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Elly Roberts reviews
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 infront of an ecstatic three thousand crowd in the packed Carling Apollo. This,the third time Ive seen them, proved to be their best performance to date. In1982 they played as headline at the NEC Birmingham, then 1990 saw themsupport Fleetwood Mac at Maine Road Manchester.
Big stadiums are not suited for their sophisticated sound,so it was good to hear them play a moreintimate venue. After all, soul requires intimacy, and theyve definitely foundtheir spiritual home at the Apollo. What could be regarded as a good oldfashioned Soul Revue,the tall blonde one and the tiny Latino held court ina manner fitting their status as Americas 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 couldnot be levelled at them this night. Hit after hit delighted their hardcorefanbase, receiving a standing ovation for most songs.
Hall (above-right), the tall lean 55 year-old reminded us why the pair are the most successful duo to ever emergefrom the USA. Yes, even ahead of Simon and Garfunkel. The pair were lapping itup, particularly Halls silky smooth and emotive vocal gymnastics, soundingbetter than ever, and career reference to the incredible (ironically) Live AtThe Apollo in Harlem New York exactly 20 years ago.On previous occasions he a had propensity for over stretching and often wailing his God-givenvoice. Now hes more disciplined, comfortable and much more effective.
Sidekick John Oates (right) doesnt get the lions share of singing, but when his timecomes hes the perfect compliment for Hall. Close-knit harmonies, lushmelodies and some rocking guitars synthesised perfectly. From opener,aMotownesque Maneater, and a cover of Mike Oldfields Family Man, the bandwere as hot as hell. Later, a tribute to late friend Dan Hartman brought out asublime rendition of I Can Dream About You from their latest album.
Hall looking relaxed and wearing a perma-smile, he constantly flicked his famousgolden mane. His voice has acquired a new found timbre. Stretching across allsongs, he showed he is still the greatest living white soul singer on theplanet. His love affair with the Philly Sound is there for all to see,whichshone through on The OJays Used To Be My Girl. Four ballads in rapidsuccession, Shes Gone, One On One, punctuated by an impromptu fan request asthey beefed up the atmosphere with a thumping Say It Isnt So, then taking itdown again on Sara Smile and You Are Everything which brought the crowd outof its shell.
As slick as you like, it led into a funked-up I Cant Go For Thatbringing the crowd to their feet.Multiple encores brought anthemicslike Rich Girl, Your Kiss Is On My List and Private Eyescapping a momentous night.
Finally, Hall left us with the divine So Close to rapturousapplause. Technically,the sound was flawless, a fitting tribute to a superbengineer.
Elly Roberts passed away in 2011, but he was a man who was so passionate about all types of music and loved meeting his musical heroes, such as Mick Hucknall at a book signing at the Trafford Centre, Manchester in 2007.
A former teacher and also a music journalist, DJ and radio presenter on local community station Calon FM, plus appearances on BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru and BBC Radio 2, Elly started doing reviews for DVDfever.co.uk in 2004 and he did the majority of the CD and concerts reviews on the website.
I know also that he loved getting away for the summer to Spain and I hope that wherever he is now he is enjoying the hot sunshine and, as one of his friends has said on his Facebook page, that he is interviewing his musical heroes.