PHOTO: INXS - Mice And A Kitten

INXS: the band who turned the 1980s into a rhapsody of their own, is now an intersection of modern phenomena. They were in Zagreb yesterday.

Two urban myths have surfaced on the eve of the INXS gig in Zagreb. One is directly related to the band and the other only indirectly so. Naturally, the first refers to the death of frontman Michael Hutchence almost ten years ago, on which numerous stories are still being told. Intentional or accidental suicide (autoerotic asphyxiation), that is the question… It does not really matter, the man is dead and INXS opened the concert in a morbidly predictable way: “Suicide Blonde.”  

The other urban myth is the way Spandau Ballet ended their career. Also masters in the 1980s, only to a lesser degree, but also the band that, in the pursuit of the last penny, reportedly saw their end as performers in a disco club somewhere between Cakovec and Varazdin. What does this have to do with INXS? Nothing, as we witnessed with our own eyes yesterday. INXS is a well greased machine that will purr nicely for some time to come. True, there is no more Hutchence, there is no more charisma, the glamour evaporated a long time ago but, in the lack of a proper cat, the plump mice are pulling all the strings.

That there is a life after life, they proved on July 11, 2005, when the TV show Rock Star: INXS was first broadcast. The reality show was launched so that the band could find a new singer and, in what was literally a copy of the pattern of the movie Rock Star, they found a boy only for themselves, a kid named Jason Dean Bennison from Oakville, Canada. He promptly changed his name to J.D. Fortune (henceforth: Lucky) and became just the kitten behind the microphone that the ringleaders needed.   

The INXS of the new era are still playing well, little Lucky can truly sing and has a voice that is irresistibly reminiscent of the late Michael. The crowded Boogaloo club in constant interaction with the band perhaps showed it best, that in spite of everything, the playful Australians and the singing Canadian still have their audience, that they have not sunk into total oblivion.

Yes, they may be incapable of playing more than two songs in the same rhythm and, yes, their shirts may be too quick to stick to their wet backs, but not only the decades on their shoulders are to blame for this, but also the Boogaloo sauna. It was a solid concert which, the bundles of hits and Lucky’s dedication notwithstanding, did not manage to quash the attitude before the concert: INXS died when Hutchence died and these are just good craftsmen.  

True, craft as the choice of the life path is underappreciated in the region, but the remark does not apply when we talk about music. We are a tourist country, we know very well what the term “hotel band” means. Sadly, that is exactly what INXS are today. 

The PHOTO GALLERY may be more revealing.