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INXS With Special Guest THE HONEYDOGS

Reviewed By Donn Jehs Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center Tampa, FL 9/10/97

There is a phrase that aptly describes "INXS" - "still got it after all these years!." Playing before a near capacity crowd in the state of the art theater that sits like a jewel on Tampa's waterfront, the band from down-under was in top form.

The Honeydogs

They were preceded by "The Honeydogs" a foursome out of Minneapolis consisting of lead singer/guitarist, Adam Levy; guitarist, Tommy Borscheid; bassist, Trent Norton; drummer, and Adam's brother, Noah Levy. This band got a nice reception from the crowd as they played songs from their current album "Seen a Ghost". I hadn't heard their album yet so I was surprised to find out that the line from the song "Cherub" I thought was 'I shot the sheriff' was actually 'I shot the cherub'. It was delivered with almost the same musical sound, perhaps intentionally. The group is known for it's wordplay. Trouble is, this venue is designed for the spoken word and the music just overpowered the vocals most of the night. In spite of this the group played a couple of cuts that stood out, "Into Thin Air" and "Seen A Ghost" for their inventiveness and smooth appeal. It may have been the sheer energy of "INXS," but this band seemed to pale beside them. It was a marked contrast that perhaps did them a disservice. On their own this band would probably appeal to a softer pop type crowd. The set change began with all the roadies wearing white coats like lab workers and some of them who were wearing shorts looked more like incipient flashers than anything else. The set itself had four candlelike pillars, the top of which would light up during the performance to come (but which could also be seen as overgrown phallic symbols too, a visual double entendre that was almost certainly planned). While there would be a lot of lighting effects during the show, they paled before the way the band, and especially Michael Hutchence, lit up the stage with their performance.

INXS

The opening number, the title cut from their latest album, "Elegantly Wasted," could have been a pun as Michael came out in what looked like a black leisure suit and tie. He and the rest of the band didn't waste any time getting the hall rolling as they went right into "New Sensation" and "Twisted." During the latter Michael went through the crowd, up and down the side aisles and passed through a couple of rows all the while never missing a beat! Back on stage, he made the first of several small asides to the crowd as he said, "I'm getting all wet. How about you?" It didn't take long for Michael to shed the coat. In fact, as the evening wore on, he was shedding clothing like a snake does it's skin. Demi Moore could take lessons from this guy! By evening's end he was down to pants and a string t-shirt, even minus his shoes and socks. Probably a good thing the show didn't last any longer or we might have seen more of Michael than we wanted to (although the ladies may not agree). You may think from this description that Michael was the whole show. While he certainly garnred most of the crowd's attention, the music was scintillating The Farriss brothers, Andrew (keyboards & guitar), Jon (drums) and Tim (guitar) with Garry Beers (bass) and Kirk Pengilly (guitar & saxophone) all delivered a pounding beat and solo's during the evening, especially Kirk on the sax. Michael went out into the crowd again, this time going directly over the seats from row to row, even falling down between the seats, still singing. The crowd ate it up. He sprayed the crowd with a water bottle and the band just kept the intensity up as they performed "Search," "Disappear," and "Mystify" in rapid succession. The crowd really lost it as the band went into "Devil Inside" with Michael rolling about the stage like a man possessed. One of the little things that happened occurred when Jon threw his sticks into the crowd after their set. When they came back for the obvious encore there he was at his drums sans drumsticks for the first encore. He soon had another pair and my personal favorite followed, "Suicide Blonde" to bring a energy filled evening to a close with a bang. One of my measures of a truly great band is it's ability to deliver a song done over ten years ago like it was yesterday, something "INXS" did the whole evening. Nor was I the only person to voice this opinion. Back home stopping for pizza, I ran into a couple from England who had also attended the concert, and had seen them perform in Leeds in a stadium years ago. Yhey assured me that this night's performance was as good or better than the one they saw.

Current Albums:
	Artist: "THE HONEYDOGS" Album: "SEEN A GHOST" Label: Debris/Mercury Rating:

Artist: "INXS" Album: "ELEGANTLY WASTED" Label: Mercury Rating:

 

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