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.