Bruce Springsteen is doing it. So are Van Morrison, the Pixies and Steely Dan. Playing a classic album in its entirety in concert -- along with random favorites, of course.
On tour this year, Steely Dan is rotating the three biggest albums from its 1970s warped jazz-rock heyday: "Royal Scam," "Aja" and "Gaucho." At Northrop on Sunday, "Aja" (from 1977) will be featured.
To get Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Walter Becker and Donald Fagen to explain the concept behind their tour, along with their thoughts about "Aja" and all things Steely Dan, was as curiously challenging and oddly humorous as a Dan disc. On Wednesday, Becker, 59, called from New York while Fagen, 61, was on the phone from points elsewhere, stuck in traffic.
Q How's the tour going?
Becker: We're at my favorite part -- the break.
Fagen: Yeah, the break's going really well.
Q How do you like this approach of doing an entire album in concert?
Fagen: It's been going pretty well. It turns out that the audience reacts differently when you play an album in sequence. They seem to really like it. Not only that, the band plays the music differently when it's in sequence.