The duo brought a boatload of catchy ’70s and ’80s pop hits to stoke the embers of a Saturday night dance party for an audience of about 7,500 at Van Andel Arena.
They Went for That: Daryl Hall and musical partner John Oates fired up the nostalgia train for fans. (Photo/Anthony Norkus)
SCROLL DOWN FOR PHOTO GALLERY
Support our coverage of
West Michigan's music scene
Daryl Hall and John Oates sailed into Van Andel Arena on Saturday night powered by the winds of a recent, well-deserved career resurgence and riding a wave of nostalgia.
Hall & Oates, veritable captains of the musical quasi-genre of yacht rock, charted a reliable course that delivered roughly 90 minutes of nothing but hits.
Yeah, it was a safe show (opening with “Maneater” and closing out the evening with “Private Eyes”? Gold.), but also pretty, pretty great. The Rock and Roll Hall of Famers gave the people what they wanted, in this case a hit-studded ten-song set with two, two-song encores, featuring surefire crowd-pleasers like ’70s’ heartbreakers (“She’s Gone,” “Sara Smile”) and ’80s-era mega-hits (“Kiss on My List” and “I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do).”
Playing Surefire Crowd-Pleasers: Oates on guitar. (Photo/Anthony Norkus)
Saturday’s red-velvet-ensconced stage was pulled up further than normal, blocking off a small portion of the arena and helping the approximately 7,500-person-audience to more closely resemble a sell-out.
The concert’s healthy pre-show liquor sales no doubt contributed to the enthusiastic and diverse array of dance moves, but it also doesn’t hurt that Hall and Oates — and their incredible six-piece backing band — are great performers. Their songs, often more complex and unusually written than the typical ’80s pop radio hit, remain catchy and fun as hell. (Honestly, what kind of monster doesn’t enjoy “Make My Dreams”?)
With the close of each song, the house lights turned up to illuminate a sea of cheering faces and waving arms (some of those arms spilling drinks and many more holding aloft smartphones capturing shaky video and blurry photographs). The lights would then drop back, the performers, typically Hall, would give a friendly minute of so of chatter to the audience and the party barge would cruise along.
Hall and Oates — the individuals — remain in fine form, falling into the familiar roles, with Hall taking lead on many of the songs and switching from guitar to keys, and Oates contributing backing (and occasional lead) vocals and guitar.
While it’s their names on the marquee, Hall & Oates — the entity — must share the credit for Saturday’s success with their touring band. Long-time sax/flute/keys/percussionist Charles DeChant proved a crowd favorite (hooray for multiple saxophone solos!). Percussionist Porter Carroll’s fiercely energetic double tambourine playing and dancing also were a hit – and a highlight.
Mutlu Onaral, a soul singer from Hall & Oates’ hometown of Philadelphia, opened the show with a 20-minute solo set that included a cover of Bill Withers’ “Ain’t No Sunshine” and several originals.
HALL & OATES PHOTO GALLERY BY ANTHONY NORKUS
Copyright 2015, Spins on Music LLC
