By Peter Maddern
If there was one sense that pervaded the former lead singer of Men at Work’s show last night it was a kind of melancholia. Somewhere amongst the heady days of 30 years or more ago, no one told Colin Hay that life would not always be like that and it seems that rather than longing for that high life which irks him.
We come to that conclusion through a wonderfully dry and amusing set of short anecdotes that focus closely on the Australia idiom; contortions of the language, that certain she’ll be right attitude that we bumble through and the oddity status we still have for immigrants. Even after being in Australia 47 years to the day, there remains in his Scottish roots a certain reservation and shrewd eye for those around him and a natural sense of rebellion.
Between, Hay, alone with his three guitars and a tartan jacket, dished up songs both old and new that certainly underpinned the resilience of his unique voice with its penetrating higher scales. Stripped back of their pop music candy floss, his songs all stood the test of time and revived fond memories for his audience.
And while a certain sadness was left to settle on his patrons, Hay never attempted to spread any blame, neither to those that challenged his signature song’s origins nor to the fates that have taken away some of those who rose to stardom with him.
This was a fine 90 minutes of entertainment and certainly Colin Hay is a survivor still very much on top of his game.
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