defend the indefensible: Hall and Oates

First I thought title meant he was wiping and replacing vocal tracks laid down by his erstwhile buddy.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_University

And the last photo on the page is Hall & Oates.

I saw them live last night for the first time and sweet merciful jezus they were fantastic. I had heard they were great live but I guess I needed to see it with my own two eyes. The band is so tight and hearing all those 80's synth hits with a full band turns hearing them live into a new experience somehow, still equally as enjoyable.

Set list is pretty short on paper but they extended a lot of these songs into 10 min+ or more with sax and guitar etc, I Can't Go For That was easily 20 minutes iirc

Family Man
Maneater
Out of Touch
Say It Isn't So
You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'
One on One
She's Gone
Sara Smile
Is It a Star
I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)

Encore:
Rich Girl
Kiss on My List
Private Eyes
You Make My Dreams

But they just had such a warm, relaxed vibe, and the audience was eating out of their hand from the first note of the first song.

It's funny because it was a double-bill with Tears For Fears, who were good. (Roland still sounds terrific. Kirk seemed to be having a bad night and sounded quite flat on a couple of the songs he sings solo.) But once the whole show was over it was hard not to compare the two, and the difference between the performances were pretty stark. Tears for Fears held a concert, and Daryl Hall and John Oates put on A Show.

how's Hall's voice holding up?

great! he doesn't hit as many of the high notes anymore - he saves those for one or two big moments, and kind of reworks his vocals to sing a little lower on a few songs, I think he still sounds really good.

this is from last month and pretty close to how he sounded last night

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXVa52MAdtY

also i gotta confess - i was crushing p hard on him by the end of the show. no explanation for it other than it's totally the voice. even with the indoor sunglasses and the corny hair-tossing, after they did 'one on one' i was like, 'welp I'm pregnant now'

leave him alone! he's a family man!

awww. yeah i'd actually dig seeing them live, which is something i rarely think about acts of their stature and generation.

totally. and they still seem to enjoy performing, or at least they are good at giving the audience that impression; that for me goes a really long way. they don't seem to be sleepwalking through the hits to get a paycheck; and having such a tight, talented band behind them creates a really warm fun vibe, much more of a 'shared' experience between the stage and the audience

in a way, it reminded me of seeing Kool and the Gang. like they care enough to perform WELL.

Hall will always get a pass from me because unlike some of his peers he is clearly a music nerd that just loves playing (and listening) to music, he's enthusiastic and committed and has a sense of humor about himself, and that goes a long way.

agree

they opened with Family Man and started his 'hey how ya doin' spiel to the audience and suddenly stopped and looked at Oates and was like, 'fuck, you know what? I think i sang the same verse twice. I did didn't i' *shrugs*
*laughs*

I mean the audience is eating out of his hand just with that.

after they did Sara Smile he looked out at the audience with this huge grin and slapped his hand on the top of the piano like 'goddamn man that was a good time'

My brother saw this same tour and had a similar reaction to you, VG, regarding the stark difference between H&O and TFF. I was pleasantly surprised by how well Roland still sang and performed a few years back; I would love to see H&O top that so soundly

i was admittedly kinda bored during Tears for Fears anyway though... i think a bigger fan would have come away with a more enthusiastic review

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_6GrnhUzzw

omg <3

that was awesome! i just discovered that song yesterday when i got the album. gorgeous

ugh that is perfection. live from daryls house is the best thing. think ive seen every episode.

and that single bombed in 1987

this live performance sounds better than the og

yeah I don't religiously watch it or anything but live from daryls house is a good show, it's great to see him shoot the shit with randos and enthuse about songs/albums/artists

i just watched the Cheap Trick episode

daryl sings this strange high harmony on the Surrender chorus & you can tell Robyn wants to just go "DUDE. WTF"

i love how loose he is, no fussing, let's play!

Is he into surprising?

xp yeah daryl def has to put his imprint on the track, he rarely hangs back. works way more often than not.

Dude's a studio pro. He should've done more session work.

The episode with the O'Jays coming in all skeptical and then just jamming as the penny drops is excellent.

the Chromeo episode is one of my favs, i cant go for that with a talk box >>>>>
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOE1-2Fza5Q

One of my colleagues looks like a female 0ates

ow can you even hate Hall & Oates

― DDD, Friday, January 31, 2014 10:33 AM (three years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Pretty fucken easily.

What kind of person clicks on a thread about an artist they hate?

fun haters
communists

It's personal, I'm sure

I was thinking 'asshole' but the other suggestions are good too.

I've never seen them in person but I've probably seen almost all LfDH (web, pre-restaurant, and post-restaurant); a few taped shows, the Darryl Big Interview, and a thing where he was on Fallon and Jimmy sang little snippets of all his favorite H&O choonz.

There are times when Darryl's Darrylness gets to be a bit cornball. But on balance the music, and commitment to connoisseurship, makes it okay.

There was one show where someone was like, "He was going all over the place and I thought it was because he didn't know the melody, so I sat down and tried to teach it to him, and he was like 'Naw, man, I know the song - I'm just takin' it to Philadelphia.'"

H&O classic 4evs. What I heard of John solo acoustic I Did Not Love. But due to their classicness I forgive everything, including John shaving his lip.

"Radio" ftw

omg that Chromeo clip was fkn awesome :D

hot shit

anyone hear what happened that caused the postponement of the rest of the tour? there was a 'family emergency' in Tears for Fears camp; rumors they have cancelled; Roland Orzabal deleted his twitter account, and no one saying anything.

yeah idk

backup singer carina round was super-duper pregnant when i saw them the other night & i initially wondered if it was something to do with that but yeah, no idea

she's fine, she's still on FB. she's due in a month or something I believe. it was something to do with curt or roland. curt posted on twitter

https://twitter.com/curtsmith?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

If i had to morbidly guess, it would be that something happened to Orzabal's wife or children.

oh that link didn't do anything

I am home. I know there are many questions, but I ask that you respect the privacy of those affected at this time. Much love ❤️ pic.twitter.com/5kWTVJbZDy

— Curt Smith (@curtsmith) July 26, 2017

:(

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bc0Gp-jX-Wk

hah i just watched that. wish there were more than 3 examples with a title like "every hit song".

saw the Behind the Music on them recently and it was pretty good. they seem like real down to Earth dudes, maybe even a little embarassed at the kitsch, but all about the music. seeing Daryl Hall plink away funky lines on his home keyboard kinda brings these larger than life pop hits down to Earth. and lol at John Oates being like "I'm not regrowing a mustache because of some stupid internet cartoon"

lol @ 'indefensible.' i know this thread was started 14 years ago, but still- got one of their 2xLP greatest hits comps for my birthday late last year, and it's just unimpeachable. Speaks for itself. a funny memory- just a month earlier, my cousin got married, and after they exchanged vows & kissed, a Hall & Oates song came over the PA, and my dad and I looked at each other like "what the fuck?" because we were sure it was "Rich Girl." I forgot how similar the intros of that song and "You Make My Dreams Come True" are.

the first minute of "I Can't Go For That" is pop alchemy, stands in rarefied air

I interviewed Darryl in the summer of 2001 (forgive me if I've mentioned this before), and he was dead serious about the music (as he should be, their music is GRATE), but when I asked him about if they indulged in the naughty stuff of their era he was like, "Come on man, you saw the clothes we wore back then, of course we did drugs"

"Private Eyes" is possibly the most upbeat, endearing songs about coke paranoia ever.

Their hippitude/marketability is only deepening - I just heard "War Baby Son of Zorro" at Warby Parker.

Heard "I Can't Go for That" at Sprouts recently. Had trouble holding still.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_University

And the last photo on the page is Hall & Oates.

― _Rudipherous_, Sunday, June 11, 2017 7:55 AM (seven months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

The point being that it is such a Philadelphia thing. My father, my brother and I already went to Temple.

So, this thread was started in 2004... has the whole poptimism movement shifted the definition of 'indefensible' in the intervening 14 years?
I just can't see someone starting this thread in 2018.