INXS celebrate 45th anniversary with livestream and album reissues

Virgin Radio

16 Aug 2022, 11:05

Happy INXS Day! The band played their first ever live show all the way back on 16th August 1977, and they are now doing a bunch of cool things to celebrate the anniversary.

When they played their debut gig, 45 years ago, the band were called The Farriss Brothers. The group - featuring founding members Tim, Andrew and Jon Farriss, Garry Beers, Kirk Pengilly, and Michael Hutchence - played a house party in Sydney.

Later renamed as INXS, the Michael Hutchence-fronted band would go on to massive worldwide success, winning numerous awards and selling over 80 million records. After Hutchence’s death, they performed with various other lead singers.

To celebrate the date on which they first dipped their toes into the world of live music, the band will be hosting an hour-long livestream on their TikTok page. The event will feature a track-by-track look at their massive album, Kick, which itself celebrates its 35th anniversary this year. There will also be interviews with the band.

In October, INXS are reissuing their third record, 1982’s Shabooh Shoobah, to mark its 40th anniversary. As well as making it available on clear vinyl, it is also being released on CD, while a deluxe digital box set will make 15 songs available on streaming platforms for the first time.

A Shabooh Shoobah T-shirt is also coming out, as is another vinyl record, Live At The US Festival, 1983. Of the performance, Tim Farriss said it was “by far the biggest live concert we had played at.” He added: “We were told the audience was estimated to be around 200,000 when we performed. I remember walking out onto the stage and seeing the audience disappear into the distance or smog and it looked to me like infinity.”

And that’s not all that INXS have got up their sleeves. Later this month, their double-LP compilation, The Very Best, will be re-released ten years after it first came out. And also this month the band celebrate the 30th anniversary of album Welcome To Wherever You Are, by dropping five HD music videos from the album on their YouTube channel. 

Have a look at the above goodies at the INXS online store.