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- The Michigan Daily - Thursday, February 13, 1986 -Page 8

Aussies launch power rock in

excess

By Michael Fischer
Inxs must have taken quite a few people by surprise
Tuesday night at Hill Auditorium. When you build up a
following on pop-club dance hits, no one expects you to
give a performance as dynamic and breathtaking as those
of the Pretenders or even U2. This six-man Australian
outfit proved that they are a top-notch band first and
foremost, and they earned many new fans with a fantastic
show, strengthening their illustrious live reputation.
Not to blame many of those arriving at the Hill
Auditorium for being skeptical, for INXS's transfor-
mation of their songs from pleasant numbers on vinyl to
big, colorful rockers onstage is an unexpected thrill in-
deed. On their records, these Aussies give you some
flavorful bits to taste, but in their live performance they
cook up a big hearty meal, filled with crunchy drums and
meaty guitars, as ax-man Tim Farriss tossed out slabs of
delicious feedback you can really sink your teeth into.
* A.prime example is "Listen Like Thieves" on vinyl, it
works its way into the ear with a crisp and melodic feel,
but in concert it sweeps you along, as the band's eager and
diverse guitar attack fires off an assault of fully-packed
soufd. Still, INXS are controlled enough to retain the
charm of cuts like "Burn for You" and "Kiss the Dirt"
without drowning them in instrumental clutter. Unlike
Simple Minds' gig at the Hill, where a horrible mix nearly
ruined the otherwise fine performance, the sound Tuesday
night was great - just loud enough.
From the liquid thump of the opening cut, "Johnson's
Aeroplane," INXS whirled out a smooth sequence of
sors, bringing the crowd to its feet with a flawlessly
suiging mix of precision and enthusiasm. Their confiden-

ce and tightness as a live unit, built up over nine years of
playing together, impressed even those least familiar
with their music. In contrast to the precious, pretty-boy
glossiness of the lackluster opening act, INXS emphasize
music, not image. There were no production tricks or
laser lights to steal attention from the infectious wail of a
skilled and honest band with a crowd-pleasing repertoire.
As they continued with the sassy "The One Thing" and
up through the foot-tapping "I Send a Message," INXS
also surprised with versatility: sax-man Kirk Pengilly
and keyboardist Andrew Farriss at times moved to
guitar, giving a fuller sweep of power and texture on
stronger numbers like "Listen Like Thieves." It was with
that number that INXS's already hurtling momentum
simply lifted skyward. They soared on, carrying a
thrilled audience along with rousing versions of "Dancing
on the Jetty," "Melting in the Sun," and "This Time."
Lead singer Michael Hutchence had made it to this point
relatively unscathed. Only two girls from among the
legions of admirers that he set swooning with his full-
throated voice and stern-faced charisma had managed to
get on stage and steal a smooch. The gangly, long-haired
vocalist led the band toward the set closing punch-funky
"What You Need" and the glorious "Don't Change." The
audience roared with approval and INXS returned with
encore numbers "Burn For You" and "The Swing."
Another deafening and they returned again to blast out
with a triumphant mountain of noise, cranking "Same
Direction" and "Red, Red Sun." The crowd muttered
superlatives. Needless to say, it was sure 14 dollars worth
of show.

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Daily Photo by ANDI SCHREIBER
INXS lead singer Michael Hutchence won over the crowd quickly Tuesday night at Hill Auditorium.

Assorted Heart-shaped Boxes
Hand dipped chocolates with homemade centers
Truffles
Hand delivery in Ann Arbor
Free gift wrapping 4k
V 4


Records


Arcadia-So Red
the Rose (Capitol)
If you are still trying to figure out
what "union of the snake" means, you
can now relax; Arcadia is as
relatively pastoral as its name im-
plies, and Le Bon has finally shown
that he and his sidekicks are indeed
capable of style. Of course, he had a
lot of help from his friends: Herbie
Hancock, Sting, David Gilmour,
Grace Jones (?),and even David Van
Tieghem, for those of you who are
familiar with his collaboration with
Laurie Anderson. So who do we thank,
Arcadia or their friends? (Whocares
where the help comes from, so long as
the remnants of Duran Duran sound
better?)
So Red the Rose is a mysterious and
ethereal album that borders
dangerously close to being arty.

"Rose Arcana" sounds like a 45
second trip through a cave, complete
with flapping birds in the background.
Neat, huh? And "Lady Ice" has just
enough of a mix of Simon le Bon's
waling voice and some ponderous syn-
thesizers to make for a fairly original
ballad. "Missing," however, is so
slow and forcibly dripping with sen-
timent that it gets to be rather
irritating. The star attraction on this
disc is "Election Day;" the lyrics
may be a bt intriguing ("Don't even
try to induce, in all my restraint
there's no hesitation"), but the per-
cussion and treatments are often
brilliant. -Mike Frank
Cactus World News - The
Bridge (EP) (Mother Recor-
ds)
Cactus World News sound a hell of
a lot like us one might think this is a
bad thing. On the contrary, this new
Irish quartet has musical talent,
ideas, and charisma to spare. Their
debut EP, The Bridge, is an
illustration of sparkling potential.
Still, the U2 analogies are im-
possible to avoid. This record is the
first to be released on the U2-financed
Mother Records label, and it was co-

produced and mixed by Bono himself.
The full-throated vocals, swirling,
rapid-fire guitar and machine-gun
cymbals are all there, but somehow
these Dubliners manage to share the
spirit of The Edge and Co. without
being derivative.
The real proof is in the songs. "The
Bridge" romanticises a crossing of
the gap between lovers, dashing
ahead with an optimistic chorus and
locomotive thump. "Frontiers" wan-
ders ahead cautiously, telling a tale of
families forced onto a freight train
ride to the country, looking to survive,
and rumbles of bass and guitar come
and go like flashes of determination.
The true gem here is "The Other
Extreme," where singer Eoin
McEvoy looks at the "trial and error"
nature of finding identity with a
strange emotion that can choke you
up and make you smile at once. It
leads off with placid acoustic guitar
and lovely wisps of melancholy
keyboards, building into a grand
calamity of rising/falling guitar lines
before a monstrous crash of drums
send it off spiraling into a valley of
wailing feedback.
Unlike The Jesus and Mary Chain,
these Cactii toss about feedback not to
overwhelm but embellish the color of

A DAY WITH
JULIAN OF NORWICH
Saturday, February 15, 1986
10 A.M. to 4 P.M.
CANTERBURY HOUSE
218 N. DIVISION, corner of Catherine
The life and teachings of this 14th Century English mystic will be
the focus of a day of exploration and reflection, led by Robert
Corin Morrin. The one-woman show, "JULIAN" will be per-
formed at St. Andrew's Church Saturday evening at 8 p.m. and
Sunday at 5p.m.

their songs, and it gives them a
rougher sound than Bono's boys.
-Michael Fischer
Soundtrack-Rocky IV-C-
BS
Where else but on a "Rocky" soun-
ctrack can you get a chance to hear
Survivor, Go West, Kenny Loggins,
Gladys Knight, and James Brown on
the same album? Of the three songs
that are receiving airplay, "Burning
Heart" (Survivor), "Living in
America" (Brown), and "No Easy
Way Out" (Robert Tepper), "Living
in America" is definitely the high-
light. It's got funky bass lines and
bright brass, complete with all the
feeling that only The Godfather of
Soul could deliver. Brown turns in a
great tune for flaunting patriotism
and undeniably has the most fun time
with his job of any artist on the album.
Kenny Loggins and Gladys Knight
sound surprisingly compatible on
their duet "Double or Nothing" and
Go West's sax-centered "One Way
Street" is respectable. A soundtrack
casualty, John Cafferty's "Hearts on
Fire" sounds nothing like anything
I've ever heard him do. With popping
bass lines and flighty keyboard work,
this normally. Springsteen-sounding
artist can barely be recognized. Music
composer Vince DiCola performs two
unspectacular keyboard-dominated
tunes, and he included "Eye of the
Tiger" in case you missed it on Rocky
III. Once you get over the commer-
ciality of albums like Rocky IV, it's
possible to enjoy some of the tunes.
While the album puts together a
seemingly unlikely hodgepodge of dif-
ferent artists' backgrounds and
styles, the album had a certain con-
tinuity precisely because it is a soun-
dtrack.
-Dave Yount
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