill." But Fagen did reach back for "Reelin' in the Years," probably Dan's most conventional song.

This Rock and Roll Hall of Fame duo is known for its self-cultivated weirdness, which was typified on "Hey Nineteen," a funky seduction of a younger woman complete with guitarist Becker's dorky rap that started "it's a beautiful wintery night here in Minneapolis." Even a dude who lives in Hawaii should know that 59 degrees isn't wintery.

But what do you expect from a couple of warped beboppers who wanted to create twisted pop that, probably to their own surprise, still sounds timeless 30-some years later.

Jon Bream • 612-673-1719