Darren Hayes Live @ Canal Room, New York City

Darren Hayes is not the man he used to be. After the intense soul-searching on "The Tension & The Spark," he stepped out into the light, came out as a gay man, got married and is dealing with his traumatic past in a positive way.  And I'm glad. Rather then having him miserable making great music, I prefer to have him happy making great music.

Last night, Darren performed an intimate gig at Manhattan's Canal Room that was the formal start of his U.S. tour that will prepare fans for the release of his double album in August.

Darren's performance of old and new songs was simply splendid. There is really no other way to put it. He glowed in the dark (and not just because of that shiny white suit), sounded fantastic vocally and skillfully recreated much of the sophisticated studio production on stage together with three other musicians, including Justin Shave who produced most of his upcoming new album. And on top of that, he was a gifted showman providing brief commentary with some of his songs, quiping with band members and joking around. I had no idea he was so witty.

A hilarious moment came when he shouted out to the audience, "I know that everybody in the audience is gay!" He then even took a stab at Mika, saying is "Is Mika gay yet?" He laughed and then added, "I'm the new Mika and Mika is the new me." You can interpret that any way you like.

The Monarch of Electro Pop performed a bunch of new songs that I recently reviewed including the single "Step Into The Light, "Who Would Have Thought," "On The Verge Of Something Wonderful" and the contemporary disco stomper "Me, Myself and (i)."

He also played "How To Build A Time Machine," a pivotal track on his new record that he introduced with a very personal note. He confided that up until a couple of years ago he focused on the negative. Now that he has "peace in his heart," it is easier to look back at the past and forgive his father for his difficult childhood. He added that even speaking about it so publicly helps him to come to terms with it. It made for an intensely personal moment that made the song that followed even more authentic and truthful.

Darren frequently borrowed from other artists to spice up his set. A clever move to keep things exciting for people that have had his music on repeated play. He included Falco's "Rock Me Amadeus" as part of "Carry On Dancing" and also covered Prince's "Baby, I'm A Star" with some lines of "Pop!ular," which turned out to be a great combo.

He also pleased the crowd with Savage Garden classics, including "I Don't Know You Anymore" and a complete revamp of "I Want You" that he sung entirely through a vocoder which made it sounds very robotic.

Brilliant was a lo-fi version of "The Tension & The Spark" that gave the song a whole new meaning. One of the biggest surprises came during the finale when Darren Hayes returned for a one song encore and performed a song called "Void" that includes Bjork's "All Is Full Of Love."

(Note: I also had the pleasure of meeting Darren after his gig in his dressing room, which was really great. A big thank you to Brad, Leslie and Fallon for making it happen. Thanks for the compliment, Darren!)