I'm not entirely embarrassed to admit that Hall & Oates greatest hits was the first CD I ever bought.

First of all, I was only 13 years old, and of course, I had plenty of records and tapes from bands like Madness, Duran Duran and Michael Jackson. To this day, I still have a soft spot in my heart for Hall & Oates, actually, even if it's amplified primarily by my appreciation of kitsch, hilarious mustaches and the '80s music I grew up on.

I even dressed up as John Oates for Halloween two years ago. But kidding aside, I still like these guys, and I circled today's date when I found out they'd be playing Summerfest at the M&I Classic Rock Stage.

Apparently, I wasn't alone.

Though it pains me to think that music I listened to as a kid is either considered classic rock, or worse, oldies, there's a reason this duo sold a zillion records and charted 34 singles. Their blue-eyed soul, or "rock and soul," sounds a little dated, sure, but it's also comforting in a way.

I had no doubts, really, but Wednesday night, Daryl Hall & a mustachless John Oates did what they did best. And the crowd – easily the biggest I've seen at this stage – ate it up.

The duo from Philadelphia played all the hits one would expect, opening with songs you'd know like "Maneater." They sailed through their library of tunes like "Out of Touch," "Say It Isn't So," "Adult Education" and "She's Gone" with perfect clarity. The show actually got better as it went along – it felt a little "soft rock" at first but hit its stride with the last five or so songs.

Hall, who's voice sounded better live than it did on records, told the younger than I expected crowd, "We haven't been here in a long time, at least 10 years."

Maybe so, but I can't imagine they sounded better then, either. My only beef was some of the more droning songs, like "I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)" included long, drawn out jams that just don't work in 2011.

Hall & Oates turned it up for two encores, the first with a soulful version of "Rich Girl" and "You Make My Dreams," and then "Kiss On My List" and "Private Eyes." It's funny just how many Hall & Oates songs you'd know as a casual listener. Even the ones I didn't know felt strangely familiar.

Not surprisingly, this huge audience was into the show, too. Mind you, we were far away, where sincere fans mingled with hipsters, some even dressed like the duo on stage. But as we weaved closer, we found fans rapt in attention, singing and clapping along.

This is a band that got together in 1967 and never really broke up, even if their best material is now pushing 25 years and older.

Still, the harmonic hooks and melodies sound plenty good, and there's nothing wrong with stepping back to a time when "top 40" wasn't a phrase so snickered at. Hall & Oates sounded dated, to be sure. But Hall really sold it.

Judging by the thousands of 30, 40 and 50-somethings singing along tonight, it seems that Milwaukee agrees.