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Hall & Oates Setlist
Tears For Fears Setlist
Tour Dates
05/15/2017 Allstate Arena Rosemont, IL * 05/17/2017 Joe Louis Arena Detroit, MI * 05/20/2017 Quicken Loans Arena Cleveland, OH* 05/22/2017 Schottenstein Center Columbus, OH* 05/24/2017 Bridgestone Arena Nashville, TN* 05/27/2017 HoagieNation Festival* 06/07/2017 AmericanAirlines Arena Miami, FL* 06/09/2017 Amway Center Orlando, FL* 06/11/2017 Infinite Energy Center Duluth, GA* 06/13/2017 U.S. Bank Arena Cincinnati, OH* 06/16/2017 Forest Hills Stadium Queens, NY* 06/17/2017 Prudential Center Newark, NJ* 06/19/2017 Air Canada Centre Toronto, ON* 06/21/2017 Centre Vidéotron Quebec City, QC* 06/24/2017 TD Garden Boston, MA* 06/26/2017 Verizon Center Washington, DC* 07/11/2017 American Airlines Center Dallas, TX* 07/13/2017 AT&T Center San Antonio, TX* 07/15/2017 Fiddler's Green Englewood, CO* 07/17/2017 Gila River Arena Glendale, AZ* 07/19/2017 Valley View Casino San Diego, CA* 07/21/2017 T-Mobile Arena Las Vegas, NV* 07/23/2017 Golden 1 Center Sacramento, CA* 07/25/2017 SAP Center At San Jose San Jose, CA* 07/28/2017 Staples Center Los Angeles, CA* 07/29/2017 Staples Center Los Angeles, CA* 09/01/2017 JAS Aspen Snowmass Experience * = with Tears For Fears, Allen Stone Read More
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In a night of duo duos, Hall & Oates gave us an Adult Education to their brand of rock and soul, while ‘80s pair Tears for Fears gave their own blend of musical Advice for the Young at Heart in a hit-filled evening that brought some 14,000 to the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.
The four-hour evening began with an unfortunately too short acoustic set from hippie-soul artist Allen Stone, in support of 2016’s Radius (ATO Records) and whose song ‘Perfect World’ was recently used to promote the new Dear White People series on Netflix. Washington state native Stone got to know Daryl Hall when he appeared on the Live from Daryl’s House TV show and ended up on Hall’s tour of the same name a few years ago.
His four-song set actually started ten minutes early, catching some early concert goers somewhat by surprise, Stone in patched jacket with flowers wrapped around his mic stands, singing his own ‘Upside’ as well as the Burt Bacharach/Hal David-penned classic, ‘I Say a Little Prayer’. Serving as just a taste of his music, Stone is worth seeking out when he plays full sets at smaller clubs again.
After a short break, lights dimmed as an introductory video montage hit the overhead screens, with Lorde’s goth-y, slowed version of ‘Everybody Wants to Rule the World’ as its soundtrack. This segued into Tears for Fears entering and playing the same song themselves, starting their seventy-minute set with perhaps their biggest hit.
The Bath, UK natives, now both in their mid-fifties, returned to the area for the first time in over a decade, following the opening number with ‘Secret World’, a Beatles-esque gem (even working in a verse of McCartney’s ‘Let ‘Em In’) from their last studio release, 2004’s Everybody Loves a Happy Ending (New Door/Gut Records), with 1990’s ‘Sowing the Seeds of Love’ next and keeping the hits and momentum moving.
Before ‘Change’, Curt Smith recalled being in an area coffee shop in the morning, encountering a barista who was beyond excited for the show that evening. “They suck!” Smith cried out to her in jest, the shop worker not recognizing who he actually was. “We’ll attempt not to suck”, he promised the crowd, and apologizing to the unknown woman in the crowd.
After a third song from 1983’s The Hurting, Orzabal took the lead for a faithful cover of Radiohead’s ‘Creep’, then going back to the first album again for ‘Pale Shelter’, with actual drumming subbing in for the recorded version’s drum machines.
Perhaps because of the shortened set, ‘Head Over Heels’ was performed without the ‘Broken’ intro/outro (almost unforgivable) but the standing, cheering crowd didn’t seem to mind, the band then leaving the stage until being called back out for a single song encore of ‘Shout’. With a promised new album due later in the year, we’ll hope to see the band again, with a longer set and more time to play.
2014 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Daryl Hall and John Oates next took to the stage, as St. Paul became Philadelphia for their headlining set, clocked just shy of two-hours. Though the pair hasn’t released an album in more than a decade, they have been busy separately as well as touring together sporadically.
John Oates has a successful solo career, having played the Dakota locally, and recently authored a memoir, Change of Seasons, released in March. Daryl Hall has released a handful of solo albums as well, probably now best known for his Live from Daryl’s House program, airing since 2007.
The Daryl’s House band, large and well-rehearsed from all the TV sessions, was the duo’s backing band also included longtime sax player Charles DeChant (in shimmering suit and long white hair) who often stole the show during his solos. The music all night leaned towards slightly looser improvisations of the classic songs, often with extended jams, perhaps partially the result of Hall and band playing on the show with so many diverse and different musicians.
1984’s Big Bam Boom was the album most featured, including on their opening ‘Adult Education’ and deep cut ‘Possession Obsession’, but most other musical eras were represented as well. “It’s really good to see you…. our blood is up!” Hall remarked, mentioning they were only a couple dates into the tour. DeChant’s signature sax anchored ‘Maneater’ and the band even included their rock and soul version of a classic Righteous Brothers song.
After a crisp ‘She’s Gone’, even more soulful than when done in 1973, Hall took to his new grand piano for a handful of songs, starting with 1976’s ‘Sara Smile’. 1979’s ‘Wait for Me’ and 1974’s ‘Is It a Star’ (from the War Babies album, “a bit of a departure from many things… music mostly”, Hall joked), an Oates-led song, pleased especially the longtime fans.
The signature bassline of ‘I Can’t Go for That’ got people on their feet, the song stretched out and expanded to add even more soul, and main set closer, ‘You Make My Dreams’ made a lot of people’s dreams come true, to see the song performed live.
The full band was properly introduced before the three-song encore- 1977’s ‘Rich Girl’ flowing smoothly into 1980’s ‘Kiss on My List’, then the band ending the evening with the Grammy-winning ‘Private Eyes’ from 1981 (no trench coats or magnifying glasses like in the video though) with the crowd clapping along on cue, at the chorus.
A seemingly very different pairing seemed to work well in the end as Hall and Oates and Tears for Fears (along with Allen Stone) provided an electric four hours of entertainment , a chance to re-visit the past, and a discovery that the music the duo duos first played some thirty-five+ years ago, still resonates with their many fans today.
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Poster |
Allen Stone |
Allen Stone |
Tears For Fears |
Tears For Fears |
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Tears For Fears at Xcel Energy Center, St Paul (11 May 2017) |
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Tears For Fears |
Tears For Fears |
Hall and Oates |
Hall and Oates |
Hall and Oates |
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Hall and Oates at Xcel Energy Center, St Paul (11 May 2017) |
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