I have to say that I was shocked by the sold out crowd at the Madison Square Garden show last night for Hall & Oates, Squeeze and KT Tunstall. I would have bet that the venue would have been a third unsold with cheap tickets on the secondary market but I was wrong. I missed KT’’s very early and brief half hour set that ended at 730 PM and as quick as she left the stage Squeeze came on playing hit after hit in rapid succession to the delight of a very happy Friday night crowd. There was bad dancing in the seats everywhere but no one seemed to mind as the audience reveled in seeing a tight, really good line up playing the staples of WLIR radio back in the glory days of New Wave rock and roll. I had seen Squeeze a number of times and I vaguely remember seeing them open for Elvis Costello in their younger days. Standing ovations for an opening act are rare but Squeeze squeezed out a couple well deserved ones under Friday night lights.

Hall & Oates is the answer to the trivia question who had the most number one hits in the eighties. For those of us old enough to remember, the duo owned the radio air waves for many years and while the Rock and Roll Hall of Famers rarely get critical acclaim, there tunes have held up and have seemingly resonated with younger audiences in recent years much like Billy Joel has. If you sit still long enough what was old becomes new again. A somewhat giddy Darryl Hall with partner John Oates, who unsurpringly claims to have slept with a thousand women, seemed to revel in the Garden adulation as they ran through a seemingly endless number of radio friendly hits that the crowd sang along to frequently allowing Hall to jump in and around the choruses much to his and the fans’ delight. The sound was great, the seats were filled and everyone seemed to have gotten their monies worth. This tour continues through the summer. I attended the Hall & Oates/ Tears for Fears show at the open air Forest Hills Tennis Stadium a couple of years back and had a blast then also. For a fun, happy night out, grab your Hall & Oates Rock snd Soul CDs out for a spin, listen to East Side Story, and go see these acts out on the road at your local shed; you will not be disappointed.

Kool for Kats

Tempted?

Rock on!

GQ