Best of the Year: Top 10 Concerts of 2021 by Mickey

Posted on 12/29/2021 by Mickey McCarter in Live Review and tagged Air Supply, Best of 2021, best of the year, Bleachers, CHVRCHES, City Winery, Colin Hay, Jungle, Midge Ure, Nation of Language, Songbyrd Music House, The Anthem, The Birchmere, The Ocean Blue, The Wants, Tokyo Police Club, Union Stage, Wolf Alice.

CHVRCHES delivered a top show of the year at The Anthem. (Photo by Katherine Gaines)

Parklife DC invites our staff to list their Top 10 concerts of every year. Although this was a different kind of year, our love of music remained strong, and we definitely caught our share of shows once pandemic lockdowns eased. Some homegrown shows began popping up indoors around May, and events really made a remarkable return by August. Although we live with additional requirements, such as vaccinations, to attend live shows, we happily rise to the moment to do what we love to do — experience live music.

Here are my Top 10 concerts of 2021.

Live Review: Colin Hay @ The Birchmere — 8/17/21

Posted on 08/23/2021 by Mickey McCarter in Live Review and tagged Colin Hay, folk, Men at Work, new wave, The Birchmere.

Colin Hay performs at The Birchmere on Aug. 17, 2021. (Photo by Mickey McCarter)

Colin Hay was in lockdown at home in California, searching for ways to pass the time like the rest of us. He concluded, as perhaps many others did, “I Just Don’t Know What to Do With Myself.”

Thankfully, the quick-witted Scotsman immediately connected the thought to a hit song of that title, written by Burt Bacharach and covered by Dusty Springfield in 1964. It was a song Colin loved from his youth, and he scoured his memories of his father’s record store in the ’50s and ’60s for other inspirational tunes. Colin recorded and released 10 of them as a covers album

So it turns out that Colin did in fact know what to do with himself, which was abundantly evident in a wonderfully engrossing show by the drily humorous veteran in the first of two nights at The Birchmere recently.

Preview: Colin Hay @ The Birchmere, 8/17 + 8/18/21

Posted on 08/06/2021 by Parklifer in Preview and tagged California, Colin Hay, folk, Los Angeles, The Birchmere.

Colin Hay (Photo by Paul Mobley)

Renowned globally as frontman in the Australian band Men at Work, Colin Hay has since proven himself as a solo artist. Today, Colin releases an album of covers — songs important to him — called I Just Don’t Know What to Do With Myself, recorded during pandemic lockdown.

Colin and his band visit The Birchmere to play some of those songs and others for two shows on Tuesday, Aug. 17, and Wednesday, Aug. 18.

Livestream Preview: Colin Hay Plays Men at Work @ Mandolin, 11/1/20

Posted on 10/28/2020 by Parklifer in Preview and tagged California, Colin Hay, livestream, Los Angeles, Mandolin, Men at Work, new wave.

Colin Hay (Photo by Sebastian Smith)

Singer-songwriter Colin Hay burst onto the global music scene as frontman for Aussies Men at Work. Colin revisits the greatest songs and other surprises of that remarkable band with his Los Angeles-based Men at Work Touring Band in a livestream show via Mandolin on Sunday, Nov. 1!

Music Park: Parklife DC Top 10 Concerts of 2017 by Mickey

Posted on 12/21/2017 by Mickey McCarter in Live Review and tagged 9:30 Club, Adam Ant, Alison Moyet, Black Cat, Book of Love, Capital One Arena, Colin Hay, Depeche Mode, disco, Duran Duran, Earth Wind & Fire, Emily Haines, folk, Gary Numan, industrial, MGM National Harbor, Modern English, new wave, post-punk, punk, punk cabaret, Rock and Roll Hotel, Saint Etienne, Sixth & I, sophistipop, Squeeze, synthpop, The Birchmere, The Dresden Dolls, The Lincoln Theatre, The Regrettes, top 10, U Street Music Hall, Yelle.

Martin Gore performs with Depeche Mode at Capital One Arena on Sept. 7, 2017. (Photo by Ben Eisendrath /Instagram+Twitter: ConspiracyCaptures/GrillworksBen)

The year 2017 was a good year for revisiting old friends as they returned to remind us that they truly still “got it.” In the past year, Parklife DC reviewed a great deal of musicians and bands, and the performances that really distinguished themselves often came as something of a pleasant surprise.

Music Park: Colin Hay @ The Birchmere — 3/13/17

Posted on 03/17/2017 by Mickey McCarter in Live Review and tagged Australia, Colin Hay, folk, Los Angeles, Men at Work, new wave, reggae.

Colin Hay performs at The Birchmere on March 13, 2017. (Photo by Mickey McCarter)

Colin Hay admittedly by no stretch has had a tragic life, as he readily confessed Monday night in the second of two sold-out shows at The Birchmere. Still, as the evening progressed, it was clear that Colin, always humorously introspective, was haunted by ghosts.

Don’t Miss: Careless Memories @ Dodge City, 3/9/17

Posted on 03/02/2017 by Mickey McCarter in Live Review and tagged Australia, Careless Memories, Colin Hay, dj party, Dodge City, Men at Work, new wave.

Sydney Opera House (Photo by Lenny K Photography)

Parklife DC returns to Dodge City (917 U St. NW, DC) on Thursday, March 9, to serve up an evening of new wave music, this time with some Aussie flair.

Don’t Miss: Colin Hay @ Birchmere, 3/13/17

Posted on 02/03/2017 by Mickey McCarter in Live Review and tagged Americana, Australia, Colin Hay, folk, Men at Work, new wave.

Colin Hay (Photo by Sebastian Smith)

Colin Hay, the distinctive baritone voice behind Men at Work, has been solo for a long while now. The prolific singer-songwriter is about to release his 13th solo album, Fierce Mercy, on March 3 via Compass Records. Leading up to that, he will set upon a tour that includes two stops at The Birchmere Music Hall on Sunday, March 12, and Monday, March 13. (The Sunday date is already sold out.)