Sunday, August 11, 2002

Hall & Oates and Todd Rundgren, hitmakers of a generation ago, kicked off their "Rock 'n' Soul Tour 2002" Friday night at Hersheypark's Star Pavilion.

Given that it was opening night, an uneven performance would not be a surprise. The surprise was that Daryl Hall and John Oates threw back the clock to their 1980s heyday and proved to be as sharp as ever.

Rundgren, to be diplomatic, did not have his A game, but managed to occasionally raise the bar during his 45-minute set, particularly with some of his better known work.

With a smoking band behind them, headliners Hall & Oates deftly sampled from their massive archives while also showing off some new material for a dynamic two-hour show.

From the opening "Adult Education" through a combined encore with Rundgren, Hall was in fine voice and spirits with Oates, as always, providing his solid, quiet support.

"Out of Touch" and "Say It Isn't So" sounded crisp as did their new single, "Do It For Love," which has been climbing the adult contemporary radio charts this summer.

On classics like "She's Gone" and "One On One" Hall easily hit the famed falsetto parts and proved he still has a wide vocal range.

Oates shined throughout especially while showing off the funk-a-licious single, "Color of Love," from his first ever solo album, "Phunk Shui," due out Aug. 20.

"Everytime You Go Away," written by Hall, but a mega-hit for Paul Young, soared across the pavilion with scintillating guitar and sax solos and Hall bending the words and notes to their limits.

It was nearly an hour into the show before Hall got behind the keyboard, but worth the wait for "Sara Smile" which segued nicely into "I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)."

"Maneater," with its familiar echoing sax part, ended the main set, but Hall, Oates and Rundgren returned for a dueling hits encore -- Rundgren's "Can We Still Be Friends," Hall & Oates' "Rich Girl," Rundgren's "I Saw The Light" and Hall & Oates' "Kiss on My List."

Rundgren opened the evening alone on guitar for what he called some "getting seated music," acoustic, sometimes stumbling versions of "Love Of The Common Man," "Hammer In My Heart" and "Clich."

His serviceable band joined him to "hot it up a little bit," while in reality they delivered lukewarm takes on "Hit Me Like A Train," "I'm Looking At You But I'm Talking To Myself" and "Buffalo Grass."

Rundgren's eclectic, some would say weird, body of work has earned him a fiercely loyal following and he managed to entertain the rest of us with "Hello It's Me" and "Love Is The Answer."

There was a nostalgic feel to this show -- few tunes were less than 20 years old -- but Hall & Oates were as good as they can be. With ticket prices approaching $50, hopefully they can maintain that standard for the rest of the tour, and that Rundgren will find his concert legs somewhere down the road.