By Veda Jo Jenkins | Live Shows | October 27, 2011
John Oates performs a solo set at the Bamboo Room. (Howie Grapek / GPO)
“You Make My Dreams” come true – referring to the popular Hall and Oates tune from the ’80’s can go both ways. For John Oates, he’s still living his dream of performing and for those in the audience it was a chance to meet the man behind the words. We both had our dream come true.
When John Oates walked onto the stage at the Bamboo Room in Lake Worth you could feel the excitement. What a thrill to be two feet away from a Grammy-nominated legend.
For two hours Oates sat up front playing his acoustic guitar, telling the history of his songs, laughing and joking. He talked with the crowd like we were his friends, as if we were kicking back on a long hot summer day reminiscing about the past. It’s his past that makes this show a success.
Photos: John Oates at the Bamboo Room | Visit this writer’s website
John Oates is onto something. His latest CD, Mississippi Mile , takes the audience on a journey of the evolution of music as Oates experienced it growing up. Opening his heart and his personal feelings, Oates vulnerability shines through his remakes of classical hits from major artists who greatly influenced the music industry.
This is not an easy task. Oates jumps from a ragtime version of “He’s a Friend of Mine” attributing it to Dave Von Ronk, to The Coasters’ “Searchin’ and a deeply resonant seductive version of Curtis Mayfield’s “It’s All Right” that had the crowd singing and clapping along.
This is no small task. Oates not only plays the guitar, he showed that his range of musical genres fall anywhere and everywhere between ragtime, bluegrass, rock-n-roll and R&B. Oates is not only a musician with strong vocals but an entertainer and showman as well.
“This is going to be an interactive show,” Oates told the audience, but most people were tongue-tied and just thrilled to be sitting this close to John Oates.
Oates’ storytelling style of how he chose certain songs as well as a little history of the original artists made me feel privy to learn this much about a man who for many years seemed impossible to touch.
Starting off the night, Oates opened with “Lady Rain” and “Had I Known You Better Then”. For the latter, Oates shared his inspiration for the lyrics that was just a happenstance glance from a woman on a bus.
“That’s how things happen. Just for a minute. That’s how musicians get their lyrics.” Oates explained, and from there the tone was set.
He moved into his love and admiration for John Denver — they are both from Aspen, Colo. and had been friends since 1968. In a way the two are very similar, and to pay tribute to Denver, Oates sang “Leaving on a Jet Plane”. I had a secret crush on both Oates and Denver growing up and listening to Denver’s music inspired me to move to Colorado.
Oates the moved into his latest production. Mississippi Mile . It is a “musical autobiography. It’s all the stuff I grew up (on),” Oates told us. “I pick and choose stuff that turns me on.”
John Oates meets fans Kevin and Kevin McKinley -- yes, both named Kevin -- after the Bamboo Room show. (Veda Jo Jenkins / sflimages.com)
Oates also shared how his first instrument was actually a little red accordion. “In Pennsylvania the only music teacher was an accordion teacher. I told her I want to play the guitar like Elvis.” Laughing, Oates continued, “Little did I know Elvis wasn’t playing the guitar!” But hey what does a 6-year-old know.
So while Mississippi Mile is a montage of musical history, seeing John Oates live also makes one nostalgic. The man has so much depth that was never apparent on the outside when he was part of the pop duo of Hall and Oates. Seeing John Oates alone and not part of his famous duo was like a window to the soul behind the man.
Not to take anything away from what Hall and Oates accomplished, but for me Oates never stood out as the front man, but here Oates showed he can carry a show all by himself. Well with a little help from his band!
There was some mix ups with song selections, and comments from Oates like “It sucks getting old and now that we went off the set list… the band is mutinying on me,” but no one seemed to notice or care. The band’s carefree and easygoing nature along with the teasing of Oates by band members just reinforced the feeling of the show: closeness, laughter, tenderness, and passion pouring out from the heart onto the strings of his guitar.
From everyone I talked to after the show no one was disappointed. I just have to say that the Bamboo Room is such a great venue. It’s big enough to attract big acts but small enough that everyone sees, feels and is part of the musical performance on stage.
Source:
No comments:
Post a Comment