Pages tagged “INXS”

I just finished posting the 12 best concerts I've ever seen. Rather than have them all in 12 separate posts, I thought I'd consolidate the list here. I was recently digging through a pile of ticket stubs I've saved, finding cool concert after cool concert, from high school, college and especially, these last six years since we started Paste magazine. There are some big omissions—I've still never seen Springsteen or The Stones. I've only in the last few years checked off Dylan and Prince (neither made the list and only Prince was close). Some of the best concerts I picked are obvious choices. Others are more offbeat or just personal. But all are seared into my memory; for each night, I stood (or occasionally sat) in awe of the performance that was given. So here are the 12 best concerts I've seen:

#6
INXS
March 3, 1988, The Omni (Atlanta)

OK, before you get in a huff about INXS topping U2 on this list, you need to know that this is the first concert I went to with my buddies (I'm not counting Bon Jovi, where we got dropped off). You also need to notice the seat number above. Somehow we got third row seats in a 15,000-seat arena. We also were among the few to get there in time to enjoy Public Image Ltd., so I got to hear "This is Not a Love Song" live. Michael Hutchence & co. put on a great show, but more importantly I was introduced to the idea of spending an evening with friends, dancing and singing along to music that we loved—a formula that would be repeated hundreds of times over the years. Alas, the band didn't put a good album out after Kick, and has been reduced to the Reality Show Bin after Hutchence's death. But they launched my love for live music, and I'll always be grateful.