INXS Kick Off ‘Just FOr Kicks’ Tour In California WIth New SInger Jon Stevens

FROM: TODD BRODGINSKI/MARCEE RONDAN/MITCH SCHNEIDER

INXS KICK OFF ‘JUST FOR KICKS’ TOUR IN CALIFORNIA
WITH NEW SINGER JON STEVENS;
EARLY REVIEWS LAUD THE BAND AND ITS LEGACY

The reviews from the first INXS shows in U.S. are in. And Cathy Maestri of the Riverside Press Enterprise summed it up: “INXS was utterly, impossibly spectacular.” The group-with longtime friend JON STEVENS on vocals-are touring the U.S. for the first time in five years.

Ben Wener of the Orange County Register said, “It only took one big hit-‘New Sensation’-to convince us we hadn’t wasted our time…INXS is wrongly remembered foremost as a hit-driven vehicle for its sex symbol, when in fact it remain perhaps the tightest blue-eyed funk-rock unit since the Average White Band…The cream of the INXS catalog, and it is plentiful, is not just might radio fare, it’s great music, period. I, for one, am happy to see it surviving.”

INXS—GARRY BEERS, ANDREW FARRISS, JON FARRISS, TIM FARRISS, KIRK PENGILLY and JON STEVENS–kicked off the “Just For Kicks” tour in South America recently and will be touring America through July 6. It’s their first U.S. outing since the death of lead singer Michael Hutchence in ’97. “We weren’t sure what to expect; we were thinking a lot of people would say ‘How can you do this without Michael,'” says TIM FARRISS. “But it’s really not the case. It’s really more like, ‘Life must go on.'”

About the group, Maestri added, “As a performer Jon Stevens is quite different from his predecessor, though just as effective…His bandmates glowed with pride. After all, INXS was never Hutchence’s band. Formed as the Farriss Brothers, it is keyboardist Andrew Farriss who handles the bulk of the songwriting; brother Tim Farriss plays lead guitar; the third brother, Jon, forms part of a rock-solid rhythm section with bassist Garry Beers; and Kirk Pengilly provides the final kick, switching between guitar and sax.” Check out the www.inxs.com website for photos from the tour.

The in-progress dates are as follows:

+ Indicates show is with Simple Minds

###