Date: Fri 26-Sep-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: SHANNO

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concert-INXS-Oakdale-Hutchence

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(rev INXS concert @Oakdale, 9/26/97)

Concert Review-

Always A Kick, INXS Returns

(with photo)

BY SHANNON HICKS

WALLINGFORD - It had been a long time for fans of the Australian band INXS

since the last time the sextet had performed in Connecticut. That may

attribute to the fairly low turnout last Monday night when the band performed

at the Oakdale Theatre - people probably got tired of waiting and started

listening to someone else's music. But for those who did turn out, the concert

was as much an event as any INXS concert has ever been.

Which means a lot of good music, bright lights and a solid group performance.

Michael Hutchence's distinct vocals, and the guitar work by Tim Farriss' that

has always been a driving force. This is, after all, a band that has been

performing with the same lineup since its inception. The band celebrated its

twentieth anniversary this year, on the same day the world observed the

corresponding anniversary of Elvis' death.

INXS formed while all its members were still in high school. Two decades

later, Michael Hutchence, Garry Gary Beers, Kirk Pengilly and the brothers

Farriss - Tim, Andrew and Jon - have released ten albums, conquering America

with the release of Listen Like Thieves , the band's fifth album (its third US

release), in 1985.

With very few live performances in the US for album #9, Welcome To Wherever

You Are , the April 1997 release of Elegantly Wasted , the band's tenth (and

first on the Mercury label), was a welcome infusion of 12 new songs by the

same performers. It also meant renewed hope for fans who were still waiting

for the band to tour again, something the band was able to respond to this

year.

Michael Hutchence, the band's lead singer, has never stood still very long

during any of INXS' concerts. Hutchence sashays, he curls himself around the

mike stand, he rolls and wiggles on the stage, all with the grace of a sleek

panther. His moves have been described as catlike in the past, and when

watching him perform there is something decidedly slinky and feline about him.

Monday night he was enjoying not only himself but the audience. A few people

were even invited up onto the stage (a few others managed to get up there as

well, climbing right up the front of the low-set stage). A number of times,

Hutchence planted himself on the edge of the stage - no more than 15 inches

from the seats of the theatre's front row - and shook hands with a lot of

people while performing. The setting made for one of the most informal

concerts in years.

And thank God for cordless mikes. A couple of times, Hutchence left the stage

completely, running around the theatre. When one song ended and another one

started up, as was the case between the performances of "Mystify" and "Heaven

Sent," the audience was left to guess where Hutchence would turn up next. One

minute he was running around the ground floor of the theatre, the next he

appeared on the uppermost balcony of the theatre, yelling "Hey everybody, can

you see me now?"

One of the best parts of an INXS concert is how close the songs sound to what

listeners hear on albums, and how consistent, but slightly changing, the

band's sound remains. The band doesn't play note-for-note, of course, but very

close.

The basic cuts for Elegantly Wasted , the band's latest album were laid down

in eight days in a Vancouver studio. When it came time for the album to be

recorded, much of the work was already done. According to sax player/guitarist

Kirk Pengilly, the band even used "quite a bit of stuff off the demos."

Elegantly Wasted is comprised of a lot of first-takes, including some vocal

tracks recorded right in Michael Hutchence's bedroom.

A number of the band's new songs were performed Monday night, including the

album's first release (the title track), along with "Don't Lose Your Head,"

"Searching" and "I'm Just A Man." The show's set list reached all the way back

to 1983's "Don't Change," with hits and fan-favorites of the years since.

It has always been hard to categorize INXS' music. It isn't really rock, not

really pop; it's kind of alternative - at least it was up to a few albums

back, but not in today's all-encompassing and sometimes confusing definition

of the word. Now it is just as difficult to define where the band's career

stands. Unfortunately, with the dismal turnout at the Wallingford concert for

the Australian sextet, many would be quick to say the band is past its prime.

No matter. What critics say and what fans say are usually two different

things. In the end, it is what a band does in the present that counts, and

INXS' current tour, including the 90-minute September 22 performance in

Wallingford, was quite a kick.

The set list for Monday night's INXS concert was as follows: "Elegantly

Wasted," "New Sensation," "It's Only Time," "I'm Just A Man," "Mystify,"

"Heaven Sent," "Searching," "Disappear," "Never Tear Us Apart," "Need You

Tonight/Mediate," "Bitter Tears," "Girl On Fire," "Devil Inside," "What U

Need," (encore) "Don't Lose Your Head," "Don't Change" and "Suicide Blonde."