When I arrived at the Aladdin Theater to see Colin Hay, I was not prepared for the show I ended up getting. My experiences with Hay’s music have been contained mostly to his mellower, acoustic work and his time spent with Men at Work. This show proved to be a lot more rocking than I had anticipated.
Hay is currently touring in support of his forthcoming album, American Sunshine. Partially recorded in Nashville, the album boasts some strong country/bluegrass influences and Hay’s trademark vocals - smooth, rich and a tad bit nasally.
While Hay is still making good music and his performance enjoyable, there was something tedious about the whole thing. Toward the end, people could be seen checking their watches and inching off to the exit. This could have been because of the high pitched screeching coming from a gaggle of drunken women down in front, who were wearing dangerously thin on pretty much everyone’s nerves, but a wandering, jam band style rendition of “Down Under” certainly didn’t help either.
The biggest distraction of the evening though, was Hay’s wife, who sang backup vocals and danced on stage throughout most of the show. Her singing wasn’t too bad, but her dancing could be likened to that of a mentally challenged bird having a seizure. It was hard to focus on Hay’s performance when she was cavorting around stage, making silly faces at him while he played. The distractions and poor excuse for dancing made the show nearly unwatchable.
Hay and his band did a very nice job of playing a decent rock show, but suffered with an audience that was loud and obnoxious at all the wrong times. I’d like to give them the benefit of the doubt and just blame it on the venue and some of the people in attendance, but maybe that’s just how their shows always are. Hay certainly didn’t seem too fazed by it.
I really wanted to fall in love with this show, but there were just too many things that went wrong to make it a very good impression. While Hay is still an amazing musician, his overall performance is somewhat lackluster. After the first couple songs, the whole things get a little old. He would be better served by sticking with his more mellow work and playing an acoustic set. Getting a proper back up dancer who won’t steal the spotlight might not hurt either.
DOWNLOAD: Colin Hay - I Wish I Was Still Drinking (MP3) or Follow us for more Colin Hay MP3s (Twitter)
This comment stream is so meta. Great review Kelly.
by chris on Tue Mar 16, 2010 at 07.50 pm from the entry: Flying Lotus - "Cosmogramma" - Buy It
no prob. The whole album is excellent, combining some of the harder sonics of Los Angeles with the meat of his debut and obviously difficult to summarize in only 50 words… 
I’d say it’s on par with the debut, but better than Los Angeles.
by kelly on Tue Mar 16, 2010 at 06.23 pm from the entry: Flying Lotus - "Cosmogramma" - Buy It
By the way, I really liked the mp3 posted. Thanks.
by Joshua H on Tue Mar 16, 2010 at 06.17 pm from the entry: Flying Lotus - "Cosmogramma" - Buy It
WHO WROTE THIS...PUKE ! “WHO WROTE THIS...PUKE ! “Picture yourself coasting your bike past space funk palm trees, homeless harpists, vintage video arcades, electronic drum circles, and 60s psychedelic singers who’re waiting for the bus. Cosmogramma is kinda like that if someone suddenly tripped you just as you’re starting to enjoy the ride. But in a good way.””
by Joshua H on Tue Mar 16, 2010 at 06.17 pm from the entry: Flying Lotus - "Cosmogramma" - Buy It
you’ll notice the author’s name under title.
by kelly on Tue Mar 16, 2010 at 06.11 pm from the entry: Flying Lotus - "Cosmogramma" - Buy It
WHO WROTE THIS...PUKE ! “Picture yourself coasting your bike past space funk palm trees, homeless harpists, vintage video arcades, electronic drum circles, and 60s psychedelic singers who’re waiting for the bus. Cosmogramma is kinda like that if someone suddenly tripped you just as you’re starting to enjoy the ride. But in a good way.”
by HKD on Tue Mar 16, 2010 at 06.10 pm from the entry: Flying Lotus - "Cosmogramma" - Buy It
i saw them open for the Cave Singers, not very original, the crowd was not into it either, frankly i think they suck
by rigamarole on Tue Mar 16, 2010 at 11.30 am from the entry: The Dutchess & The Duke Tour Dates, Y'all
