The mostly middle-aged crowd shuffled into the Bryce Jordan Center last night to the sounds of quiet, gentle rock while soft-colored stage lights served as the backdrop.

But when the middle-aged Hall & Oates took the stage, those expecting a quiet, gentle rock show got rocked.

The platinum record-making Philadelphia rock-and-soul duo never let the audience down, constantly flowing from hit to hit seamlessly. With the accompaniment of a string section, which Daryl Hall called "a new addition to our band -- a welcome addition," even the band's most recognizable songs got a fresh treatment.

With the BJC in an intimate side-stage setup, it felt more like a small theatre than a big basketball arena. But any time a band can make the back row feel like the front row, it's doing its job. That's exactly what Hall & Oates did.

The band opened with "Maneater," getting the audience's rocks off immediately. With the help of dueling solos by the new string quartet and Charlie "Mr. Casual" DeChant on saxophone, Hall's jazzy soaring vocals and John Oates' falsetto harmonies carried the energy throughout the show.

After about 45 minutes on stage, the band went into overdrive. Each song flowed into the next without a break in between. Playing in front of the Philadelphia skyline projected behind them, the players left no hit unturned. Beginning with the duo's first hit, "She's Gone," the band churned through a stripped-down "Wait for Me," "Sara Smile," "I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)," and finally finishing the main set with crowd-thrilling performances of "Rich Girl" and "You Make My Dreams."

Once the band got into its groove, it got the crowd singing and clapping along to every song -- no small feat for a band whose prime was 20 years ago. And as though the audience wasn't satisfied enough, the old

heads came out for a double dose of two-song encores, covering "You've Lost That Loving Feeling" and squeezing in "Out of Touch," "Kiss On My List" and "Private Eyes" before the night was over.

Despite the wide array of hits, Hall & Oates weren't afraid to mix in some of their lesser-known songs to please the diehard fans.

The concert was an interesting change of pace for the BJC, as for once, the orange-clad security guards could take a load off and have a seat. That theme lasted all night until Hall invited fans to rush the stage as he and Oates danced. The guys have aged well, keeping all their hair, keeping all their style and keeping all their musical chops. The only thing they haven't kept is Oates' once-in-a-generation mustache.

Even after non-stop rocking and two encores, the band left it all out on the stage, finishing with a behind-the-head guitar solo by guitarist Tom "T-Bone" Wolk and some vocal mastery by Hall. The band pleased everyone in the crowd, over-the-hill and '80s enthusiasts alike.

Kerry Wells (graduate-engineering science), dressed festively for the occasion, said the night was a great excuse for a throwback look.

"We're at a Hall & Oates concert and therefore we wear '80s clothes," Wells said before singing along fervently to "You've Lost That Loving Feeling."