John Oates is a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee and a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, but still many see him as “the other guy” in the tremendously successful duo of Daryl Hall & John Oates. With their time as a duo at an end, John Oates is forging a solo career with a very talented band that sees him taking the center stage position. His tour stopped at the beautiful Cabaret Theater at Mohegan Sun and left the packed crowd wanting more.
Please scroll below for the MisplacedStraws John Oates live photos and review!
John Oates took to the sparse stage with his Good Road Band to the familiar strains of his 1984 hit “Out of Touch”. While the familiarity of the melody was there, the song was transformed into a leaner, Nashville-inspired version of itself that perfectly suited the band. Right away you knew this night would be both familiar and brand new. Oates addressed the crowd after the song, something he did frequently throughout the night, giving us a glimpse into his personality, and stated that while some of the hits will be played, there will be a lot of new songs we may not be familiar with. There was no need for a warning as the new songs stood tall alongside the hits,
The opening Hall & Oates classic was followed by a series of songs from his most recent solo effort OATES. He joked that he must be running out of ideas for album titles. “Pushing A Rock”, “Enough Is Enough”, “Real Thing Going On”, and “Mending” showed that John still has the songwriting chops that made him famous. The songs combined the pop sensibility of Hall & Oates, the slinkiness of a Nashville groove, and the soul of the Memphis Stax sound. He told brief stories and jokes about the creation of each song that really kept the crowd engaged.
The middle part of the set saw the band dive deep into covers. Each song was played for a reason and featured a different member of the band. ELO’s “Showdown”, Marvin Gaye’s “I Heard It Through The Grapevine”, Percy Mayfield’s “Send Me Someone To Love”, and The Youngbloods’ “Get Together” showed off just how talented the Good Road Band is. This section of the show came to an end with the Timmy Thomas 1972 call for peace, “Why Can’t We Live Together”.
Oates mentioned that he wanted to play some songs that influenced him as he grew up and laid out two beautiful tributes to Smokey Robinson with “Ooo Baby Baby” and “Tracks of My Tears”. His voice was strong and fit the songs perfectly. After “Go Deep” from his 2002 solo debut, he told a story of writing with Iva Davis, singer for the Australian band Icehouse, and coming up with that bands biggest hit, 1987’s “Electric Blue”. John and the band played a wonderful version of that classic song, bringing back long forgotten memories for many in the crowd.
The big guns were saved for the final run of the night. After telling a story of meeting a woman in a pink tutu and cowboy boots at 3:00 am in New York City he played the song he wrote for her, “She’s Gone”. That went into Sam & Dave’s “You Got Me Hummin'” and ended with the monster hits “I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do)” and the reggae-tinged original version of “Maneater”. As the light came on and people started to leave, he called the band back for one more song, a rousing rendition of Chuck Berry’s “Let It Rock”.
I never saw Hall & Oates in their 80s heyday, but I was in Brooklyn for their 2014 Rock Hall induction and photographed their second-to-last ever show at Mohegan Sun Arena in 2022. I have to say both nights were trainwrecks, mostly due to the behavior of one member of the duo. It was such a pleasure to see John Oates on his own, displaying his talent without the negative vibes around him. He is a true artist who may not have gotten the credit he deserved in the past, but, in the end, he is the one still making vital, fresh music and enjoying every moment of it.
