Last night my wife and I took some friends to see Colin Hay in NYC. He's the Scottish-Australian front man behind the early 80's band Men at Work. Although most people who heard of him only connect him to his Men at Work stuff, the music he has been playing in his solo career in recent years, which is mostly acoustic or gentle ballads, is terrific. He must have played Celtic music in pubs growing up- the flavor is there. I've read that Hay's hit song from the soundtrack of the movie Garden State, "I Just Don't Think I'll Get Over You" is John Mayer's favorite song. That, of course, helped him gain a following among the kids too young to have listened to Men at Work- but he needs no help among those of us who appreciate talent.
While he does not showcase any great technical feats on guitar, that may or may not be deliberate, it does not matter because his emphasis is on his singing--- moving from sweet and gentle to amazing clarity and strength while being controlled. I'm surprised he can sing that way, and more surprised he can still sing that way after so many years and at his age. His 80's stuff is like it always was: uniquely arranged so that the rich bass, the reggae-esque electric guitar, and gifter drummer converse various parts to make up the song, instead of all just playing at the same time- while his clean and powerful vocals grab your attention. He also told a few jokes and chatted with the audience.
The concert was at a trendzoidy, pretentious little place called The Canal Room. The good things were that the room was as small as a large living room, I was ten feet from Colin Hay without elbowing people, the sound system was perfect, and the staff at the place were very polite and attentive. The bad thing is that there were no chairs. It is, basically, a bar with no furniture- they even removed the barstools. But it was an opportunity to be up very close and to see and hear everything in great detail.
