INXS: Live Baby Live

Directed by

David Mallet

INXS fans can rejoice over the release of this buoyant concert film, shot during an ecstatic performance before 72,000 hopping fans in London's Wembley Stadium on 13 July, 1991. The Australian band's vocalist, the late Michael Hutchence, is at his feral-romantic best, stalking and swiveling his way through an energized set of welterweight pop. The show starts with a big, boomy "Guns In The Sky", takes a turn toward unexpected soulfulness with "New Sensation" and spreads the wealth with a sharp set of ballads and rockers. Hutchence has fun with a naughty "Know The Difference", plays around with a Jagger-esque take on confessional soul in "The Loved One" and milks "Never Tear Us Apart" for all it's worth. The band sounds more muscular than they did in the studio, hard-charging and rough on "Suicide Blonde", drunk on a jazzy guitar hook in "Need You Tonight" and completely danceable on "Bitter Tears".