PHOTOS BY RON BAILEY

Solomons, MD – The crowd at Calvert Marine Museum’s PNC Waterside Concert Series had a different vibe Friday, July 3.

A much younger and energetic audience was in Solomons for what proved to be an emphatic stroke over the fence and out of the ballpark as Colin Hay, the varied and frenzied Violent Femmes and Bare Naked Ladies played Southern Maryland.

Hay, former lead singer of the 1980s hit group Men at Work has toured for years now as a solo act and proved to Southern Maryland music fans how enduring music can be. As he churned through new and old selections, Hay’s voice was strong as ever, his songs rich and full of resounding portent. His opening set brought the capacity crowd of 4,500 to its feet.

“I’ve been having a great time,” Hay said as he signed autographs for a long line of fans afterward. “One more month to go.”

As part of the entourage’s Last Summer on Earth Tour, Hay posted on his web site that it has been a little bit crazy on the tour, which started in Ohio last month and will pretty much cover the continent before they’re through.

“I woke up and banged my head on the bunk above me,” he wrote. “I was dreaming that I was living on a tour bus for the next two months, opening up for a band called Violent Naked Ladies. I’m considering pizza for breakfast.”

People were jealous when they discovered we were going to see the Violent Femmes. While many came to see Bare Naked Ladies, just as many were there for the Femmes.

“I’m in line to see the Violent Femmes and I don’t care how long it takes,” gushed one fan, who ended up first in line when the group finished its set.

This legendary band celebrating 30 years of enthusiastic fans started off playing street corners of Milwaukee. After being rejected by a nightclub they ended up playing outside of a Pretenders concert where Chrissie Hynde heard them and asked them to open the show. Their first album became the first and only album in Billboard history to enter the charts platinum album eight years after its release.

An eclectic and varied mix of genres exhibited why the Femmes have such a dramatic following. More than a few fans showed up after having purchased the group’s new vinyl album, “Happy New Year,” and brought it to have signed after their set.

Their 1981 smash hit “Blister in the Sun” was somewhat misleading. When the Femmes rock, they go all out, smashing through everything from progressive to an old-timey hoedown. Fans responded with raucous enthusiasm.

The Bare Naked Ladies came to the stage without being announced or major fanfare, but everyone knew what was coming.

“This is my third BNL concert,” said Gina Bonsignore Lopez, a school counselor in St. Mary’s County Public Schools. “I’ve seen them in Buffalo, New York and at Allentown, Pennsylvania. I had never seen the Violent Femmes before. They were a pleasant surprise.

“A lot of younger fans only know Bare Naked Ladies from the theme song for the hit TV show Big Bang Theory, but they had eight albums before that,” she said, adding that “If I Had a Million Dollars” was among her favorites.

The band played both selections during the show.

BNL lead singer Ed Robinson said he had toured the Calvert Marine Museum earlier in the day and was amazed at the Megaladon, broke into spontaneous song to the tune of Barbara Ann. The crowd loved it.

“Apparently archeological 50s rock is huge in this area,” he quipped.

One thing Southern Maryland fans truly appreciate are performers who recognize where they are. In the past, icons such as Bob Dylan never even acknowledged the crowd when they performed, but BNL was no such critter. They established a very personal and intimate connection with the crowd, and Robinson joked that as he walked around Solomons earlier in the day, he saw a sign at Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic Church that someone had tampered with. It was supposed to say Birthday Kids or something of that nature, instead it read “Barf Kids.”

Robinson jumped on that and the group instantly made a jingle out of it, much to the delight of fans.

They also had sax player Blaze Garza of the Femmes and Colin Hay join them on stage for a rousing version of Men at Work’s “Who Can It Be Now?” The rain held off, and folks boogied into the night.

Contact Joseph Norris at joe.norris@thebaynet.com