Walter Becker, the co-founder of ’70s rock legends Steely Dan, passed away last September, and in his tribute to his former collaborator, Steely Dan’s Donald Fagen wrote, “I intend to keep the music we created together alive as long as I can with the Steely Dan band.” He lived up to that promise with a brief Steely Dan tour during the latter half of October, and now he’s getting ready to get back on the road again: Fagen will team up with soft rock contemporaries The Doobie Brothers for a North American tour this summer. The bands will begin their trek in North Carolina in early May before wrapping things up in New York in July.
There is an unfortunate context to this tour, since Fagen is in the midst of a legal battle against Becker’s estate over the Steely Dan name and the band’s profits. Fagen attests that he and Becker entered into a Buy/Sell agreement years ago, but the attorney representing Becker’s estate wrote that Fagen’s lawsuit is “riddled with half-truths and omissions.” This is not to say there was no love between the two when they were both alive, and Fagen was laudatory in a tribute following Becker’s passing:
“He was smart as a whip, an excellent guitarist and a great songwriter. He was cynical about human nature, including his own, and hysterically funny. Like a lot of kids from fractured families, he had the knack of creative mimicry, reading people’s hidden psychology and transforming what he saw into bubbly, incisive art.”
Check out the full list of Steely Dan and The Doobie Brothers upcoming tour dates below.
5/10 — Charlotte, NC @ PNC Music Pavilion
5/11 — Raleigh, NC @ Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek
5/13 — Jacksonville, FL @ Daily’s Place
5/14 — Tampa, FL @ MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre
5/17 — West Palm Beach, FL @ Coral Sky Amphitheatre
5/19 — Atlanta, GA @ Verizon Amphitheatre
5/20 — Nashville, TN @ Ascend Amphitheater
5/22 — New Orleans, LA @ Smoothie King Center
5/24 — Houston, TX @ Smart Financial Centre at Sugar Land
5/25 — Dallas, TX @ The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory
5/27 — Austin, TX @ Austin360 Amphitheater
5/30 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Forum
6/1 — San Francisco, CA @ Shoreline Amphitheatre
6/4 — Portland, OR @ Moda Center
6/5 — Seattle, WA @ KeyArena
6/7 — Spokane, WA @ Spokane Arena
6/9 — Boise, ID @ Taco Bell Arena
6/10 — Salt Lake City, UT @ USANA Amphitheatre
6/12 — Denver, CO @ Pepsi Center
6/15 — St. Paul, MN @ Xcel Energy Center
6/16 — Madison, WI @ Breese Stevens Field
6/18 — Kansas City, MO @ Starlight Theatre
6/19 — St. Louis, MO @ Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre – STL
6/21 — Chicago, IL @ Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre – CHI
6/23 — Cleveland, OH @ Blossom Music Center
6/24 — Indianapolis, IN @ Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center
6/26 — Detroit, MI @ DTE Energy Music Theatre
6/27 — Cincinnati, OH @ Riverbend Music Center
6/30 — Saratoga Springs, NY @ Saratoga Performing Arts Center
7/2 — Toronto, ON @ Budweiser Stage
7/3 — Syracuse, NY @ Lakeview Amphitheater
7/6 — Holmdel, NJ @ PNC Bank Arts Center
7/7 — Mansfield, MA @ Xfinity Center
7/10 — Bristow, VA @ Jiffy Lube Live
7/11 — Camden, NJ @ BB&T Pavilion
7/13 — Gilford, NH @ Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion
7/14 — Bethel, NY Bethel Woods @ Center for the Arts
