Concert Review: Rocking in Reading!
Marty said it wasn’t the biggest crowd they had played to on this tour, but that the energy of the crowd was phenomenal. It must have felt different from the stage, because from row M in the right orchestra, all around me was the most sedate, unappreciative crowd I had seen yet while The Lovehammers played. Overall, until ‘Trees’ there was only sporadic love from the audience from my vantage point.
Last week Marty was saying how happy he was that The Lovehammers were to be opening for INXS on their world tour. When he thanked INXS in Reading, he changed it to the first leg of the North American tour. I found that really interesting. He mentioned that the band had a look around Reading and they thought it was nice.
Marty must have gotten the memo, because there no appearance of the ass crack tonight. But he did take his shirt off for ‘Rain of Fire.’ Unfortunately for The Lovehammers, the sound at the Sovereign PAC wasn’t that great during their set, and it didn’t get too much better for INXS. I think the place was so small, and the amps etc. turned up so loud, we got a lot of fuzz.
It was a bit nippy out, and the Sovereign PAC had the temperature turned up full, but they could have saved on the heating bill, because we all knew INXS was going to raise the temperature in the theatre very quickly as soon as they hit the stage. It was so hot in there I felt faint a few times. And INXS generated so much heat they could have heated the entire downtown core of Reading. The band deserves a huge round of applause for keeping the energy up when it was sweltering. And they had tons of energy. It was incredible. I guess the day off on Valentine’s Day helped refuel them.
The explosiveness of ‘Suicide Blonde’ as the opening song continues to impress me. You just know you are in for an amazing show after that number. They did have trouble with the curtain right at the beginning. I think it was Tim that ended up getting covered for a moment.
JD’s voice was still showing a few signs of wear and tear. I’m glad they have been watching him closely.
JD was wearing those lovely lace up pants again, and was wearing a white long sleeve shirt to start, with a T-shirt underneath. Tim was sporting those yummy brown leather pants again and the Morphine shirt he’s so fond of. Andrew was wearing a black jacket, jeans, and a black T-shirt. Kirk was wearing a raspberry coloured paisley dress shirt and blue jeans. My beloved Sultan of Bass was dressed in form fitting brown pants and a black T-shirt. And Jon looked hot in black jeans and a white T-shirt with a snake-like logo.
The stage at the Sovereign was very small, so it meant even more band interaction than usual. It was so small that I could see Kirk’s and Andrew’s guitar banks from my seat. Which was really cool. It’s not every day you get to see that.
Garry’s bass work on ‘Devil’s Party’ was particularly dazzling tonight. During that song he was splay-legged and rocking out, and he gave us lots of wild feck faces. And the bass was turned way up. During that song JD noticed the Canadian flags in the mezzanine, and then he pointed right at mine. The woman behind me was thrilled, because she figured when he made his audience roam, he’d come to our side for sure. He never did make that excursion from the stage. During ‘What You Need’ he started to, but the crowd in house right surged forward suddenly cutting off any route out, and he aborted. He would have been coming up the aisle right by me, so I was disappointed about that.
The video montage for ‘Afterglow’ was particularly effective tonight. It worked really well with the song.
During ‘Taste It’ I thought JD’s fondling and licking of the microphone stand was going to cause some spontaneous combustions in the audience. His face was buried right in the microphone stand, and he was focussed on one sweet spot, while he used his fingers to gently coax “her” into heavenly bliss. He’s going to be the cunnilingus champion of the world by the end of this tour. And his pelvic thrusts completely blocked Kirk’s sax sex. Jon and Andrew were having a great time during the instrumental. I really needed a cigarette after that song. And I don’t smoke.
Andrew was a mad man on the maracas during ‘Original Sin,’ a standout song tonight. I loved the moment he and JD shared during the chorus toward the end of the song. Then right after that, JD scooted over to Tim and shared some love with him.
After the drum break on ‘Hungry’ we got some stick twirls from Jon. I love the way he twirls those sticks. When JD got to the line “Lust is a hungry place,” he lifted his shirt and ran his hands down the front of his pants. The room got even warmer, and I could distinctly hear several pairs of panties going poof.
The most impressive song of the night was ‘Never Let You Go.’ Not only was the music great, the rhythm was infectious, and the band interactions on this song were a joy to watch: Andrew and Garry sharing a moment at the keyboards, Kirk putting his arm around Garry, JD and Jon grooving, and Kirk chasing Tim with the sax.
The crowd responded very enthusiastically to ‘Need You Tonight.’ It got the biggest crowd reaction of the night. I adored Tim’s one-handed instruction on this one. He’s such a naughty boy.
Garry was in top form during ‘What You Need.’ He was jamming with everyone at some point during that song, and we got some loving between him and JD, with full body contact. JD was pressed up behind Garry, and their hands were roaming everywhere. The man-love between the two of them is highly charged stuff. Did I mention how hot it was in the theatre? Well, it got even hotter after that song.
Another standout song was ‘Kick,’ and tonight I had the most fun yet on this tour watching Andrew at the keyboards. He really is the Mozart of Funk. JD plucked two fans’ signs and delivered them first to Jon, and then to Garry, much to the joy of those fans.
During ‘Pretty Vegas’ JD was helping Tim play the guitar, from behind, up through Tim’s legs. It was delightful. It was also a joy to watch Kirk, Andrew, and Garry all rocking out next to each other at centre stage. And Tim was giving away so many guitar picks, he ended up playing without one.
‘New Sensation’ kicked off the encore tonight, and JD came out wearing the asshat that I love so much. He looks so cute in it. I’d love to catch one of them when he flings it out. Once again, Tim was giving away all his guitar picks and then playing without one until someone passed him some more.
The sax solo tonight during ‘Never Tear Us Apart’ was really moving. And I loved that Kirk stuck a guitar pick on Tim’s forehead during that song. It’s obvious the band loves what they do, and loves playing with each other. And that makes me love them even more.
I was sad to see ‘The Stairs’ dropped from the encore, because I thought it worked particularly well live.
It took me about 18 hours by bus to get to this gig. And it was worth every single minute to experience INXS live again. I hope you all get a chance to see them soon.
After the show we just missed most of the band getting into the tour buses. Some girls were lucky enough to get a kiss from JD. Garry was mere feet from me when I was talking to INXS security, but he was talking to someone he knew, and I let him be.
Set List:
Suicide Blonde
Devil’s Party
Mystify
Disappear
By My Side
Afterglow
Taste It
Original Sin
Hungry
Never Let You Go
Need You Tonight
What You Need
Kick
Devil Inside
Pretty Vegas
Encore
New Sensation
Never Tear Us Apart
Don’t Change
Updated April 2006
2 comments:
it's quietrokbabe! You won the m&g for DC! and i'm your guest!
It's going to be so much fun to meet the band!!!!!! I can't wait. And I'm glad you are my guest because you've come from so far away to see INXS.
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