70s pop stars ‘don’t mess up a good thing

Revue, featuring Donald Fagen, Michael McDonald, and Boz Scaggs

At: Citi Performing Arts Center Wang Theatre

By Marc Hirsh, Globe Correspondent / September 1, 2010

One for them, one for me; is the showbiz mantra describing an artist who switches between popular entertainment and more personal projects. Last night at Citi Wang Theatre, the Dukes Of September Rhythm Revue seem to be the “one for me’’ for ’70s-rock stalwarts Donald Fagen, Michael McDonald, and Boz Scaggs.

They played just enough of their own material to placate the fans, giving the rest of the performance over to an idiosyncratic mix of songs they claimed to have grown up with. (Youthful vigor aside, they weren’t fooling anybody with the Grateful Dead’s “Shakedown Street,’’ from 1978.) The nine-piece band — including three horns and two female vocalists — was particularly suited to R&B, but it also handled the flower-power pop of “Something In The Air’’ and the surf-rock of “Help Me, Rhonda.’’

Fagen called out “That’s right!’’ when the latter started, as though addressing the audience’s unspoken incredulity at a trio better known for cool, jazzy soul-pop taking on one of the Beach Boys’ sunniest tunes. For the most part, they picked lower-profile material from artists such as Muddy Waters, Chuck Berry, and Aretha Franklin.

It seemed that the Dukes were determined to avoid guaranteed crowd- pleasers. But please the crowd they did. Fagen pounded twitchily at his piano on “Don’t Mess Up A Good Thing’’ and “The Shape I’m In’’ like he was Larry David channeling Ray Charles. Scaggs took on sultrier numbers, like “Love T.K.O.,’’ drawing listeners in with his light vocal touch, and the deceptively high-performance hum of “Cadillac Walk.’’

And if McDonald’s voice has weakened since his prime, it would have taken an especially close listen to detect it in his wailing on “I’ve Got News For You’’ and a gospel-amplified “Takin’ It To The Streets.’’ The other three big hits — Scaggs’s “Lowdown,’’ McDonald’s “What A Fool Believes,’’ and Fagen’s “Reelin’ In The Years’’ — seemed more perfunctory. The concert was a reminder that sometimes just watching musicians playing for fun is rewarding enough.

Copyright 2010 Globe Newspaper Company.