Live from Daryl’s House with Daryl Hall and Sharon Jones | Concert preview

Daryl Hall

Photo: Mark Maglio

As solo John Oates has proven, a Hall and Oates ditty reconfigured as a blues workout is a pizza with no cheese. The blue-eyed soul boys have enjoyed renewed popularity, both ironic and sincere, for their string of ’80s blockbusters. Even that rapper from Gym Class Heroes has the duo tattooed on his hands.

Of course, Hall and Oates have taken the nostalgia as a cue that we want to hear their new bluesy side. We don’t. We loved the Blond and the Mustache for being pop craftsmen and pop characters, not for their chops.

Hall, 65, at least remembers that he is a character. This tour re-creates the come-over-and-jam vibe of his popular show, Live from Daryl’s House, which has grown from podcast to syndicated television. In each episode, a guest, often a young disciple like Chromeo or Mayer Hawthorne, drops by Hall’s wood-paneled country home up the Hudson River. In this live edition, soul mama Sharon Jones sits in, along with nerdy Hall acolyte Allen Stone.

Hall’s slick session players kill a bit of the joy. And you wish Hall could come to terms with the fact that synth-pop is his forte. But all parties involved get that there is a goofy pleasure in hanging out with a has-been hit maker. Hall understands that this is entertainment. Which is why in this live episode you get a video segment on how to make a cheesesteak from Philly chef Tony Luke. See, he remembers the cheese.