** 1/2 out of four stars
I've never seen the world's most famous musical duo, Hall & Oates, in concert before until Sunday night at the Great Allentown Fairgrounds. They have sold more records as a duo than any in music history, even surpassing greats like The Everly brothers and Simon and Garfunkel. So I was really looking forward to the show.
For the most part, Daryl Hall and John Oates ( as they prefer to be called) didn't disappoint. They did a brisk 17-song set in over 90 minutes on a nice night in Allentown, many of their songs No. 1 hits. There was only one tune not a hit, the oates composition "Is It A Star?" ( which, after hearing the song, was clear why is never was a single).
The place was jammed packed with mostly millennials who clapped and danced to the opener, "Maneater." In the 80s, the radio was dominated by hall & Oates. Songs like "Out of touch", the second song of the night, catchy pop with an R&B flavor, caught the attention of the world. Hall & Oates were superstars back then.
More hits followed all night, songs like "I Can't go For That ( No Can Do)", "She's Gone," and "One On One" were greeted warmly, as familiar and welcome as an old pair of slippers. The encore was massive, four songs, starting with "Rich Girl," "Kiss On My List" and "You Make my Dreams Come True" closed the show.
Only two things bothered me about the concert: Hall's voice, understandably from years and years of singing, isn't what it used to be. Hall strained to hit high notes, often going for lower alternative notes.
The other worry was Hall's incessant 'scatting", like a bluesy- jazz singer, with endless run-ons. He altered some of the lyrics so much that sometimes the actual original song could no longer be identified. That's fine for die-hard fans who have seen the duo many times before and could deal with his scatting style. But for a new guy like myself, who is hearing the duo live for the first time, I want the hits to sound pretty close to the music on the radio or the records.
Hearing a song like "Private Eyes" ( also in the encore) brings back memories of whee I was at that time in the fun 80s. I want to remember a classic song like that as it is, not some scattered version where the melodies constantly change.
However, it was a fun night, and I admire Hall & Oates for hanging in there all this time. Strangely, they left the stage, going their separate ways, and weren't included when the band took their curtin-call bows. Maybe the duo wanted the limelight to be solely on the excellent band?
Opening was another Philly-based act, the hip-hop, pop, bluesy Lover G. and Special Sauce. They have been around for a while, but since I'm not into rap or hip-hop, I never heard of the trio before. Anyway, they were excellent during their 45 minute set.
Before the show we roamed the fairground for a few hours. It was the usual fare, the grounds littered with food stands ( the usual- everything form corn dogs to candy apples to funnel cake and ice cream). and games of chance ( arcade games, mostly).
We watched a really bad magician to kill time, and there was the usual pens with livestock and all kinds ofthings to buy, especially inside the main grandstand building.
If you like typical carnival food you'll have a ball eating all day and night. If you are into ferris wheels and other different smaller rides, you can spend your time screaming your head off and having fun for hours, little kid or adult.
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