Tag Archives: INXS

Marty Casey – A Rock N’ Roll Champion

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Sometimes people cross your paths and leave a positive impact on you. I found one of those people in Marty Casey.

From first seeing him on Rockstar INXS, then meeting him when he was singing for LA Guns, and now a conversation with him, Marty has had that positive impact on me.

Please take a moment and listen to our conversation and understand who Marty is and the message he brings right here:

 

After listening do yourself a favor and click the link below the album cover and order the new record.

 

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http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/martycasey

     Here’s a couple of videos from the new record, enjoy:

    it’s loud, it’s dirty, it’s ROCK N’ ROLL!!!

     -the Hellion

The Dead Daisies – an interview with vocalist Jon Stevens and an all star performance at the Revolt On The Rio Grande Festival 08/31/13

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There has been a lot of buzz about The Dead Daisies lately, and, after seeing them perform I now know why. We were fortunate enough to have been granted an interview with vocalist Jon Stevens (Sydney, Noiseworks, INXS) on their tour bus prior to their performance. He was very entertaining and the interview was a blast. We were treated with kindness and grace and felt comfortable and welcome. Jon even provided us with signed copies of the debut CD from The Dead Daisies. If you look at the CD in the picture it says” Play Loud” -Jon Stevens

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Here is the interview enjoy!:

     The CD is amazing to say the least. It features Jon Stevens- vocals/guitars, David Lowy- guitars, John Fields- bass/guitars/keyboards/percussion, Vanessa Amorosi- vocals, Kevin Savigar- keyboards, Dorian Crozier- drums, Isaac Carpenter- drums (“Yesterday & Tomorrow”). The amazing single from this release is “Lock’N’Load” and features Jon Stevens – Lead & Backing Vocals/Acoustic Guitar, Slash – Lead Guitar, David Lowy- Guitar, Johnny Salerno- Drums, Simon Hosford- Bass/Electric & Acoustic Guitar, John Fields- Organ.

We were in for quite the surprise for the live performance. The touring band consisted of the following individuals:

Jon Stevens - Jon Stevens’ remarkable career as a singer, songwriter and performer has spanned over 20 years and reaped many achievements, including ARIA chart-topping success as the front man of legendary Australian bands Noiseworks and INXS.

Jon Stevens – Jon Stevens’ remarkable career as a singer, songwriter and performer has spanned over 20 years and reaped many achievements, including ARIA chart-topping success as the front man of legendary Australian bands Noiseworks and INXS. photo by the Hellion

Frank Ferrer- Frank Ferrer is an American rock drummer and session musician. In October 2006, Ferrer became an official member of the American hard rock band Guns N’ Roses after serving as the band’s emergency substitute drummer for Bryan Mantia on several occasions during the band’s summer 2006 European tour. Ferrer is also a member of The Psychedelic Fursas well as a former member of Love Spit Love. He has recorded and worked with several high profile musicians including The Beautiful, Robi “Draco” Rosa, and Sarah Clifford. -photo by Charlie Owens

Frank Ferrer- Frank Ferrer is an American rock drummer and session musician. In October 2006, Ferrer became an official member of the American hard rock band Guns N’ Roses after serving as the band’s emergency substitute drummer for Bryan Mantia on several occasions during the band’s summer 2006 European tour. Ferrer is also a member of The Psychedelic Furs as well as a former member of Love Spit Love. He has recorded and worked with several high profile musicians including The Beautiful, Robi “Draco” Rosa, and Sarah Clifford. -photo by Charlie Owens

Richard Fortus - Originally from St. Louis, Missouri, Fortus is a current guitarist of legendary American rock band Guns N’ Roses, handling both rhythm and lead duties since 2001. -photo by the Hellion

Richard Fortus – Originally from St. Louis, Missouri, Fortus is a current guitarist of legendary American rock band Guns N’ Roses, handling both rhythm and lead duties since 2001. -photo by the Hellion

Dizzy Reed is a multi-talented keyboard/vocalist who is currently touring with Guns ‘N’ Roses and has been with Axl since almost the beginning. He is well respected in the Los Angeles music community as a guest player with many well known artists and with his own solo projects. Dizzy brings the blues rock energy to the stage! - photo Charlie Owens

Dizzy Reed is a multi-talented keyboard/vocalist who is currently touring with Guns ‘N’ Roses and has been with Axl since almost the beginning. He is well respected in the Los Angeles music community as a guest player with many well known artists and with his own solo projects. Dizzy brings the blues rock energy to the stage! – photo Charlie Owens

Bobby Schneck - Bobby Schneck got his start in the bars and clubs of the midwest at the age of 17 playing everything from country to funk to full bore heavy metal. After moving to LA in 1987 he found himself in one of the biggest Sunset Strip bands of the day called B.B. Chung King and the Screaming Buddaheads. A fan of the band turned out to be Slash who would regularly sit in with the band. In 1996 Slash tapped Bobby to tour with Slash's Blues Ball, a funk and RB rock band that circled the globe on and off for 18 months. He went on to record and tour with Eddie Money, Five For Fighting, Gilby Clarke, Warren Zevon, Green Day and Weezer and then filled in for an ailing Brad Whitford on the 2009 Aerosmith Tour. Slash again tapped him for the "We're All Gonna Die" tour in 2010 featuring Myles Kennedy on vocals. -photo by the Hellion

Bobby Schneck – Bobby Schneck got his start in the bars and clubs of the midwest at the age of 17 playing everything from country to funk to full bore heavy metal. After moving to LA in 1987 he found himself in one of the biggest Sunset Strip bands of the day called B.B. Chung King and the Screaming Buddaheads. A fan of the band turned out to be Slash who would regularly sit in with the band. In 1996 Slash tapped Bobby to tour with Slash’s Blues Ball, a funk and RB rock band that circled the globe on and off for 18 months. He went on to record and tour with Eddie Money, Five For Fighting, Gilby Clarke, Warren Zevon, Green Day and Weezer and then filled in for an ailing Brad Whitford on the 2009 Aerosmith Tour. Slash again tapped him for the “We’re All Gonna Die” tour in 2010 featuring Myles Kennedy on vocals. -photo by the Hellion

Marco Mendoza- Marco comes from a very musical family and started playing the guitar at an early age. Marco is perhaps mostly known for his work with a number of rock bands and artists such as Thin Lizzy, Blue Murder, Whitesnake , Ted Nugent, Neal Schon and Soul SirkUS, Lynch Mob, as well as diverse artists such as Dolores O’Riordan from the Cranberries. He is currently touring with his solo project and Thin Lizzy (Black Star Riders).

Marco Mendoza- Marco comes from a very musical family and started playing the guitar at an early age.
Marco is perhaps mostly known for his work with a number of rock bands and artists such as Thin Lizzy, Blue Murder, Whitesnake , Ted Nugent, Neal Schon and Soul SirkUS, Lynch Mob, as well as diverse artists such as Dolores O’Riordan from the Cranberries. He is currently touring with his solo project and Thin Lizzy (Black Star Riders). – photo by the Hellion

The Dead Daisies put on one of the best sets I have seen in a long, long time. Good old Rock N’ Roll lives on in The Dead Daisies for sure. Big names, big music, without big egos make these guys an all around class act. Thank you gentlemen, from the bottom of our hearts. – Team HellBangs

INXS…The touring ends… The music lives on…

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Perth, Western Australia, November 11: It ended fittingly where it began 35 years ago, in Perth, when INXS drummer Jon Farriss declared to a 15,000+ capacity house on the opening weekend of the brand new Perth Arena and the final night of the Matchbox Twenty / INXS Australian tour that from this point INXS would bring down the curtain as a live touring band. In a fitting homage to the band, Matchbox Twenty’s Rob Thomas joined the band (INXS) and vocalist Ciaran Gribbin on stage and performed INXS’s signature closer, Don’t Change, in the band’s encore.

The remaining band members of INXS, Tim, Andrew and Jon Farriss, Kirk Pengilly and Garry Beers issued this statement.

“We understand that this must come as a blow to everybody, but all things must eventually come to an end. We have been performing as a band for 35 years, it’s time to step away from the touring arena”

“Our music will of course live on and we will always be a part of that.”

“We would like to express our heartfelt thanks to all the friends and family that have supported us throughout our extensive career. Our lives have been enriched by having you all as a part of the journey”

INXS forged their reputation as one of the world’s greatest live bands, relentlessly touring the US, Europe, South America, and the Far East constantly throughout the 80’s and early 90’s, fuelled by the success of records such as Listen Like Thieves, Kick, X, and Welcome To Wherever You Are.

That hard-earned and hard-won live reputation took INXS to the very pinnacle of the live world touring circuit with such memorable performances headlining iconic venues across the world… in the UK [Wembley Stadium 80,000], the US [Texas Stadium 60,000] and Rio De Janeiro [Rock in Rio 120,000].

But with the high, came a bitter and cruel blow… the loss of their charismatic and irreplaceable front man Michael Hutchence in November 1997.

“It’s been 35 years for INXS as a live touring band and unbelievably it’s been 15 years ago since we lost Michael” said Jon Farriss.

“We lived for each other in the trenches and we loved each other. It was the six of us against the world and then suddenly and inexplicably we were but five. We were lost right at the moment we were on top.”

The band struggled to deal with the enormity of it all and the easy solution was to just call it a day.

“We never took a soft option, it was the adversity, the challenge and the struggle that forged us into the live working band we became. And this was as big as it could possibly get when it came to a challenge” said Andrew Farriss, “and in the end we decided for a whole bunch of reasons to march forward. To us there was no other option, families always move forward.”

The band’s manager Chris Murphy said, “They believed unconditionally in each other and they also believed unconditionally in the music. People fade, sometimes way too early… that is life whether we like it or not. To live to 80 plus is a life well lived. To lose Michael so young was a tragedy for all of us. But with this band, their legacy, their music was just so damn good, it was always destined to live beyond all of us.”

The last 3 years has seen a resurgence of INXS with their songs being hammered on radio and a rise in audience numbers with the live show. The song Original Sin, with Rob Thomas on vocals, reached number 1 on the Billboard dance charts.

As Jon Farriss says,“INXS’ touring days could never last forever. We wanted it to end on a high. And it has”

End statement.