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LONDON - The band with the hits was from Australia, but the fans were tuned to the Canadian frontman at the John Labatt Centre last night.
While his veteran bandmates from INXS beamed all around him, J. D. Fortune proved there is rock life after reality TV -- if you have 7,000 fans to scream encouragement, a catalogue of hits, non-stop energy and stage chatter that happens when the guileless button is permanently switched on.
Originally from New Glasgow, N.S., he had been based in the Oakville area before he earned his new job with his victory on the CBS-TV reality series Rock Star: INXS.
"Wow, outta sight. Out of sight, man. Outta sight brother. I think this is the loudest crowd we've had all year," Fortune said after getting out of the white jacket he had worn when he hit the stage. He'd repeat the praise near the concert's end.
"Canada, Canada, Canada," he mused to cheers during the encore, wearing a sweaty T-shirt and thinking out loud about his jump to fame in his homeland and around the world. He had come out for the encore, cigarette in hand, and F-bombs ready to drop, a throwback to the bad boy persona of the TV show.
Then, he went off in another direction with some freestyle spoken word, apparently about living your dreams, a topic he knows perfectly.
After that, he detoured once more for an amazing and reverential touch of Amazing Grace with just two female backup singers to join him. In its way, the hymn fit as the other side of a lot of pleasing excess.
"A year and a half ago . . . whatever," he said after touching his heart as if fortune had just smiled on him for the first time.
All night, Fortune was clearly living the dream that took him from existence in his car -- or the reality TV equivalent -- to fronting a big-name rock band.
A one-time Elvis tribute artist, Fortune was overdue for stardom when he won his way to the front of an Australian rock band looking for a new voice after the 1997 suicide of Michael Hutchence.
The original members of INXS are three brothers -- Andrew Farriss (keyboards/guitar), Tim Farriss (guitar) and Jon Farriss (drums) -- and two other Aussie rockers, Kirk Pengilly (guitar and saxophones) and Garry Beers (bass). INXS was founded in Sydney in 1979 after the Farriss brothers had their own outfits a few years before.
The INXS veterans obviously enjoy having their new Canadian brother twisting and running all around them. Pengilly is the king of cool on his tenor and alto saxes -- a big part of the INXS sound -- and the others are as rock-steady as Fortune is Mr. Over-the-top Overdrive.
The Canuck-Aussie power play works because the vets enjoy connecting with the Fortune fans and Fortune is thrilled to find his place in the INXS hit parade.
One poor decision last night had Beers' bass mixed almost painfully loud at times. INXS makes dance rock and it needs a pulse, but not a Godzilla stomp.
Still, any band that gives away a mic stand to the fans knows the importance of the big gesture when it comes to sound equipment. Pengilly did reach out and pass a stand that had been trashed at least twice by Fortune to a lucky fan near the front. Never seen that before.
INXS has sold more than 30 million albums worldwide and scored No. 1 hits on four different continents. The band's first album with Fortune, Switch (Sony-BMG), has produced Pretty Vegas, a Top 10 hit co-written by Fortune and last night's main-set finale and standing ovation winner.
INXS was determined to show off Switch early on, using the slinky Devil's Party and Hot Girls early in the set, with another of its singles, Afterglow -- blessed with a soaring Fortune vocal -- visited by the 30-minute mark.
INXS started with the 1990 hit, Suicide Blonde, an in-your-face choice given Hutchence's death. But the band respects his memory and what better way to remember a departed rocker than with a blast from the days when he was on his game? It rocked and that's a sign of respect. Period.
The crowd included thousands of fans who had been around for the other INXS classics -- such as Devil Inside, a blast midway, and New Sensation, Never Tear Us Apart and Don't Change -- all saved for star treatment in the encore.
The numbers and fan intensity were spiced with many Fortune-hunting females, hundreds of them pushing up to the stage as the wait for INXS was counted down accompanied by a recorded blast from INXS's fellow Aussies AC/DC.
Opening for INXS was B.C. band Stabilo, a four-piece set to return to London next month.