If you haven't seen the show and don't want to know too much about it, stop reading. Not that there were a lot of surprises, but you never know.

Since my wife never heard of INXS before the show, I went with a guy from work, Matt, whose wife has heard of INXS, but had to stay home with the kids.

The show was great! And Paramount Theater in Oakland is a great venue. I'll gladly see a show there again. It's one block from BART, so it's easy to get to, and there isn't a bad seat in the house. We were in Orchestra RR and we had a great view. And the acoustics are good.

Opening act was LOVEHAMMERS. Marty Casey, the runner-up from Rockstar:INXS, made it clear that the name of the band is LOVEHAMMERS as opposed to Marty Casey and Lovehammers, which showed real class. Here's a man who's a great singer, playing in a band with his best friends and just having a blast doing it. If you think Marty rocked on the show, well, wait till you see him open for INXS.

LOVEHAMMERS is a great band on the way up. They played mostly original songs, including the one everybody knows (TREES) and another song everybody knows (RING OF FIRE). The crowd was on its feet for most of the set, and things were just getting started.

I don't have a playlist for LOVEHAMMERS because I didn't know the titles of thier songs, but the website has samples of each. Check out THE RIDDLE, it's really good.

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There was a short break and then the numbers 5:00 flashed on a screen behind the stage and started counting down. One of those ideas I'm surprside nobody's thought of before. It was the first time I'd seen it anyway.

And then INXS hit the stage to thunderous applause. New singer J.D. Fortune fit right in with the band. You'd think they'd been playing together as a band for years instead of a few months. But they rocked (and I mean ROCKED) in true INXS style. Make no mistake, the music may be diverse, but INXS is definitely a ROCK band.

They opened with SUICIDE BLONDE and went right into NEW SENSATION and then onto DEVIL'S PARTY, the lead off song on the new CD SWITCH. They played the new soon to be hits. They played the old classics. And the crowd was into it. Again, everyone was on their feet and rocking out, and this was back in RR. Down in front, it looked absolutely NUTS!

And J.D.? He's every bit the showman and rockstar you remember from the show. And more. What as show! What a band! I'm so glad I went.

* * *
On the ride home, on BART, we were entertained by two "bigtime" INXS fans, Dorinda and Stepanie, who were dressed ... for a concert ... in rocker girl attire. We first met them on the train into Oakland, then ran into them when they offered to buy us a round of drinks if we let them into the line for the bar. They'd just come out of the equally long line for the ladies room. They both had rings, so we figured they were safe for two married forty-somethings to talk to.

Anyway, Stephanie apparently had been invited to the after party by the bassist and drummer from LOVEHAMMERS, but instead of going along, she went back to find her friend, Dorinda. On the train ride home, they were calling Dorinda's son, the famous Adam, to try and get a ride home. They each called him saying they couldn't find the other. We have no idea if they even made it home, but we're pretty sure they did. A hilarious ending to a good night of rock music.

The set list follows.

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INXS SET LIST

Suicide Blonde
New Sensation
Devil's Party
Mystify
Disappear
By My Side
Afterglow
Taste It
Original Sin
Hungry
Never Let You Go
Kick
Devil Inside
Pretty Vegas
(Encores:)
The Stairs
Never Tear Us Apart
Don't Change