HALL & OATES, ALONG WITH SQUEEZE, BRING A SOLD-OUT SHOW BACK TO
HARD ROCK LIVE
No matter what kind of music fan you are, it is a safe bet that you have heard a Hall & Oates song at some point in your life. Since the 1970’s, Daryl Hall and John Oates have tuned out numerous hits and remain popular among music fans. Last night, Hall & Oates played Hard Rock Live for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic to a sold-out audience spanning at least three generations of fans.
The first band to take the stage was England’s own Squeeze. Founding members Chris Dillford and Glen Tillford led the band known for the hits “Cool Cats”, “Tempted”, and “Labelled With Love”, which kicked off this leg of the tour with a concert-going crowd hungry for the days of normalcy pore-pandemic. Certainly, Squeeze did not disappoint.
“Take Me I’m Yours”, “Up The Junction”, and “Someone Else’s Heart” opened the forty-minute set. These guys sounded like a fine wine that was older but very refined. Sounding somewhat better than when I saw them last many years ago. The crowd was loving every minute of it and you could tell that, by the end of their performance, they were longing for more but now it was time to change the band over to the headliners... Hall & Oates.
With fresh drinks in their hands and trips to the bathrooms out of the way, the audience began to pour into the venue just as the lights come down and the bass line for the hit “Maneater” rumbles through the air. Looking like the rock stars that they are, but a little older and ragged, Daryl Hall & John Oates came out and performed a fourteen-minute song set of hits that spanned from 1976 to the ’80s... The hit machine was in full force and sounding good.
“Out Of Touch”, “Say It Isn’t So”, and “She’s Gone” were some of the songs that followed. The duo from Philadelphia threw in the Barry Mann cover, “You Lost That Lovin’ Feeling” and lulled the crowd into that Blue-Eyed Soul that the duo is famous for. “Kiss On My List”, “Rich Girl”, “Private Eyes”, and “You Make My Dreams Come True” rounded out the encore.
The night was full of promise and live music moving forward. The people in attendance were happy to be there and enjoying some kind of normalcy after the industry had been shut down for so long. I am one of those people too. Let’s keep it going.
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