Following yesterday’s shock announcement that INXS had called curtains on their 35-year career, there was some confusion as to whether the band really had called it quits, or if there had been some misinterpretation of drummer Jon Farris’ comments, taken from the band’s support slot with Matchbox Twenty at Perth Arena.
Prior to the conclusion of the band’s set, Farriss declared to the 15,000 strong audience that it would be the band’s last ever performance admitting “I’m getting teary” onstage. The group then performed one of their biggest hits, ‘Need You Tonight’ for the Perth crowd in their ultimate finale.
Today, following conflicting media reports, INXS and their management have issued an official statement on the future of one of Australian rock’s biggest success stories.
The statement clarifies that it would “bring down the curtain” on INXS as “a live touring band,” with band members Tim, Andrew and Jon Farriss, Kirk Pengilly and Garry Beers stating:
We understand that this must come as a blow to everybody, but all things must eventually come to an end. We have been performing as a band for 35 years, it’s time to step away from the touring arena. Our music will of course live on and we will always be a part of that.
We would like to express our heartfelt thanks to all the friends and family that have supported us throughout our extensive career. Our lives have been enriched by having you all as a part of the journey.
Though vague, the statement makes clear that INXS’ future will not include being a live touring band, but leaves the door open for future recording, and of course, pulling a KISS/John Farnham in rolling out a tour “for the last time.”
It’s good news for current frontman, Irishman Ciarin Gribbin, who’s only spent just over a year as the latest mouthpiece in a long line of replacements that have attempted to fill the late Michael Hutchence’s not un-sizeable shoes.
Key to their rise in the 80s as one of the most successful exports in Australian music history, Hutchence and his bandmates forged their reputation as one of the biggest touring concerns in the world.
Travelling with sold out tours through Europe, South America, and the Far East constantly throughout the 80s and early 90s; thanks to the huge commercial success of their albums, including Listen Like Thieves, Kick and X.“INXS’ touring days could never last forever. We wanted it to end on a high.”
The band suffered a famously tragic blow in November 1997 however, with the fateful death of Michael Hutchence.
“It’s been 35 years for INXS as a live touring band and unbelievably it’s been 15 years ago since we lost Michael” said Jon Farriss. “We lived for each other in the trenches and we loved each other. It was the six of us against the world and then suddenly and inexplicably we were but five. We were lost right at the moment we were on top.”
INXS’ manager, Chris Murphy added how the band forged on after facing the enormity of their loss, saying:“They believed unconditionally in each other and they also believed unconditionally in the music. People fade, sometimes way too early… To lose Michael so young was a tragedy for all of us. But with this band, their legacy, their music was just so damn good, it was always destined to live beyond all of us.”
INXS have arguably struggled to recapture their former glories since, with a reality television show documenting the search to find someone to replace their iconic frontman, as documented in the 2004 reality tv show Rock Star: INXS.
Canadian J.D. Fortune took the spot and fronted the band until September, 2011, when current singer Gribbin took on the role. As our reviewer of INXS’ support slot at Matchbox Twenty’s sideshow at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre wrote of the new lineup: ”they’ve reinvented themselves and managed to produce the same excitement and charisma that they had all those years ago.”
But as the remaining members have now confirmed, their touring days are numbered, while “the music lives on,” or as Jon Farriss says, “INXS’ touring days could never last forever. We wanted it to end on a high. And it has.”
The band’s statement arrives as their landmark 1987 album Kick celebrates its 25th Anniversary, including rumoured plans of developing a Michael Hutchence hologram. Kick contained some of the band’s biggest hits, including ‘New Sensation’, ‘Need You Tonight’, and ‘Never Tear Us Apart’ – which has become an unofficial epitaph for Michael Hutchence, with the band dedicating its performance on their latest (and now officially final) tour to their fallen frontman.
