Steely Dan, the rock group that has been around for decades, will be embarking on a tour in the summer of 2011. It will begin in Seattle, Washington on July 2 and will wind up in Boston, Massachusetts on September 28.

The band will perform their best hits along with some of their songs that didn’t do as well. In addition, they will play full albums in certain venues, and fans will determine the play set for one of the concerts, which will be determined via online voting.

Steely Dan performed as a group beginning in 1972 and broke up in 1981. They reunited in 1993; however, a new album did not follow until 2000. This was their album Two Against Nature which sold enough records to go Platinum in the United States. They also completed another album in 2003 called Everything Must Go.
That was their last original album but they have compiled several best-of albums.

Steely Dan will be making several appearances in each city on the tour, which will allow more fans to see them perform live. There will be 45 concerts in 35 cities. Four performances will be held at the Beacon Theatre in New York. Two performances will be held in each of six cities, which are: Boston, Milwaukee, Chicago (Highland Park), Atlanta, Upper Darby, and Los Angeles.

Opening for the band will be jazz musician Sam Yahel. The tour is entitled “Shuffle Diplomacy Twenty Eleven” and will feature Donald Fagen and Walter Becker who are returning with their band now called Miles High Big Band and the Embassy Brats. Playing in this group are Keith Carlock on drums; Jon Herington on guitar; Freddie Washington on bass; Jim Beard on keyboards; Michael Leonhart, Walt Weiskoph, Roger Rosenberg, and Jim Pugh on horn; and Carolyn Leonhart, Cindy Mizelle, and Catherine Russell as backup singers.

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