We got a notice the other day from Red Rocks that piqued our interest: a new rock and soul revue starring Donald Fagen, Boz Scaggs and Michael McDonald will be starting to tour in late summer.
The venture is sort of a reprise of the now legendary New York Rock and Soul Revue that hit selected cities back in 1992. As expected, the musicianship was stellar and the mix of tunes selected memorable. A compilation of songs from that tour, titled Live At The Beacon, is available on CD and highly recommended; beside the three artist mentioned above, contributions are made by Phoebe Snow, Charles Brown and The Rascals' Eddie & David Brigati.
This tour is dubbed The Dukes of September Rhythm Revue. In a recent interview with Billboard.com, the three principals had some interesting comments on the upcoming show and its preparatory stages.
This tour is dubbed The Dukes of September Rhythm Revue. In a recent interview with Billboard.com, the three principals had some interesting comments on the upcoming show and its preparatory stages.
Fagen: "I still love playing the music from the late 50s through the 60s, soul music and R&B, and this is really a chance for me to play it. It's just so much fun to play that music. And for me it's a total no-stress thing because the focus isn't so much on me. I just get to play without it being so much of a job in a certain way. It's a lot of fun." What does he have in mind? A melody of songs from The Band (Fagen often palys at Levon Helm's Midnight Rambles); a version of The Grateful Dead's "Shakedown Street"; and material from his three solo albums.
McDonald, meanwhile, expects to play some Motown songs -- though not necessarily ones from his pair of "Motown" releases -- as well as "some Ray Charles things." "We always wind up doing a Beach Boys thing here and there; that's another favorite of all of ours," adds McDonald, a former adjunct Steely Dan member who also plans to perform Doobie Brothers hits such as "What a Fool Believes" and "Takin' It To the Streets" as well as his own "I Keep Forgettin' (Every Time You're Near)." "We want to put our best foot forward with our own songs because we're doing so many great old songs that all of a sudden the bar gets raised. You don't want to get up there and do something too obscure that is a dimmer moment in the evening."
And the blue-eyed soul master and erst-while restauranteur from San Francisco, Boz Scaggs? "There'll be some blues, some Stax material. I've got a Chuck Berry thing I want to do too." As a result, he predicts that the show will go "a little farther afield" than the Rock and Soul Revue, mentioning songs such as Little Anthony & the Imperial's "Hurt So Bad," David Ruffin's "My Whole World Ended" and Mink deVille's "Cadillac Walk." "Out of hundreds of songs we've picked out of a hat," he says, "what are the gems and how can we fit it all into a two hour show?...What I know for sure is that I'll have the best seat in the house."
The dates so far for the Dukes of September Rhythm Revue tour include:
Aug 19 Danbury, CT (Charles Ives Center)
Aug 20 Atlantic City, NJ (The Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa)
Aug 22 Loudon, VA (Belmont Country Club)
Aug 25 Charlotte, NC (Roadrunner Mobile Amphitheatre)
Aug 26 Atlanta, GA (Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Encore Park)
Aug 28 Raleigh, NC (Raleigh Amphitheatre)
Aug 29 Richmond, VA (Innsbrook Pavilion)
Aug 31 Boston, MA (Wang Theatre)
Sept 2 Holmdel, NJ (PNC Bank Arts Center)
Sept 3 Wantagh, NY (Jones Beach Theatre)
Sept 6 St. Paul, MN (Minnesota State Fair)
Sept 8 Detroit, MI (Fox Theatre)
Sept 10 Cincinnati, OH (PNC Pavilion)
Sept 11 Chicago, IL (Chicago Theatre)
Sept 14 Council Bluffs, IA (Mid-America Center)
Sept 27 Denver, CO (Red Rocks Amphitheatre)
Sept 29 Los Angeles, CA (Greek Theatre)
Oct 2 Las Vegas, NV (The Joint)
McDonald, meanwhile, expects to play some Motown songs -- though not necessarily ones from his pair of "Motown" releases -- as well as "some Ray Charles things." "We always wind up doing a Beach Boys thing here and there; that's another favorite of all of ours," adds McDonald, a former adjunct Steely Dan member who also plans to perform Doobie Brothers hits such as "What a Fool Believes" and "Takin' It To the Streets" as well as his own "I Keep Forgettin' (Every Time You're Near)." "We want to put our best foot forward with our own songs because we're doing so many great old songs that all of a sudden the bar gets raised. You don't want to get up there and do something too obscure that is a dimmer moment in the evening."
And the blue-eyed soul master and erst-while restauranteur from San Francisco, Boz Scaggs? "There'll be some blues, some Stax material. I've got a Chuck Berry thing I want to do too." As a result, he predicts that the show will go "a little farther afield" than the Rock and Soul Revue, mentioning songs such as Little Anthony & the Imperial's "Hurt So Bad," David Ruffin's "My Whole World Ended" and Mink deVille's "Cadillac Walk." "Out of hundreds of songs we've picked out of a hat," he says, "what are the gems and how can we fit it all into a two hour show?...What I know for sure is that I'll have the best seat in the house."
The dates so far for the Dukes of September Rhythm Revue tour include:
Aug 19 Danbury, CT (Charles Ives Center)
Aug 20 Atlantic City, NJ (The Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa)
Aug 22 Loudon, VA (Belmont Country Club)
Aug 25 Charlotte, NC (Roadrunner Mobile Amphitheatre)
Aug 26 Atlanta, GA (Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Encore Park)
Aug 28 Raleigh, NC (Raleigh Amphitheatre)
Aug 29 Richmond, VA (Innsbrook Pavilion)
Aug 31 Boston, MA (Wang Theatre)
Sept 2 Holmdel, NJ (PNC Bank Arts Center)
Sept 3 Wantagh, NY (Jones Beach Theatre)
Sept 6 St. Paul, MN (Minnesota State Fair)
Sept 8 Detroit, MI (Fox Theatre)
Sept 10 Cincinnati, OH (PNC Pavilion)
Sept 11 Chicago, IL (Chicago Theatre)
Sept 14 Council Bluffs, IA (Mid-America Center)
Sept 27 Denver, CO (Red Rocks Amphitheatre)
Sept 29 Los Angeles, CA (Greek Theatre)
Oct 2 Las Vegas, NV (The Joint)
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