Daryl Hall and John Oates
Live at the Troubadour
(Shout Factory)
The dynamic âPhilly soulâ duo of Daryl Hall and John Oates are coming at you on this two hour DVD Live at the Troubadour. Coming back to the famed CA club for the first time since they played there way-back-when as a support act, Hall and Oates front a 6-piece band (crowded on the small Troubadour stage for sure) and run through 19 songs.
Older Hall and Oates band mates, T-Bone Wolk and Charles DeChant are joined by Eliot Lewis, Michael Braun, Everett Bradley and Zev Katz. For all intents and purposes, this is an âunplugged setâ and the acoustic feel of the show doesnât diminish the effectiveness of tunes like âSheâs Goneâ or âI Canât Go For Thatâ (in fact, âSheâs Goneâ sounds great here). If anything, given this âsofterâ treatment you can really hear what went into these Hall and Oates tunes that might have passed you by on all those repeated MTV airings.
Highlights for me are John Oates taking lead vocal on the ballad âHad I Known You Better Then,â the afore mentioned âSheâs Gone,â the big early hit âRich Girlâ (Hall switches from acoustic guitar to keys half way through the show and from about this song on he stands, sings, and plays keys) and the older tune âAbandoned Luncheonette.â
Iâm thinking maybe, just maybe, the desire to play acoustic like this has come from Daryl Hallâs recent free monthly concerts on the web where he and T-Bone host various famous (and not so famous) musicians. These acoustic shows can be found Here.
Pick-up Live at the Troubadour, as itâs really a perfectly shot two hour show with pristine sound (for the first time I really can hear John Oates play lead on these tunes and itâs a revelation!). You get all those MTV hits, âFamily Manâ âPrivate Eyesâ and âManeater,â âoldiesâ âRich Girlâ and âSara Smileâ and some little gems like âCab Driverâ and âHad I Known You Better Then.â For Hall and Oats fans, hell for any music fan, it doesnât get much better then this.
