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Elly Roberts reviews
Daryl Hall & John Oates
at Carling Apollo, Manchester
Monday May 9, 2005
For one night only, their kind of soul became our kind of soul.,
In a dazzling display of blue-eyed soul, Daryl Hall and John Oates rolled back the years in
front of an ecstatic three thousand crowd in the packed Carling Apollo. This,
the third time I’ve seen them, proved to be their best performance to date. In
1982 they played as headline at the NEC Birmingham, then 1990 saw them
support Fleetwood Mac at Maine Road Manchester.
Big stadiums are not suited for their sophisticated sound,so it was good to hear them play a more
intimate venue. After all, soul requires intimacy, and they’ve definitely found
their spiritual home at the Apollo. What could be regarded as a good old
fashioned ‘Soul Revue’,the tall blonde one and the tiny Latino held court in
a manner fitting their status as America’s most successful duo of all-time.
Their latest CD,
Our Kind Of Soul,
is blatantly self-indulgent, overworked and uninspiring.
Shoddy arrangements was its Achilles heel. Those criticisms could
not be levelled at them this night. Hit after hit delighted their hardcore
fanbase, receiving a standing ovation for most songs.
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Hall (above-right), the tall lean 55 year-old reminded us why the pair are the most successful duo to ever emerge
from the USA. Yes, even ahead of Simon and Garfunkel. The pair were lapping it
up, particularly Hall’s silky smooth and emotive vocal gymnastics, sounding
better than ever, and career reference to the incredible (ironically) Live At
The Apollo in Harlem New York exactly 20 years ago.
On previous occasions he a had propensity for over stretching and often wailing his God-given
voice. Now he’s more disciplined, comfortable and much more effective.
Sidekick John Oates (right) doesn’t get the lion’s share of singing, but when his time
comes he’s the perfect compliment for Hall. Close-knit harmonies, lush
melodies and some rocking guitars synthesised perfectly. From opener,a
‘Motownesque’ Maneater, and a cover of Mike Oldfield’s Family Man, the band
were as hot as hell. Later, a tribute to late friend Dan Hartman brought out a
sublime rendition of I Can Dream About You from their latest album.
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Hall looking relaxed and wearing a perma-smile, he constantly flicked his famous
golden mane. His voice has acquired a new found timbre. Stretching across all
songs, he showed he is still the greatest living white soul singer on the
planet. His love affair with the Philly Sound is there for all to see,which
shone through on The O’Jays’ Used To Be My Girl. Four ballads in rapid
succession, She’s Gone, One On One, punctuated by an impromptu fan request as
they beefed up the atmosphere with a thumping Say It Isn’t So, then taking it
down again on Sara Smile and You Are Everything which brought the crowd out
of its shell.
As slick as you like, it led into a funked-up I Can’t Go For That
bringing the crowd to their feet.Multiple encores brought anthemics
like Rich Girl, Your Kiss Is On My List and Private Eyes
capping a momentous night.
Finally, Hall left us with the divine So Close to rapturous
applause. Technically,the sound was flawless, a fitting tribute to a superb
engineer.
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Review & concert pics copyright © Elly Roberts, 2004-2008.
For prints of any of Elly's concert pics online,
email Elly
or call 07765 862017.
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DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TXW32R4 32" widescreen TV
connected to either a Creative Dxr2 DVD-ROM player or Microsoft Xbox and
played through a Sony STR-DB930 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
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