My review of the Final show of the '02 Jsut for Kicks US tour whicxh
took place in Connecticut USA this past Saturday show.

hope you like it
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INXS, Foxwoods Casino, Connecticut USA
July 6, 2002

Last night INXS Completed Their Southern and North American JUST FOR
KICKS tour, a massive run that started May 15 in Rio De Janeiro,
Brazil, and went through Argentina, El Salvador, before reaching the
US, which itself included a 6 gig run through California alone, before
crossing the US and finishing in front of me in what was a rather
intimate setting.

Just a word on the venue itself ? Foxwoods casino is 1 of 2 massive
gambling casinos in Connecticut, and is located in Eastern Connecticut
not far from the Rhode Island border, so it was a nice drive to the
show. When I say the casinos are massive I mean huge ? the car parks
alone are enough to get lost in!!

We arrived and had a little look around, played the slots (or pokies
as they are called in Australia) and then picked up our tickets and
went in.

The theatre venue part of the casino was not large at all -a mere dot
in the casino complex!. For those who know the Metro in Sydney or who
can imagine a small stadium style limited capacity theatre will have
the right idea.

I couldn?t believe we were going to be seeing INXS in such an
intimate setting ? we were 50ft back and center stage!!. The room
apparently held 1340 but there would only have been about 800 for the
show ? very comfortable!!

Right on 9pm and the remix that has gathered a lot of notice in
Australia and the UK, ?Precious Heart?, was played through the PA ? it
was my first listen to it and I didn?t mind it?The song faded, the
lights went and Andrew Farris walked onto the stage, sat at the
keyboard and played and sang the intro verse to ?By my Side?, and
right when the first chorus came around the lights came up to reveal
the full band + new singer Jon Stevens who took over the song ? and he
did it well ? my first impression of him was how comfortable he looked
as singer, considering what I knew of his past

?By My Side ? came to is soft conclusion and, before we had too much
time to think about it, Jon Farris pounded the skins and got ?New
Sensation? going, which got the crowd on their feet ? INXS were out
to wring every bit of life out of that song!!

From there the set went on to cover INXS period of American dominance,
songs like ?Bitter Tears?, ?Listen Like Thieves?, ?Disappear?, ?Shine
Like it Does?, ?Mystify?, ?Devil Inside? (with a neat segue into
?Mediate? complete with Jon Farris setting the drum machine as he
walked offstage), along with ?Not Enough Time? and ?Kick? & ?What u
Need? & ?Never tear us Apart? all got a go.

As well as those, there were a few newer songs introduced that will
be recorded on the band?s return to Australia that included ?Sugar?,
?Never Let go?, ?Stay Hungry? and ?Tight? ? they were songs that all
rocked in the true INXS style that we all know and love

It was interesting that of the older songs, only ?Original Sin? and
the finale were included but they seemed to cover everything fairly
well. Probably the most touching moment was the band?s treatment of
?Never Tear US Apart? ? the stage darkened and Jon went side stage and
out of the way as images of Michael Hutchence played across the back
lit screens. My wife commented how scary it was that Jon carried
himself and how close he was to fitting Michael in his role..

The band roared through the rest of the set, and finished with a 2
song encore, that finale'd with ?Don?t Change?, which reminded me why
I liked Jon Farris ? drumming so much?Jon Stevens pulled a bunch of
kids out of the crowd to dance on the stage as the song wound up, what
I thought was a nice touch..

The band now travel to Hong Kong for a July 11 show at Queen Elizabeth
Stadium and will then return to Australia to record and possibly tour.
INXS have announced a December 2002 UK tour with support/opening act
Blondie (who opened for INXS at their famous Wembley LIVE BABY LIVE
show).

I?m sure we?ll see an album from them by years end.