Back in May, I chaperoned a middle school field trip to Montreal. It was an exceedingly long day and somewhere around hour number 16 the acoustic Colin Hay version of Men at Work’s song “Overkill” got stuck in my brain. It seemed appropriate.
When I finally got home that night, close to midnight, the guy and I spent some time You-Tubing Colin Hay while sipping bourbons sours. As Saturday became Sunday, things began to improve and I finally felt removed from the smell of pre-teen feet, and the sound of pre-pubescent voices. I credit the guy, the music and the bourbon in fairly equal measures.
The very next week I saw that Colin Hay was coming to play in my very own pretty city. Unable to find anyone else willing or able to attend the show, I hesitated about buying a ticket solo until 97.7 WEXT offered some up with a pledge. I made a contribution and scored a single ticket – done.
In my heart, I was going with the express hope of hearing Colin sing “Overkill,” however I was a bit delayed in arriving at the show due to a different sort of overkill, namely of the wining and dining sort. You see, some friends and I met prior to the show to take advantage of both the pasta and wine specials offered at The Wine Bar and Bistro on Lark. And, we don’t like to do things halfway when it comes to terrific food and delicious wine…
So, I was about 15 minutes late in arriving at the show and, according to the ladies I spoke with later in the bathroom, Colin did “Overkill” prior to my arrival. Despite missing my one “must hear” song, I absolutely loved the show. Colin Hay is a very, very funny man and I spent as much time laughing at his banter as I did applauding his music. I was completely unfamiliar with every song he played but enjoyed each of them. I hadn’t been in the Swyer Theatre (the smaller of the two venues in The Egg) in a long time and had forgotten how good the sound is, so different from larger or outdoor venues.
Hay signed merch (there was a good assortment of cds, vinyl and such) and shook hands post-show and the line was impressively long. Maybe I’ll catch that song next time. It certainly wouldn’t be overkill to see Colin Hay again.
DelSo 