White Guys That (Sometimes) Sounded Like Black Guys

Fact: I had absolutely no idea Hall & Oates were white until I was well into double digits. However, after seeing them live in concert at the Fillmore on Monday night, I realized that they actually… don’t sound that black at all. But the concert was totally awesome for a number of reasons.

Fact: I had absolutely no idea Hall & Oates were white until I was well into double digits. I just remembered hearing “I Can’t Go For That” on the local R&B station and, for some reason, assuming they were of the Negro persuasion. However, after seeing them live in concert at the Fillmore on Monday night, I realized that they actually… don’t sound that black at all. So I have no idea where that came from. But the concert was totally awesome for a number of reasons.

I guess I was rolling on rap concert time, as I was totally surprised that they started at 8:30 on the dot. So as a friend and I stroll into the Fillmore to the tunes of “Maneater” followed by “Out of Touch,” we scanned the crowd and quickly realized that we, too, were feeling both out of touch and out of time. The audience wasn’t exactly on the young side, to say the least, so it was both funny and awkward being two 20somethings walking into an older, tamer crowd opting to sit instead of standing up and dancing, save one lady with a mullet who stood up intermittently to groove, and a fun 50-something guy who yelled “ROCK STEADY!” after every set.

The evolution of Hall and Oates is a bit strange, yet delightful. Daryl and John went from smooth, jammin dudes to a guy much similar to the character Rufus on “Gossip Girl.” As in, he’s kind of like that uncle you have that used to be so badass in high school/college and had all the panties dropping to his band’s music, and then, 40 years later, when he’s retired and bored, he dusts off that old leather jacket, finds his old crew, and spends his days jamming in the garage and picking up security checks. You want to think it’s lame, but you’re actually impressed by these 8 dudes rocking out and not giving a fuck what you and your young friends think of them.

Daryl Hall is definitely that uncle. However, the best part about John Oates is that he’s your uncle’s friend, who can not and will not ever be convinced that he’s not the guy he used to be. He’s had a little work done on his face, but not enough to make too many judgment calls. He jams like his brain is constantly repeating the phrase, “I am John. Motherfucking. Oates.” He probably says that while he hits on young girls. He probably points at the gross girls and says “I can’t go for that” while his friends laugh and buy him another beer. But despite all this, you don’t feel negatively toward this behavior, because it’s too delightful to witness. So you’re like, whatever. You’re John Motherfucking Oates, dude. Rock on.

There’s a guy next to me with curly hair and a serious porn ’stache. He’s really dancing in his seat, appearing as though he’s really glad this concert doesn’t fall on a night when “daaaa Bears!” are playing. I love him.

Though “ROCK STEADYYYY!” guy was annoying at first, he grew on me. I was on the edge of yelling a “ROCK STEADY!” myself, but I just couldn’t bring myself to doing such a silly thing.

There was a guy in their band playing what seemed like 72038974023 different instruments. However, when it came to the classic hand clap, I was surprised to discover that he actually has no rhythm whatsoever. And for that, I love him too.

That being said, a trip to a Hall and Oates concert is totally worth it, provided you are mentally prepared for being visually overwhelmed while audially pleased.

To check out the rest of the band’s tour dates, click here.