TORONTO - It's official: I've had my fill of the latest version of veteran Aussie dance-rockers INXS led by new, reality-TV-chosen frontman J.D.Fortune, originally of Mississauga, Ont.
Having now seen the latest incarnation of the group three times, including last night's show at the Air Canada Centre, I can honestly say I don't need to revisit them anytime soon. At least not until they put out a new album, a followup to last fall's Switch, which produced the highest charting single of their career with Pretty Vegas, co-written by Fortune.
I've got nothing against the band, who are likeable, downright charming guys, and have managed to very successfully reinvent themselves almost a decade after losing charismatic frontman Michael Hutchence to suicide in 1997.
It's just that, as everyone knew going into last summer's Rockstar: INXS reality-TV show, which saw Fortune triumph over a dozen other frontman-wannabes, there's really no replacing Hutchence.
And that's a problem for the new INXS lineup after repeated exposure to their live shows. (The other two times I caught them was at their Vancouver world tour launch in January followed by the first of two sold-out shows at Massey Hall in February.)
Currently in the midst of a May arena tour of Canada with INXS, Fortune -- now sporting facial hair -- simply hasn't yet evolved into a really riveting, interesting or unpredictable live performer. In other words, Hutchence is a tough act to follow.
Fortune's idea of dangerous was to later change into a black T-shirt to show off his forearm tattoos, rip up a rose stem that was tossed up to him, or leap off the stage to shake hands with fans in the front row. He also embarrassed himself during the encore with some spoken word nonsense, and his jerky body movements and leg kicks don't do him any favours either.
His INXS bandmates, on the other hand, who have all been playing together for almost 30 years, know instinctively how to pace a show and keep it exciting.
Take the monster drum sound and sax solos, provided by Jon Farriss and Kirk Pengilly, respectively, on the soulful Taste It, which Fortune slowed down with his silly, improvisational vocals, and the encore highlight, Never Tear Us Apart.
The nearly sold-out audience, meanwhile, wasted no time getting on their feet, cheering, dancing and singing along as soon as Fortune -- initially dressed in a black suit, tie, white shirt, and sunglasses -- hit the stage with his five INXS bandmates and two female backup singers.
"Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, man's it's alright," he said, looking out at the fans. "Hello Toronto, Canada! Thanks to you this record we have called Switch is doing alright."
As they've done previously, INXS kicked off their hour-and-35-minute performance with the older hit, Suicide Blonde, but moved new songs like Devil's Party higher up in the show while adding other new tunes and set standouts like Hot Girls and Perfect Strangers.
Still, it was fairly obvious that INXS chesnuts -- such as By My Side, Original Sin, Need You Tonight, What You Need, Kick, Devil Inside, New Sensation, Never Tear Us Apart and Don't Change -- were the main reason people bought tickets, although the new Hutchence tribute Afterglow, the Bowie-esque new tune Hungry, and Pretty Vegas came awfully close in the crowd-pleasing department.
INXS could also improve matters by leaving the irritating new song, Never Let You Go, off future set lists.
