BrightestYoungThings: Hall & Oates @ Wolf Trap

all words: Zach Goldbaum
all photos: Julian Vu

Mothers with crimp-ravaged hair who had sewn their Oates in the 80’s took to the Wolf Trap lawn in droves on Monday night to watch the greatest pop duo of their time (and perhaps of all time) perform. After apparently storming the clearance section at T.J. Maxx, Daryl Hall and John Oates graced the stage. The thousands of women who once ogled the duo in acid-washed jeans were not alone that night, for I too felt a tingle in my jorts when they appeared, blasting out of the gates with harmonies blazing, delivering a sing-a-long-inducing rendition of “Maneater.” It was, in one word, glorious.

But one member of the band was missing: John Oates’... moustache. While upper lips everywhere bid farewell to a hero, the rest of us are left wondering where it went. Shaving lives overseas? Or recording a solo album of its own? There’s no way of knowing. After the initial shock wore off (the subsequent shock rattles me still), I settled in as “Maneater” gave way to “Family Man” and “Out of Touch.”

The performance dragged a bit as the pair shuffled through their canon of slower, soulful jams like “Say It Isn’t So” and tracks off “Along The Red Ledge.” Hall took the keys at center stage for the beloved ballad “Sara Smile,” which brought the audience to their feet but left me unmoved. Nearly every song was accompanied by drawn out sax solo by their long-time collaborator Charles "Mr. Casual" DeChant, who dons a purple zoot suit and looks like the aging love child of Brian Setzer and Gandalf the Grey. Despite his ability and precision, the sound of the solos felt markedly dated.

Had the show ended when Hall and Oates first exited shortly after 9, there would have been disappointment abound. But the steadfast fans simply wouldn’t have it, and after a moment, they reemerged with “Rich Girl” (epic) followed by “You Make My Dreams Come True” (epic 2.0). And if those two crowd-pleasers didn’t justify the trek to Wolf Trap, their second encore surely did. The entire amphitheater was dancing for “Kiss On My List” which moved seamlessly into “Private Eyes" and closed the show on a stellar note.

All moustaches aside, not much has changed for Hall and Oates since they first emerged in the late 70’s: They can still sing and harmonize better than anyone; Oates still Garfunkles his way through performances; and they still have flowing locks and a jheri curl, respectively. What has changed is everything else, making their show feel like a blast from the past. That said, it was a welcome blast. Their sound may be firmly rooted in a different time, but their melodies and hooks are enduring-- not something I expect from a lot of today’s pop rock.