The Party's Over (For Now)... But I Might Believe It's Love (Still)
The Journey Begins...
It started like this... one day, having become a reality-TV slave, especially of the "talent"-type of reality shows, I saw a commercial for a show called "Rockstar: INXS." I remembered the band from the '80s/90s hits, and that they had lost their lead singer (what was his name?) to presumed suicide. It looked like from the commercials that the music would be "rock" as opposed to the stuff of American Idol, so I was pretty psyched as "Hard Rock" really floats my boat. So I tuned in on July 11, 2005... as the commercials instructed me to do... and there I saw INXS (they looked vaguely familiar) and 15 performers vieing to front INXS. Not really knowing the band and what would be "roit" for them, I was initially impressed by Jordis, Ty and Mig... Marty being from my neck of the woods drew my interest... Suzie sounded good and although she messed up her lyrics, I didn't think she deserved to go home... JD, well, what can I say? I appreciated that he was relieved not to go home, but I wasn't initially impressed overmuch (Did he just play with that girl's hair?!?!). Dana - bye, bye! (At this point, and for the forseeable future, I figured that Mig had a slight leg up, being from Australia and all.) Anyway, I enjoyed the performances (rock on TV!) so much, I made my brother watch it (and I watched again) when he came home that night... From that point on, I missed not an episode.... It became an addiction (I laughed, I cried, I cringed). I looked for people in real life to discuss it with, but never really found anyone with whom I could discuss it. Even my brother was too busy to catch most of the episodes, but I kept him apprised. Who was my favorite???? I think deep (very deep) in my heart, I was pulling for JD, especially after Pretty Vegas... but I couldn't admit it outloud, given the "evil editing." I still thought Mig had a good shot (remember, I DIDN"T KNOW THE BAND AND WHAT WAS "ROIT" FOR THEM - I was a bit of an idiot, just looking at who had the best singing voice). However, I knew they wouldn't pick Marty, so pacing a hotel room the night of the finale, when Mig was booted, I knew, just knew, JD had won... But still I paced, and called my brother at home, and we "watched" the end together... Holy shit! "JD, you are roit for our band, INXS." Squeeeeeee! I was so happy I could have screamed (except I was in a hotel LOL).So, now what do I do???? I want to discuss this with SOMEBODY, I have it all bottled inside. I had never voted, and I had never gone to the website while the show was on. But I finally checked out the official MSN site and found lots of goodies there to explore, including a messageboard. I'd never been on a messageboard! But I found them talking all about Rockstar and JD. I read for hours and hours... then I finally got the nerve to sign up and post... though only a few. I found LAXguy's recap of the finale and read it a zillion times. It made me so happy! Then MSN's board shut down... so I followed a few "friendly faces" to another board and then another... and finally found a home at Rockband. I lurked and lurked, then signed up and posted... kindred spirits! Yeah! OMG, being able to talk to people about what Rockstar:INXS meant to me... that was truly incredible, and addicting. I've never downloaded anything online before (what is megaupload???), but I clicked left, right and center, listening to and reading all the interviews I could get my hands on! What a truly wonderful world, this online fan community, because of it I smiled and smiled as I heard the interviews... I didn't have to give up the high of RS:INXS yet...
The Concert (okay, concerts, it was only supposed to be one!)
So, the concert dates are announced.... and I figure, hey, I wanna go! Look at the schedule... FUCK! (Yes, I said it LOL!).... INXS is in Chicago when I will be in Las Vegas for my annual Superbowl trip.... Fuck, fuck, fuck! So, what do I do?????? Could I (gulp) go to a concert in another state?!?! Will everyone thing I am nuts to travel to another state to see a concert??? Ah, who cares! So, Detroit or St. Louis, Detroit or St. Loius? St. Louis because it is winter and presumably warmer, less snow... I sneak off a few minutes at work with my laptop and get ready for the fan club pre-sale.... yes, 2 seats on the floor (10th row)!...Squeeeeeeeee! I'm so excited, but I try the regular sale too.. and 2nd row seats come up! I've now got 4 tickets and only need 1 really LOL... (and so the excessive ticket buying begins...). I give away my other 3 tickets to people on the online boards, then pack for St. Louis (St. Charles actually). And around 5pm the day before the concert, I get an email.... "The St. Charles concert has been postponed due to illness." Shit, shit, shit! I have my Vegas trip booked to fly out of St. Louis the day after the new cancelled concert... Scramble to the phone, "airline, can I switch my flight??? NO??? Ugh!" So off I fly to St. Louis, even though INXS isn't there, in order to get to Vegas... (and it turns out they are hanging in Chicago LOL).
Another St. Louis trip is planned, and finally off I go to the concert on Feb 28, 2006... I was invited by a very nice women to attend the acoustic show with JD, Kirk and Andrew before the concert. I get there second row in front of the stage! OMG, this is too good to be real. And weird too... being so close to people that I've seen on TV... And the music is so good and JD is so funny....
Then the concert... I briefly meet a handful of RBers who have 1st row... then I go to my seat, 2nd row, TnT starts (how cool!), then bang! Suicide Blonde!!! The music pounds through me, I'm smiling like no tomorrow, JD sounds soooo goood, his chatter is kind of awkward LOL... oh, what bliss! With about 5 songs left in the show, 3 people from the front row leave! WTF? So I now get to stand at the rail in front of the stage for the rest of the concert! Squeeeeeeee - first row! I'd never before been even near the floor at a concert, and suddenly I'm first row for the band that has truly captured my attention, and heart, and soul since they uttered those infamous words "JD, you are right for our band, INXS." Oh, geez, can it get any better?
(See INXS Concert St. Charles February 28, 2006 blog entry for much more detail.)
Then the concert was over... it was so compelling, it made me feel so good, but there was a letdown too... this was it? The end of the road for me???? Um.... no! The natural "high" you get at the end of the show that prompts you to ask "When can I do this again?" was present and accounted for. INXS announces more dates, and off I go to ticketbastard, et al.... Nashville, Cincy, add on Memphis with a front row ticket from CFI... then London (ON), Toronto, Niagara Falls (traveling to another country for concerts? Have I lost my freaking mind?!?)... Milwaukee, then Rosemont ... Tickets in hand, I'm off for many an adventure with my RB friends!
It was a blast, BSC roadtrips, huge pre-concert parties, Meet & Greets, after-concert parties, bars with BINXS :-). And the band just got better and better...
I saw JD at a point of having just come out of his chrysalis stage – wonderful and new and exciting and perfect but just a tiny bit awkward too. Then moving on to Memphis/Nashville/Cinny - he was a full-fledged frontman. There was an ease about him with a command of the stage, a comfort zone that JD found; I felt like he had arrived and fit into that place that was meant to be his. It was electric and beautiful to watch. JD was graceful and powerful. I didn’t sense any awkwardness, just sexy, sinful, playful, funny, gorgeous INXS – complete *sigh* Destiny fulfilled dripping from each note.
Then more concerts and more... The power of the BINXS was always in the air, the joy from the band and the fans cumulating til I almost couldn’t breath. The emotions built and built inside me from seeing this awesome band – so sweet and humble and funny in person – so engrossing and powerful on stage. JD was now the MAN, the master of the stage, Tim, Kirk, Andrew, Garry and Jon were almost one, a tight unit, a family with their new brother. It is impossible to try to explain the true perfection of the concerts at the end, no wrong notes, the sweetness, the laughs, the solemnity, the rightness, the connection, the band that is INXS.
My recaps, if you are enjoying my story, if not, skip!!!! :-):
The BSC Trifecta:
Memphis: See INXS Concert Memphis April 21, 2006 blog entry
Nashville: See INXS Concert Nashville April 22, 2006 blog entry (The M&G stuff in here is funny, if I do say so myself LOL)
Cincinnati: See INXS Concert Cincinatti April 23, 2006 blog entry
Milwaukee: http://www.rockbandlounge.com/forum/topic.asp?topic_id=2737&whichpage=1
The Concerts 2007
So after a long, long concert hiatus for me (14 months!), I end up at the Milwaukee concert (Summerfest) and am greeted by many of my old (and new!) RBL friends... plus 100 degree heat. I managed to ward off sunburn with SPF 70 LOL and an umbrella. The BINXS ended up waiting til the sun went down to start the concert, but oh, man, was it worth it! I felt real lust in my... um... heart.... upon seeing JD in his long-hair and sunglasses, then wow, Garry in a cowboy hat! Was it the heat or the hawtness that made me lightheaded LOL? Front row once again, how I missed it, having gotten used to the view from the previous year...It was awesome, awesome, awesome. I had so longed to see the BINXS again... and wow, what a difference 14 more months of performing together makes... Did I say that last year JD was the MAN.... now he is the GOD LOL... a rockstar GOD, so cool, collected, yet beautifully out-of-control on stage... the songs, the same as I heard last year, yet different, better?, lots more JD in them, using his voice to make them more his own, add his flair, his falsetto, his stamp... Oh, am I glad to be there to witness it! And then again... it's over... But luckily, I know that I will be seeing them again in a week...
Milwaukee recap: http://www.rockbandlounge.com/forum/topic.asp?topic_id=5648&whichpage=1
I join the RBL bandwagon and head to Ottawavegas for the Ottawa Bluesfest. I admit it, INXS was not the top bill for me here, although participating in the pogoing and fun of the RBL corporate box was an experience like none other. To hang with all of the friends that I've make at RBL was an experience not to be missed... and the BINXS sounded great too! This adventure ended way too soon, I didn't get to speak to everyone nearly long enough, but then we were off in a few caravans to the Barrie concert...
Barrie - Front row again, babee! Oh, yeah, this is it! I remember now why I'm addicted to INXS and their concerts... standing there, right in front of them, watching the fun and joy on stage, oh, and did I mention the hawtness too?! A verse sung to me by JD *sigh*... Yes, it was a blast, a shining light in the universe of my boring RL... and it was then over already????? No, no, no, no, no!!!!! Off to buy more tickets... Cleveland, Timonium... then yes, how could I skip the last show of the Switched On Tour?, Loudoun...
Then, WFT???, Cleveland is cancelled. How could this happen??? But I decided to go anyway (a 2nd INXS adventure where I was there and INXS was not LOL), hanging with the lovely rocker and numbers. Who needs the BINXS? *phfft* Okay, I do, so off the next day to Timonium.... numbers and I head off to the concert, to meet up with BH, Mii, BTP, and others already standing in the heat, lining up for the show... f2k5 and SK join us... Then the stupid ticket taking fiasco... then the running of the bulls (part I) across the vast plains known as the Maryland State Fair racetrack infield... in my "special" shoe due to my hurt toe... not my best running endeavor, ended up third row, then due to the kindness and shifting of others, the 2nd row...
Timonium - I must say, that although I wasn't front row and at times I couldn't even see anything at all when I was in the 3rd row, this was the absolute best concert of the BINXS I have been at. It was JD's birthday, he was excited, and it showed. He was so on, I loved every note, Milwaukee sounded so good, but this was 10 times more, JD's voice was on, he has "playing" with some of the songs like I like since I've heard them so often... the way that the band was together, the oneness, the playfulness, the drags of JDs cigarettes by the others, it just all came together and I couldn't stop smiling... JD was funny, playing with the fact that he was told to stop swearing, bristling a little under the "censureship"... I got to hear Elegantly Wasted in person again, New Sensation kicked off the concert, a first for me... and The Loved One sounded great, although unfamiliar to me... I sang along, and sang along (well, except for TLO LOL). The music was the star of the night, JD's joy in it, Garry's, Andrew's, Jon's, Tim's, Kirk's joy in it... it shown through the stage lights and darkness of the night... These guys are a family on stage... and birthday wishes abounded... balloons from the audience could be seen bouncing around...
So, on to Loudoun two days later... another GA show, standing in line, another running of the bulls (part II) across a field. This time I came prepared LOL... I had on running shoes and ran my heart out, easily getting front row this time... although I wanted to stand with my friends BH and numbers, so I butted in between them, instead of finding an open spot. (Thanks, gals! Luckily, I'm half of what I used to be LOL.) There were a couple opening bands, for some reason BH thought one guitarist performed in both bands?!? :-) (don't worry, it's a joke, I know he did...).... Then, after waiting at the venue since 1:30pm... BINXS time was finally there, success had been had getting front row, so now all that waited was the performance... the last one of the tour.... I was looking forward to it, and yet I didn't want it to start because once it did, it meant it would soon be over... How would I face that??? I wasn't a long time fan, but through Rockstar:INXS I became invested in their endeavor, their journey, I wasn't ready to see the end, the end of this chapter at least... However, the show did go on... We had heard in advance from the concert the night before, JD's voice was hoarse, so it seemed that this would probably have an impact tonight too... And yes, JD performed all the songs and had fun doing it, but he performed them "straight" so to speak... no little runs, and nuances, no falsetto, but lower octives... different, but still special, since it was the last one... JD is hoarse and the sound perhaps not so great, that it was difficult to understand a lot of what he said between songs... During The Loved One, I wasn't singing along, since I'm not familiar with the words yet after only one hearing... and then all of the sudden JD is crouched in front of me, motioning for my little fedora hat, firmly on my head guarding me from the sun... I reach forward as far as I can to hand it to him, he reaches forward and gets it... and plops it on his head..... Oh, man, does he look 10,000 times better in it than me, or what??? YES! *sigh* On the concert goes, no Never Let You Go though, then Pretty Vegas starts. So soon??? Can that be right??? Alas, it is... clapping and clapping, out they come for the encore, the harmonica starts up... Suicide Blonde, oh, yes, those familiar beats, those familiar hips, ah, yes, I love this band! And before Never Tear Us Apart, JD tells us that Garry will be getting married on Sept 15th and that this one is for him... Garry bows to the the applause, and off they go... 2nd to last song... no, I'm no ready, please, please, I don't want to hear Don't Change! But as all things must, the end comes... and Don't Change rings out. And then the drum solo.... and then.... *sniff* JD comes up to the mic, to thank everyone.... in a first (for me to see at least), then rest of the band links up and comes forward to stand with JD at the mic stand... Tim announces into the mic "Our brother JD Fortune"... and some backslapping and hugging... and then, off they go, JD on Kirk's (I think it was Kirk's) back.... Jon lingers.... looks around, then turns and walks off... And then I had to wipe my eyes, I felt the emotion of saying goodbye, not sure how this 2 year journey they had taken was going to be re-invented for the future, not sure how/when I would again get to part of this wonderful journey, even if my part was so small.... Oh, but so glad I was there for this end, that is not an end I'm sure...
Experience
What can I say that hasn't already been said... Rockstar:INXS did change my life. Really, and truly. I was in a rut, work, work, work, drifting away from friends... with a void in my life. Now, I realize that RS:INXS is a television show, it in itself didn't fill the void, but all of the people, the RBLers I now call friends, you have filled that void... allowing me to speak about my interests and my passions, including Rockstar:INXS and tennis LOL. And the BINXS allowed me a peak into their life, their passions, their journey, so that I could partake in their endeavor too... And I thank them from the bottom of my heart because I have never had so much fun letting my hair down and being absolutely batshit crazy, travelling to other states and another country (3 times!), 14 concerts in all, for little old me, who hasn't seen one other band more than once in my life... I've acted like a BSI, and I've loved it, it is so not me, but it is liberating. And it is because of the BINXS, but even more so because of RBLers who have allowed me to embrace this unknown part of me and supported me, dare I say enabled me??? LOL...
INXS, I'm so sorry I didn't know you when, but I know you now, and I will know you in the future, I hope... INXS touched me during the show, I don't normally get so invested, because they were looking for someone to complete the band, allowing them to move on to a new chapter, continue to make wonderful music together, entertain us, make us laugh, make us cry, give us new friends, new experiences, new music, new... well, you get the picture. The band feels complete to me, I hope it does to them... and the journey JD has taken, has been a joy to watch.... I'll never forget the first concert performance (he seemed so young, and somewhat insecure) nor the last, where he owned himself, the crowd, the stage... I certainly hope that the journey isn't over... because although I think JD's and the band's destiny has been fulfilled, dripping from each wonderful note, it has not reached its culmination.... Imagine what the future holds....
My Favorite Memories/Things From The Last 2 Years
20 of my favorite things/memories since July, 2005, not in any particular order
1) LAXguy's RS:I recaps
2) B.C. (before crack), rewatching and rewatching JD's performances on the MSN official website after JD won, sitting in my hotel rooms (although I got sick of the Honda commercial!)
3) Las Vegas Pity Party (aka The Non-Vegas-Concert-Goers Support Group) that I helped "host" with jc4jd and mod Bouffe... truly an awesome evening... with the footed Purell bottle and the "F5" key :-)
4) The one night where in the talk thread, things were so crazy with so many people posting that replying to a message meant you got 4 pages behind in reading... I was laughing by myself in hysterics...
5) Traveling to Missouri, Tennessee, Ohio, Maryland, Virginia, Wisconsin and Canada (3 times!) to see the BINXS... For St. Charles, I thought I was insane going to another state for a concert, with the rest, I proved it LOL.
6) That first "Taste" of front row... in St. Charles at my first INXS concert... *swoon*
7) BSC car rides with W.A.T.T., Mii, numbers, Saxqueen, Ember, BH, a BSC weekend in Milwaukee with b4beth, and talking everything INXS with JYM until the wee hours in Toronto
8) "Chat"ting until 6a.m., more than once LOL with the "Chat" girls...
9) JD's performance of YCAGWYW on Sept 20, 2005... oh and the "JD you are roit for our band, INXS" annoucement and aftermath, of course...
10) JD's hair at the beginning of the Summerfest concert, the special fluttering of the wind giving peeks of a yummy tummy... oh, and Garry in his cowboy hat! :-)
11) Meeting almost 100 of you wonderful RBLers!!!!!!!!!! I'm so glad I got to meet each and every one of you!
12) Garry motioning to me my sign was upside down during Cincy concert... and all of us laughed...
13) Voiceless in Memphis, Nashville, and Cincy :-)
14) Waiting with baited breath for the "private" Toronto concert to play on the radio/online in Nov 2005, scared to death that the internet would cut out so I would miss it... and then listening to the show, of course
15) Everyone here being so nice after my medical ordeal last year, getting cards and calls and flowers and gifts really touched me...
16) Ottavegas and all the wonderful peeps there!!!!! The rocking of the corporate box, the text messages on the screen, and some of the audience watching us instead of the BINXS LOL
17) JD's and Garry's acknowledgement of my thank you sign at the Memphis concert
18) Oh, and how could I forget this in Memphis!!! Hearing Hot Girls, Perfect Strangers, God's Top Ten and Elegantly Wasted live with JD for the first time in concert..
19) The last INXS Switched On concert, standing in the front row for hours with numbers and BH after they let me sneak between them, I'll savor every minute of that concert forever...*sniff*
20) But most of all, hanging almost every day here at RBL with you wonderful people for almost 2 years.... *a zillion smooches*
Friday, September 7, 2007
Thursday, September 6, 2007
INXS concert Cincinatti April 23, 2006
Originally posted at www.rockbandlounge.com at http://www.rockbandlounge.com/forum/topic.asp?topic_id=2519&whichpage=2
This was night three – the last night – of the best INXS weekend I could imagine. It’s hard to do this recap as the weekend is all one big blur. I admit I had the ultimate BSC weekend – 3 concerts in a row (Memphis, Nashville, Cincy), 2 M&Gs (yikes!) and 2 cross-state trips with RBers. So if my facts are a bit mixed up from one night to the next, please forgive me!
So off we go to Cincy – mii, numbers, W.A.T.T., and me. A lovely BSC road trip for four. Course, it wasn’t until we are about to Louisville that I remember the time change – which definitely put us behind! As we are getting into Cincy, numbers who is navigating, tells us that we should go over the river and exit on 5th street. Numbers is reading something... the others of us see 5th Street exit and get off the highway. Numbers asks, did we go over the river? All three of us assure her we did – course numbers is the only one apparently that can recognize a huge river, since we hadn’t yet reached the river LOL. But we figured it out and got to our hotels with little time to spare to meet up with the RBers before the concert.
As mii indicated, it was a very quick get-ready-and-go at the hotel, then off to meet the RBers. I loved this part of the weekend – meeting everyone, putting faces to board names. It was great to meet you – fortune2005, PVvibes, MJ, rockerfan, CumonCumon, secretLuvr – and later PrettyCincy. Really, really sorry I couldn’t stay longer!
M&G
rockerfan, mii, and I head off to the M&G. I’m still uncertain about going… I came close to turning around and leaving. But I went with mii and rockerfan so that we could support each other, and so that I didn't feel so silly doing this 2 nights in a row (as mii was also going again, thank goodness, or I wouldn’t have been brave enough to go for sure). I honestly, truly was hoping they wouldn't remember me, I get embarrassed easily... but I knew as soon as I opened my mouth it was a distinct possibility (how could you forget a voice that is halfway between a phone sex operator and a frog LOL?). BTW - I lost my voice almost completely at the Memphis concert – see my Nashville recap for the hilarity that ensued from that and the context of my walking into this M&G - one night played off the other...
The first person to come up to me at the M&G was Jon. I said hi, I think, then "here" as I give him the concert ticket I was getting signed. (The night before I hadn’t asked for anything to get signed and it proved to be a bit awkward, so I came prepared this time.) I don't really remember context, but he did say something like "hi again, I remember the blue." So, I'm already busted, he knew I was there 2 nights in a row. (He was referring to the fact that the night before he had asked me if I was wearing blue in Memphis.)
Next came JD, I believe. I think I said "hi." Maybe I didn't even open my mouth yet. Honestly, I was hoping he didn't remember me, I couldn’t even meet his eyes – or his sunglasses technically. (He had on dark sunglasses - I swear if I go to another M&G that I am going to wear my sunglasses to it. If they can do it, so can I). But the first thing he says to me is "How is your throat?" So swooning at this point that I finally look at him – his sunglasses – and say “it's a little better, thanks,” then I blurt "I was hoping you wouldn't remember me, now I feel silly being here again." Luckily, he didn't respond to that stupid remark LOL. He started to move to stand in front of mii and sign her stuff as I said to him "I've really enjoyed following your journey." He looked back at me and said "thank you so much" to me again (same as the night before) - guess that is his standard answer LOL. Such a polite guy.
Kirk came up - I don't remember what was said exactly - but he remembered me too. Oh, well – the best laid plans and all that. I’ve enjoyed meeting him; you can just tell he has a lot of fun with the fans. Thankfully, Tim and Garry and Andrew don’t recognize me – or at least don’t put me on the spot by remarking upon it. I dutifully hand over my ticket to get signed, thank them, and off they go. All the rest of the band has finished signing, but Andrew hasn’t – they have to hurry him up to get to the photo taking.
For the photo, mii and I decided to take our picture together to make it less awkward for us - doing it 2 nights in a row. So we both walked over, I turn to stand for the picture in front of Kirk and JD. Kirk says "Don't be shy" or something like that and pulls me backward into him, I kind of lose my balance and fall into him – luckily I’m not too, too heavy (although heavy enough!) or we would have all gone down like dominos. Kirk puts his hands on my shoulders. JD says to the band – again! – "She lost her voice at the Memphis concert." (He said the same thing to them the night before.) Pictures taken (2), I turn around to say thanks and JD says to me "Thank you so much" then again "Thank you so much.” Oh, sweet mother of god, what a gorgeous man. I so felt he meant it. I'm going to go on believing it too, since he said it to me like, 5 times in 2 days LOL. Nope, not his standard answer, no sir-y-bob, he meant it – that’s my story and I’m sticking to it LOL.
Concert
We get out of the M&G and start milling around the lobby, looking for the other RBers. These 2 guys come up and say they are there for an MTV interview – yeah, righ! – and the one spots my signed concert ticket (I have it out so that the ink will completely dry before putting it in my purse) and asks if he can have it. Yeah, right! *sarcasm*
My feet are killing me after three BSC days, so I head into the auditorium to sit. My seat is 2nd row, DEAD CENTER *pogoing* I hear half of a Dirtie Blonde song. Oh, well. Talk to the couple sitting in front of me for awhile, they were really nice. This is the women who later gets the hair fuck, with her husband standing right next to her LOL. He was really cool about it though.
So eventually all of the RBers come to there seats – we are all over the first few rows – it was great. rockerfan has the seat next to me – squeee! She’s very pretty and really nice!
The countdown starts, when the intro music starts the first few rows jump to our feet, and we never, ever sit down again. Then the countdown winds down, the time is here – this is it! 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 - INXS!!!!!!
JD is wearing the same thing as in Memphis – major *poof* worthy. I believe he leaves his jacket on til after Devil’s Party, a bit of a switch-up for him. All the guys look hawt, as usual. I have yummy views of everyone.The concert set is the same as Nashville. Others have gone through the songs, so I will not other than to mention some highlights. It was all beautifuk of course, the guys are having a blast on stage.
I’m not sure if it is this concert – I think it is – where JD breaks the mic stand so one of the crew has to run out and replace it for him. Also, it may have been this concert where one of the speakers gets dislodged and a crew member has to run out and put it back in place – I think maybe JD and Garry both thanked him out loud, called him by his name.
With all good respect to fortune2005 :-), what I heard JD say before GTT was “Do you know what is fun, breathing is fun.” Then he went through the whole thing – “what is fun?” “breathing is what?” and had the audience answer him. I heard you yell “sex”, fortune2005! Then he said (while sitting on the drumkit stairs) he said “Let’s breathe” and he lowered his head, I think for a moment of respect to what was coming up, GTT, basically a tribute to Michael.
So now for a little levity – or sex – depending perhaps on your mood and your gender. Taste It. Oooh, I did Taste It. I know that some said that they didn’t care for the change up here. But I personally think that Ms. Mic Stand had a talk with JD and asked for some variety and boy, did he provide it! I had a clear view of all from the center – oh, yeah, it wasn’t foreplay, but it was hot! JD started by sitting on the stairs to Jon's drumkit. He introduced the band. He then took the mic and laid it between his splayed knees. He started to thrust upward toward the sweet spot, teasing the sweet spot with the… umm… right… counterpart… of his body, swiveling his hips on occasion. It was slow, it was wow, it was clearly making Ms. Mic Stand very, very happy. He then ended up slowly moving the mic stand upright and over so the microphone was toward the audience and he followed the mic stand very closely, moving forward, inching forward, getting to just that position... He knelt over it on his knees, and really used his hips well, looking very "in" to the experience, then went up and over it, lying down. More hip gyrations and subtle thrusting while on top, employing his hands too I believe, clearly making sure that Ms. Mic Stand was truly satisfied. He eventually brought the mic stand upright and sort of crouching next to it, did some more (not heavy) thrusting, I think, it's all a big blur... he then got up and started singing again... (I need a drink just re-living it)
One thing I remember really enjoying in Kick – he did a little falsetto that I don’t remember in the other 2 concerts this weekend.
JD came out in the asshat and with a cigarette again for the encore. I recall after the encore he thanked Dirtie Blonde, I think that was the first time he did that this leg.
So, my best moment of the concert, although it started out because I did something silly LOL... I had a sign for Memphis that said simply "THANK YOU INXS." For Nashville, I added a word to say "THANK YOU AGAIN INXS." For Cincy, I added to that it said "THANK YOU AGAIN & AGAIN INXS" -- the “agains” were smaller written in on the side. (Credit goes to W.A.T.T. for the idea.) Anyway, I started to hold it up in the encore, toward each of the band members at different times, just to let them know again how much we love them. Well, when I held it up for Garry, he stopped playing (I believe in Don't Chage) and motioned at me that my sign was upside down! (He did this by making a circular motion toward me and smiling.) I immediately rotated the sign and laughed my head off, along with a bunch of people who saw the exchange. Fun times!
The concert was magical, JD was the MAN, the master of the stage, Tim, Kirk, Andrew, Garry and Jon were almost one, a tight unit, a family with their new brother. It is impossible to try to explain the true perfection that was the 3 concerts this weekend, no wrong notes, the sweetness, the laughs, the solemnity, the rightness, the connection, the band that is INXS.
What can I say to sum up this whole BSC weekend? It was glorious and beautifuk. I had almost no sleep and little food, definitely no voice, but I meet a bunch of wonderful people – RBers and INXS – laughed and almost cried (yes – the concerts were that good!). If you had told me a year ago that I would 1) see one band – the same band! – eight times in one year and 2) meet and travel with a bunch of people I “met” on the internet, no way in hell would I have believed you. I’m just much too boring and predictable, so I thank INXS and rockband for bringing some spontaneity and fun into my life. When can I do it again? :-)
INXS concert Nashville April 22, 2006
originally posted at rockbandlounge.com at http://www.rockbandlounge.com/forum/topic.asp?topic_id=2513&whichpage=6
Headline: Voiceless in Nashville – based on a true story (“voiceless” credit to the fab aussieb)
First, it was SO great to meet all of the RBers in NashVegas. Thanks everyone for being nice to me even if you couldn’t hear me LOL. And also thanks to everyone that has provided their wonderful recaps – there isn’t that much more for me to add, but then I’ve never been short for words LOL. So here I go with my second recap …
This was night two of the best INXS weekend I could imagine. It’s hard to start this recap as the weekend is all one big blur. I admit I had the ultimate BSC weekend – 3 concerts in a row (Memphis, Nashville, Cincy), 2 M&Gs (yikes!) and 2 cross-state trips with RBers. So if my facts are a bit mixed up from one night to the next, please forgive me!
W.A.T.T. and I started our BSC road trip to Nashville from Memphis fairly early and had a fun time talking all things BINXS – even posted a couple things on RB while we were driving (well, W.A.T.T. posted while I drove to be technical). So we make it to Nashville and connect with the “early birds” as coined by ems to “do” lunch. aussieb was totally right - I couldn’t say much (or at least be heard much) as my voice was completely gone from singing and yelling at the concert in Memphis. Thanks, adan, for at least attempting to listen to me as I sat next to you LOL. It was great (trying) to talk to you all – QRB, adan, W.A.T.T., aussieb, numbers, ems, beinghuman.
So next up is the Tootsies meet-up, where more RBers appear – as b4beth can attest, I’m horrible at forgetting people on lists, so I’m not even going to try to mention everyone. But it was fun hanging out on the patio with all of you. It was a riot trying to talk to y’all and get blank stares since y’all couldn’t hear me LOL. Seriously, I wish my voice had been full strength, I would have loved to chat more with each and every one of you.
One thing of note – I forgot my sign at the hotel room, luckily to walk back was only a block. On my way back to Tootsie’s I spotted drumtech having a smoke and said hi. Really nice guy.
W.A.T.T. and I had been joking around that she could be my interpreter – telling the BINXS that I lost my voice in Memphis singing along with them. So I decided to go along with that theme, not wanting to be too gushy… The first one to come by to say hi was Jon. As soon as I open my mouth, it is apparent that I practically have no voice, so I say to Jon “I lost my voice singing along at the concert last night.” Jon asked me if I was wearing blue at last night’s concert. I totally blank out for a second on what I was wearing the night before – then remember that it was blue! A blue top with a black shrug that is… so I answer yes. (However, since then I remember CFI was wearing a more bright blue top, so he probably was remembering her, not me LOL, though we were both in the first row.)
Up next is JD. I start out again… “I lost my voice singing along with you at the concert last night…” (Obviously not original at this point, but oh well.) He tells W.A.T.T. and me that the set list will be different than the night before. So that was cool, to know that ahead of time.
Up comes Tim. “I lost my voice singing along in Memphis…” Then Kirk. “I lost my voice singing along…” LOL Thank goodness none of them heard what I was saying to the others, they’d think I don’t have an original bone in my body. So when Kirk is there, Garry walks up, I’m saying to Kirk “yes, you might remember my sign” as I was standing close to him with it the night before (yes, I’m an idiot, talking about my little “THANK YOU INXS” sign LOL – It’s not like it was flashy like mii’s!) So I lean down to get it where it is propped up against the wall and show it to him. He says “Do you want me to sign the back?” I pause – as I had decided that I wasn’t going to ask for any autographs, but then I say sure, here you can sign the front. He says “no, I think the back is better. [pause] Unless you don’t want me to?” I’m like no, no, go ahead, thank you. (Feeling like an idiot again)
Then Garry. “I lost my voice…” Garry says, “Better you than us…” Hee, hee. Andrew is last “I lost…”
So the signing is over and now we wait for pictures. I was the last one of the RBers to get my picture taken, so I had fun watching the rest of them. Andrew and inzane standing next to each other was a riot. aussieb was trying to whip up the BINXS into a fun picture. ems bent her knees to be a little shorter – man I wish I had that problem, ems :-); mii ended up blocking some of Garry LOL.
My turn comes, I walk up and stand in the middle of the band. I’m short, so I’m not blocking anyone. Before the picture is taken, JD (who is at one end) leans into the rest of the band and says “She lost her voice in Memphis singing along with us.” BUSTED LOL! Someone else (don’t know who, maybe Kirk) said from behind me, “yes, we heard.” Oh, well, it was funny.
After the picture, I turn back to all of the band and say, “Thanks, guys.” JD leans forward before I leave and says to me “Thank you so much.” Awww, he’s so sweet. He didn't need to say anything more to me and he did *swoon* I get a signed CD liner as I leave and that is that.
Concert
For Memphis, I said that to me the concert was “destiny fulfilled dripping from each note.” At this concert, I felt that coursing through my body again. It felt so right, so pure, so fun, so naughty – it was the best feeling in the world (with your pants on of course (tm Tim Farriss)). It was not a fluke in Memphis that JD appeared to have completely arrived – he is a rockstar now, comfortable in his skin, a master of the stage, a presence that commands your attention. He melds with the rest of the band beautifully – and INXS is complete *sigh* I felt honored and privileged to be able to see this in person again – musical nirvana.
The energy of this concert was amazing. The boys were on, the crowd, although apparently not sold out, was in a frenzy and it seemed completely full, the sound in the Ryman was incredible. JD was jumping all over the place, in place, off the risers. It was so cool to look around and see so many people I ”knew” up at the front with me – a true classic RB moment.
We start out with 6 RBers in a row in the 2nd pit row – mii, me, Precision 57, inzane, emswazzu, beinghuman. But 30 seconds into Suicide Blonde, most of us had scattered LOL. The 2 BSC girls from the M&G were sitting directly in front of me, and I had asked them ahead of time if they were okay with me coming around to stand behind them in row 1 ½. They said sure, so off I went – thanks girls! inzane followed so he is right beside me, mii went off somewhere more to the right as did Precision 57. I’m enjoying the concert but after a few songs I decided to go back to the 2nd row as the way the speakers were situated right at the stage edge was blocking a lot of my view from so close (did I mention that I’m short?). So I moved back to the 2nd row where there was lots of room (4 seats worth at times) to dance and party as the concert continues in full gear, and I have a more complete view of the stage. Interestingly, I had more eye contact with JD and the band when standing back a little farther (as compared to my front row experience the night before – although I had one great JD eye-contact moment in Memphis). Eventually when ems and beinghuman moved up to row 1 ½, I was dead center for the encore. Cool, cool seats. Plus I had a perfect view to see sooner inching her way farther up and up and up LOL.
As JD had indicated, the set list was changed up. The first difference that I recall was GTT being moved up from the encore. It started with JD sitting on the stairs to the drumkit, his head resting on one arm that was across his legs, his other arm outstretched toward Melody, palm out toward her, as in a symbol of homage. Just before he is to start singing, he gets up and walks to the middle of stage. He forms the tip of a triangle with the two back-up singers. The stage is very dark for this song, he sings and you can hear the emotion of the song coursing through you. Then when the lyrics of the song are over, JD dropped down behind the mic stand and lowered his hand, holding his hands up as in prayer. Then at a crescendo of the music, he slowly straightened up (still kneeling) and moved with the music, almost withering with his head back. Then he almost curled into a ball behind the stand again, his hands held on his head as if overwhelmed by emotion. At the end of the song, he slowly moved up the stand and stood while the music concluded. I found GTT to be much more powerful in Nashville then Memphis, don’t know what the difference was, just that it really struck more of a chord with me and the emotion rolling off the stage seemed more poignant.
Loved how they moved right into Amazing Grace after GTT, worked better than the night before. Also love how JD seemed so into it, and his hand movements as if directing (like a conductor) the verse.
I can’t tell y’all how much I loved Elegantly Wasted. JD was all over the stage and the band was grooving and having fun. It was beautifuk to watch!
At one point (ok, yes I took some notes during the concert LOL, although I can’t figure out what I meant by some of them!), JD held his hands as if in prayer in Hungry, I think at the point where Jon holds his sticks up in an “X.” This song, in the instrumental part, is where JD starts to non-verbally thank the audience and go OMG.
NLYG is next and they had so much fun when JD chased Kirk around with the Tazmanian Devil shirt. Thanks, Whiplash Lover, for providing the shirt for that bit of levity.
One of the (JD) highlights during NYT was that during the phrase “makes me sweat” he slide his leg slowly along one of the speakers *thud* before kind of sitting on it.
During WYN, JD went over to Andrew and the two of them had a good long stare at each other during the song, very intense. It was in this song that JD gestured for everyone to move up. Don’t think security let them, though.
In Kick, he lowered his head for the front row (and row 1 ½ *giggles* sooner), to give him a hair fuck.
Pretty Vegas was rocking, the whole place was exploding with noise. At the end of this song, several of us RBers plus others I saw/heard, tried to get a good IN-X-S chant going. But the crowd noise was just too loud for it to really be heard. But thanks, all, for giving it a try!
For the encore, JD came back out in his asshat, with a lit cigarette. He hadn’t done that during the encore in Memphis.
In the encore, JD told about the band riding along in their buses in the U.S., watching the trees and the American farmland go by. He said that music helps them express things when then don’t know the words to express it otherwise (or something like that – it was a lot more eloquent than my notes).
What can I say? I loved the concert, loved meeting up with the RBers before and after the concert, it was an awesome night in NashVegas. The power of the BINXS was in the air, the joy from the band and the fans cumulating til I almost couldn’t breath. Night 2 of my BSC weekend was over, but the emotions were building inside me from seeing this awesome band – so sweet and humble and funny in person – so engrossing and powerful on stage. What more can be said? I couldn’t wait ‘til Cincinnati to do it all over again, yet I didn’t want to get to Cincy for I knew it would be over almost before it began.
Headline: Voiceless in Nashville – based on a true story (“voiceless” credit to the fab aussieb)
First, it was SO great to meet all of the RBers in NashVegas. Thanks everyone for being nice to me even if you couldn’t hear me LOL. And also thanks to everyone that has provided their wonderful recaps – there isn’t that much more for me to add, but then I’ve never been short for words LOL. So here I go with my second recap …
This was night two of the best INXS weekend I could imagine. It’s hard to start this recap as the weekend is all one big blur. I admit I had the ultimate BSC weekend – 3 concerts in a row (Memphis, Nashville, Cincy), 2 M&Gs (yikes!) and 2 cross-state trips with RBers. So if my facts are a bit mixed up from one night to the next, please forgive me!
W.A.T.T. and I started our BSC road trip to Nashville from Memphis fairly early and had a fun time talking all things BINXS – even posted a couple things on RB while we were driving (well, W.A.T.T. posted while I drove to be technical). So we make it to Nashville and connect with the “early birds” as coined by ems to “do” lunch. aussieb was totally right - I couldn’t say much (or at least be heard much) as my voice was completely gone from singing and yelling at the concert in Memphis. Thanks, adan, for at least attempting to listen to me as I sat next to you LOL. It was great (trying) to talk to you all – QRB, adan, W.A.T.T., aussieb, numbers, ems, beinghuman.
So next up is the Tootsies meet-up, where more RBers appear – as b4beth can attest, I’m horrible at forgetting people on lists, so I’m not even going to try to mention everyone. But it was fun hanging out on the patio with all of you. It was a riot trying to talk to y’all and get blank stares since y’all couldn’t hear me LOL. Seriously, I wish my voice had been full strength, I would have loved to chat more with each and every one of you.
One thing of note – I forgot my sign at the hotel room, luckily to walk back was only a block. On my way back to Tootsie’s I spotted drumtech having a smoke and said hi. Really nice guy.
M&G
The whole concept of the M&G was making me nervous, so I was really glad there were 7 or 8 of us going together. Plus I met 2 other really nice BSC women there too. W.A.T.T. and I were part of the contingent that got lost from the others on the way to the M&G (something about mii and a shoe mishap I understand?). But eventually we partly found out were we were supposed to go and Jeffrey (the M&G guy) came back looking for us too. So we made it to the M&G *whew*
After all of the rules have been stated for the M&G, the band – yes THE WHOLE BAND – comes into the room. I was almost in the middle of the line, so when the guys were starting at one each or another, a few of them were meeting up right in front of me. There was a funny moment when both Kirk and Garry were in front of both W.AT.T. and I. Garry turns to Kirk and says: I’m Garry. How do you do? (shakes hands with Kirk). Definitely chuckle-worthy.W.A.T.T. and I had been joking around that she could be my interpreter – telling the BINXS that I lost my voice in Memphis singing along with them. So I decided to go along with that theme, not wanting to be too gushy… The first one to come by to say hi was Jon. As soon as I open my mouth, it is apparent that I practically have no voice, so I say to Jon “I lost my voice singing along at the concert last night.” Jon asked me if I was wearing blue at last night’s concert. I totally blank out for a second on what I was wearing the night before – then remember that it was blue! A blue top with a black shrug that is… so I answer yes. (However, since then I remember CFI was wearing a more bright blue top, so he probably was remembering her, not me LOL, though we were both in the first row.)
Up next is JD. I start out again… “I lost my voice singing along with you at the concert last night…” (Obviously not original at this point, but oh well.) He tells W.A.T.T. and me that the set list will be different than the night before. So that was cool, to know that ahead of time.
Up comes Tim. “I lost my voice singing along in Memphis…” Then Kirk. “I lost my voice singing along…” LOL Thank goodness none of them heard what I was saying to the others, they’d think I don’t have an original bone in my body. So when Kirk is there, Garry walks up, I’m saying to Kirk “yes, you might remember my sign” as I was standing close to him with it the night before (yes, I’m an idiot, talking about my little “THANK YOU INXS” sign LOL – It’s not like it was flashy like mii’s!) So I lean down to get it where it is propped up against the wall and show it to him. He says “Do you want me to sign the back?” I pause – as I had decided that I wasn’t going to ask for any autographs, but then I say sure, here you can sign the front. He says “no, I think the back is better. [pause] Unless you don’t want me to?” I’m like no, no, go ahead, thank you. (Feeling like an idiot again)
Then Garry. “I lost my voice…” Garry says, “Better you than us…” Hee, hee. Andrew is last “I lost…”
So the signing is over and now we wait for pictures. I was the last one of the RBers to get my picture taken, so I had fun watching the rest of them. Andrew and inzane standing next to each other was a riot. aussieb was trying to whip up the BINXS into a fun picture. ems bent her knees to be a little shorter – man I wish I had that problem, ems :-); mii ended up blocking some of Garry LOL.
My turn comes, I walk up and stand in the middle of the band. I’m short, so I’m not blocking anyone. Before the picture is taken, JD (who is at one end) leans into the rest of the band and says “She lost her voice in Memphis singing along with us.” BUSTED LOL! Someone else (don’t know who, maybe Kirk) said from behind me, “yes, we heard.” Oh, well, it was funny.
After the picture, I turn back to all of the band and say, “Thanks, guys.” JD leans forward before I leave and says to me “Thank you so much.” Awww, he’s so sweet. He didn't need to say anything more to me and he did *swoon* I get a signed CD liner as I leave and that is that.
Concert
For Memphis, I said that to me the concert was “destiny fulfilled dripping from each note.” At this concert, I felt that coursing through my body again. It felt so right, so pure, so fun, so naughty – it was the best feeling in the world (with your pants on of course (tm Tim Farriss)). It was not a fluke in Memphis that JD appeared to have completely arrived – he is a rockstar now, comfortable in his skin, a master of the stage, a presence that commands your attention. He melds with the rest of the band beautifully – and INXS is complete *sigh* I felt honored and privileged to be able to see this in person again – musical nirvana.
The energy of this concert was amazing. The boys were on, the crowd, although apparently not sold out, was in a frenzy and it seemed completely full, the sound in the Ryman was incredible. JD was jumping all over the place, in place, off the risers. It was so cool to look around and see so many people I ”knew” up at the front with me – a true classic RB moment.
We start out with 6 RBers in a row in the 2nd pit row – mii, me, Precision 57, inzane, emswazzu, beinghuman. But 30 seconds into Suicide Blonde, most of us had scattered LOL. The 2 BSC girls from the M&G were sitting directly in front of me, and I had asked them ahead of time if they were okay with me coming around to stand behind them in row 1 ½. They said sure, so off I went – thanks girls! inzane followed so he is right beside me, mii went off somewhere more to the right as did Precision 57. I’m enjoying the concert but after a few songs I decided to go back to the 2nd row as the way the speakers were situated right at the stage edge was blocking a lot of my view from so close (did I mention that I’m short?). So I moved back to the 2nd row where there was lots of room (4 seats worth at times) to dance and party as the concert continues in full gear, and I have a more complete view of the stage. Interestingly, I had more eye contact with JD and the band when standing back a little farther (as compared to my front row experience the night before – although I had one great JD eye-contact moment in Memphis). Eventually when ems and beinghuman moved up to row 1 ½, I was dead center for the encore. Cool, cool seats. Plus I had a perfect view to see sooner inching her way farther up and up and up LOL.
As JD had indicated, the set list was changed up. The first difference that I recall was GTT being moved up from the encore. It started with JD sitting on the stairs to the drumkit, his head resting on one arm that was across his legs, his other arm outstretched toward Melody, palm out toward her, as in a symbol of homage. Just before he is to start singing, he gets up and walks to the middle of stage. He forms the tip of a triangle with the two back-up singers. The stage is very dark for this song, he sings and you can hear the emotion of the song coursing through you. Then when the lyrics of the song are over, JD dropped down behind the mic stand and lowered his hand, holding his hands up as in prayer. Then at a crescendo of the music, he slowly straightened up (still kneeling) and moved with the music, almost withering with his head back. Then he almost curled into a ball behind the stand again, his hands held on his head as if overwhelmed by emotion. At the end of the song, he slowly moved up the stand and stood while the music concluded. I found GTT to be much more powerful in Nashville then Memphis, don’t know what the difference was, just that it really struck more of a chord with me and the emotion rolling off the stage seemed more poignant.
Loved how they moved right into Amazing Grace after GTT, worked better than the night before. Also love how JD seemed so into it, and his hand movements as if directing (like a conductor) the verse.
I can’t tell y’all how much I loved Elegantly Wasted. JD was all over the stage and the band was grooving and having fun. It was beautifuk to watch!
At one point (ok, yes I took some notes during the concert LOL, although I can’t figure out what I meant by some of them!), JD held his hands as if in prayer in Hungry, I think at the point where Jon holds his sticks up in an “X.” This song, in the instrumental part, is where JD starts to non-verbally thank the audience and go OMG.
NLYG is next and they had so much fun when JD chased Kirk around with the Tazmanian Devil shirt. Thanks, Whiplash Lover, for providing the shirt for that bit of levity.
One of the (JD) highlights during NYT was that during the phrase “makes me sweat” he slide his leg slowly along one of the speakers *thud* before kind of sitting on it.
During WYN, JD went over to Andrew and the two of them had a good long stare at each other during the song, very intense. It was in this song that JD gestured for everyone to move up. Don’t think security let them, though.
In Kick, he lowered his head for the front row (and row 1 ½ *giggles* sooner), to give him a hair fuck.
Pretty Vegas was rocking, the whole place was exploding with noise. At the end of this song, several of us RBers plus others I saw/heard, tried to get a good IN-X-S chant going. But the crowd noise was just too loud for it to really be heard. But thanks, all, for giving it a try!
For the encore, JD came back out in his asshat, with a lit cigarette. He hadn’t done that during the encore in Memphis.
In the encore, JD told about the band riding along in their buses in the U.S., watching the trees and the American farmland go by. He said that music helps them express things when then don’t know the words to express it otherwise (or something like that – it was a lot more eloquent than my notes).
What can I say? I loved the concert, loved meeting up with the RBers before and after the concert, it was an awesome night in NashVegas. The power of the BINXS was in the air, the joy from the band and the fans cumulating til I almost couldn’t breath. Night 2 of my BSC weekend was over, but the emotions were building inside me from seeing this awesome band – so sweet and humble and funny in person – so engrossing and powerful on stage. What more can be said? I couldn’t wait ‘til Cincinnati to do it all over again, yet I didn’t want to get to Cincy for I knew it would be over almost before it began.
INXS Memphis concert April 21, 2006
Orignially posted at www.rockbandlounge.com at http://www.rockbandlounge.com/forum/topic.asp?topic_id=2514&whichpage=2
This was night one of the best INXS weekend I could imagine. It’s hard to start this recap as the weekend is all one big blur. I admit I had the ultimate BSC weekend – 3 concerts in a row, 2 M&Gs (yikes!) and 2 cross-state trips with RBers. So if my facts are a bit mixed up from one night to the next, please forgive me!
True confession since CrazyforINXS already “outed” meSo while most of the first three rows were at the M&G, I met W.A.T.T. in the lobby and we went to our seats when Dirtie Blonde was due to start. I had a front row pit seat thanks to the lovely CFI. Never would I have imagined Seat 3 would be almost center stage! As CFI said, thank you “hole in the floor!” What was funny was of the 8 seats in the first 2 rows to the left of center, I was the only one there. It felt like Dirtie Blonde was giving a concert just for me. Dirtie Blonde – can’t say I absolutely fell in love with them, but they were good. I liked their music. At times I liked the lead singer’s voice more than at other times; I thought it sounded better in lower registers. But they tried hard, and I didn’t think they looked awkward on stage. The singer was very humble. She said after the 2nd song I believe “This is a really big deal for us.” She also mentioned a couple times that we were being so nice to them, and in the end she thanked us for not booing them. (The applause grew as the set moved along, so the crowd was starting to get into it. No one was standing that I could see, though, I looked back a couple times. People stood at the end of the set, though.) She also started to announce the number of songs left ‘til INXS was on – she then said “how cool is that?” I think they really appreciated the opportunity.
Soon after, CFI shows up so I get to meet her, then strawberrygirl. Hi, gals! You were fun to squee with. Also met hskrinxsfan and redhead.
The concert gets started just as we are used to, with the countdown and the music starting and then the curtain being raised – and there they are, INXS! JD is in a new outfit, what are apparently black cords and a white jacket with thin pinstripes over a very nicely fitting black (with pinstripes) button up shirt – with bottom buttons undone of course!
Did I mention yet that I was first row LOL? JD has lots of room to walk and stand right in front of me as the speakers were set back 3 to 4 feet. I have lots of wonderful memories of JD and his sexy moves and hip gyrations right in front of me, like a foot away – squeee! Kirk and Garry came close by too. I was enjoying Kirk in front of me a few times, and I let him know it and he was appreciative. For some totally inexplicable reason, the 2 front row seats next to me were empty for the concert. For the first few songs, security would not let the 2nd row people move up so I had the space of 3 chairs to dance and pogo and sing along – which I did to my detriment as I ended up with almost no voice after the concert. Eventually, two people moved up then two more, then it was a bit crowded by me. (Unfortunately, it became a little unruly by the end, as CFI said.)
I’m not going through all the songs, but this was the concert where Perfect Strangers debuted. I know we had heard they would be putting more Switch songs in, but it was so exciting to be there when JD said “You are the first to hear this song played live” and then INXS played Perfect Strangers. *mad pogoing* It sounded sooooooo good!
Then along comes Hot Girls. Be still the heart - I’m likin’ it, likin’ it. JD is all over the place, so much energy it is incredible. And of course, Elegantly Wasted has been added to the set and JD completely nailed it. To me, all of the new material sounded well rehearsed and bloody brilliant. (Well, maybe I wasn’t quite as thrilled about God’s Top Ten in the encore, I’m just not a huge fan of the song. It was sung well, but I found the long instrumental piece at the end awkward.)
There was so much energy tonight – it was crackling hot! Speaking of hawt, JD did do an abbreviated (varied) Taste It tonight, where he laid back on the ramp by Garry with his knees bent, feet flat on floor. He puts the microphone between his knees and kind of just moves it more and more toward the audience - like dropping down more between his knees to the ramp - and therefore closer to the audience. He then got up with the "thrusting' drum beats - I'm trying to remember the exact sequence - there should be video of this, I believe - he does one or two thrusts maybe then he licks his fingers, touches the spot, flutters/rubs a little, then brings his fingers back up to his mouth and licks. He may have then done a couple more thrusts, I don't remember. It was really short when he was back at the mic - maybe 20 - 30 seconds? Then he started back into the song. During Hot Girls, I believe he licked briefly the "spot" then ran his tongue up the mic as he was standing up. JD had some hawt moments in Perfect Strangers, for example he “melted” on the ramp behind Jon during the “burning wax” lyric.
Lots of man-love moments. JD did the thing where he crouches down by Garry’s side, reaches his arm through Garry’s legs and pretends to play Garry’s bass. The megaphone - a darker red one - made a brief return in Pretty Vegas in Memphis.
I got a nice water spraying from JD as he stood right in front of CFI and I to throw his water. Another “nice” moment was that JD shook the hands of everyone in the front row that stuck up their hand. The most special “not personal” concert moment was when JD sang Amazing Grace with the backup singers - and Andrew accompanied them. More of the band could have been playing to, but I was focused on JD. It sounded so good.
Then the encore, JD changed clothes – to a t-shirt with Sinner on the front. I had made a sign right before the concert that said very simply “THANK YOU INXS.” I wanted to express to them how much I appreciated them and the journey they have taken to get back to us and the beautifuk, rocking music that they play. So I held up my sign (it wasn’t a huge one) above my head a few times during the encore, but mostly I was holding it at my chest level during the encore. I’m watching them play, then all of a sudden I realize that JD was singing and looking right at me from behind the mic stand. I in turn stare at him and see him mouth the words “thank you” to me between lines of the lyrics of the song (New Sensation I think – it is all a blur). Awwww, did you know you can melt in a puddle in Memphis in April? ‘Cuz I certainly did! I mouthed back “thank you” to him. Now, hopefully he wasn’t talking to the person behind me LOL! (BTW – that is how low the stage was – that I could hold the sign at chest level and the BINXS could still read it – and I’m short!) But believe it or not, Garry's "thank you" to me for the sign was even sweeter. He caught my eye and kind of tilted his head to the side, then brought his hands to his heart then held his hands together in a "thanks" gesture. Girls, where do I sign up for the Garrem?
At the end of the show, JD wished Andrew a happy wedding anniversary.
I can only make a comparison to the one concert that I had previously seen – St. Charles – which was an amazing, amazing concert. But to me that concert was JD more at a point of having just come out of his chrysalis stage – wonderful and new and exciting and perfect but just a tiny bit awkward too. Well, peeps, no more I tell you – he is a full-fledged frontman now. There was an ease about him with a command of the stage, a comfort zone that JD found; I felt like he had arrived and fit into that place that was meant to be his. It was electric and beautiful to watch. JD was graceful and powerful. I didn’t sense any awkwardness, just sexy, sinful, playful, funny, gorgeous INXS – complete *sigh* Destiny fulfilled dripping from each note.
INXS St. Charles concert February 28, 2006
Originally Posted on www.rockbandlounge.com at http://www.rockbandlounge.com/forum/topic.asp?topic_id=2138&whichpage=2
Part I
First off, nobody has to read all this! It's really long because I've never learned the art of being concise and to the point. But a couple people asked me to post about my experiences and the interviews/concert in St. Charles, so here goes...
I woke up bright and early to fly to St. Charles, so that there was no chance of missing the acoustic performance (The River Lounge) being held by The River (101.1FM) radio station in St. Louis at 2:30pm. I'm sitting at the airport killing time before my flight, and I check my email on my laptop. Low and behold, the night before emswazzu had sent me an email asking if I had seen the notice on the radio station's website that The River Lounge with INXS was rescheduled to 5pm. No I hadn't known that! (Thanks so much for letting me know, emswazzu!) I get to St. Louis and the first thing I do is get on the phone to the person with whom I was going to the acoustic event. (Squee - she had invited me to go with her!) Turns out she hadn't known about the time change yet, so she had to scramble to rearrange her day. We promised to get in touch with each other around 1pm to regroup. Problem though -- she couldn't find her concert ticket that I had mailed her! She had been searching and searching already...
So now I had lots of time to kill... but that's a different story. I did call the radio station to confirm what time we were now supposed to arrive at the Duck Room of Blueberry Hill - found out 4:30pm. I was able to connect with my friend and arrange to meet her for the acoustic event. She told me that besides the River Lounge event, INXS was supposed to have another radio interview around 3:30pm on Y98. I decided to hang around my hotel room to listen to that interview before heading off to Blueberry Hill. I also called emswazzu since she was so sweet to let me know about The River Lounge's time change - without her I have no doubt we would have gone to the event at the original time! -- to let the group of 1st-row RBers know about the Y98 interview if they had a chance to listen. (Sorry, W.A.T.T., if I had known your phone number I would have called you too!)
Y98 Interview
I tried to find a "listen live" link on Y98's website before the interview but couldn't find one in order to post for others on the board. So, I'll tell you a bit of what I remember from the interview:It was Kirk, Andrew and JD. Mostly the standard questions, including discussion of how the show was postponed because JD was sick. Andrew said it was his fault, he got sick right at the beginning, and it was spread around. JD said it could be as simple as touching the same glass on the tour bus for everyone to get sick. A couple highlights - they played Need You Tonight acousticly live in the studio mid-way through the interview. It sounded awesome! During the interview somehow the topic of porn came up with them (I think JD and Kirk) commenting on how you could get 5-second snippets when watching a scrambled channel. The DJ then asked DJ about groupies -- and Kirk interjected "Speaking of porn" LOL! JD said that he thought it would be limos and girls and that it is still limos, but getting in them and trying to rest on the way to something else. He said he gets asked (by women) to get together, but he says the schedule makes it like "Ok, we can have coffee between 8am and 8:15am." (He had given the same answer in another interview, I remember.) Another memorable thing discussed was the PV song-writing clinic. Andrew said something to the effect that he was playing two roles when "judging" that contest. He was there to judge (first and foremost) how well they collaborated together, and JD broke the rules. But he said (paraphrasing from what I remember) he also was really interested in the song JD wrote, and it was a great song and look at it now. The DJ asked the guys if they would be partying it up for Mardi Gras, but at least Kirk didn't seem to know about the bead-throwing and flashing tradition. The guys also discussed how there was a lot of flashing at the Boca concert - like a LOT. JD said that since the concert in St. Charles was at the Family Arena, it could just be knowing winks instead.
Part II
The River Lounge at the Duck Room
I went to meet my friend - who had luckily found her concert ticket! - to go to the acoustic event. We get there a little after 4:30pm, and there are already about 50 people lined up! But not that many people showed up after us, so it was a fairly small group for the event. They let us downstairs after the sound check, and we could choose wherever we wanted to stand or sit. Well, of course I was going to stand by the stage. Since we were some of the last in, I would have thought everyone would have gathered by the front of the stage. But there was only a group of about 7 women standing in front of the stage, so we went to stand in an unofficial 2nd row behind the women. The women were not standing closely together, so I felt like I was almost in the first row with no one blocking my way. I chose my spot to be directly in front of JD's mic stand, of course.
The DJ announced INXS and out came Kirk, Andrew and JD. I'm not going to go into detail about what was said during the interview since it was captured and is available for listening. But some of the things that you didn't see if you listened to the event I will describe. As JD says in the interview, it was fairly intimate as we could stand pretty close to the stage, the stage wasn't that high and there were only speakers at the front of the stage. The place was big enough that it didn't seem crowded at all. I would estimate that I was standing about 6 feet in front of JD when he stood at the mic stand (which he did the whole time except at a point in Mystify where he came to the front of the stage to hold the microphone out to the crowd).
I couldn't get over how natural JD looked answering the questions and being so witty while going so - didn't look nervous at all even though at one point he said he was nervous being there in front of us. When JD discussed googling his fan sites, and he mentions seeing himself in the middle of a flower with arms, he held his arms out to mimic the picture - too funny! I could clearly see it in my mind LOL! During the discussion of how his grandmother came running down the stairs to the basement shouting about the AC/CD album "turn it off, turn it off!", JD demonstrated running down the stairs by semi-jogging in place on the stage. JD also faded out a bit on the radio while discussing being outside right after the finale because he was demonstrating what he meant when he said "People are walking by you going..." His demonstration was to walk away from the mic pointing as if at someone standing nearby, then he had to rush back to the mic. JD turned to look at Kirk and Andrew sometimes when talking, you can see the comaraderie and friendship between them. A couple times, JD went and whispered in their ears, I think JD and Kirk may have shared a joke at one point based on their reactions.
During the songs, JD kept his eyes closed for the most part. If he did look out into the audience, it seemed that he was looking out farther into the crowd, not at the first few rows. For some of the interview/songs, JD had his shirt sleeves pushed up so I could read the "inXs" tatoo on his right wrist. He did play with his shirt sleeves a bit, pushing them up, pulling them down over the course of the event. Listening back to the audio of this, it doesn't sound like the audience was very loud, but we were to my ears, it just didn't get picked up by the mics. Though, I did think at times that I was surprised there wasn't more reaction to some of the things said by the band - more clapping, etc. I tried to initiate some clapping once, but everyone seemed like they just wanted to listen while the interview portions were going on.
Then squeeee! The DJ quotes a bio that says "Fortune favors the bold" (originally from Virgil). JunkyardMessiah and LAXguy are famous, I think! JD answers that he had "the least amount to lose" of all the contestants, and I thought, wow he is really opening up more in this interview and sharing more than I have previously heard (and I've listened to everything!).
When JD discussed his name and said he changed his name a few times like when he had his adult film star business, but always went back to Fortune, that appeared to really crack up Kirk. Also, I got the sense that Andrew and Kirk enjoyed having questions directed to them about things more in the past and that were more "off topic" than the usual ones they get about RS:INXS and JD.
Then, that playful JD came forth again -- a couple times during Mystify, JD switched up the words to say "I'm in love with Jill Devine." I didn't catch it, apparently she works for the station and had meet JD prior to the interview. Once when he sang that he pointed off to the side where she must have been sitting, Kirk backed up to allow a clear line of sight between JD and where he was pointing. The whole thing totally went over my head, it had to be explained to me later the significance of the point and the words.
The audience yelled out "we'll be your guests" when JD and Kirk talked about tickets having been released for the concert that evening that had been held for their non-existent guests. When the DJ discusses how JD was considered cocky, JD lifted up the back of his shirt and showed him the "130 Little Bastard" tattoo. Right after that at the goading of some of the women in the audience (not me, I swear!), he lifted his shirt again and showed the tattoo to the audience. I have now officially confirmed with my own eyes what the tattoo says :-) After Kirk said "Don't show them that other one in that special place," JD rubbed the top of his left thigh when he responded laughingly back to Kirk "That's still healing..." Toward the end of this interview section, when JD and Kirk are answering questions, a bunch of the front row girls convinced Andrew to kneel down and sign Switch CD liners and other things. At the conclusion of the event, JD proved he has learned to say no, he waved to the gals in the front row who wanted him to stop for autographs, but he didn't stop. The girls convinced Kirk to stop after a little coaxing for a few autographs. Kirk had handed my friend one of his picks prior to this.
So that was the mechanics of the event. The emotions? I was thrilled that I got to see INXS (or at least 3 of them) perform acoustically just feet in front of me! I was so lucky to have the chance just on a fluke, and it did not disappoint. Once again, JD proved his worth by singing beautifully at one of these acoustic events. No overpowering band needed to hide any flaws in his voice! Plus I thought the interview was one of the best I had heard - great questions DJ Vic. I could have been content to see just this performance -- ok, that's not true :-) So on to the concert...
Part III
The St. Charles Concert
My.first.INXS.concert.EVAH! I am a new fan starting with the RS:INXS show. So I was very excited to finally be seeing the concert, after it had been postponed previously. I still can't believe I flew in to see a concert. I've never done anything like this ("crazy" according to my family) in my life - and will be continuing to do it for the rest of the North American tour, I'm sure.
I got to the concert about 30 minutes before the Lovehammers. Checked out the INXS tour merchandise (purchased 2 t-shirts), found my (squeee!) 2nd row seats and started to settle down to wait for the LH to start the show. My friend had conflicting plans, so she wouldn't be arriving til intermission. But I noticed some people sitting where I thought the 1st-row RBers would be, so I walked over and introduced myself to Heaven Sent, OCGIRL and emswazzu. The rest of the 1st-row crew came back shortly (SlideOverHere, Glam, Hot Girl), plus Cheryl, so I got a chance to meet almost everyone for a few minutes. Thanks, everyone, for saying hi!
The Lovehammers:
I hadn't heard their music previously (except Marty's RS versions of Trees), so I was looking forward to hearing the LHs. And I can tell you that they won me over! I enjoyed the performance - I love harder rock - except I was waiting for Marty's pants to fall down. He had to keep pulling them up and even said something to that effect to the audience. The best moment for me was when a guy in the first row in front of me had his cell phone open so the listener could hear, and Marty reached down and took it from the gentleman and sang into it for a few lines. Marty had an mischevous look on his face, I thought, and it was fun to watch this audience interaction.
At intermission, I saw W.A.T.T., so I got to meet her, plus I had promised SportinOne, I would look her up so I did that too at the intermission. Got to meet shearer92 also. Great to meet you gals! Then I look up and before I know it, the Countdown is already down to 3 minutes til INXS! My friend showed up in time for INXS, sporting a very purple boa (more about that later). We squeed together about the great seats we had directly in front of Kirk's mic stand.
INXS:
Absolutely perfect! That is how I started out my after-concert posts on RB, and I stand by that and then some. I could add: brilliant, magical, fun, exhilarating, special, sexy, naughty, infectious, poigmant, awe-inspiring, beautiful. All in all, for me it was musical nirvana.
And I don't know if all those words capture the true emotions and reactions I was feeling at the concert. Do you think I enjoyed the show LOL?
I certainly had a lot of expectations of the concert experience, given what I had already seen and heard. And OB:OB delivered! I could never have imagined they could sound as good as they did - I didn't hear one wrong note from anyone - vocals or instrumental. As great as I had thought JD's voice was in the afternoon instrumental, how could I have known the impact of hearing it soaring to the rafters in full power? I could have stood there for hours just listening to the band perform. I could taste the destiny fulfilled with every note that drifted off of that stage.
I don't even remember Suicide Blonde but for the very first 30 seconds when JD appeared. I was in a daze I think, soaking up the atmosphere. Plus I was a little focused on all of the people pouring in behind the 1st row people who were now standing at the rail by the stage. Since we didn't want to end up in effect the 3rd row instead of the 2nd row as we expected, my friend and I hopped over the 1st row seats to retain our 2nd row spots. So what if I twisted my ankle doing so? A little swollen ankle and massive bruise does not matter when the power of the BINXS is calling you. I started to come out of my daze at the end of Devil's party. We were standing right in front of Kirk's mic stand, and Kirk of course. He seemed to be enjoying the whole evening and very definitely noticed the people in front of us that held the Australian flag over the railing all night. Well, the band keeps playing, the band members move around the stage, JD is sometimes in front of us, then Kirk, then Garry. I enjoyed and sang along to every single song they performed.
Since it is the talk of the town, I was asked on the board about Taste It first thing after the concert. Here is the description I gave, with a little more embelishment: Delicious! Starts with the spot, getting it nice and ready, licks the fingers a few times and touches it, licking and touching, licking and touching, then kneels and starts to lick that same spot. Licking mostly focused there on that oh, so sweet spot, with fluttering, flicking tongue, reaching up with both hands as if to grab... something rounded and soft. He moves down farther on the mic slowly, slowly, dropping his head lower and continuing to lick the stand, bringing his hands in close to his face to protect or pleasure. He comes back to the spot, making sure it is not feeling neglected by his wandering. Then he rises from the floor and plays with the spot again, moving his fingers, rubbing, repeating, tapping, rubbing, slapping, repeating, then starts the slow hip thrusting in rhythm to the music, he buries his head in the bend of his elbow to focus all his power in the thrusts and the fast thrusting, thrusting, thrusting commences until ... the climax of the instrumental section and JD starts singing again. OMFG! I couldn't have looked away if I had tried.
With about 5 songs left in the show, 3 people from the front row leave! WTF? So my friend and I now get to stand at the rail in front of the stage for the rest of the concert! Squeeeeeeee - first row! I'd never before been even near the floor at a concert, and suddenly I'm first row for the band that has truly captured my attention, and heart, and soul since they uttered those infamous words "JD, you are right for our band, INXS."
When Pretty Vegas is over and the boys leave the stage, we all keep clapping and screaming to have BINXS return. It doesn't take long before they re-appear. Kirk walks directly to the couple now on the side of us with the Australian flag and shakes their hands - no one elses. Everyone gets in position again, then New Sensation kicks into gear. It is during this song, I believe, where the night was made for my friend. Remember the purple boa I said she was wearing? Well, JD motioned for it, and she gave it to him. He wore it for a couple minutes, then gave it back. He gave it back by holding out one end to her (don't think I wasn't tempted to grab it since he and it were right in front on me too!), and she grabbed the other end also. For a second I thought he would fall off the stage if she pulled too hard! But she didn't and he let it slip gracefully off over his head, not even disturbing his asshat as he rose back up to finish singing the song.
Best song of the night? I was asked... Tough call! In terms of crowd reaction, the crescendo of songs - Need You Tonight, What You Need, Pretty Vegas, New Sensation, Never Tear Us Apart and Don't Change were all close. The front couple rows were loving all the songs, so it was hard to say what was best. I think everyone would have a different answer if asked. My favourite - hmmmmmmmm.... it probably would have been Devil's Party except I was in a daze then, remember. So I would say for me - Never Tear Us Apart, closely followed by New Sensation (just because for New Sensation the whole band was really into it - Garry was right in front of me having an awesome time playing and singing along). Somehow I think I slipped into a trance again at the end of the concert, though, because I have no recollection of when JD sang the "why-y-y-y-y-y-y" part of NTUA. I was assured he did, but it's no where to be found in my memory. Thankfully, I will be seeing the band again in May so that I have another shot at collecting that memory to store forever in the recesses of my conciousness.
Part I
First off, nobody has to read all this! It's really long because I've never learned the art of being concise and to the point. But a couple people asked me to post about my experiences and the interviews/concert in St. Charles, so here goes...
I woke up bright and early to fly to St. Charles, so that there was no chance of missing the acoustic performance (The River Lounge) being held by The River (101.1FM) radio station in St. Louis at 2:30pm. I'm sitting at the airport killing time before my flight, and I check my email on my laptop. Low and behold, the night before emswazzu had sent me an email asking if I had seen the notice on the radio station's website that The River Lounge with INXS was rescheduled to 5pm. No I hadn't known that! (Thanks so much for letting me know, emswazzu!) I get to St. Louis and the first thing I do is get on the phone to the person with whom I was going to the acoustic event. (Squee - she had invited me to go with her!) Turns out she hadn't known about the time change yet, so she had to scramble to rearrange her day. We promised to get in touch with each other around 1pm to regroup. Problem though -- she couldn't find her concert ticket that I had mailed her! She had been searching and searching already...
So now I had lots of time to kill... but that's a different story. I did call the radio station to confirm what time we were now supposed to arrive at the Duck Room of Blueberry Hill - found out 4:30pm. I was able to connect with my friend and arrange to meet her for the acoustic event. She told me that besides the River Lounge event, INXS was supposed to have another radio interview around 3:30pm on Y98. I decided to hang around my hotel room to listen to that interview before heading off to Blueberry Hill. I also called emswazzu since she was so sweet to let me know about The River Lounge's time change - without her I have no doubt we would have gone to the event at the original time! -- to let the group of 1st-row RBers know about the Y98 interview if they had a chance to listen. (Sorry, W.A.T.T., if I had known your phone number I would have called you too!)
Y98 Interview
I tried to find a "listen live" link on Y98's website before the interview but couldn't find one in order to post for others on the board. So, I'll tell you a bit of what I remember from the interview:It was Kirk, Andrew and JD. Mostly the standard questions, including discussion of how the show was postponed because JD was sick. Andrew said it was his fault, he got sick right at the beginning, and it was spread around. JD said it could be as simple as touching the same glass on the tour bus for everyone to get sick. A couple highlights - they played Need You Tonight acousticly live in the studio mid-way through the interview. It sounded awesome! During the interview somehow the topic of porn came up with them (I think JD and Kirk) commenting on how you could get 5-second snippets when watching a scrambled channel. The DJ then asked DJ about groupies -- and Kirk interjected "Speaking of porn" LOL! JD said that he thought it would be limos and girls and that it is still limos, but getting in them and trying to rest on the way to something else. He said he gets asked (by women) to get together, but he says the schedule makes it like "Ok, we can have coffee between 8am and 8:15am." (He had given the same answer in another interview, I remember.) Another memorable thing discussed was the PV song-writing clinic. Andrew said something to the effect that he was playing two roles when "judging" that contest. He was there to judge (first and foremost) how well they collaborated together, and JD broke the rules. But he said (paraphrasing from what I remember) he also was really interested in the song JD wrote, and it was a great song and look at it now. The DJ asked the guys if they would be partying it up for Mardi Gras, but at least Kirk didn't seem to know about the bead-throwing and flashing tradition. The guys also discussed how there was a lot of flashing at the Boca concert - like a LOT. JD said that since the concert in St. Charles was at the Family Arena, it could just be knowing winks instead.
Part II
The River Lounge at the Duck Room
I went to meet my friend - who had luckily found her concert ticket! - to go to the acoustic event. We get there a little after 4:30pm, and there are already about 50 people lined up! But not that many people showed up after us, so it was a fairly small group for the event. They let us downstairs after the sound check, and we could choose wherever we wanted to stand or sit. Well, of course I was going to stand by the stage. Since we were some of the last in, I would have thought everyone would have gathered by the front of the stage. But there was only a group of about 7 women standing in front of the stage, so we went to stand in an unofficial 2nd row behind the women. The women were not standing closely together, so I felt like I was almost in the first row with no one blocking my way. I chose my spot to be directly in front of JD's mic stand, of course.
The DJ announced INXS and out came Kirk, Andrew and JD. I'm not going to go into detail about what was said during the interview since it was captured and is available for listening. But some of the things that you didn't see if you listened to the event I will describe. As JD says in the interview, it was fairly intimate as we could stand pretty close to the stage, the stage wasn't that high and there were only speakers at the front of the stage. The place was big enough that it didn't seem crowded at all. I would estimate that I was standing about 6 feet in front of JD when he stood at the mic stand (which he did the whole time except at a point in Mystify where he came to the front of the stage to hold the microphone out to the crowd).
I couldn't get over how natural JD looked answering the questions and being so witty while going so - didn't look nervous at all even though at one point he said he was nervous being there in front of us. When JD discussed googling his fan sites, and he mentions seeing himself in the middle of a flower with arms, he held his arms out to mimic the picture - too funny! I could clearly see it in my mind LOL! During the discussion of how his grandmother came running down the stairs to the basement shouting about the AC/CD album "turn it off, turn it off!", JD demonstrated running down the stairs by semi-jogging in place on the stage. JD also faded out a bit on the radio while discussing being outside right after the finale because he was demonstrating what he meant when he said "People are walking by you going..." His demonstration was to walk away from the mic pointing as if at someone standing nearby, then he had to rush back to the mic. JD turned to look at Kirk and Andrew sometimes when talking, you can see the comaraderie and friendship between them. A couple times, JD went and whispered in their ears, I think JD and Kirk may have shared a joke at one point based on their reactions.
During the songs, JD kept his eyes closed for the most part. If he did look out into the audience, it seemed that he was looking out farther into the crowd, not at the first few rows. For some of the interview/songs, JD had his shirt sleeves pushed up so I could read the "inXs" tatoo on his right wrist. He did play with his shirt sleeves a bit, pushing them up, pulling them down over the course of the event. Listening back to the audio of this, it doesn't sound like the audience was very loud, but we were to my ears, it just didn't get picked up by the mics. Though, I did think at times that I was surprised there wasn't more reaction to some of the things said by the band - more clapping, etc. I tried to initiate some clapping once, but everyone seemed like they just wanted to listen while the interview portions were going on.
Then squeeee! The DJ quotes a bio that says "Fortune favors the bold" (originally from Virgil). JunkyardMessiah and LAXguy are famous, I think! JD answers that he had "the least amount to lose" of all the contestants, and I thought, wow he is really opening up more in this interview and sharing more than I have previously heard (and I've listened to everything!).
When JD discussed his name and said he changed his name a few times like when he had his adult film star business, but always went back to Fortune, that appeared to really crack up Kirk. Also, I got the sense that Andrew and Kirk enjoyed having questions directed to them about things more in the past and that were more "off topic" than the usual ones they get about RS:INXS and JD.
Then, that playful JD came forth again -- a couple times during Mystify, JD switched up the words to say "I'm in love with Jill Devine." I didn't catch it, apparently she works for the station and had meet JD prior to the interview. Once when he sang that he pointed off to the side where she must have been sitting, Kirk backed up to allow a clear line of sight between JD and where he was pointing. The whole thing totally went over my head, it had to be explained to me later the significance of the point and the words.
The audience yelled out "we'll be your guests" when JD and Kirk talked about tickets having been released for the concert that evening that had been held for their non-existent guests. When the DJ discusses how JD was considered cocky, JD lifted up the back of his shirt and showed him the "130 Little Bastard" tattoo. Right after that at the goading of some of the women in the audience (not me, I swear!), he lifted his shirt again and showed the tattoo to the audience. I have now officially confirmed with my own eyes what the tattoo says :-) After Kirk said "Don't show them that other one in that special place," JD rubbed the top of his left thigh when he responded laughingly back to Kirk "That's still healing..." Toward the end of this interview section, when JD and Kirk are answering questions, a bunch of the front row girls convinced Andrew to kneel down and sign Switch CD liners and other things. At the conclusion of the event, JD proved he has learned to say no, he waved to the gals in the front row who wanted him to stop for autographs, but he didn't stop. The girls convinced Kirk to stop after a little coaxing for a few autographs. Kirk had handed my friend one of his picks prior to this.
So that was the mechanics of the event. The emotions? I was thrilled that I got to see INXS (or at least 3 of them) perform acoustically just feet in front of me! I was so lucky to have the chance just on a fluke, and it did not disappoint. Once again, JD proved his worth by singing beautifully at one of these acoustic events. No overpowering band needed to hide any flaws in his voice! Plus I thought the interview was one of the best I had heard - great questions DJ Vic. I could have been content to see just this performance -- ok, that's not true :-) So on to the concert...
Part III
The St. Charles Concert
My.first.INXS.concert.EVAH! I am a new fan starting with the RS:INXS show. So I was very excited to finally be seeing the concert, after it had been postponed previously. I still can't believe I flew in to see a concert. I've never done anything like this ("crazy" according to my family) in my life - and will be continuing to do it for the rest of the North American tour, I'm sure.
I got to the concert about 30 minutes before the Lovehammers. Checked out the INXS tour merchandise (purchased 2 t-shirts), found my (squeee!) 2nd row seats and started to settle down to wait for the LH to start the show. My friend had conflicting plans, so she wouldn't be arriving til intermission. But I noticed some people sitting where I thought the 1st-row RBers would be, so I walked over and introduced myself to Heaven Sent, OCGIRL and emswazzu. The rest of the 1st-row crew came back shortly (SlideOverHere, Glam, Hot Girl), plus Cheryl, so I got a chance to meet almost everyone for a few minutes. Thanks, everyone, for saying hi!
The Lovehammers:
I hadn't heard their music previously (except Marty's RS versions of Trees), so I was looking forward to hearing the LHs. And I can tell you that they won me over! I enjoyed the performance - I love harder rock - except I was waiting for Marty's pants to fall down. He had to keep pulling them up and even said something to that effect to the audience. The best moment for me was when a guy in the first row in front of me had his cell phone open so the listener could hear, and Marty reached down and took it from the gentleman and sang into it for a few lines. Marty had an mischevous look on his face, I thought, and it was fun to watch this audience interaction.
At intermission, I saw W.A.T.T., so I got to meet her, plus I had promised SportinOne, I would look her up so I did that too at the intermission. Got to meet shearer92 also. Great to meet you gals! Then I look up and before I know it, the Countdown is already down to 3 minutes til INXS! My friend showed up in time for INXS, sporting a very purple boa (more about that later). We squeed together about the great seats we had directly in front of Kirk's mic stand.
INXS:
Absolutely perfect! That is how I started out my after-concert posts on RB, and I stand by that and then some. I could add: brilliant, magical, fun, exhilarating, special, sexy, naughty, infectious, poigmant, awe-inspiring, beautiful. All in all, for me it was musical nirvana.
And I don't know if all those words capture the true emotions and reactions I was feeling at the concert. Do you think I enjoyed the show LOL?
I certainly had a lot of expectations of the concert experience, given what I had already seen and heard. And OB:OB delivered! I could never have imagined they could sound as good as they did - I didn't hear one wrong note from anyone - vocals or instrumental. As great as I had thought JD's voice was in the afternoon instrumental, how could I have known the impact of hearing it soaring to the rafters in full power? I could have stood there for hours just listening to the band perform. I could taste the destiny fulfilled with every note that drifted off of that stage.
I don't even remember Suicide Blonde but for the very first 30 seconds when JD appeared. I was in a daze I think, soaking up the atmosphere. Plus I was a little focused on all of the people pouring in behind the 1st row people who were now standing at the rail by the stage. Since we didn't want to end up in effect the 3rd row instead of the 2nd row as we expected, my friend and I hopped over the 1st row seats to retain our 2nd row spots. So what if I twisted my ankle doing so? A little swollen ankle and massive bruise does not matter when the power of the BINXS is calling you. I started to come out of my daze at the end of Devil's party. We were standing right in front of Kirk's mic stand, and Kirk of course. He seemed to be enjoying the whole evening and very definitely noticed the people in front of us that held the Australian flag over the railing all night. Well, the band keeps playing, the band members move around the stage, JD is sometimes in front of us, then Kirk, then Garry. I enjoyed and sang along to every single song they performed.
Since it is the talk of the town, I was asked on the board about Taste It first thing after the concert. Here is the description I gave, with a little more embelishment: Delicious! Starts with the spot, getting it nice and ready, licks the fingers a few times and touches it, licking and touching, licking and touching, then kneels and starts to lick that same spot. Licking mostly focused there on that oh, so sweet spot, with fluttering, flicking tongue, reaching up with both hands as if to grab... something rounded and soft. He moves down farther on the mic slowly, slowly, dropping his head lower and continuing to lick the stand, bringing his hands in close to his face to protect or pleasure. He comes back to the spot, making sure it is not feeling neglected by his wandering. Then he rises from the floor and plays with the spot again, moving his fingers, rubbing, repeating, tapping, rubbing, slapping, repeating, then starts the slow hip thrusting in rhythm to the music, he buries his head in the bend of his elbow to focus all his power in the thrusts and the fast thrusting, thrusting, thrusting commences until ... the climax of the instrumental section and JD starts singing again. OMFG! I couldn't have looked away if I had tried.
With about 5 songs left in the show, 3 people from the front row leave! WTF? So my friend and I now get to stand at the rail in front of the stage for the rest of the concert! Squeeeeeeee - first row! I'd never before been even near the floor at a concert, and suddenly I'm first row for the band that has truly captured my attention, and heart, and soul since they uttered those infamous words "JD, you are right for our band, INXS."
When Pretty Vegas is over and the boys leave the stage, we all keep clapping and screaming to have BINXS return. It doesn't take long before they re-appear. Kirk walks directly to the couple now on the side of us with the Australian flag and shakes their hands - no one elses. Everyone gets in position again, then New Sensation kicks into gear. It is during this song, I believe, where the night was made for my friend. Remember the purple boa I said she was wearing? Well, JD motioned for it, and she gave it to him. He wore it for a couple minutes, then gave it back. He gave it back by holding out one end to her (don't think I wasn't tempted to grab it since he and it were right in front on me too!), and she grabbed the other end also. For a second I thought he would fall off the stage if she pulled too hard! But she didn't and he let it slip gracefully off over his head, not even disturbing his asshat as he rose back up to finish singing the song.
Best song of the night? I was asked... Tough call! In terms of crowd reaction, the crescendo of songs - Need You Tonight, What You Need, Pretty Vegas, New Sensation, Never Tear Us Apart and Don't Change were all close. The front couple rows were loving all the songs, so it was hard to say what was best. I think everyone would have a different answer if asked. My favourite - hmmmmmmmm.... it probably would have been Devil's Party except I was in a daze then, remember. So I would say for me - Never Tear Us Apart, closely followed by New Sensation (just because for New Sensation the whole band was really into it - Garry was right in front of me having an awesome time playing and singing along). Somehow I think I slipped into a trance again at the end of the concert, though, because I have no recollection of when JD sang the "why-y-y-y-y-y-y" part of NTUA. I was assured he did, but it's no where to be found in my memory. Thankfully, I will be seeing the band again in May so that I have another shot at collecting that memory to store forever in the recesses of my conciousness.
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