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Continued from page 26
songs like “Disappear” and “Who Pays
the Price.” Bassist Garry Gary Beers’ rumbling
bass lays the groove that sets bodies
into motion on songs like the lusty “Know
the Difference” and provides counterpoint
to Tim Farriss’ razor-sharp guitar during
the throbbing “Original Sin.” While the
entire band are formidable, the star of this
show is clearly frontman Hutchence. His
performance brims with swagger and
ease. It’s thrilling to watch the late vocalist
in his prime, tackling the emotive “Never
Tear Us Apart” with supple control or
roaring through “Suicide Blonde” and
“Kick” with raw power, and realize what a
rare gift his emotive baritone was to rock
and roll. He’s also a charming and intoxicating
presence while prowling the stage
and slithering like Mick Jagger and Jim
Morrison with amplified sex appeal.
“Excuse me, I’ve been to Paris,” he says
enigmatically after letting a raunchy innuendo
slip (and goading guitarist Tim
Farriss) while leading a boisterous singalong
to “What You Need.” “No waving
and no cigarette lighters, please,” he teases
fruitlessly before leading the swaying
“By My Side.” Live Baby Live is a reminder
from the pre-cell phone era of the potential
for a hot band to connect with a stadiumsized
crowd using minimal frills. The
band is abetted by the essentials of meticulous
sound and a stellar light show,
vividly captured here. INXS leads a wild
party, and makes it look effortless. “Is this
what they call a f—ing rave or what?,”
asks Hutchence to roaring response.
One of the great anecdotes surrounding
this show bears repeating. As the
musicians were already on stage blazing
through set-opener "Guns in the Sky,"
Hutchence and INXS manager/executive
producer Chris Murphy peered at the
massive crowd. With a smile, Hutchence
looked back at his mentor and asked, “So
how much are we making for this?”
Without flinching, Murphy made the sign
of a zero and replied “17 cameras and a
helicopter, mate.” Hutchence responded,
“You m----------r!” then ran onto the stage
to join his band brothers and deliver the
performance of his life. Live Baby Live:
Wembley Stadium is an enduring gift from
the band to its fans, and among the finest
rock films ever recorded.
– Jeff Elbel
8
KEITH SLETTEDAHL
You Know You Know
(Self)
To my knowledge, the last time Keith
Slettedahl performed in Chicago was in
2010 when his quartet The 88 opened for
The Kinks’ Ray Davies at the Chicago
Theatre and served double duty as Davies’
band. That was a lucky opportunity for
local fans who had caught wind of the
group when it was a Los Angeles-based
fixture that rarely traveled here. Slettedahl
had spent most of his time working with
the film and TV industry in his former
hometown (you might know his voice
from “At Least It Was Here,” the theme
song for Community), but he apparently
also devoted his time as a productive
homebody to developing sublime powerpop
material and tinkering with it to perfection.
The 88 disbanded following the
release of 2016’s rowdy but underappreciated
Close to You, a glorious combination of
classic pop and Northern Soul. Slettedahl,
who has since pulled up roots and relocated
to Georgia, released solo EP The First
Time the same year. He now returns with
full-length solo debut You Know You Know.
Fans of pop heroes including Jellyfish, the
Posies, and Matthew Sweet, fellow dark
horses like Sugarbomb, and heavyweights
like the Kinks, Jam, Style Council, Fab
Four and Beach Boys would be well
advised to listen. Slettedahl’s latest material
turns from observational fare a la
Davies and veers toward self-examination
and reinvention among new surroundings–particularly
during “What’s His
Name.” Set to a combination of island
rhythm and hazy psych-pop, the song
finds Slettedahl in conversation with a
friend from the old stomping grounds, trying
to explain how he’s adapting and finding
new routines as the distance across the
cell phone connection seems to grow.
Album-closer “One and All” clicks
through selfies on social media and
observes friends leading their best lives, or
at least doing their best to build the myth.
Meanwhile, Slettedahl appears to have
lost the urge. “Now even though I like a
good story, well, I can’t tell mine anymore,”
he sings in his heavenly Carl
Wilson tenor. Frankie Siragusa’s multidimensional
production borrows from
Brian Wilson’s experimental thread running
through **Pet Sounds and **Smile.
“Nowhere to Run” finds someone reaping
the hard luck he’s sown, with sonic echoes
of the Beatles “No Reply.” The shoegazing
roar of “It’s Never Been Easier to Appear
Interesting” is a poison pen letter that
Slettedahl eventually turns upon himself.
The shifting moods of “C to A it’s Hard to
Say” range from heavy swing to summery
**Pet Sounds pastiche while finding the
singer set adrift, alternately hopeless and
hopeful. The dreamlike opening movement
of “I Had Your Letter in My Hand”
also finds Slettedahl disconnected from
youthful bedrock assumptions but learning
to take comfort from things and people
he can rely upon in the present. The song
coalesces into a carnivalesque pop
crescendo a la the Move and Queen. “Give
it Time You’ll Be Fine” leans on perspective
and the adage that time heals all
wounds, even the emotional cuts that
seem the deepest. Slettedahl’s soothing
voice turns cracked and melancholy, as if
he’s processing the message, too. Despite
the upheaval, Slettedahl finds his spiritual
footing. “No One Understands Me Like
You Do” expresses gratitude for the safety
net of a reliable partner. “And where she’s
at my side I call it home,” he sings, in a
tremulous voice that shimmers like a bell
and scales dizzy heights with ease.
Siragusa lends the song a “Strawberry
Fields Forever” vibe. Lead single “My
Baby” similarly returns to such domestic
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