Flashback to the '80s

All that jazz? Hall and Oates put a jazzy spin on their classic hits at AllenEvent Center

For many people, Hall and Oates epitomize the music of the late 1970s and early '80s. And there were more than a few of those among the 4,000 or so fans who packed Allen Event Center Monday night to see Daryl Hall, John Oates and their bandmates try to recapture the magic of that era.

Both members of the duo, at least from afar, appear to be defying age. Hall, resplendent in his leather jacket, dark sunglasses and long blond hair, and Oates, missing only what used to be his signature mustache, look almost exactly like you remember them from their music videos. Backed by a six-piece band and simple fabric backdrops, the set-up suggested this pair was more interested in music than fancy showmanship.

The crowd was more than appreciative of the chance to see them live, especially after things kicked off with arguably their biggest hit, "Maneater." However, if time hasn't touched the men themselves, it has been a tad unkind to some of their work. Although songs like "Kiss on My List," "She's Gone" and "Rich Girl" can still rightly be considered classics, other less familiar tunes seemed tethered to the years in which they were released. Not helping matters was a wonky sound mix that often left Hall muffled under the booming music.

Hall and Oates tend to stray a bit from the recorded versions of their songs, which is not surprising, considering they've been playing the same songs for more than three decades. Many were given a lounge-y, jazzy spin, indulging the whims of Hall and saxophonist Charles DeChant. The most egregious example was the finale of the regular set, "I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)," which was transformed from a svelte four minutes into a bloated extended remix, making it a song to be endured rather than enjoyed.

Although Hall and Oates have a catalog that easily can fill up several hours, they kept things short and sweet, singing 10 songs during the regular set and two songs in each of two encores. Ninety minutes after they started, the pair sent the crowd on their merry way, but not before finishing with one of their biggest hits, "Private Eyes." That rousing number all but erased any previous sound or performance issues.

At their best, Hall and Oates remain one of the most memorable pop duos in music history. Longevity has to count for something, right?

All Eyes on Them

Dallas alt hip-hop group wins prestigious Tiny Desk Contest by NPR

Cure for Paranoia

Cure for Paranoia/Facebook

As winners of the Tiny Desk Contest, Cure for Paranoia will record their own Tiny Desk concert and go on tour.

Few live recording studios or musical web series have the cultural sway of NPR's Tiny Desk, and a Dallas band is poised to make an impactful debut: Cure For Paranoia, an alternative hip-hop project by rapper Cameron McCloud and producers Tomahawk Jonez and Jay Analo, has won the high-stakes annual Tiny Desk Contest for 2026.

They'll record their official Tiny Desk show "soon," the announcement by NPR says.

Winning the concert also means Cure for Paranoia is going on tour. The only Texas stop will be at Emo's Austin on June 24.

Tiny Desk is known for platforming both niche and majorly successful artists — NPR posted a new Foo Fighters set on YouTube on May 13 — for stripped-down sets that are literally played behind former All Things Considered director Bob Boilen's old desk. (Fun fact for Texans: Tiny Desk was created because folk artist Laura Gibson was disappointed with the sound at her South by Southwest show in Austin in 2008, and she wanted a redo.)

Most artists who appear on Tiny Desk more than 15 years later are already well-known, at least in their specific circles. But the Tiny Desk Contest, which launched in 2015, helps a growing group of newer, unsigned artists get their foot in the door. Contestants record one video of them performing a single song behind a desk, and a jury of radio staff and musicians chooses their favorite.

In their audition video, Cure for Paranoia gathered 11 musicians around a truly tiny desk and in front of downtown Dallas' iconic gigantic eyeball sculpture. They played the song "No Brainer," a frenetic track that starts with clever boasts and becomes a criticism of racism in the United States.

McCloud, a pre-school teacher, is known independently of Cure for Paranoia for rapping to his social media following about politics and current events. Some of those lyrics made it into "No Brainer." He says he started the group because he found that music was more helpful than medication for coping with bipolar depression and paranoid schizophrenia.

Alex Marrero, host of the Austin-based KUTX show Horizontes, was one of the judges this year. He was impressed with the visuals in Cure for Paranoia's audition.

“When this popped up, I immediately felt something different," he wrote in a blurb for the announcement. "It just jumped out. The visuals were super cool and creative, BUT I could still totally envision them bringing the heat behind the Desk.”

Madison McFerrin, jazz vocalist and daughter of the famous singer Bobby McFerrin, was one of the musical judges.

"Cure For Paranoia’s energy is infectious, fresh and distinctly theirs — exactly what you want in a Contest winner!" she wrote.

McCloud's post on Instagram announcing the group's win has only been up for three hours at the time of this article's publication, and it already has more than 8,000 likes. The YouTube audition has garnered 74,000 views.

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