The hottest ticket in town seemed to be last night at the Golden Gate Theater when Daryl Hall and the band from his hit TV show “Daryl’s House” brought their soulful tunes to downtown San Francisco. For those of you not familiar with Mr. Hall, he’s most famous for being part of the legendary duo of Daryl Hall and John Oates (more familiarly known as Hall & Oates), credited for hits like “Maneater,” “Out of Touch”, and “Kiss on My List.” Although none of those were played last night, the silver-haired singer with the perfect falsetto did hit us with power hitters like “Sara Smile” and “I Can’t Go for That”, the latter bringing people from their seats to the front of the stage for what looked like an 80s dance party.
Throughout the show, the Hall of Famer was in good spirits, minus a few technical glitches here and there. Something to be expected when playing a venue normally fit for a theater performance, but at no time did that distract from the beautiful sounds coming from the stage. Highlights for me included finding out that the song “Every Time You Go Away” was written by Hall and Oats, which was then made famous by Paul Young. That performance was a standout, but it was the Eurythmics cover of “Here Comes the Rain Again” that stole the show. Slowed down and re-arranged to bring a completely different feel to the song, it was so touching and heartfelt that it left a lump in your throat at its completion.
Many people have asked me how Daryl Hall is up there on stage by himself. Sure, John Oats is missed, but each has so much talent that they can easily pull it off on their own.
Photos by Louis Raphael
