INXS, are or were arguably one of the most successful Australian rock bands in history with continued success from their beginnings in the early 80’s till the untimely death of lead singer Michael Hutchence. It will be interesting to see how or if that success that brought them international acclaim will continue under the guise of ex-Noiseworks lead singer Jon Stevens. The DVD presents a concert filmed at Wembley Stadium, England in July 1991. Never before have I seen so many people crammed into one area, the stadium was absolutely chockers which is a reflection of the inroads INXS made in the international music scene, although it’s only around 70,000 it looks like ten times that. I have enjoyed the vast majority of INXS’s music over the past couple of decades and it was with eager excitement that I awaited a DVD release of one of their concerts. This concert has all the hits that have made them so famous in the late 80’s and early 90’s and they are:-

Guns In The Sky  // New Sensation // I Send A Message // The Stairs  // Know The Difference // Disappear // By My Side // Hear That Sound   // Original Sin // The Loved One // Wildlife // Mystify // Bitter Tears // Suicide Blonde // What You Need // Kick // Need You Tonight // Mediate //Never Tear Us Apart   // Who Pays The Price //Devil Inside

VIDEO
Filming an outdoor concert must be an absolute nightmare due to the ever changing light, concert & stage lighting etc etc. This concert filmed on 35mm and transferred to DVD is adequate, shows good detail but is far from referance. The print looks old with average looking washed out colours. More than likely the master from which the DVD was authored was of average quality, maybe due to the age of it and the DVD reflects that. The transfer is presented in an aspect of 1.33:1.

AUDIO
The DVD has two audio soundtracks, a Linear PCM stereo and a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack. I was disappointed that there was no Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track that we have come so accustomed to with the majority of music DVD’s especially concerts. Both tracks in my opinion sounded abit flat, lacked any dynamic range and punch. The louder I tried to listen to some of my favourite tracks the worse it sounded, the vocals were clear but the bass was average and the sound a tad harsh. Again, the concert is 10 years old and the audio unfortunately reflects that.

EXTRAS
Nip, nada, nil, nein…a measly 40second clip of the concert version of Mystify is it.

Overall. If you are a diehard fan then you’ll like the DVD. I am a fan of INXS although not a diehard one and to me due to the average audio tracks and video transfer the concert does not have a lot of re-watchability. I expected better and left a little disappointed. The really only benefit of the VHS version is that the DVD will never wear out and the picture is a little better, that’s about it.

Review Equipment
TV: Pioneer SD-T43W1 (16:9 RPTV)
DVD: Toshiba 2109 Region Free
Receiver: Yamaha RXV995 (DD/DTS)
Speakers:-
     Fronts: Polk Audio RT55
     Centre: Polk Audio CS350
     Rears: Polk Audio AB705's 
     Sub: M&K MX125 

- Reviewed 4th September 2001

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