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Stanley Boots-Up for 2015

Happy Noo Year folks…..are we still saying that? Hope you all had a great festive season and are ready to square up toe-to-toe with 2015.

Stanley is preparing to come out of sleep mode and boot-up for the first gig of the year at, appropriately….The Boot, St Albans on Sunday 11th Jan. For those of you who saw us there last time (and it’s been a while) you can expect lots of new songs in the set and, depending on how Friday’s rehearsal goes, maybe even a shiny-brand-new-never-been-played-before one that we got for Xmas!

With a new year ahead it’s probably a good time for us to look back and thank all the venues who have booked us over the last year. We realise that putting on live music is not always the first thing on the agenda for many places in these tough times. And a whole evening of Steely Dan music can be considered a somewhat ‘niche’ prospect for some, but the packed crowds we’ve continued to see have been a revelation! So, massive thanks to all of these places who have supported us and continue to give us and loads of other bands a chance to do our thing on a stage. Keep up the great work guys…

The Half Moon, Putney / The Horns, Watford / Tropic At Ruislip / Jagz in Ascot / The Maltings, Farnham / The Harlequin Theatre, Redhill / The Boot, St Albans / The Farmers Boy, St Albans / Wokingham Music Club / The Oddfellows Arms, Apsley / Dunfest in Tring

Ok, and now on with the task of finishing off the last of the naughty Xmas snacks….

Everything Must Go!

Christmas Time…Out of Mind

Ho, Ho, and thrice Ho!

Here we are again then….where did that year go? We’ve had a ball this year and met some lovely new people along the way. 2014 had some great highlights for us, including our expansion to an 11-piece band, playing some great new venues, and getting a load more wonderful Steely Dan tunes into the set.

We’ve already got quite a few dates in the diary for 2015 so hope to catch up with friends old and new at some forthcoming gigs. We’re back out again on 11Jan at the Boot in St Albans so would be great to see some of you there.

The pic attached to this blog (click it to expand) is sadly a fictitious album cover. Being the jolly and un-cynical couple of fellows that they are, I can’t understand why Donald and Walter never got around to a Christmas album! Ah well, maybe next year.

All together now…..”Santa Claus is coming to..Barrytown”.

Have a cool yule, y’all.

Stanley x

with thanks to earcandymag website for some of the content!

Watford

Sunday afternoon delight at The Horns, Watford.

Get there nice and early, as our previous gig at this great venue was packed out!

Start time approx 4:30pm. Please see venue website for details.

Putney

This is becoming a regular and favourite haunt of Stanley! Come and join the fun with all of those already in the know, at the Half Moon in Putney.

Start time approx 8pm. Please see venue website for ticket details.

Wokingham

A new one for Stanley. We’re very much looking forward to bringing an evening of Steely Dan tunes to the Wokingham Music Club. See ya there!

Start time approx 8pm. Please see venue website for ticket details.

Stanley goes on tour……..

…well, 3 gigs in a week – that’s just about a ‘tour’ isn’t it?

On Fri 21st Nov we will be driving West on Sunset (aka the M4) to the Wokingham Music Club. This is a new venue for us so we’re very much looking forward to meeting some new Dan-fans – and potential Stan-fans too we hope!

Sun 23rd Nov we’ll be driving East On Sunset…..ok, let’s not push this one any further….over to the riverside music mecca that is the Half Moon Putney. Always a great night at this famous venue, and we can’t wait to go back.

Then the following week on Sun 30th Nov, Stanley comes ‘home’ to the Horns in Watford. It has been quite a while since we played here and as this is our last gig of 2014 it’s bound to be a bit of party.

2014 has been a great year for Stanley Dee so far, so please do come along to one of our forthcoming gigs and join in the fun.

Yes….we’re gonna have a wingding!

Apsley

Back again to the cozy setting of the Oddfellows in Apsley for some Sunday afternoon shenanigans!

Start time approx. 4pm. Please see venue website for details.

Ascot

Looking forward to returning for our third visit of the year to Jagz in Ascot.

It’s a friendly club with a great atmosphere. Come along for a bit of Dining, Dancing, Dan-based shenanigans.

Please check venue’s website for ticket details.

The Joy of Sets

So, there we all were at rehearsal the other night for our forthcoming return to Jagz in Ascot (Fri 10 Oct, as if you needed reminding), and the tricky topic of what to put in the set-list inevitably came up. The more songs we add to the repertoire, the more challenging it becomes when deciding which ones to leave in, and which to leave out.

With Steely Dan not being particularly renowned for troubling the UK charts much over the years, it makes sense that we tend to always include the BIG SMASH HITS! at every gig (you know who you are…yes, I’m looking at you Rikki and friends) and therefore a certain percentage of the set does tend to pick itself. But the rest of it comes down to keeping a healthy balance of new tunes we’ve just added, a mix of tempos, trying to recall which ones we played the last time we were at a particular venue, ones we’ve not played for a while, and so it goes….

It usually kind of works out ok, but I would guess we all have some of our own personal favourites left out from time to time. However, this must be more of a soul-searching conundrum for Don and Walt before they embark on a new tour, as Dan-fans are generally a knowledgeable bunch and obviously will have great hopes of hearing their favourites given an airing. They don’t tour that often (well definitely not in the UK…..hello guys? we’re still here and waiting you know?!) so to wait several years to see ‘em and then they go and miss out ”fill-in-the-blank-as-personally-applicable” ….well that’s going to be disappointing isn’t it? Solution? Come and see Stanley Dee on a regular basis, and if we aren’t playing the ones you want to hear just request them for next time and we’ll do our best to oblige. Although apologies must go to the regular requester of ‘Show Biz Kids’……we will get there eventually, we promise!

In the meantime, check out the link below to see what Steely Dan have been wowing the crowds with on their recent trek across the USA. Some pretty fine tunes included I’m sure you’ll agree:

http://www.setlist.fm/setlists/steely-dan-7bd6be38.html

Hope to see some of you at Jagz, but ’til next time….Toodle-oo!

Farnham

We’re really pleased to have a date confirmed at the wonderful Farnham Maltings.

It’s only our second time here so please come along all you Surrey-based Dan fans – would be great to make some new friends and have a blast!

Start time approx 8pm. Please see venue website for ticket details.