Steely Dan & Steve Winwood- Entertainment Center, Adelaide- Oct 30

By the time Steely Dan finished their two hour set alongside Winwood (singing "Roll With It") the Adelaide audience leapt to its feet having realised what a special night they had encountered. For fans of the popular acts it was a dream come true.

Four hours earlier and Winwood took to the stage with his little ensemble. Starting with and ending his set with Spencer Davis Group classics "I'm A Man" and "Gimme Some Lovin'" got the audience clapping but the vast majority of the set left the fans scratching their head. Whilst I must confess to not being a huge Winwood fan, I appreciated his musicianship and that of his small but effective ensemble. It's also obvious that the years have taken nothing off his voice. But for the bulk of his 90-minute set people simply didn't know what he was singing. Winwood rarely spoke to the audience which I always have felt is a bit of a sin- an audience will be forgiving of you if you hold their hand a little and tell them what's going on. It was well into the set before he finally struck arguably his biggest hit- "Higher Love" which finally elicited a response from the crowd.

When Steely Dan took to the stage there was a rousing cheer. Launching into the title track of their classic "Aja" album, the Dan let it be known that they were here to entertain and thrill their audience. Songs like "Deacon Blues", "Do it Again" and "Josie" were left off the setlist in favour of bigger hits like "Rikki Don't Lose That Number" and "Reeling In The Years" (The latter bringing the main set to a rousing close). Along the way both Donald Fagen and Walter Becker engaged with the audience with jokes about their age whilst keeping the great music pumping. There is no doubting that the Dan has one of the finest backing bands on the planet- a point made by the long, self-indulgent jam session that took over ten minutes (one of the few lowpoints in proceedings) but when it came to doing their job (ie- playing backup) they did it with style and panache. Personally, I would have liked to have heard more numbers from their comeback albums of 2000 and 2003 (we only got the title track from 2000's "Two Against Nature") but the audience didn't seem to care by and large.

Both acts were helped by great sound and Steely Dan were also helped out by some pinpoint lighting work. But as many people starting leaving they were in for in for one final treat as Winwood came out and jammed with Steely Dan for the last two songs to bring the great evening to a close.

This was a night for the people who enjoy their music un-protooled and clean and musically delicious. There will never be another band like Steely Dan and it was great to worship at their altar.