State Fair Grandstand review: Daryl Hall and the Rascals offer a sweet night of soul to a state in need

Everyone really demands chosen love right now Those were the words of Daryl Hall as he addressed a relatively slight audience of at the Minnesota State Fair Grandstand He knew that he had arrived in a state that s in a lot of pain after Wednesday s shooting at a Minneapolis church So he and his six-piece backing band set out to deliver a set full of sweetness their bouncy pop built on foundations of funky grooves and the kind of catchy choruses ideal for communal sing-alongs Add an inspiring opening set from the Rascals a vintage rhythm-and-blues-based band whose heyday preceded that of Hall and his former partner John Oates by about years and you have an uplifting show an evening of sonic salve that deserved a considerably more substantial audience Hall and his band stepped in on short notice when the Steve Miller Band canceled its Grandstand show but it was the audience s good fortune that the original warmup act the Rascals stayed on the bill The lone original Rascal was the band s principal singer and co-songwriter keyboardist Felix Cavaliere It was he who set the tone for the evening by addressing the local population s sorrow before his band played a note offering consolation in words and in a touching choice for an opening song A Ray of Hope which Cavaliere and co-Rascal Eddie Brigati wrote to encourage equality advocates disheartened by the killing of Martin Luther King Jr At age Cavaliere still has his distinctive rough-edged tenor which may not still hit all the notes but the eight-piece band including three horns did remarkable justice to such soulful fare as Groovin People Got to Be Free and an exhilarating finale of Good Lovin And the -year-old Hall proved a fine fit to follow them to the stage as he was a product of the Philadelphia R B scene Sure his tenor voice can t soar as high and clearly as it once did but Hall worked around it by allowing his bandmates to sing the choruses of familiar Hall and Oates tunes while he wound improvisations around them a tactic from the gospel tradition There was a string of Hall and Oates chart toppers from the early s Maneater Kiss on My List Private Eyes Rich Girl and an extended pre-encore jam on I Can t Go for That but Hall s passion really emerged on a pair of songs from his solo albums Walking in Between Raindrops and an homage to the music of his youth I m in a Philly Mood which he introduced by favorably comparing Philadelphia and Minneapolis as cities that have each produced a unique R B sound Rob Hubbard can be reached at wordhub yahoo com