The Santa Monica Civic was abuzz Thursday night with the rumor that there would be an on-stage reunion of Walter Becker and Donald Fagen--the song trust of the great '70s band Steely Dan. But the promise wasn't followed up with the goods--as was the case with much else associated with the Soundcheck Rock Competition, a combination fund-raising effort (for the T. J. Martell Foundation) and Yamaha-sponsored battle of the bands.
There was an all-star jam at the end, though. An unruly aggregation that featured two members of one Steely Dan lineup--Michael McDonald and Walter Becker--and other L.A. rock/pop heavies, including Don Henley, Toto's Steve Lukather and David Paich, Charlie Sexton, Jai Winding. But Fagen was nowhere in sight. Only Bruce Hornsby & the Range--who also contributed a highly musical but disappointingly uninvolving mini-set by themselves--provided the jam with any real backbone.
