From: none@dontbother.co.uk   
      
   Thanks for the review, I eventually found it on your blog! ( Wish I could   
   have been there for the show, dammit!)   
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   When Don and Walt hit the stage, pandemonium broke out. The venue, which had   
   had hundreds of empty seats all around me for MM, was suddenly full of rabid   
   Danfans. Our appreciation knew no bounds.   
      
   They hit their stride and never let up for the next... what, 45 minutes? One   
   hour? I had no watch and I didn't want one. Every single song was PERFECTLY   
   delivered--the absolute best performance technically I've ever seen.   
   Donald's voice, especially, has taken on a new life. As good as he's always   
   been, he has actually attained a new level of brilliance. He was hitting the   
   high notes like a castrato.   
      
   Occasionally he'd bend himself backward to hit a high note--you've all seen   
   him do that--and when he did, it sort of accentuated his outfit, a huge long   
   black leather jacket, way too big for him and buttoned up to his chin, and   
   some kind of pegged black pants above his ubiquitous white running shoes. It   
   reminded me of something, but I couldn't think what until this morning.   
      
   You'd have to have seen the movie, "The Day the Earth Stood Still," starring   
   Michael Rennie and Patricia Neal (coincidentally, released the year I was   
   born! Cool.). Go to IMDB for the plot, or better, Wikipedia where there are   
   pictures. Rennie plays an alien being who comes to earth to warn its   
   citizens that destruction is their destiny if they don't curb their violent   
   ways.   
      
   He is accompanied by a gigantic robot named Gort--actually, the galactic   
   version of a cop--and this is one scary being. That's who Donald reminded me   
   of as he arched backward. I half-expected Walter to approach Donald at any   
   second to chant, "Klaatu... barada... nikto... " and for Donald's shades to   
   slide open and a laser beam to sear out, probing the first five rows for   
   primitive minds.   
      
   Walter, on the other hand, desperately needs the queer eye. I believe he was   
   wearing the exact same clothes he had on last time I saw him. It's time for   
   a change, Mr. Becker.   
      
   Most people know about my deep and abiding love for Walter, so I really   
   don't care. It just struck me that he either wears the same clothes all the   
   time or he has a closet full of the same shirts and the same baggy jeans.   
      
   He seemed to lack his usual energy during the show. As other fans have   
   pointed out, he mostly sat on a stool next to the drums. Usually he's closer   
   to Donald, and they occasionally meet up on stage for a duel or just to say   
   hi... and he introduced himself quickly and quietly.   
      
   The other thing he usually does is, when he solos, he does this rhythmic   
   thing with his head, moving it from side to side with the rhythm of his   
   fingers. I didn't see him do this once. I barely saw him at all. And it was   
   almost impossible to get a photo of him.   
      
   Part of the reason for this was the two music stands they always place in   
   the center apron of the stage. You can't see Carlock, either. And if you're   
   off to the sides, your view of Walter or Donald must be obstructed.   
      
   I didn't see Donald refer to the paper on the music stands once all night,   
   so I cannot determine the importance of said stands. I wish they'd move   
   them. Somebody slip one of the roadies a fin or a joint or something... ask   
   him to make it go away.   
      
   Enough about that. Walter played his guitars fantastically all night, and   
   when it was time for "Josie," he did this thing where he was up on the fret   
   closest to the body and he just did this fast glissando down the neck to the   
   bottom, then immediately launched into those familiar licks. I'd never heard   
   him do this before. It was stunning.   
      
   Occasionally Jon Herington and Walter were doing short pieces--trading   
   fours--and the spotlight seemed not to be able to tell who was playing what.   
   I couldn't tell, either. Maybe they're rubbing off on each other.   
      
   Jon Herington is warming up. He's still technically excellent, but now it   
   seems like his Rolex is not the first thing you notice when he starts   
   fingering the the frets. I've had a lot of trouble with his "coldness" since   
   he joined up, but I was right on board with everything he did last night.   
      
   The "argument" between trombonist Jim Pugh and trumpeter Michael Leonhart   
   (really trading fours) ... what a bit of shtick, and fun-NEEEEE! I don't   
   know how Donald is coming off in the other shows, but he's so relaxed these   
   days, I sort of thought he might come down from the stage and give someone a   
   noogie.   
      
   As the horn players began, Donald had a running commentary about what each   
   of them "said." Michael spoke first, and Donald was nodding along. Then when   
   Jim Pugh spoke his first point, Donald said, "Huh, I didn't KNOW that... "   
   and then when they really got into it, he said, "Oh DEAR..." like an old   
   grandmother. Finally he said, "All right, that's ENOUGH... go to your   
   risers!" (I think--the crowd was laughing and applauding so hard, I couldn't   
   hear) and pointed the way for them to go, all sheepish like two bad kids.   
   Priceless.   
      
   Donald was also much more physical, prowling around the stage like he owned   
   it--and he did. Sitting at his Fender Rhodes, he did this wavy-hand thing   
   that made it look like he was triple-jointed. I adopted it for my "cool   
   dance move..." a little later.   
      
   He played that little thing... can't remember the name of it right now... OH   
   YEAH, the Melodica! But he did not play his Lync LN4 MIDI sequencer, which   
   is essential for his bits on Cousin Dupree. I don't think they did Cuz... I   
   don't remember it. Did they? God, it's a bitch getting old... Hey, 19? Don't   
   YOU remember?   
      
   Jeff Young sang the bottom part on Dirty Work while the babechoir sang over   
   that... it was really quite extraordinary, the blend. But I wish the girls   
   would get some new moves. This "wipe on/wipe off" shit is getting really   
   old, and really, they appear unapproachable, aloof, cold, while they do it.   
   I'd like to see them getting funky. Fewer hand gestures, more hip hips and   
   big legs.   
      
   Keith Carlock may be the greatest drummer who ever drew breath. He was born   
   for the instrument. He has reinvented drumming. Walter introduced him and   
   said, "Rhythm has been around since we first emerged from the primordial   
   ooze, which was 300 million years ago .... but there haven't been any really   
   good drummers until lately... ladies and gentlemen KEITH CARLOCK!" Multiple   
   rhythmgasms. I could see every move his sticks made, but I could not believe   
   a human being could move that fast, syncopate that well, keep up that deep   
   beat forever.   
      
   I am even more impressed now than I was the first time I saw him. Steely Dan   
   is lucky to have him. He's the first drummer who has managed to silence the   
   "Why don't they use Steve Gadd again?" argument.   
      
   The crowd was exceptionally polite and there was much seat-grooving. The   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)