I bought tickets to each of the two shows John Oates played at the Dakota last night. He is moving on to play at the Lone Tree Arts Museum in Colorado and the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix later this week. I snapped the photo at the right from my table during the first show. With tickets to both shows I had high expectations, but in the event he exceeded them by a long shot. If you like roots music or Hall and Oates, it is highly likely you will enjoy his show. At age 74, he remains a gifted performer. It was a privilege to see him play live in an intimate venue.
Oates accompanied himself on acoustic guitar backed by John Michel on percussion and Nathaniel Smith on cello. The cello was used mostly to supply bass parts. The playing was beautiful and the sound was amazingly full.
Michel, by the way, looked a little like a caricature of Daryl Hall. Smith looked a little like a friendly (not mad) Rasputin. Michel took a moment after the first show to explain his drum kit to me when I asked him where the bass drum sound was coming from. Both Michel and Smith were incredibly friendly. Oates himself asked me my name and kindly signed my copy of his memoir (written with one-time and perhaps current Power Line reader Chris Epting) after tweaking the sound when the crowd cleared out following the first show.
I thought the show provided something of a short course in American popular music. The set followed a roughly chronological order, beginning with “Sitting on Top of the World” (the Mississippi Sheiks), “Spike Driver Blues” (Mississippi John Hurt, one of his musical heroes), “Deep River Blues” (Doc Watson, another of his musical heroes), and “Miss the Mississippi and You” (Jimmie Rodgers — “That’s pretty, right?”).
He then moved on to numbers from his own solo catalog including “Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee” (“weird thing about duos–after a while they tend not to like each other”). The comment about duos was funny and Hall and Oates have gone their separate ways for a reason, but his only direct references to Daryl Hall were friendly.
When the show moved on to his contributions to Hall and Oates, Oates played three of my favorite songs from Abandoned Luncheonette: “Las Vegas Turnaround,” “Had I Known You Better Then,” and “She’s Gone.” He came to please and, judging by the audience reaction, he pleased. He certainly pleased me.
He concluded the slightly longer second show with a number that went against the spirit of the time. I didn’t see it coming. It took me by surprise. This is how it sounded live in Nashville this past September.
This is his recording of the song. Thank you, Mr. Oates.
CORRECTION: I had John Michel’s name wrong. I have corrected it above. I chatted with him between shows and he reached out to shake my hand as he left the stage after the second show. He could not have been more considerate. I regret the error.
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