Who can it be now? Oh, it’s Colin Hay. In this solo performance the founding member of Men At Work warmly shares reflections on his career, his music and life in general. Waiting For My Real Life…takes the audience on a journey which leaves from a small town on the west coast of Scotland and leap frogs around the globe over nearly six decades. Hay’s skilful story telling is punctuated by his music and made all the more engaging by his great sense of humour.
He entered the stage to the South Australian Primary Schools Orchestra’s version of Land Down Under, which I felt set a sort of bench mark of charm for the rest of the show. It was like hanging out with your dorky Scottish uncle for an evening, except if your uncle had won a Grammy in the eighties, sold a few million albums, toured with one of The Beatles and performed at the Sydney Olympics opening ceremony.
There is a naturalness to the humour with which Hay delivers his anecdotes and he has a knack for capturing the absurdity of life, from encounters with gas station attendants, to Aussie mates on trams, to Ringo Starr goading him to “play that song about that place you’re not from”.
Hay was clearly comfortable in his skin and on stage and towards the end of the show he explained his motivation for returning there – after all he could make money in his sleep. He said performing made him feel useful, everyone needs to find their place in the universe and on stage was his.
The Playhouse was full of Hay fans, a few even offered a standing ovation. He played the obligatory Men At Work classics, offering a particularly poignant rendition of Who Can It Be Now? and some of his own songs, old and new. The show was nicely nostalgic and refreshingly honest. At one point Hay misplaced his guitar pick, only to have the audience remind him to look in the pocket of his discarded tartan jacket. I was surprised by how much I laughed throughout and how much I like Land Down Under. Thanks Colin Hay.
BY JO ROBIN
