INXS' iconic '91 Wembley gig will be screened in theatres for one night only this Wednesday

Music
25 Nov 19

Tickets are available for the one-night screening of Live Baby Live, the 1991 INXS gig at Wembley Stadium, in theatres this Wednesday, 27 November.

On Saturday, 13 July 1991, INXS, one of the world’s most revered and iconic bands, delivered the gig of their lives at London’s Wembley Stadium to 74,000 ecstatic fans. 28 years later, the gig will be broadcast as INXS: Live Baby Live at Wembley Stadium in theatres across Ireland for one night only: this Wednesday, 27 November.

The film has been restored over the past twelve months from its original 35mm negative format to Ultra HD 4K. Originally presented in 4:3 aspect ratio, the restored version has also been repositioned shot-by-shot into 16:9 widescreen for optimal theatre viewing.

To accompany the visual upgrade, the audio is now presented in full Dolby Atmos, created by Giles Martin, the band’s Executive Music Director, and Sam Okell at Abbey Road Studios.

INXS’ long-time manager Chris M. Murphy had spent a decade scouring the world trying to locate the original 35mm film cans to produce this result. With the search becoming increasingly desperate and just when (almost) everyone had given up hope, the missing canisters were miraculously found in Australia.

“When you’re working on a project for so long, there’s the fear ‘What’s everyone going to think?’," Murphy admitted. "That turns into astonishment. Watching it back, Michael is better than even I thought he was – how he managed the stage. His voice became more powerful as the gig went along. It was extraordinary to watch – the crowd and band were as one”.

The Wembley gig, called Summer XS, came just over five years since INXS supported Queen at the same location and officially launched the band into legendary status. Summer XS was recorded as a live album and filmed, directed by David Mallet as Live Baby Live.

“This was just one of many great shows I was lucky enough to play with my best friends and brothers," gushed INXS' Tim Farriss, recalling the gig.

“The whole band was on fire that night but especially at our ‘pointy end'", added Garry Gary Beers. "Michael was so good as he sang his heart out and gave every person in the crowd a night to remember for all time. He truly had that amazing ability to make the biggest shows as intimate as the pubs we grew up in musically”.

Live Baby Live the album has since been re-released with new mixes by Giles Martin and Sam Okell at Abbey Road Studios. The vinyl and CD formats feature unseen imagery from the show, new essays from the band and sleeve notes by broadcaster and uber-INXS fan Jamie East, who was in the crowd that day.

INXS: Live Baby Live at Wembley Stadium hits Irish theatres on Wednesday, 27 November. You can find information and tickets here.

INXS guitarist Tim Farriss has praised U2 for honouring the legacy of the Australian band’s late singer, Michael Hutchence.

He was speaking as U2 dedicated their Sydney performance of ‘Stuck In A Moment You Can’t Get Out Of’ to Hutchence, whose death by suicide in 1997 was the tragic inspiration for the song. “It meant a lot,” said Farris “And it would have meant a lot to Michael. Michael was very close to Bono and to Ali [Hewson, Bono’s wife].”

He was talking to Hot Press ahead of the screening across Irish cinemas this Wednesday November 27 of INXS: Live Baby Live, a newly restored film of the band’s July 1991 sold-out Wembley Stadium concert. It follows renewed interest in Hutchence with the release of Mystify, Richard Lowenstein’s documentary about Hutchence’s rise to fame and his death.

“We played it like it was just another pub gig,” says Farriss. “Nowadays you get the grand piano wheeled out for the ballads. You have dancers, ego ramps, pyrotechnics. Wembley was this famous, wonderful venue. We played it like it was anywhere else.”

He said the film would serve as an important companion piece to Mystify, which chronicled Hutchence’s decline after he sustained a life-changing brain injury when punched by a taxi driver in Denmark in 1992.

“We had thought something was going on his in his personal life,” said Farriss. “I don’t believe he was. He had brain the damage. That is what was causing it.”

The full interview with Ed Power, delving into Hutchence’s final years and his friendship with U2 will appear in the Hot Press annual. INXS: Live Baby Live is also available on triple vinyl, double CD and streaming.