Wd nesday, May 19, 1993 - The Michigan Daly Summer Weeky -9
INXS brings down the house
By SCOTT STERLING
AsINXSended theirblistering sold-
out show at Saint Andrew's Hall with
"Don't Change,"it served as an appro-
priate theme song for this seminalirock
and roll tribe. In the face of so many
new-fangled, Lollapalooza-generated
INXS .
S. Andrew'sHall-
May 13, 1993
"alternative" music trends, INXS has
steadfastly stuck to its unique con-
glomeration of rock, funk and soul.No
flannel shirts, long johns or trendy
dropped-D tunings a la Seattle have
found their way into INXS' music.
This was more than evident last Thurs-
daynight,whenAustralia'smostfamed
glamour boys made monkeys of most
of their contemporaries on the Detroit
stop of its "Get Out Of The House"
club tour.
Opening with a huge, symphonic
version of "Communication" (from
their obscenely underrated latest re-
lease, "Welcome To Wherever You
Are"), the enigmaticrockgodMichael
Hutchence (all hair, cigarettes and
attitude) had the crowd eating (and at
some points, literally drinking) out of
the palm of his hand.
Notorious for their legendary live
shows,INXS definitely livedup tothe
hype, rolling out hit after hit after hit.
Not many acts on the road can boast
suchaprolific catalogueofgreatsongs
- the crowd sang along to album
tracks like "Mystify" as lustily as
smash hit singles like "Need You
Tonight" or "Suicide Blonde" (at
which point I think we all collectively
hit nirvana).
The set relied heavily on songs
from their last two albums, with a
healthy sampling of tunes from their
upcoming record, tentatively set for a
fallrelease.Thenewsongsweresparse
with ahard funk edge (reminiscent of
their genre-busting album "The
Swing"), which isn't too hard to do
with a crack rhythm section that fea-
turesbassistGarryGary Beersandthe
amazing Jon Farriss on drums.
Halfway through the show, the
band really hit their stride, following
an anthemic rendition of "What You
Need" with a massive "New Sensa-
tion"that was so hot it blew up the PA.
Other than this minor setback, the
night was frankly nothing less than
perfect.
Hutchence skillfully worked the
frantic and mosh-crazy crowd, shoo-
ing away bouncers and welcoming
the more fervent fans up on stage to
shake some booty or sneak a kiss
(most notably the model blonde that
Mike allowed to boogie alittle longer
than the rest). A couple of lucky dis-
ciples down front even got to share a
glass of Cabernet Sauvignon with
Monsieur Hutchence.
Theyappeasedusold-timefansby
pulling out some golden nuggets like
"I Send A Message" and even "Just
Keep Walking" from their
eponymously-titled 1980 (has it re-
ally been that long?) debut.
Yeah, they're coming back in the
fall on an arena tour, but this once-in-
a-lifetime gig was simply not to be
missed. If you did, all I can say is
sorry. Best show of the summer so far.
INXS climbs its way back to the top with its club tour.
s
13th GEN: Abort, Retry,
Ignore, Fail?
by Neil Howe and Bill Strauss
Random House
By OLIVER GIANCOLA
Areyoutiredofhearingolderadults
bash our "Baby Buster" generation?
Well Neil Howe and Bill Strauss are
two hip Baby Boomers who give our
generation a much-neededreexamina-
tion. In "13th GEN: Abort, Retry, Ig-
nore, Fail?" Howe and Strauss offer a
fair and honest look at the 13th genera-
tionof Americans, the80millionpeople
born from 1961-1981 who comprise
thelargest,mostdiverseandmostcriti-
cized generation alive today.
If you are between 32 and 12 years
old but are skeptical about belonging
toa generation (especially one defined
by two Boomers), then you are very
much a "13er." As Ian Williams, a20-
somethinghackerwho"crashed"Howe
and Strauss' computer conference,
explains in the book: "If there's a gen-
eralization you can make about all of
us, it's that we all hate generaliza-
tions.especially [sic] the ones that are
frequently true." Indeed, we are cyni-
cal individualists, but it is this very
attitude which holds us together asa
generation.
Thirteeners certainly have plenty
of reasons to be cynical. Howe and
Strauss point out that, "Thirteeners
started out as ... the least wanted of
twentieth-century American baby
generations." In an age of anti-child
movies like "The Exorcist" and "The
Omen," the '70s marked a shift to-
ward a parenting philosophy that
placed parents' needs over their
children's. Parentsembarkedon voy-
agesofself-discoverytthatoftenended
in divorce and forced their kids to
learn about reality on their own.
Our schools adopted a similar at-
titude.Howe andStraussexplainthat,
"when coming-of-age Boomers set
out to 'liberate' America from vari-
ous G.I. Generation institutions,
schools were among the first and big-
gest targets." The result, "open educa-
tion,"was"arationale for aleave-'em-
alone nurture, for constructive neglect
by the adults important to a child's
life." Emphasizing a student's "per-
sonal growth" over textbook knowl-
edge, schools fostered lax learning en-
vironments that failed to adequately
prepare students in the traditional sub-
jects. We are "highly street-smart and
tech-smart" only because of our self-
education outside the classroom.
These experiences at home and at
school helped shape our world view. witty comments, RJ. Matson's wry
Howe and Strauss assert that we are a political cartoons, and informative
geertin 1pr c oltia -quse aostnaesusue sug"a
r
r
generation of pragmatic political "re-inre."Titeer oe o
actionaries." Thirteners voted for
Reagan in response to the '70s and for
Clinton in response to the '80s. And in
1992, 3ers voted for Ross Perot (the
ultimate "can-do" pragmatist) more
than any other generational group.
Politically, we are a generation con-
cerned with the bottom line: "If you
talk the big talk, you'd better deliver."
Howe and Strauss bolster their per-
ceptive analyses with Ian Williams'
quotes and statistics in the margins.
While these additions are just as inter-
esting and entertaining as the text it-
self, they can become distracting -
making this 200-page book seem
longer. Furthermore, the authors over-
look 13ers' attitudes toward religion.
In spite of these minor faults, "13th
GEN" is worth reading. Howe and
Strauss provide an insight into our
generation that everyone-especially
3ers -should know and understand.
is now forming a Focus Group to provide
a channel for student input.
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