Colin Hay to Appear at The Colonial, 5/5

Colin Hay, the prolific solo artist best known as the lead singer for the platinum selling Australian band, Men at Work, will appear at the Colonial on May 5 at 8pm to serenade the audience with his musical talent and entertain them with his one of a kind stories.

Tickets to Colin Hay are $20-$40. Tickets may be purchased in person at The Colonial Theatre Ticket Office at 111 South Street Pittsfield, MA 01201 or by calling (413) 997-4444 or online at www.BerkshireTheatreGroup.org. The Ticket Office is open Monday-Friday 10am–5pm, Saturdays 10am–2pm or on any performance day from 10am until intermission.

While his voice and visage are still familiar to millions from his tenure as frontman, principal songwriter, and lead vocalist of pop sensation Men at Work (“Down Under,” “Overkill,” “Who Can It Be Now?”), the past 10 years have found Hay quietly re-introducing himself to new generations of fans. The frequent use of his music on soundtracks – including the hit television show Scrubs (on which he has also had several cameos) and the sleeper-hit soundtrack to the film Garden State – has proven the timeless appeal of his songs’ personae: quizzical, curious, cynical yet open-hearted, press notes state.

Hay began his musical career with Ron Strykert, Jerry Speiser, Greg Ham and John Rees as Men at Work. Men at Work built up a strong local following and got signed by CBS Australia. Their first album, Business as Usual, released in 1981, went five times platinum within the first year, won a Grammy, topped charts all over the world and ultimately sold more than 10 million copies. Their second album, Cargo, went gold and moved five million copies, but inner disputes put an end to the original line up. Men at Work’s final album in 1985 was Two Hearts. From 1996 to 2002, Hay reunited with Greg Ham to tour as Men at Work yet again. They played to an estimated audience of 2 billion viewers during the closing ceremony of the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.

Since 1989 Hay has recorded 11 solo albums. The music on his latest album, the album created around the time of his father’s death, Gathering Mercury, are deeply affecting. Hay commented, “It’s not a conscious thing and may have to do with the Scottish mentality. We deal with darkness by shining a light on it. It doesn’t diminish the charge of the feeling, it just makes it easier to deal with.” Hay was originally born in Scotland and immigrated to Australia. The tunes on Gathering Mercury are deeply affecting, but never maudlin. Despite the often-serious subject matter, they’re full of optimism. “It’s not a conscious thing and may have to do with the Scottish mentality. We deal with darkness by shining a light on it.”

Hay was invited in May to interview and perform on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, and was interviewed at length on CNN. He also performed exclusively for Rolling Stone Live, and was interviewed via video for Popmatters.

Hay’s solo shows intersperse classic and new songs with hilarious, poignant, and downright surreal stories drawn from his often unbelievable experiences over the past three decades.

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