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Yesterday I was just finishing up a really packed week of back to back meetings and seminars and was feeling pretty exhausted. I thought I was going home last night to relax and just chill out a bit when my hubby sent me an email asking if I wanted to go to San Francisco to see INXS in concert. Um.... Let's see, go sit at home watching tv with my dog or go hear great music and see rock stars up in San Francisco. LOL it wasn't a tough decision.
Talk about total dorks. We got to the Moscone Center and went to the wrong stage area, marveling how we were going to be in the front row. After a few minutes we realized we were at the wrong stage and rushed around the building to get to the correct location in the basement of the Moscone Center. And guess what? We were still in the front row! Sweet!
Some of you may remember from past posts that my hubby has been a devoted INXS fan, and friend of the band, for years. When we do get to see them in concert, and are in the first or second row, it's always fun when the band members recognizes us and gives us a wave and a smile. Last night not only did Kirk Pengilly give me a wave, he also gave me a wink (click on the image and you can really see he's winking), tossed me a guitar pick and...
Posed for this picture while he was performing giving me this very cheeky smile when he saw I was trying to take a picture of him. He totally cracked me up :D They are the first rock stars I've ever met and have set the bar really high for any future rock stars I may ever meet. They are so talented and equally nice.
First song of the night was Suicide Blonde.
Second song was "Disappear" one of my favorites! They played lots of my favs, New Sensation, Taste it, Afterglow, Mystify, Never Tear Us Apart, etc...
Guitarist Tim Farriss is one of the three Farriss brothers who originally started a band called "The Farriss Brothers" in Australia back in 1977. Shortly after they changed the name of the band to INXS.
Was very hard to get a good picture of Andrew Farriss all night because he was further away and often behind some equipment. That's him on the left with Kirk Pengilly and Tim Farriss. Even more difficult was to get a picture of drummer John Farriss off to the right in the shadows.
Garry Gary Beers and J.D. Fortune
Most people are aware that the band's lead singer for 2 decades was Michael Hutchence, who tragically died in 1997. I can still remember how shocked and sad I was when I heard it on the news.In 2005, the band launched a nationwide search for their next lead singer on a reality tv show called "Rockstar INXS." Canadian singer J. D. Fortune won the competition, recorded "Switch" with the band and began touring with them shortly after.
Because so many people have already asked about J.D.'s current status with the band... Last year there was a considerable bump in the road when it was stated by J. D. in a tv interview that he had been fired by the band. Whatever the issues were, they have been resolved and I'm really happy that they have regrouped and are performing together once again. In 2010 INXS has performed at least 6 special events with J. D. as their lead singer. I did see a tv interview one day where Kirk Pengilly confirmed that J.D. was once again part of INXS so hopefully things will continue to work out and they will all have many future successes together.
Kirk Pengilly plays both the saxophone...
And the guitar.
So there I was, basically just rocking out, when I was handed one of John Farriss' drumsticks by a crew member. Whu???? Tony walked up to the stage, picked up the drumstick, looked at the crowd, looked at the band members, turned around and handed the drumstick to me. For real??? It felt surreal LOL. First a guitar pick from Kirk and now a drumstick from John? I've never had a real drumstick before. I was drumming on the dashboard, window, console and my hubby's arm on the way home until he told me to stop :D
J. D. Fortune perfoming at VMworld 2010
Kirk Pengilly, Tim Farriss and Garry Gary Beers
Being a rock star J.D. had on some pretty stylish, ripped in the crotch jeans. LOL
Garry Gary Beers, Tim Farriss and J. D. Fortune
A spontaneous moment when Kirk took the mic from J.D. to introduce J.D. to the crowd. Judging by the reactions of the band it was a bit of a prank.
I think it always makes a show more fun when the audience sees the band having a great time onstage.
J.D. Fortune performing "Don't Change"
Tim Farriss and Kirk Pengilly closing the show with "Don't Change."
Inxs Members: Kirk Pengilly, Andrew Farriss, J.D. Fortune, Garry Gary Beers, Tim Farriss and John Farriss.If they are ever performing where you live and you've always loved or liked their music, GO SEE THEM! This was my eighth show and I've loved every show I've seen. It's an evening of hit after hit after hit and you can tell the guys really have fun performing. You can check out the official INXS website for tour information as it becomes available at www.INXS.com
And why was the band in town in the first place? They were there to perform at VMworld, a virtual conference for cloud computing. They describe the U.S. conference on their website this way:We have developed outstanding Sessions and Labs program this year, with more than 170 unique Breakout Sessions and 30 Lab topics offered across four days. General Sessions will be on Tuesday and Thursday. Plus, VMworld offers additional learning opportunities, such as the new Knowledge Experts Program, numerous networking events, and the Solutions Exchange featuring more than 200 companies showcasing the latest virtualization and cloud computing products and services.If that sounds intriguing to you be sure to bookmark their website www.VMworld.com so you can stay up to date on their next conference in 2011. If you live in Europe it's not too late to attend the conference in Copenhagen October 12-14, 2010. CLICK HERE for more details about the European VMworld conference.
And... Because everyone always asks, I took these photos with my Panasonic Lumix DMC LX3 point and shoot pocket camera :)
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Great story, and great pix. Am a big fan of them myself, and they actually were the ones that inspired my current pursuit in music photography, so I really enjoyed this post, and am impressed at what the LX3 helped you get - a fast little lens on that little p/s! And you obviously have a great eye:)
Wow, that's a cool story.
Maybe Woz will ask you for your autograph next time he sees you!
Thanks Elisa! That's so cool that you are a music photographer. Seems like that would be a blast. I LOVE how concert photos look with the stage lighting. And it's so exciting when you can catch a great expression or pose. Am going to take a peek at your site right now :)
Thanks for visiting my blog Gordon. I'll be sure to bring a pen to dinner just in case :D
I LOVE INXS! It sounds like you made a good choice about going to SF on Wednesday night instead of plopping down on the couch. The pictures are magazine quality - you should submit them to Rolling Stone!
Rebecca
Great photos of INXS at VM Conference Concert! Say, may want to post your photos at inxs.com. Stacie photos turned out awesome and terrific story ;)
Thanks Anonymous and Slimboney!
Hubby said he will add them to the INXS site for me. Glad everyone seems to be enjoying the pics :D
THX Stacie! You might recall I met you at INXS Greek in Berkeley in 2006. I think you and Jav were gonna get married. From wot wot I gather you guys did indeed tied the knot, signed on the dotted line for the 50/50 thang if you will! Congratulations to you guys! Again, fantastic INXS story summary for those who never heard of INXS. That would be the buried under a rock crowd or those too young to have a clue or have yet to buy a vowel... or something on ol' school Aussie INXS Rock, ha!
Cheers ;)
Thanks Slimboney! We did get married. I have to ask, were you the guy we saw out front near the box office before the show started? I remember meeting a guy while we were waiting for our passes. I also met two women JAV knew near our seats before the show started and I met a few people backstage... Trying to remember more clearly but that was a while ago :)
Yes, that was me at front gate at Greek waiting for open. Walked up to you guys. I knew Jav is good pals with Kirk and so might have back stage passes that night. Bet you guys had loads of fun after show. I did wave to Kirk before show when I saw him in back though "zoo" fence. That was a great show as I recall. INXS was a big deal that year! I think Jav posted bunch of after show pics up on website as I recall seeing back in 2006 day. OMG, I just looked at clock it's 2010 and one-half. Time makes ya. Time breaks, ya. Where does time take ya, lol ;)
Your photos are awesome, Stacie! :)
I used to be a big fan of INXS back in the day though I haven't seen any of them in action since the new lead singer joined. I look forward to checking them out. Thanks for sharing and by the way, as a photographer can I say, great photos!!! Jay Rowden
Thanks Evonne and Jay. Always fun to get photography compliments from professional photographers! Jay I highly recommend seeing them live. They sound awesome and the concerts are always fun.
Slimboney that is too funny. That was so long ago but I absolutely remember meeting you. The after show at Berkeley was lots of fun. The pics you recall were from backstage at Palm Desert that same year.
I used to be a big fan of INXS back in the day though I haven't seen any of them in action since the new lead singer joined. I look forward to checking them out. Thanks for sharing and by the way, as a photographer can I say, great photos!!! Jay Rowden
Yes, that was me at front gate at Greek waiting for open. Walked up to you guys. I knew Jav is good pals with Kirk and so might have back stage passes that night. Bet you guys had loads of fun after show. I did wave to Kirk before show when I saw him in back though "zoo" fence. That was a great show as I recall. INXS was a big deal that year! I think Jav posted bunch of after show pics up on website as I recall seeing back in 2006 day. OMG, I just looked at clock it's 2010 and one-half. Time makes ya. Time breaks, ya. Where does time take ya, lol ;)
I think I would rather stay on my couch and listen to the real INXS!! No Michael Hutchence=No INXS!! Not the same!!
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