Hall & Oates and Squeeze, touring together this year, is not an obvious double bill, but their pop sensibilities complement each well.
Their prime hit-making periods in the late 1970s and 1980s overlap. And they both have a knack for irresistibly catchy earworms that have stood the test of time.
Still, the Philly duo Hall & Oates is by far the bigger draw stateside and likely sold a bulk of the 12,000 tickets at Ameris Bank Amphitheatre on Friday night, courtesy of 29 Top 40 hits and six No. 1 songs.
Daryl Hall and John Oates fed the Atlanta crowd a tight 14-song, 75-minute set that largely spanned their core 1976 to 1985 hit-making years. Outside of two Oates-led tunes from the mid-1970s, the other 12 choices were major radio hits, from “Maneater” to “Private Eyes” to “Out of Touch,” all chart-toppers. (They have been creatures of habit this year, sticking with the same set the entire tour, according to setlist.fm, which is like Wikipedia for set lists.)
This popularity superiority didn’t faze Squeeze, the Brit-pop band led by lyricist Chris Difford and primary vocalist Glenn Tillbrook. The seven-piece band opened with an efficient 13-song, one-hour set that featured plenty of verve and musicality, if not equal familiarity to the audience.
Squeeze included 10 of the 12 songs from its best-selling American album, a 1982 “greatest hits” record dubbed “Singles: 45s and Under” that generated exactly zero Top 40 hits in the United States but became a cult classic that decade among alt-rock lovers of that era. Its tunes, from “Up the Junction” to “Take Me I’m Yours,” feature plaintive and sometimes daft lyrical content, propulsive energy and pop hooks galore, all in full display on stage Friday.
Credit: Robb Cohen for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Credit: Robb Cohen for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Tillbrook Friday night was in fine vocal form, his supple sweet tenor holding up well at age 64. He also showed off his underappreciated guitar skills on songs such as “Slap and Tickle” and “Cool for Cats.”
Percussionist Steve Smith and drummer Simon Hanson gave the songs extra jolts of electricity. And while Difford barely cracked a smile, keyboardist Stephen Large had a ball, even cheekily singing a verse of “Georgia on My Mind” using a vocal-synthesized voice toward the end of the set.
Tillbrook got the crowd on its feet singing along lustily to “Tempted,” which peaked at just No. 49 on the Billboard charts in 1982 but later became a fixture in films, TV, commercials and video games. And the band’s concluding “Black Coffee in Bed,” sped up from the original recording, featured delightful jam solos by each member of the band.
Hall & Oates, weighed down with greater expectations, kept the crowd engaged through familiar songs but Hall’s trademark soulful vocals Friday were not up to par. He was like a major league pitcher who had lost his fastball, or in his case, his upper range.
Hall, now 74, frequently dropped to lower octaves or let 73-year-old Oates, the other band members and the audience fill in the blanks. This was especially apparent during their classic 1980 cover of the Righteous Brothers’ “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling.” (VIdeo of Hall performing earlier this year at a New Orleans jazzfest showed he was in much better vocal form not too long ago.)
On the bright side, Hall’s frontman charisma and charm remain undiminished and he can rock a black leather jacket with no shame. Oates, still sporting his signature mustache, remains his able, ever patient partner in crime while longtime super chill saxophonist Charlie DeChant provided numerous stylistic highlights.
DeChant also enjoyed a memorable extended riff jam with guitarist Shane Theriot during the ever funky, ever soulful “I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do).”
Credit: Robb Cohen for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Credit: Robb Cohen for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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