‘A Keeper of the Flame’

Philly kid John Oates returns to the area with gigs in Pennsylvania and right here at Levoy Theatre.

In his yon teen years in the 1960s, John Oates did what any able-bodied Philadelphia area teenager did. He danced at Wagner’s Ballroom at Broad and Olney and Chez Vouz in Upper Darby to the rare R&B 45s spun by the late, great DJ Jerry Blavat. In some small measure those rarities helped define who he became as a musician, eight albums into a 25-year solo career. His latest is Oates.

“It’s a return to a groove rhythm section,” Oates says in an interview from his home in Aspen, where he rehearses for an upcoming tour that begins in the Upper Merion Township Building Park in King of Prussia on August 17. He also spends time in Nashville. “We’re getting back to pop sensibility. That kind of thing with a Philly R&B vibe.”

It’s a marked departure from Oates’ prior album, Reunion, an introspective acoustic work. To celebrate his solo career and the songs that made him a musician, the tour will lean on the early days of rock, soul, folk and R&B. After Valley Forge the next date is the Levoy in Millville. 

Oates doesn’t like to tour, he says. Running through airports? Sleeping in a bed not your own? Not his pleasure, thank you.

But he puts up with the annoyance because he gets a thrill being on stage with the audience eager to hear him perform.

“We like to play live but not to tour. So we do a few days at a time. I’m at my best when my performing voice is not worn out.” Levoy will be the second show of a six-pack through mid-fall. ”We’ll do more in mid-fall and into 2026.”

He brings the very loose Good Road Band, which can summon up different configurations depending on the songs. The five-piece band includes two guitars, a bass, drums and keyboards. But no horns. “We can always simulate horn parts.”

As a young child in the early 1950s, Oates’ life and influences parallel the evolution of American rock and roll, according to his website. Playing and singing from the age of five, he was born into a life of music. 

“I am old enough to remember music before rock and roll, so when it hit, I was aware that something new and groundbreaking had happened.”

Chuck Berry, Little Richard, the Everly Brothers, and Elvis laid the foundation, and the regional sounds of AM radio from labels like Stax, Volt, Specialty, Sun, and Chess were Oates’ sonic palette from which he drew inspiration.

In the early 1960s, when the folk revival swept the college campuses, Oates immersed himself in songs he heard from all the newly rediscovered artists—Mississippi John Hurt, Doc Watson, Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee—many with careers as far back as the 1920s at the beginning of phonograph recordings.

Living in Philadelphia at that time, Oates spent many a Saturday night at the fabled Uptown Theater to experience R&B greats like Sam & Dave, Otis Redding, the Temptations, Curtis Mayfield, and James Brown. These influences made Oates the musician he is—a keeper of the flame, an Americana amalgamation of all that he heard and all that has come before him, his website says.

His shows tend to go about 90 minutes these days. “We do the songs that made me want to play guitar and sing.” 

He does a pair of versions of “Walking in Memphis,” one straight ahead rock, the other a remix. “I showcase who I am,” he says.

Who I am speaks to the influences on his current life; he doesn’t bring up his past life until the interview winds down. Oates was half of one of the most celebrated duos in history—Hall & Oates. Among their awards: membership in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and The American Songwriters Hall of Fame. He’ll play a couple of numbers from those days, mostly to acknowledge an illustrious past, which included participating in the “We Are the World” sessions and the Live Aid concert.

IF YOU GO…
Singer-guitarist John Oates & the Good Road Band perform at Levoy Theatre on Wednesday, August 20
Showtime: 7 p.m.
Tickets: $56–$79. Tickets are available at Levoy.net or at the box office, 126 to 130 N. High Street, Millville.
For more information, visit levoy.net, email [email protected], or call 856-327-6400.
Website: johnoates.com