BY MELISSA RUGGIERI
Considering the scope of Daryl Hall and John Oates’ career, it seems unbelievable that the musicians never performed in Ireland as a duo.
Until last year, that is, when Hall & Oates hit the stage of Dublin’s Olympia Theatre in July for a show that was recorded by music film distributor Eagle Rock Entertainment for some type of release.
Fathom Events, the company known for bringing special events to movie theaters, sniffed out the project and decided that "Daryl Hall & John Oates : Recorded Live In Dublin" would make for a top-notch movie theater experience.
The 90-minute concert film will be shown at 7 p.m. Feb. 19 in movie theaters nationwide ( click here to search for area showings ) including Regal Hollywood 24 and Avenue Forsyth 12. The show, of course, offers many of Hall & Oates' ubiquitous hits such as "I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)," "Maneater" and "Rich Girl."
The concert will also be released on DVD March 31.
Earlier this week, the guys participated (separately) in a conference call with reporters to talk about the film and other happenings in Hall & Oates land.
Q: Fathom does a lot of these concert films with a lot of rock bands. Green Day, Springsteen have all done it. I'm curious if you've ever seen one of them and also what kind of experience you think that a fan will get watching it on the movie screen compared to seeing you guys live?
A: (Hall) Well, I have not ever seen one because I pretty much never go to the movies. As far as what people will see, I think it's a really good example of what we do. I was involved in the rough cuts and everything so I made sure that it really captured the moment. It was a very ... what's the word I can use? A very loose and laid back and direct version of our show. We weren't, and I say this in the best way, we weren't trying. We were just playing. We were there. There was no pressure. I don't think anybody in the band felt pressured about it. It just felt like we were really just up there having a good time and experiencing the moment. I think that that communicates in the show and I think that the audience will also experience that.
Credit: Melissa Ruggieri
Credit: Melissa Ruggieri
Q: Did this Dublin concert film start out as something that you saw as being a theatrical release? How did it come together and what was the intent of it to start with?
A: (Hall) Well, we did a U.K. and Ireland tour last summer, our European tour. When I found out that we were playing in Dublin, I had played in the Olympic Theater in Dublin back in the '90s as a Daryl Hall show and not with John. My memory of that place was that it was an outrageous concert. There's something about the crowd, about the room, that was, at that time, very magical to me and really special. When I found out that we were playing there, and that Hall and Oates had never played in Ireland ever, which is kind of strange but true, I suggested that we record and do something with it, you know, record the performance.
The company Eagle Rock, who I've worked with before, we decided we were going to film the project without any idea that what was going to happen happened. After we did it, it exceeded my expectations. It was just an outrageously good night. Not only was the band really on, but the crowd was just crazy. (Fathom), who puts these things for theatrical release, saw this performance, and they came to us and said, we'd like to put this in theaters, if you're into it.
That's really how it happened, very step by step. I knew it from the beginning that it was going to be a special night, and that's what it turned out to be.
Q: What was it like to go back and listen to this “Live in Dublin” recording when you were preparing it for release? Was there anything that surprised you about your own performance or about the audience's reaction?
A: (Oates) I was surprised and not surprised by the audience's reaction. The only reason I would say I was surprised is because I had never played that particular venue. We'd never played in Ireland. I did a songwriter's festival in Ireland a few years back but never played with Daryl. I knew that it was going to be an exciting night, having never played there. The venue was so cool and legendary. It had so much history. All the ingredients were in place for a great night and a great performance. Certainly, I think we captured it. The band was on fire and the crowd was into it. You put all those ingredients together and you get something very special. I'm so glad we committed to filming this particular show. When you put your eggs in one basket and you say, OK, this is the night we're going to film this concert. Let's hope it's a good one. Here again, all the stars aligned for that.
Credit: Melissa Ruggieri
Credit: Melissa Ruggieri
Q: You guys are so well-known for your hits and you perform most of the big ones in this show. How do you guys keep those songs fresh for yourselves after so many decades of playing them?
A: (Oates) Well, we're lucky. The songs hold up. That's what it's all about. The songs actually hold up. We don't have to do anything. The subtleties in the performance and subtleties by the band, little parts that someone might add in spontaneously, will trigger certain things. Things that we do on stage spontaneously will become canonized into the set list. That's something that just happens. We also intersperse our set with some deep tracks, which also gives a little bit better overview of the big catalog, the amazing catalog of music we created over the last 40 years.
Q: You have a few summer dates already penciled in but are you and John planning a more extensive summer tour?
A: (Hall) Well, no. We play all the time. I mean, I have so much going on in my life between television shows and everything else that we don't have any time for any long tours. What we do is we constantly tour for short periods of time. We go out for a week, 10 days, something like that. That happens just about every month we do that. Nothing particularly long coming up in the summer.
Q: You guys finally got inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. Talk a little bit about the induction itself and about what life has been like after it. Has it changed at all in any way?
A: (Hall) Well, that's a hard question to answer. I probably don't have that many good things to say about any of it. I'm not a big fan of the concept of the whole ... The ceremony is rather tedious to say the least, and my life hasn't changed a bit afterwards.
Q: Touring still continues to be something that you and John clearly want to do together. Does that not extend to recording new music? Why is touring so high a priority and recording new music isn’t?
A: (Hall) The touring has to do with what we did when we were together and at a period of time in our lives. Right now, we have grown into a place where we're very individualistic, more than we ever were. We are our own people. I don't think either one of us has any particular desire to sit in a room and try writing songs with the other guy. We didn't even really do that that much through our whole career, but we did share album space and stage time. In that respect, we are very much together. We're together for the sake of that, really, and because we like doing it.
I mean, if I want to write a song, or record a song, I just go in and do it, and so does John. I don't call him up and say, come on and join me on this. It's just one of those things. Life changes. People move on. Time moves on. People develop. They grow as people, the whole thing, become more individualistic, I think, as you get older.
Q: How do you decide which songs you wanted to perform in concert, specifically to the Dublin show, knowing that people around the world were going to be seeing the show? Did that affect the set list at all?
A: (Oates) Not really. Not very much. That set list is capturing a moment in time. It's the set list that Daryl and I have been working off of, with some variation, over the past year or so. It changes. It evolves. We drop certain songs. We add certain songs, but the core of the set are the big hits. In a way, I believe we have a professional responsibility to play those big hits. We're proud of them. They've stood the test of time. That's why they are the songs they are.
In that regard, we have a really good problem. We have a lot of hits. We sneak in the deep tracks, and we do that because we like it and because we feel like it shows a little bit more of a broader scope of who we are and what we've accomplished over the years. I would like to go more in that direction one day, but the Dublin show is capturing the moment in time. If we do another DVD in two years or whatever, it'll be a different moment in time. This is the band. This is the Hall and Oates band right now, right as it is today, with one of the best backing bands we've ever had. With Daryl and I, I think performing pretty well at the top of our games, I think it's a great moment to capture.
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