‘Still feels like the first time’: For Daryl Hall, some Hall and Oates songs never get old

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Success can bring its own challenges for a group like Hall and Oates, which notched an initial charttopper nearly four decades back. When boredom sets in on stage, however, Daryl Hall says there’s a simple solution.

“If I feel like we hit sort of a wall with a song, and we really don’t know what to do with it and we’ve been playing it the same way,” Hall says, “then I put it to bed for a while.”

Over the years, Hall and Oates have become known for their canny reinterpretations of their own catalog, and these updates to even the duo’s most recognizable music consistently make for new concert revelations.

“The songs evolve, and I’m lucky to have this band,” Hall says. “The ‘Live from Daryl’s House’ band is the same as the Hall and Oates band. So, these guys have been with me forever. We know each other intuitively, so we can just stretch the songs.”

Then, there are those chestnuts from Hall’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame career with John Oates that simply never get old, no matter their vintage.

“When I’m playing with John, there’s a couple of songs like ‘She’s Gone’ and ‘Sara Smile,’ I’ve played those songs I don’t know how many times — and it still feels like the first time,” Hall adds. “If you can make that happen, then it’s fantastic. And if you hit an impasse with it, you just put it to bed for a while.”

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