ARTS

The Michigan Daily

Tuesday, February 11, 1986

Page 7

Hill hosts

Australia's hottest, INXS

T HIS TIME, it will be Ann Ar-
bor's turn to play host to INXS,
Australia's most popular band.
Following up their show in Detroit last
November, singer Michael Hutchence
and crew bring their successful U.S.
tour to the Hill Auditorium for a 7:30
show this evening.
Touring in support of their latest
album, Listen Like Thieves, INXS
(pronounced in-excess) are gaining
momentum in the States with the
radio hit "This Time" and a new
single, "What You Need," and the

band has contributed a song to the
soundtrack of the new film Pretty in
Pink.
This new attention here comes after
years of superstardom down under,
where the Sydney sextet began
playing gigs nine years ago. Hitting
the charts with albums like Under-
neath theColours, Shabooh, Shabaah,
and 1984's The Swing, INXS have
outlived numerous flash-in-the-pan
pop sensations to emerge as their
country's premier rock outfit.

That's not to say they've gone
unknown here. Songs such as "The
One Thing," "Original Sin," and "I
Send a Message" have won the group
a strong stateside following on the
dance floor and over 'new wave"' and
college radio. INXS's music, like the
Cure's, is very danceable yet literate,
and, like fellow Aussies Midnight Oil,

they can cut through with hard-
driving guitar and drums.
Unlike so many "new wave"
groups, INXS are a fine live band,
leaving behind prissy posturing for
the sweat and gristle of a tightly-
woven group, having played together
for nearly a decade. They put on a

command performance for Prince
Charles and Princess Diana last year,
and they brought Australia's tie-in
concert to Live Aid to a rousing finale.
Based upon the response to their
recent U.S. shows, it looks like the

ears at the Hill will have an excess of
sounds to snatch.
Tix available at all the usual
outlets for INXS. Call 764-8587
for details.
Michael Fischer

Hutchence talks pop

No Exit, way out
By Noelle Broawer all, the gravity of the situation
NolByro e became farcical, thus undermining it-
self entirely. It seemed as though
S ARTRE'S No Exit is a play that lies director Kaplan thought Sartre's No
in wait for directors to fall into one Exit too slim an offering for a full
of its many traps; the singular setting evening and added The Still Alarm to
and small cast belie an intricate story make up for it. But his stanging of No
for which dynamic direction is Exit didn't need this short play as a
required. Fortunately, The Hill Street "warm up." In fact, No Exit would
Players avoided the pitfalls and have been better, stronger on its own;
presented an absorbing drama, The Still Alarm detracted from No
dodging the Existenial claptrap. Exit's full impact.
Under the sharp direction of Mark The sets were simple, but what
Kaplan, co-founder of the relatively was more interesting were their clever
new theatre group, the actors design and adaptability between
established themselves from the out- shows. Such sophistication is rare in
set, subtly changing their inter- student-produced shows.
pretations as their characters
changed. Performances will be this
One by one the characters were weekend, Feb. 13-15 at 8 p.m., and
brought on stage, a suffocatingly Feb. 16 at 2 & 6 p.m. at Hillel,
small, second Empire parlour. Their 1429 Hill Street. The auditorium is
escort into the room that would rather small so get there early.
become their permanent residence
was a sort of demonic butler dressed i
in tails. Though his overtly charac- o i n h
terized gestures brought some unwan-
ted laughter from the audience, his
occasional Pan-like posturing added ROM THE opening note of the
character, hinting of greater depth, to Jimi Hendrix classic "All
an otherwise one-dimensional role. Along the Watchtower," guitarist
This apt posturing could have stood Michael Hedges performance Thur-
alone, without the predictable sday night at the Ark demonstrated
grimaces, diversity, not only in his range of
Marty Kloner was Garcin, the first songs, but in the types of emotions and
'occupant' of the room. Once left to messages he conveyed.
himself, his cool, almost macho at- It was a strange sight-here was a
titude quickly diminished into one of a nationally billed performer that has
panicked animal trapped in a snare. played in huge auditoriums in front of
Amy Jo Lapin was Inez, the tough hundreds of people, in a small Ann
lesbian who is the play's antagonist. Arbor club talking to people as if he
The last 'occupant' was Renae Mor- were just one of the crowd, kicking
way as the weak nymphomaniac back, talking and observing all of the
Estelle. activity.
All three characters came from dif- Scenes such as this are the reason
0 ferent backgrounds, had different his music says so much. He has the
morals, or lack thereof; confrontation unique ability to capture all the facets
was inevitable. Through their con- of being human and living in society
tinuous bickering they came to realize today.
that although there was no torture In concert he speckled his dynamic
machines per se, each of in his or sound with quick off the cuff
her own way was a torturer for the
others. For them "Hell is other
people."
. The actors worked well together; TA K E T
they even looked as though they were
having fun, enjoying their roles. This
is a good sign that usually indicates Help New Stu
the audience is enjoying themselves the Diversit
as well. y
The Still Alarm by George Kauf-
man, opened the evening's double
bill. While the play's underlying
theme was easily, too easily, grasped

A NYONE WHO was lucky
enough to catch INXS at the
Fox Theater last December will tell
you that they witnessed one of the
most breathtaking moments in rock.
All evening INXS had given a stun-
ning performance. They were
daring and unpredictable and
usually out of control.
Lead singer Michael Hutchence
was simply spectaculer. Sassy and
sensual, but always cool, he teased
the crowd with his spontaneous and
intimate gestures.
But, it was after midnight; INXS
had been playing for over two hours
and had nearly worn themselves out,
As they began to play their final
number, it was obvious that they
were exhausted.
Suddenly, in a hydraulic burst of
energy, Hutchence scaled a pyramid
of Peavey speakers all the way to
the top. From there, over twenty
feet above the crowd, he sang and
danced his way through the final
notes of "The Swing."
That was Michael Hutchence the
performer. Radiant and
unrestrained, he is dynamic in every
sense of the word. But, in an inter-
view last week, he was quite a dif-
ferent person. Michael Hutchence is
a soft-spoken and pleasantly reser-
ved gentleman and, with the excep-
tion of Pete Townshend, probably the
most literate singer/songwriter in
the business.
Most of all Michael Hutchence is
happy. And he has good reason to

be: INXS is ready to continue their
final headlining tour of America, a
long-awaited reward. Says Hut-
chence, "we feel like we matter a lot
more in the States now. It's good to
feel that everything we do has a
reaction."
But, as Hutchence explains,
gaining recognition in America was
not easy: "American radio is the
most complicated thing in the world,~
It has been very hard for us because
we don't always fit into the
American rock format. Luckily, a
lot of people in radio punted on us
over and over again. And it's star-
ting to pay off."
In fact, just three weeks ago INXS
played to a sell-out crowd of over
twelve thousand at the Hammer-
smith Odium in London. When asked
how he felt before the show, Hut-
chence responded, "I was just as
scared that night as when we did our
first show seven years ago."
Performing.has always intrigued
Hutchence: "it's such an abstract-
thing to do in such an organized
fashion. And that's where it all
becomes rather bizarre. It's really
hard to describe."
And so is their music, as Hutchen-
ce confirms. "I guess the reason
why our music is so hard to describe
is that it changes a lot. To me, it
sounds like music that's constantly
in flux, which I think is a healthy
thing. Basically, it's rock'n'roll; it's
fun rock'n'roll. It's got sort of black
roots and whtte roots as well."
-Ryan Tutak

Australia's INXS bring their new wave rock to Hill Auditorium tonight at
8:00 p.m.
rh lights Hedges 'Arkgi

humor-the kind that immediately
sets an audience at ease and makes
them feel at home.
Songs were juxtaposed all evening
by emotional content rather than style
or musical pace. After the opening
Hendrix remake, he went directly into
a soft spoken ballad called "Woman of
the World." This song showed the
somber, flowing side of Hedges.
The spectacular nature of his
playing style was aptly demonstrated
by the performance of songs such as
"Silent Anticipation," "Aerial Boun-
dries" and a remake of the Sheila E.
song "Love Bizarre," by combining
taps, hammers, and a variety of other
guitar techniques. In these songs he
employed some rather strange but ef-
fective tuning positions as he played
many off the wall harmonic tones that
simply can't be played in normal
tuning positions.

His humor was prevalent all
evening. "Hot Type" he described as
a song inspired by the IBM "selectric
correctric" typewriter and as "mood
music for corporate lawyers."
Hedges "comments on life" songs
were particularly moving. These
songs showed the side of Hedges that is
able to get all of his feelings into just
one song, as in "Follow Through," the
ballad dedicated to George B. Wilson,
a professor in the school of music
here. The song's last lines, Let
imagination lead and reality will
follow through, showed the total
culmination of what he was trying to
get at through his music Thursday
night.
-Craig Varterian

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Pick up applications at the
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Position runs August 304- Spetember 3, 1986
Application Deadline is February 21, 1986
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BIRTH DEFECTS FOUNDATION

8w wys to get a man
to ask you out again.
1. When he mentions "The Bears,"
know they're from Chicago.
2. Seem unimpressed when he tells
you he scored a hat trick in the third period.
3. Take his word for it when he tells
you that 1984 was a very good year for
Chardonnays.
4. Laugh at his jokes, even when he
forgets the punch lines.
S. Avoid, at all costs, letting him see
you reapply your lipstick.
6. Order something more exotic than
a white wine spritzer.
7. Compliment him on his taste
in colors, even if he arrives in jeans and
a T-shirt.
8. Tell him you'd ask him up for
a Suisse Mocha, but you only do that on
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