INXS Brings Down the House at Sound Academy (Live Review)

By
Rachel Thorpe
– March 4, 2011Posted in: Music, News

Photo by Adrian Sousa

The lights go down and a metallic metronome beat picks up. Centre stage is INXS’s drummer Jon Farriss, swizzling his sticks in the glare of the spotlights. It’s a percussion number and the crowd whistles in appreciation. Next up is a lively rendition of “Suicide Blonde,” a brave choice given that in 1997 they lost their lead singer in what a coroner pronounced as a case of suicide.

I didn’t know that about INXS before last night. I didn’t know much, other than a few lines of their hit “Need You Tonight.” My boyfriend told me that they’d been popular in the eighties and that he’d bought their cassettes in the nineties. My sister told me that they’ve been back in vogue since Professor Green did a remix of “Need You Tonight.” Wikipedia told me that they had replaced their lead singer with the winner of a reality TV show, Rock Star: INXS.

Their new front man, J.D. Fortune, born in Mississauga, ON, was performing with them at the Sound Academy in Toronto. It was hard to gauge the crowd. There were those who have obviously been fans of INXS when they started, now ready to sing along loudly and sway with their eyes closed. There was the young crowd, complete with beanie hats and dreadlocks and keen for a good night out (which involved taking lots of photos of each other on their mobile phones). And there was the in-between crowd, standing alone in leather jackets, sipping J20s. One guy wore earplugs – neon earplugs, though. Sponsor Boom 97.3 hedged their bets with the warm-up music, playing Wham and Gary Newman music videos involving bewildering tambourine-based special effects.

Part of the brilliance of the gig was that INXS seemed able to bridge the generation gap – they got the young and the slightly older bopping along to the same beat. They played a long, energetic set: “The Stairs,” “Devil Inside,” “Mystify,” “Listen Like Thieves,” “Kiss the Dirt.” Then they played a newer song, “Afterglow,” followed by “Love Is (What I Say).” A three-man version of “Don’t Change” was performed without Fortune but brought the house down. The woman standing next to me cried in the dark while she listened.

The band members looked sharp with their silvery hair, wearing white shirts, black ties, and sunglasses. Fortune was good. He had a great rapport with the audience, but he sang most of the songs directly to his band members, looking into their eyes. He was only outshone by the drums and Kirk Pengilly’s saxophone solo.

“Mediate” was made even more hypnotic by the over-used projection technology and blinding, pulsing lights. It was also accompanied by a costume change as the band slipped into something more comfortable (involving a crash helmet and an exaggerated top hat).

“Pretty Vegas” was a success, which is the song Fortune wrote while on Rock Star; and while some were unsure about his tactics on the reality show, his song has been a hit. Then it was time for “Need You Tonight” and “Bitter Tears,” which both got everyone singing along. “Disappear” followed, then “Original Sin,” and some crooning from the back-up girls to liven up “New Sensation.”

They finished with “Never Tear Us Apart,” “Kick,” and “By My Side.” The encore was a Fortune-ful version of “Don’t Change.”

The band has changed since its inception in 1977, and so have their fans, but their music still rings true today. And alongside the old faithfuls, I took my INXS initiation, singing and bopping along with the best of them.

 

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About Rachel Thorpe

Rachel Thorpe loves to read. In June 2009 she graduated from the University of Cambridge (UK) with a BA in English. She also loves to write, and is an essayist, social commentator, playwright and sometimes poet. She is particularly interested in culture and the arts, religious concerns, and literature. Her work has been published by a number of organisations, including the BBC and the ROM. When she is not reading or writing (or wandering around bookshops), she works in an art gallery. You can read more of her work on her website at www.rachelthorpe.com