INXS

Caught INXS this Friday at Scotiabank place. I watched every episode of that show they had on last year, Rockstar INXS (I like reality TV but I'm picky about it). What a great idea! Van Halen should do this next.. So it was kinda weird to see JD Fortune, slightly creepy, used to live in his car, down on his luck, ex-Elvis impersonator Canadian guy fronting the band.

No one is ever going to replace Michael Hutchence and the new guy doesn't try(he's got his own thing).. I remember reading in the paper that a great number of people in Australia were really pissed at the whole TV show thing and many thought it was a disservice to the memory of the old singer. It doesn't bother me since the old guy took it upon himself to commit suicide (and even that is in dispute, no note etc.. Some people say he had been hanged and some think that he was doing that thing where you choke yourself while masturbating.. autoerotic asphyxiation - Who knows for sure). Well.. What are ya gonna do. Instrumentalists should not be held hostage by his memory. A band is a group, it's not just the frontman. I saw a biography on Hutchence on A&E and it said there that a few months before his death he slipped and hit his head on a cobblestone road in France while pissed out of his mind and lost his sense of taste as a result of the blow. Weird..

Back to the new guy.. Good choice! He's got stage presence. The band was excellent. One thing I've always liked about them is the multi-instrumental chores handled by guitarist/saxophonist Kirk Pengilly, and the keyboard/guitar/harmonica work of Andrew Farriss. The new stuff and the old stuff went well together. For a rushed album, I'm surprised it's as good as it is..

I hope they stick together for another one.