“Make tonight a wonderful thing”: Steely Dan plays ‘Aja’ in full and other hits to open its run at The Met

Last night, Steely Dan founding member Donald Fagen performed a complex and beautiful set of heady pop and jazz rock with his group of incredible touring musicians at The Met. The band took the stage showered with applause and began playing “Black Cow” the first track of their best-selling studio album Aja, and the rest of the record followed including “Deacon Blues” “Peg” and “Josie.”

Notable performances included Fagen on the melodica during “Aja” and Keith Carlock with a jaw dropping solo during that left all fans in awe. The fun did not end when “Josie” concluded the promised Aja setlist. Fagen shared with the crowd how lovely it is to be back on the road after two years of being away from the stage, and then proclaimed his love to the City of Philadelphia and its reciprocal fans.

Following the Aja setlist, the Dan brought out an overwhelming number of hit tracks including “Hey Nineteen,” “Time Out of Mind,” and “FM.” During the song “Dirty Work” Fagen introduced his backup singers known as the Danettes to take lead vocals. Lead guitarist John Herington got ovations for his guitar solos throughout the evening, but most notably during the masterpiece that is “Kid Charlemagne” from The Royal Scam album, which the band will be performing in its front to back tomorrow for the second of the three-night run at The Met.

I’m curious to see what the group will be bringing out for Greatest Hits night on Saturday, because of all of the amazing hits that were brought out for this show. I would anticipate “Ricki Don’t Lose That Number,” “Do It Again,” and “Black Friday” to name a few. Tickets are still available for both of these upcoming shows, in addition to four nights at NJ’s Mayo Performing Arts Center, and one night at Bethlehem’s Wind Creek Entertainment Center. I would encourage any DanFan to not miss out on this tour — more information on all the shows at the XPN concert calendar.

Setlist
Black Cow
Aja
Deacon Blues
Peg
Home at Last
I Got The News
Josie
Night By Night
Hey Nineteen
Kid Charlemagne
Bad Sneakers
Time Out Of Mind
Dirty Work (Dan-ettes vocals)
FM
Good Times Roll (Sam Cooke Cover)
Bodhisattva
My Old School

Encore:
Reelin In the Years
A Man Ain’t Supposed to Cry