Review: Hall and Oates

Photo by Susan Pfannmuller/Special to The Star

Some of their best-known songs are nearly 40 years old, and they haven’t had a bona fide hit in almost 30, yet Daryl Hall and John Oates don’t sound like a heritage act. Chalk that up to a large catalog of solid gold hits that has sustained all of its luster and purity.

Saturday night, under a late-summer, star-studded sky at Starlight Theatre, more than 5,000 fans danced, swayed and sang along during a 90-minute set stocked with plenty of those hits. The duo and its six-piece band didn’t wait to ignite the festive mood. Right off the bat, they unleashed three top 10 hits: “Maneater,” which was rife with some dirty saxophone riffs from Charles DeChant; “Family Man”; then “Out of Touch,” a hit from 1984’s “Big Bam Boom” that sounds as contemporary today as it did 28 years ago. That one drew a lot of fans to their feet for the rest of the night.

The setlist rewarded fans of the “Abandoned Luncheonette” album, released in 1974. Three of its tracks made the list: “When the Morning Comes,” “Las Vegas Turnaround (The Stewardess Song)” and a gorgeous rendition of “She’s Gone,” a one of the duo’s earliest hits and best songs. Daryl Hall is 65, but his voice still has plenty of range, authority and expression.

The setting was idyllic. Both the weather and the sound were clear and crisp, and the crowd was ideal: attentive and enthusiastic. The place was full of couples submitting to whatever mood was rendered. There was a lull or two during songs like “When the Morning Comes” and “How Does it Feel To Be Back.” And the jam went on a little too long at the end of “I Can’t Go For That,” though it included some funky keyboard and guitar interplay between Hall and guitarist Paul Pesco. That time would have been better spent on a song left off the list, like “One on One” or their cover of “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling.”

They finished the show with a flourish: a salvo of seven top 10 hits — five of them No. 1s — that spanned only six years, back when they filled the charts with the kind of styles and sounds top 40 radio craves these days. It showcased their diverse ways with pop, funk and soul, from the gorgeous love ballad “Sara Smile” to the funky “Rich Girl” to the closers, the irresistibly poppy “Kiss On My List” and “Private Eyes.” That one is more than 30 years old, but like almost every other song played this night, it aroused something more substantive than mere nostalgia.

Setlist: Maneater, Family Man, Out of Touch, Say It Isn’t So, How Does It Feel To Be Back, When the Morning Comes, Las Vegas Turnaround (The Stewardess Song), She’s Gone, Sara Smile, I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do), Rich Girl, You Make My Dreams, Kiss On My List, Private Eyes

| Timothy Finn, The Star

Comments

[pellboy]

Great review, TF. Pretty much sums up my thoughts on the whole evening...the music, crowd and weather really couldn't have been any better. Could have perhaps played a little longer, but that's a minor quibble as they covered a pretty wide spectrum of their stuff and with some of the extended tunes, we still got the fairly standard 90-minute (my personal value barometer) show so for my first time seeing them live, no real complaints.

[Burt]

Always entertaining to see which old music acts are called "cartoonish" and/or "state fair material" and which oldies acts receive glowing reviews.

hint- It all depends on if it was a mellow fest or a rock and roll show.

[pellboy]

Maybe because acts like Hall & Oates not only respect their audience, but more importantly, respect themselves.

Hmmm, let's see the difference in the case, a rare tour from two original singer/songwriters that bear the group's name, with countless TOP hits that are still performed very close to the original songs by a professional outfit capable of exceling at various genres vs. a tired, one or two "hit" rock act with maybe one original member like perhaps the drummer, milking their 2 or 3 year prime by trying to revive that memory of banging out the high school slut in the back of my dad's Buick? You're right, the exact same thing. Sorry you didn't get that Night Ranger review you were craving. No worries, there's always next year's Old Shawnee Days.

[Burt]

Whatever NEW had last week, he seems to have given to PB.

ONE WORD- B E E R !

And listen smarty pants, there is ONLY ONE OR TWO original members in this band too... DUH!! and just because I fkd your girlfriend in the back of my Dad's Buick is no reason to hold a grudge for 20-30 years... besides she fkd everyone in the back of someones's Dad's car, afterall she was the high school slut... it is just that no one else ever thought of her as their girlfriend.

And please never forget beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I was merely pointing out how amusing it was to see which old music acts are called "cartoonish" and/or "state fair material" and which oldies acts receive glowing reviews.

Hope you feel beer.... errr better soon PB.

[wadkc]

"And listen smarty pants, there is ONLY ONE OR TWO original members in this band too."

What mathematics class did you miss? All of them?

Since the band is Hall & Oates and both Daryl & John were there, I would say 2 is the correct answer.

[Shissue]

1 or 2 can = 1
1 or 2 can = 2

Simple, what was the issue again? or did you catch the "need to bitch someone flu" it seems to be going around.

[joe]

During Hall and Oates heyday, they did have one of the finer backing bands around with GE Smith on guitar and TBone Walker? on bass. Those two then went on to spend many Saturday nights leading the SNL band. But, it has always been Hall and Oates and they have been one of my somewhat guilty pleasures over the years. Hall is a tremedous vocalist. I can't think of many that had an 8 octave range like he did in his youth. Kinda wish I went. Geez, on a night like Saturday night at Starlight, I would consider seeing Steve Lawrence and Edie Gourmet much less Hall and Oates!

[NEW]

Wouldn't have been T-Bone Walker, Joe. T-Bone Walker was a Chicago Bluesman most famous for writing "Stormy Monday". Maybe it was T-Bone Costanza?

I always though GE Smith came off as a bit of a tool when he played on SNL but when I later saw him at that phenomenal Dylan 30th Anniversary tribute at MSG in 1993, it occured to me that I might be missing something. He also teaches at Jorma's guitar camp on occassion which I think is also totally cool.

I don't have a beef with Hall and Oates although when I was a kid, I thought it was new band called Haulin' Oats.

[Sherman]

With tours sponsored by Quaker?

[wadkc]

members is plural except in your case.

[Teacher]

Getting quite an education today...

1. A distinct part of a whole, especially:
a. Linguistics A syntactic unit of a sentence; a clause.
b. Logic A proposition of a syllogism.
c. Mathematics An element in a set.
2. A part or an organ of a human or animal body, as:
a. A limb, such as an arm or a leg.
b. The penis.
3. A part of a plant.
4. One that belongs to a group or an organization: a club member; a bank that is a member of the FDIC.
5. Mathematics The expression on either side of an equality sign.
6. A structural unit, such as a beam or wall.

[Joe]

Thanks NEW. I thought the TBone Walker name was off, thus my "?" attached to it. I know the guy's name was T Bone Something and he recently passed away, as I recall. T Bone Costanza!!! Classic episode!

GE Smith also played some fine lead on Roger Waters' The Wall tour. I know what you mean about his TV schtick on SNL, but he has some serious chops.

[Kristina]

Oh boy. The great bass player Tom T-Bone Wolk was part of the Hall & Oates backing band. He & guitarist G.E. Smith went on to SNL band fame. RIP T-Bone. I saw them at Kemper Arena in 1986 during the Big Bam Boom tour, Till Tuesday opened.

The show Saturday was great. Thanks Tim!

[pellboy]

GE and SNL band tear it up as Buddy Guy's backing band on "Live: The Real Deal" album from the mid 90s.

[Stormin' Norman]

Todd Rundgren also produced and played on Hall and Oates 1974 album "War Babies"(along w/two of his Utopia bandmates)---- a creative peak and my favorite of the litter...the remaster on Edsel records is breathtaking...

[Pat]

If there was ever a cream puff, froufrou, throw away, forgettable, worthless pop music it is Hall and Oats, and I don't care how many albums they sold to Izod alligator shirt wearing frat boys.

How some here (are are usually pretty hoity toity)(cards carrying Springsteenist) can be so hard on so many bands (calling them fluff) seem to love H&O seems illogical.

[pellboy]

I assume you might be calling me out as I'm on record as saying Springsteen's shit doesn't stink (I've actually smelled it...it doesn't), but what the hell, I'm feeling kind of defensive and bored this morning so why not weigh in on this subject? There's certainly nothing illogical about a person's varying taste in music. In fact, it's really the opposite, those that confine themselves to only certain types and genres of music are the ones being illogical. H&O is totally cream puff and fluffy, doesn't mean they can't be enjoyed just like Coltrane, The Clash or Springsteen. Music is art, I only care whether I like the particular piece/work or not. I like deep stuff as well as shallow, but it's ultimately the SOUND that attracts us and H&O sound good to the majority of ears...it just can't be helped. It's entirely possible to like Dio and the Bee Gees, you know. Heck, I'm not ashamed to say that I really like The Carpenters and they're so light and fluffy, their records almost float off the turntable. BTW, a belated RIP Hal David.

[onthemark]

Pellboy, there is a show on late Saturday nights called 'Live From Daryl's House' which is hosted by Daryl Hall and shows him jamming with a wide variety of artists. It is pretty cool. First time I saw it it took me a while before I realized it was Daryl from H&O!

[pellboy]

Yeah, otm, been watching on the web for a few years now. In fact, I believe Palladia is running an episode w/ Cee Lo tonight...ads showed them running thru a version of "I Can't Go For That". That show has also turned me on to some folks (Jason Mraz, Butch Walker) that I previously knew little about but was impressed with their appearances on Live @ Daryl's. Cool idea.

[Charles]

Good to see PB back to his good self.

sigh, I couldn't bring myself to make any fat jokes about Karen, I tried, but it was just wrong.