I have to say that it was a stroke of genius by whoever had the idea to team up two of the best duos of all time, Daryl Hall and John Oates and Tears For Fears, and get them out on the road on a joint tour this summer, which performed June 24, 2017 at the TD Banknorth Garden in Boston.
While Hall & Oates are unquestionably the most successful duo of all time, they do get lumped is as an “80’s-era combo” quite often – even though their first Top 40 hit dates back to 1976 (“Sara Smile”), and they even garnered their first number one smash the next year with, “Rich Girl.” Though the first part of the next decade did see Hall & Oates become a non-stop hit machine – and the public could not get enough of their soulful/pop magic.
Starting the show, Tears for Fears, Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith, wasted no time in getting the Boston crowds full attention, opening with their first US hit, “Everybody Wants To Rule The World,” and following it up with “Secret World,” from their 2004 studio album, “Everybody Loves a Happy Ending,” before dishing out “Sowing The Seeds of Love” – the groups 1989 psychedelic layered nod to The Beatles (Sgt. Pepper era).
Smith, whose was also celebrating his birthday this night, spoke of their debut album, 1983’s “The Hurting.” As he reminisced that while it was not a major smash – especially in comparison with 1985’s wildly successful “Songs From The Big Chair” – Smith alluded to the record being rediscovered, and they played a choice selection from the album with, “Change,” Mad World,” and “Memories Fade.”
An unexpected cover of Radioheads “Creep” worked remarkably well, as did brilliant takes of the set ending “Head Over Heels,” and their sole encore of “Shout.”
Speaking of a rediscovering – Hall & Oates have been enjoying a major career resurgence the past few years. Due in no small part to the success of Halls cable show, “Live from Daryl’s House,” which has Hall performing with different guest musicians each episode, and has shown Hall to be a master of musicianship and genres, as his guests talents span, Country, Rock, Hip-Hop, Soul, Pop, and Motown (no surprise there, as Hall & Oates did a live album with former Temptations David Ruffin and Eddie Kendricks in 1985).
If one could imagine spending the night trapped in a greatest hits jukebox, the Hall and Oates set was just that. Kicking off with an effulgent duo of tunes from their massively successful 1982 record, “H2O,” – “Family Guy” and the uber-popular “Maneater,” they then followed up with a slick “Out Of Touch,” which was surprisingly the only song performed all night from their 1984 smash record, “Big, Bam, Boom.”
An early set cover of The Righteous Brothers “You’ve Lose That Loving Feeling,” (the Hall and Oates cover version landed at #12 on the charts in 1980), was prodigious, and featured the Oates’ first heavenly co-lead of the night. Hall, who looks a couple of decades younger that his 70 years, has not lost a iota of the blue eyed soul in his voice. which was near perfect all night.
Going back to their roots, the duo crooned seller versions of “She’s Gone,” “Sara Smile,” and, for the hardcore fans, revived “Is It a Star?,” a nugget from 1974’s experimental, and Todd Rundgren produced, “War Babies.”
A generous 4 song encore saw eminent renderings of “Rich Girl,” “Kiss on My List” and, “Private Eyes,” before closing with “You Make My Dreams,” which was the original opening song from, “Live from Daryl’s House,”when it was a web only series.
While the summer concert scene is known for “package shows,” this was one of the most clever combing of duos since the Simon and Garfunkel/The Everly Brothers on “The Old Friends” dual jaunt in 2003.
