Man at Work

On Thursday night I went along to Glasgow’s only floating venue The Renfrew Ferry to see Colin Hay.

It’s been a while since I had been on the ferry and not only has it drifted to the other side of the Clyde but I was also surprised to see that it had been done up and it no longer resembled the car ferry the way it used to.

The stage orientation was also different, the benefit being that the upstairs section could view the stage as well. It’s all a far cry from the days of the Hideaway Blues Band some 17years ago. Ouch..

My last, more recent trip to the ferry taught me an important lesson. Double check the dates of the gig before going!.

I once turned up, and paid to get into the ferry to see Gillian Welch, and after sitting through half the life story of what I thought was a strange choice for a support act – “Howard Marks – Mr Nice” I asked the bar staff when Gillian Welch was on only to be told 'next week'.

I left the ferry £15 lighter.

Still, I managed to get the correct night for Colin Hay - the Scottish  / Australian songwriter now living in LA, who penned  ‘Land Down Under’ amongst others. His humour and banter with the audience proved he had lost none of his Scottish wit and it can even be found in his lyrics of many of his songs.

I thought the acoustic versions of his 80s hits worked really well and proved they were very good songs to begin with. His unique vocal style delivered a few favourites of mine - Just Dont think I will Ever Get Over You  ( from the movie Garden State) & Are You Lookin at Me?.

Really enjoyed the whole gig and found there was a great honesty in his songwriting. Hopefully he will find time in between his appearances in Scrubs  to visit Glasgow again, and next time he should bring some cds!.

Have a listen to the words in Are You Lookin at Me?