Great Fortune for veteran INXS rockers

SCANNING across the crowd there was a wide spectrum of fans, from young festival goers in fluro, to families with fold up seats and sensible footwear, all gathered to see some great Antipodean music.

Kiwi rockers Shihad had just got the crowd punching the sky so much a brief thunderstorm settled in before INXS were due to take stage.

People scattered under whatever cover or random umbrella they could find but quickly returned as the sky cleared once the black suited band took to the stage.

Opening with a somber but lifting instrumental drum routine they picked up the pace with the arrival of singer JD Fortune on stage. They launched into ‘Suicide Blonde’ with the piercing harmonica getting the crowd shifting their feet.

Check out the photos of INXS live at Southern Sounds

French female singer Loane joined later with a great version of ‘Mystify’, her vocal talents giving justice to the INXS music. The original band played along with a refined regal manner befitting their status as the elder statesman of Aussie music. JD Fortune added to this with his enthusiasm and they seemed to work well for each other.

By the end of the set they had played a terrific amount of their back catalogue finishing off with ‘Never Tear Us Apart’ which had the crowd singing along in partnership. The crowd wasn’t letting them get away that easy though and the band returned for an encore starting with ballad ‘By My Side’.

Founding memberAndrew Farriss took the vocals for this emotional hit with JD Fortune bouncing back onto stage for a rendition of ‘Mystify’ which allowed the crowd one more chance to sing along.

A truly great performance, which proved INXS still have the ability they’ve always had, to put on a cracking live show.

Photo by Justin Ng