cc_road2bLife on the road was never dull.  I was lucky enough to travel a lot with bands and also meet them while they were touring.  I miss it to this day.  If a band out there would ever ask me to go on the road today I would have a hard time saying no.  With today’s technology it would be even more fun.  I never got to shoot video, tweet about my fun or instagram some fotos.  All I got to do was shoot pix, have fun and send postcards to my friends to share the fun with them.

It was 1988 and I was shooting George Michael’s FAITH Tour.  I got a call from a publicist friend asking me if I could go to Ottawa Canada to shoot INXS for a couple days.  This was during the KICK Tour and there was NO way I was going to say no.  I flew to Canada and met the band at the venue for a rehearsal.  The band was super nice and Michael was awesome.  We had some mutual friends and it helped relax the situation.

After rehearsal I found myself backstage with Michael & his “grrl friend” in the dressing room.  We ended up talking about all sorts of things.  I had just gotten back from my first trip to Australia with George so I had plenty of great stories to share.  The one thing I remember most was a conversation about books.  Every time I saw him he always had a book with him.  It seemed like he really liked to read.  ME, I just loved books with photos.  ;-)

The next day before the show I asked the band if we could do a quick photo shoot for me.  They gave me 15 minutes so I just asked them to run up and down the hallway of the venue.  It was easy, fun and made everyone laugh!  Then the show started and I jumped in the pit.  I was blown away from the first song on!  Seriously, this band was awesome.  I loved INXS, had all their albums and knew every song.  So this was fucking epic for me in every way!  Michael was brilliant and seriously to this day was one the greatest lead singers ever!  His stage presence was beyond great!  He had the audience in the palm of his hand for the whole show!

What I will always remember most about this trip was the band and how nice they were to me.  Seriously, super nice and fucking awesome!  Years later I was lucky enough to shoot Michael solo here in Los Angeles.  He was super nice again and actually remembered me.  Anytime anyone remembers me is always a good thing.  Woo hoo!

inxs_678

INXS | 1988