Up Close and Personal

During the 80s I was never a huge fan of Hall & Oates, Sure, they had songs I enjoyed and for most of the decade they churned out hit after hit after hit, but their synthesizer sound never hit my musical orgasmic nerve. My vast record/CD collection never included one of their 80s mega-hits.

So it was a twist of fate (and a free ticket) that brought me to the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles last night for the Hall & Oates “Up Close and Personal” tour.


What could have been a schmaltzy trip down synthesizer lane turned out to be a truly enjoyable musical evening full of hit songs and little gems from their pre-80s period.

Their hit songs are numerous and they played most of them including:

Maneater
One On One
Family Man
Out of Touch
I Can’t Go For That
You Make My Dreams
Kiss On My List
Say It Isn’t So
Private Eyes


The gems included the pre-80s hits Sara Smile, and Rich Girl.

Reaching back to 1973 and their “Abandoned Luncheonette” record they performed Las Vegas Turnaround, When the Morning Comes, and an exquisite version of She’s Gone.

The one song of theirs I’ve always detested was Adult Education and damn it, they played it. I cringed a little, but luckily it was over in less than four minutes.

The one song I anticipated hearing they never played. I suggest ditching the lousy education song and replacing it with the incredible Every Time You Go Away.

Next time they’re in town I’ll probably go, and actually pay for a ticket.

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