Much to my surprise at the other DC Metblog authors, very few of them have admittedly visited the Birchmere for concerts. However, the groups and other artists that tend to float through their roster are either for an older set or are not usually mainstream music genres. But, the venue remains one of the few places in the area where you can take in bigger name genre acts in a more intimate setting, such as Lyle Lovett and others.
Last nights performance by former front-man of the 80’s band, Men At Work, Colin Hay expanded upon his all acoustic performance last year by bringing a full band with him, including his ever hyper and entertaining wife, Cecilia Noel. While obviously (and I do mean “obvious”) plugging the release of his new album, “Are You Looking At Me?“, the set lasted a full two hours, interspersing some of his previous band’s hits as well as a few of his own originals. While, I think “Overkill” was the highlight of the evening, the best resurrection of one of his better solo songs, “Looking For Jack” appeared just before the encore, much to the gasps of the audience, who haven’t heard it trotted out in a while (including last year’s stop). Overall, Colin’s performance was just as good, and just a bit less funny, than last years, with his very raspy but distinguished voice bringing just the right edge to his music (besides the lazy eye).
The opening act was “The Green Cards“, an appropriately titled band composing of one American guitarist, a Brit, and two Australian ex-patriots covering fiddle, mandolin and bass. The sound ranged from neo-adult contemporary ballads to a rather unique Australian take on bluegrass sounds. The instrumental pieces were much better than those interjected with vocals, but remained a pleasant intro to Colin and his band.
This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs
