03/20/2005:
Kokusai Forum, Tokyo, Japan
Written by Rachel Lee, a fan from
Taipei, Taiwan
Reviewing the March 21, 2005 Our Kind
of Soul concert in Kokusai Forum, Tokyo, Japan
I’m a long-time H&O fan from Taiwan,
and I saw their concerts for the first time in 1989 when they came
to Taipei for the Ooh Yeah tour. I’ve been their fan since high
school, and now I’m 37. Due to duties as a mother and wife and for
my career, there was a time when I thought I’ve lost the
enthusiasm for music, i.e. for H&O. With the release of the Do It
for Love album, however, the passion for music was rekindled and
all the great memory for my youth days was brought back to me. I
want to thank H&O for all this.
Earlier this year, I learned it from
the web that these guys were having concerts in Japan, which is
about three hours flight from my country. I really wanted to see
them again, so I asked my cousin, who live in Tokyo, to buy the
tickets for me. I arranged a three-day trip to Tokyo, with my
husband and ten-year-old son, and I really think it’s worthwhile
as the concert turned out to be one of the most emotional moments
of my life.
The concert began with Maneater, and
both Daryl and John sounded, and of course looked, fabulous! (
It’s hard to believe that these guys are almost 60!) Then they
charmed the audience with a series of new songs and classic tunes,
with a great, super-professional band that interacted so well with
each other, and of course, with the fans. Many songs were rendered
like you’ve never heard them before, even for old-day classics
like Sara Smile and She’s Gone. I’ve been to H&O’s concerts twice
and I owned a lot of their live performance videotapes and DVDs.
But you can never get bored when you go to their concerts, because
they actually rearranged their songs every time! In the Mar 21
Tokyo concert, for example, Sara Smile was elaborated into a
longer version and faded out into another tune, Can’t Stop
Dreaming. That was really brilliant, as Daryl kind of performed it
in a dramatic way and the arrangement was really genius. I
remember that Daryl once said in an interview that their songs
“evolve” every time they play them.
I also noticed that Daryl danced a lot
more than before in this concert, especially when he sang those
old Philly classics. His voice was still the greatest gift of God
from heaven! He did a special cover version of Harry Nilsson’s
Without You for Japan’s fans, and his voice was really beyond
description. Maybe some people would think that H&O was doing an
effortless job with Our Kind of Soul as it is actually a cover
album, but for me it is really a landmark for their eventual
retrieval to their true origin, the real roots of their music. I
mean, some of their most successful albums, like Big Bam Boom, are
great, but they are not real H&O music. My personal opinion is
that the change is excellent news for fans who really take them
seriously.
In one word, the Tokyo concert was
great. It may not be like those 80’s big-gig concerts with tens of
thousands of audience, but it has a cozy, interactive atmosphere
in the medium-size venue, and, what’s most important, all the fans
there know one thing—we all like the music of Daryl and John.
Daryl Hall and John Oates
German Website
