Entertainment
Men At Work: The Australian Invasion’s Last Stand
by Dave Parsons
The sun was still hanging over the rolling hills of western Pennsylvania on July 24, 2025, when Colin Hay took the stage at 6:45 PM, and for a moment, it felt like 1982 all over again. There he was—still lanky, still slightly awkward, still possessed of that distinctive voice that once made Men at Work the most unlikely superstars of the MTV generation. But this wasn’t 1982, and these weren’t the Men at Work. This was something else entirely. It was a 72-year-old Scottish-born, Australian-raised, California-residing troubadour leading a band of musicians through a catalog that once conquered the world.
What followed was a masterclass in how to honor the past while acknowledging the present.
Let’s look at that past for a minute.
Born in Melbourne in 1979, Men at Work began as an acoustic duo between Colin Hay, a Scottish immigrant turned Australian troubadour, and guitarist Ron Strykert. Adding other musicians as their popularity grew, their roots were in reggae-tinged beats, melodic guitar hooks, and quirky storytelling. Their debut single climbed to No. 2 in Australia, opening doors for their debut album Business as Usual.
The eight-song, 50-minute set on this warm evening, opened with No Restrictions and included Dr. Heckyll & Mr. Jive, Can’t Take This Town, Down by the Sea, Overkill, It’s a Mistake, Who Can It Be Now?, Down Under, and closed with Be Good Johnny. It was a carefully curated journey through the Men at Work catalog that proved these songs, which were dismissed by critics in their heyday as novelty acts, have aged remarkably well.
The opening number, No Restrictions, immediately established that this wasn’t going to be a nostalgia cash grab. The song, from the band’s criminally underrated third album Two Hearts, showcased Hay’s evolved songwriting. His current bandmates brought a subtle Latin flavor to the arrangements that somehow made perfect sense. These weren’t session musicians going through the motions; they were believers.
Dr. Heckyll & Mr. Jive followed, and suddenly the evening took on a different dimension. This deep album cut has always been one of Men at Work’s most sophisticated songs. Hay’s vocal delivery was perfect. Then came Can’t Take This Town. The song was written during the height of Men at Work’s fame, when they were simultaneously the biggest band in the world and the most misunderstood, and now, the song plays like prophecy. Hay’s delivery was almost conversational, if he were sharing a secret with 15,000 of his closest friends!.
Down by the Sea provided the set’s most intimate moment. The song, which barely registered as a single in 1982, has found new life in Hay’s recent solo performances. Here, with the full band arrangement, it felt like an undiscovered classic. The crowd, many of whom were hearing it for the first time in decades, leaned in. This wasn’t just nostalgia but, by and large, discovery.
Everyone was waiting for the one-two punch that made Men at Work household names, and Hay knew it. Who Can It Be Now? arrived like an old friend with new stories to tell. The paranoid anthem of 1981 felt almost quaint in 2025. There was something comforting about its analog anxiety, its pre-digital paranoia. The crowd sang every word, even the saxophone parts.
The evening’s climax was inevitable as the opening flute melody notes of Down Under. The crown at The Pavilion at Star Lake morphed into one giant sing-along. But what struck longtime observers wasn’t just the crowd’s enthusiasm; it was how well the song has aged. Written as a celebration of Australian identity, it has somehow become a universal anthem of belonging, of finding your place in the world.
The set concluded with “Be Good Johnny,” a deep cut that has always been one of Men At Work’s most musically sophisticated compositions. The song’s complex time signatures and jazz-influenced chord progressions provided a showcase for the current band’s technical abilities while reminding the audience that Men At Work was always more than a singles band. Hay’s guitar work—often overshadowed by his vocals and Strykert’s contributions in the band’s heyday—was particularly impressive, demonstrating a player who has continued to grow and refine his craft.
As the final notes faded and Hay took his bow, the crowd’s response was enthusiastic but not frenzied. This wasn’t Beatlemania; it was something more mature, more considered. These were people who had grown up with these songs, who had carried them through decades of marriages and divorces, births and deaths, triumphs and disappointments. The songs had become part of their personal soundtracks, and seeing them performed with such care and respect was deeply satisfying.
Colin Hay’s 2025 revival of Men at Work succeeds because it understands something that many legacy acts miss: nostalgia alone is not enough. These songs work not because they remind us of 1982, but because they still have something to say in 2025. The anxiety of Who Can It Be Now? feels painfully modern. The paranoia of Overkill could have been written about social media. The celebration of identity in Down Under resonates in an era of global displacement and cultural confusion.
The short set flew by, leaving the audience wanting more. Men At Work was never about spectacle or excess. It was about craftsmanship, about the perfect marriage of melody and meaning, and that hasn’t changed. This was about more than just an opening set for Toto and Christopher Cross. It was a statement about the enduring power of great songwriting, about the way certain songs can transcend their original context and find new meaning in different eras.
In an era when legacy acts often feel like museum pieces, Men at Work’s 2025 incarnation offers something better. The presentation of timeless music, with a whole new generation of presenters. Hay has found a way to honor his past while continuing to move forward, to celebrate his greatest achievements while acknowledging that life doesn’t end at the first commercial peak.
The standing ovation that greeted the end of “Down Under” wasn’t just appreciation for a job well done. It was gratitude—gratitude for songs that have provided a soundtrack to countless lives, for an artist who has refused to treat his catalog as a fossil, for a performance that reminded everyone present why they fell in love with these songs in the first place.
Men At Work’s set at The Pavilion at Star Lake was, in its way, perfect. Not flawless—Hay’s voice showed its age, and some of the between-song banter felt rehearsed—but perfect in its understanding of what these songs mean and why they matter. And as long as Colin Hay can still stand on a stage and sing about coming from a land down under, those echoes will continue to find new ears, new hearts, new reasons to believe in the transformative power of a perfectly crafted three-minute song.
For 50 minutes in western Pennsylvania, Men at Work reminded us why music matters. That’s worth the price of admission to any show, anywhere, anytime.
Setlist: Men at Work (6:45 PM-July 24, 2025)
- No Restrictions
- Dr. Heckyll & Mr. Jive
- Can’t Take This Town (Colin Hay solo)
- Down by the Sea
- Overkill
- It’s a Mistake
- Who Can It Be Now?
- Down Under
- Be Good Johnny
