Hall & Oates live

Daryl Hall & John Oates
UIC Pavilion, Chicago
Friday, November 30, 2007

Commercial pop and soft rock from the late ’70s and early ’80s are in the process of a comeback, but we’re not just talking about the grocery store, overhead mall-speaker, and dentist office circuit. The scene’s forebearers are actually experiencing a cult-ish resurgence in indie rock circle thanks to members of Death Cab For Cutie, Fountains Of Wayne, Nada Surf, and My Morning Jacket pledging support (and sometimes covering) smooth staples like America, Bread, and of course, Hall & Oates.

No matter how cheesy some of their music videos were, who can forget Daryl Hall’s blue-eyed-soul pitches, John Oates’ heavy-duty mustache, and the pair’s practically unrelenting stream of hook-heavy hits?

These days the duo are also stripping down their entire existence, abandoning the major-label system in favor of complete artistic control, while scaling back the hokey ham-fisting in favor of acoustic earthiness. (And, yes Oates’ facial hair is also long gone.) Granted, the group’s last few CDs have only been heard by core appreciators, but even at that, there were still enough supporters to fill half the UIC Pavilion. Outside the usual essentials, the evening served as opening night for a tour supporting the new Home For Christmas, which, besides the shiny green-vinyl single for “Jingle Bell Rock,” is their first ever full-length winter affair.

In terms of the holiday tune, the twosome, their regular six-piece band, and a four-member orchestra dodged predictable contexts and carols, instead presenting mixtures of competent originals and unique renderings on the tried and true. Oddly enough though, the first hour comprised solely seasonal tunes, which seemed a bit indulgent after a handful of interpretations and would’ve been best in smaller doses. However, the poor pacing didn’t take away from the soulful harmonies spread across “It Came Upon A Midnight Clear” or the band’s own “Home For Christmas.” The group also competently dusted off the Five Blind Boys Of Alabama’s take on “Children Go Where I Send Thee,” the Robbie Robertson-penned “Christmas Must Be Tonight,” and the blustery Memphis jam “Everyday Will Be Like A Holiday.”

For the more commercially minded, there were still plenty of favorites during the second half, such as the organically charged “She’s Gone” and “Sara Smile” (which have evolved with indie credibility in their own quirky ways), along with the instantly familiar “Out Of Touch” and “You Make My Dreams.” Additional guilty pleasure sing-alongs abounded, like the potent “Rich Girl” and “I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do),” complete with a Philly-inspired sax solo. However, a few tunes haven’t aged nearly as well, most notably “Say It Isn’t So” (stuck wholeheartedly in the ’80s) and “It’s A Laugh” (a deeper cut that was even less compelling today than it was the first time around). Given the top matter of Christmas material, several key tunes were unfortunately skipped, such as “Adult Education,” “Family Man,” “One On One,” “Kiss On My List,” “Private Eyes,” and “Maneater.”

But Hall & Oates didn’t seem all that keen on staying glued to the past, even if that material earned a steady stream of standing ovations (versus the more subdued reactions to Yuletide themes). Plus, the band’s catalog is deep enough (now spanning 35 years) that the set list can rotate pretty much every trip through town, steering away from the staleness many nostalgic acts are accustomed to recycling. In spite of the show’s faults, Hall & Oates’ “M-E-T-H-O-D” was generally engaging, and the duo still received a lot of “L-O-V-E” in return.

— Andy Argyrakis

Category: Live Reviews, Weekly