First, Fagen these days pretty much looks like a white version of Ray Charles, in that he is wearing sunglasses and the way he moves is very much like Ray behind his keyboards. Not sure if this is an intentional tilt of the hat to Ray or just how Donald does his thing at this stage. In any event he seems pretty upbeat and like he is really grooving while he plays which is fun. 

Second, he is a very democratic bandleader, letting as many people as he can get a solo and moment in the spotlight. The guitar players get their solos of course but so do horn players and the drummer even did a drum solo. Not sure if this is how past Steely Dan shows have been but now, that is the case. His band is outstanding so it was cool to hear them get their chance to shine. 

The two guitar players are, John Herington (as mentioned previously) and Adam Rogers. They are both incredible players. It's funny I watched a couple of Steely Dan "rig rundown" videos that showed the guitar set-ups for Walter Becker when he last played with the band and John Herington. Becker was taking about 20 plus guitars with him on tour and had "every effect pedal ever made" according to one of his techs. Herrington had three guitars and a fairly simple effects set-up. That's basically the difference between a working musician and a guy that achieved rock stardom in the 1970s. Becker reminded me of seeing Jackson Browne's guitar line-up he brought on tour with him...which was huge. Now, I know Browne is using different guitars with different tunings so, if he uses a different tuning for a song he seems to be bringing two different guitars he uses in that tuning. So, if he has 10 songs in alternate tunings...that's 20 guitars. 

I think the theory there is why do the job with a hammer if you can bring a bulldozer. Anyway, 1970s rock stars have a different approach than a guy that works for a living. 

Also, while I did not know how a night of Steely Dan opening for the Eagles would be, turns out it was a pretty amazing and fun trip back to the 1970s.