INXS Sets Spring U.S. Tour
Nearly five years after the death of frontman Michael Hutchence, Australian rockers INXS are ready to tour the U.S. again. The outing, which kicks off May 30 in Anaheim, California, will be the group's first on these shores with Jon Stevens, the former Noiseworks frontman who's been with INXS since early 2000. The group's Australian performances since Hutchence's death have been fronted by guests such as American singer Terence Trent D'Arby and Aussie rocker Jimmy Barnes.
It's not the first time INXS has planned a U.S. tour since Hutchence's death. The band was supposed to play here last spring and summer on the Great Australian Bite tour alongside Midnight Oil and Men At Work, but that trek was canceled before it ever got off the ground.
Guitarist-keyboardist Andrew Farriss told LAUNCH that he expects things to go a bit easier this time around, as opposed to the band's early days. "There was one gig we did in a place called Blacktown, at, at a notorious gig called the Cohman Cutter, where you'd have, like, crazy drunk people with knives trying to get through into the dressing room if they didn't like you. It was just weird, you know? One of our, our road-crew guys was walking across the car park, and this car comes up and deliberately hits him, you know? So I walked over to the window and I say, 'Hey, listen, that's just terrible,' so they all jump out and start beating the crap out of me, throwing me up against a chain-wire fence, and that was pretty scary because I had three of these big dudes all having a go at me, and I coulda died that night," he recalled. The club's bouncer saw what was happening and pulled Farris to safety.
In a statement, Farriss added, "No one will ever replace Michael as the lead singer of INXS. At the same time, we all still have a passion to perform and to continue what we love. In the past year we've played some shows with Jon, who is a fantastic singer. It has felt very comfortable and sounded pretty damn good, so it seems a natural progression to perform together for this U.S. tour."
There will be no new album to promote, but there is another Greatest Hits package coming in the spring that will feature one previously unreleased song called "Tight."
The INXS itinerary (subject to change):
May 30 - Anaheim, CA - The Grove Of Anaheim
May 31 - San Diego, CA - Humphrey's
June 1 - Las Vegas, NV - House Of Blues
June 2 - Agoura Hills, CA - Canyon Theatre
June 4 - Los Angeles, CA - El Rey Theatre
June 6 - Reno, NV - Reno Hilton
June 7 - Saratoga, CA - Historic Mountain Winery
June 8 - Kelseyville, CA - Konocti Amphitheatre
June 9 - Jacksonville, OR - Britt Festivals At Britt Pavilion
June 11 - Salt Lake City, UT - Utah State Fairpark
June 13 - Phoenix, AZ - Celebrity Theatre
June 14 - Bernalillo, NM - Santa Ana Star Casino
June 15 - Denver, CO - City Lights Pavilion
June 22 - Robinsonville, MS - Horseshoe Casino
June 23 - Atlanta, GA - Chastain Park Amphitheatre
(by Gary Graff, Detroit with Darren Davis and Bruce Simon, New York)
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