INXS doesn't miss a beat with Fortune
INXS/Marty Casey & Lovehammers
Wang Theatre, Boston, Massachusetts
February 10, 2006
by Marc Hirsh

originally published in The Boston Globe, February 11, 2006

The soundtrack to the projected countdown preceding INXS’s Wang Center performance was AC/DC’s “T.N.T.,” and it served, unintentionally or not, as more than simply a nod to a fellow Australian band. Both groups lost lead singers, with AC/DC replacing Bon Scott practically without a beat and continuing on to greater glory. INXS was more circumspect, taking eight years and one reality show to fill the vacancy left by Michael Hutchence’s 1997 death, but J.D. Fortune proved himself a worthy heir to the throne on Friday.

With a relaxed confidence unexpected for a man thrown into the position of leading a band he loves, Fortune has come a long way from the manic performer introduced during his debut performance on Rock Star: INXS last July 11. He did justice to “Mystify” and “New Sensation” without simply aping Hutchence’s vocals or mannerisms, and he shined brightest on the lovely slow build of the new “Afterglow.” His biggest resemblance to his predecessor was not his singing but his charisma, injecting some personality into what might otherwise be an anonymous, if enjoyable, band.

Unfortunately, the acoustics of the Wang swallowed up ballad “By My Side” and made the sultry verses of “Disappear” indistinguishable from the driving chorus. Faring better were the ticking-clock-like “Need You Tonight,” the reggae-tinted “Never Let You Go” and “What You Need,” which Fortune sang largely on the floor before jumping into the crowd.

It was a canny move, but it was hardly necessary, as the sold-out audience accepted him with open arms. More important was the comfort shown by the rest of INXS, a well-tuned unit with over a quarter of a century’s experience behind it, with the man that they chose to be the new face of the band as it returns to action after being sidelined for so many years.

Fortune’s fellow Rock Star contestant Marty Casey opened with his longtime group the Lovehammers. The band he was prepared to leave had he won the show played a generous 45-minute set of hard rock in the mold of a commercially-minded Social Distortion, with Casey proving himself a strong, if overly earnest, frontman.

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