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Michael Hutchence singing on a lit stage in Madrid in 1990
Michael Hutchence, Madrid, 19 November 1990 · Artekolor · CC BY-SA 4.0

INXS in excess

Their most famous video was made on a photocopier: film cut into frames, each frame copied and laid back over the picture. Here every place is a frame. Copy the frames, from a Kowloon school to the last show in Perth.

Frenchs Forest · Whale Beach · Umina · 1970s

The coast

Low brick buildings of Davidson High School in Frenchs Forest
Davidson High School, Frenchs Forest, 2007. Stravin (talk) · CC BY-SA 3.0

Frenchs Forest

Doctor Dolphin

Andrew Farriss talked his classmate Michael Hutchence into joining his school band, Doctor Dolphin.

The two spent a lot of time jamming in the garage with Andrew’s brothers Tim and Jon.

The Hutchence family came back to Sydney in 1972 and bought a house in Belrose. The school opened in 1972 for the growing Frenchs Forest and Belrose areas; Andrew and Jon Farriss and Hutchence are among its former students.

A working state school: see it from the street and don’t go in.

Sources
Whale Beach, a curve of sand between green headlands, seen from a hillside road
Whale Beach from Rayner Road, 2016. Sardaka · CC BY-SA 4.0

16 August 1977

A dog called Guinness

The Farriss Brothers made their debut on 16 August 1977 at Whale Beach.

Tim Farriss and Kirk Pengilly had played together since 1971, as the duo Kirk and Tim or as Guinness, a four-piece named after their bass player’s dog.

Back from Perth, Tim was approached by Midnight Oil’s manager Gary Morris in the car park of the Royal Antler, a pub in Narrabeen, down the coast.

A public surf beach at the top of the Northern Beaches, 40 km north of the city. The sources don’t name the room of the 1977 debut, so the beach marks the suburb.

Sources
Jonah’s

Jonah’s, Whale Beach

69 Bynya Road, Whale Beach NSW 2107 · See the rates page

A restaurant with eleven rooms on the hill above Whale Beach, each with a balcony over the sand. Open Thursday to Sunday; rates on its own page. Pictured: Whale Beach.

See rooms
The sand and surf of Umina Beach on the Central Coast
Umina Beach on the Woy Woy Peninsula, 2015. The beach, not the hotel. FotoSleuth · CC BY 2.0

1 September 1979

A jam jar and XTC

The band’s first show as INXS was on 1 September 1979 at the Ocean Beach Hotel in Umina.

Morris passed on a new name thought up by one of the Midnight Oil crew. It was inspired by the band XTC and the jam makers IXL, and it is a play on the words in excess.

By the end of 1979 they had hired Chris Murphy as manager and kept working the Australian pubs. Umina Beach is 85 kilometres north of Sydney and the most populated suburb on the Central Coast.

A beach suburb on the Woy Woy Peninsula, 85 km north of Sydney. The Ocean Beach Hotel is not mapped here, so the beach marks the suburb.

Sources
INXS bassist Garry Gary Beers in 1986
Garry Gary Beers of INXS, August 1986. Andwhatsnext (Nancy J Price) · CC BY-SA 3.0

Garry Gary Beers, who came to the band from nearby Forest High School, in 1986.

The strip · 10 frames · 10 places

Copy the frames

For the Need You Tonight video, Richard Lowenstein cut up 35mm film, photocopied single frames and laid the copies back over the footage. It won five MTV awards in 1988, including Video of the Year.

Do the same to the places: press Copy and a toner print drops over the frame, a little out of register, and the place opens. The frames and offsets are our game; every fact comes from the sources.

Sources
  1. 01 · before 1972The front of King George V School in KowloonKing George V School
  2. 02 · 1970sLow brick buildings of Davidson High School in Frenchs ForestDavidson High School
  3. 03 · 1977Whale Beach, a curve of sand between green headlands, seen from a hillside roadWhale Beach
  4. 04 · 1979The sand and surf of Umina Beach on the Central CoastUmina Beach
  5. 05 · 1986The white shells of the Sydney Opera House across the harbourSydney Opera House
  6. 06 · 1988Charles Bridge in Prague with its statues and bridge towerCharles Bridge
  7. 07 · 1991The twin white towers at the front of the old Wembley StadiumWembley Stadium
  8. 08 · 1992Open grass and trees in Centennial Park, SydneyCentennial Park
  9. 09 · 1997The sandstone Gothic front of St Andrew's Cathedral in SydneySt Andrew’s Cathedral
  10. 10 · 2012The angular, patterned facade of Perth Arena in 2012Perth Arena

0 of 10 frames copied. The glass is clear. Press Copy on any frame.

Copy a frame and its place comes up here: a photograph, what happened, and how to visit.

Michael Hutchence, long dark hair, in San Francisco in 1986
Michael Hutchence of INXS in San Francisco, August 1986, months before the Kick sessions. Andwhatsnext (Nancy J Price) · CC BY-SA 3.0

Sydney · Hong Kong · 1986–1987

The cab that waited

Waiting for a cab to the airport, Andrew thought up the riff for Need You Tonight, told the driver he would be a couple of minutes, and went back to his motel room to tape it. He came out forty-five minutes later to a furious driver.

  • 45minutes the cab waited
  • 10minutes for most of the words
  • 2weeks in Hong Kong

Pictured: Hutchence in San Francisco, August 1986, months before the sessions.

Sources
The white shells of the Sydney Opera House across the harbour
Sydney Opera House on Bennelong Point, 2008. Diliff · CC BY-SA 3.0

Bennelong Point · late 1986

Rehearsing at the Opera House

Towards the end of 1986 the band gathered at the Sydney Opera House to rehearse the songs Hutchence and Andrew Farriss had written for Kick.

Kirk Pengilly said they wanted an album where every song could be a single. In January 1987 they began recording at Rhinoceros Studios in Sydney with the producer Chris Thomas; the engineer David Nicholas co-owned the studio.

When Andrew played the Mediate demo, Need You Tonight was still running; Nicholas cued the tape as it ended and the two joined so neatly he thought something was wrong.

The Opera House was opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 20 October 1973.

Open daily on Bennelong Point. The one-hour Sydney Opera House Tour is $50 for adults booked ahead, $55 on the day (prices from April 2026). Rhinoceros Studios is not mapped here.

Sources
Sydney Opera House

The Sydney Opera House Tour

Bennelong Point, Sydney · Adults $50 booked ahead, $55 on the day

The house’s own one-hour guided walk inside the building where Kick was rehearsed.

Book the tour
The front of King George V School in Kowloon
King George V School, Ho Man Tin, Kowloon, 2004. Jasonp at English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 2.5

Ho Man Tin · Kowloon

Two weeks in Hong Kong

Chris Thomas felt Kick still lacked the right songs and sent Hutchence and Andrew Farriss to Hong Kong, where Hutchence and Jon Farriss owned an apartment.

Hutchence heard Andrew’s cassette there and wrote most of the words to Need You Tonight in about ten minutes. They came back after two weeks with demos including Need You Tonight, Kick and Calling All Nations; the album was finished in Paris.

The Hutchence family left Australia for Hong Kong, where Michael went to King George V School in his early teens. KGV, in Ho Man Tin, is one of the oldest schools in Hong Kong.

A working school: see it from Tin Kwong Road. The flat where Kick was written is not located.

Sources
Charles Bridge in Prague with its statues and bridge tower
Charles Bridge, Prague, 2021. Scotch Mist · CC BY-SA 4.0

Karlův most · 1988

Charles Bridge

The Never Tear Us Apart video was shot around Prague, along with Guns in the Sky and New Sensation, all directed by Richard Lowenstein.

In Lowenstein’s own account the city locations included Charles Bridge, Old Town Square and the Old Jewish Cemetery. The video won Best Video at the 1989 ARIA Awards.

Building began in 1357 under Charles IV; the bridge is 516 metres long.

Open to walk at any hour. Early morning is the quiet time.

Sources
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Wembley · 13 July 1991

Live Baby Live

  • 74,000sold out
  • 1635mm cameras
  • 1helicopter

On 13 July 1991, on the Summer XS tour, INXS played Wembley Stadium to a sold-out 74,000, the biggest crowd they ever drew.

David Mallet filmed it with sixteen 35mm cameras, one of them in a helicopter, six years to the day after Live Aid on the same ground.

The film and album are Live Baby Live: the first live rhymes with give, the second with five.

Showing the old stadium’s twin towers, as INXS played under them in 1991.

The twin white towers at the front of the old Wembley Stadium
The old Wembley Stadium and its twin towers in June 1999, as it stood when INXS played there in 1991. User:Responsible? · Public domain

Five years earlier, on 12 July 1986, they had supported Queen there. The first Wembley opened in 1923 and was demolished in 2002; the new stadium opened in 2007 with 90,000 seats under a 134-metre arch.

The stadium INXS played was pulled down in 2002; the new one stands on the same site. Walk up Olympic Way from Wembley Park station.

Sources
Michael Hutchence on stage in Melbourne in 1994
Michael Hutchence at Festival Hall, Melbourne, 21 January 1994, on the Dirty Honeymoon tour. David.moreno72 · CC BY-SA 4.0

Sydney · 1992–1997

22 November 1997

Michael Hutchence died on 22 November 1997, aged 37, in his room at the Ritz-Carlton in Double Bay. The New South Wales coroner ruled that his death was a suicide.

The band had rehearsed in Sydney the day before; their 20th anniversary tour was to open in the city on 23 November.

Pictured: Hutchence in Melbourne in January 1994.

Sources
The sandstone Gothic front of St Andrew's Cathedral in Sydney
St Andrew's Cathedral on George Street, Sydney, 2013. Maksym Kozlenko · CC BY-SA 4.0

George Street · 27 November 1997

St Andrew’s Cathedral

His funeral was held here on 27 November 1997, before 600 people, and shown live on Australian television.

Members of INXS and his brother Rhett carried his coffin out of the cathedral.

Built between 1837 and 1868, St Andrew’s is the oldest cathedral in Australia.

A working cathedral next to Town Hall station, with services every day. Visitors are welcome outside service times.

Sources
Open grass and trees in Centennial Park, Sydney
Centennial Park, Sydney, 2016. Batsv · CC BY-SA 4.0

28 March 1992

Concert for Life

On 28 March 1992 INXS played the Concert for Life in Centennial Park, a fundraiser for the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Centre, with Crowded House and Yothu Yindi on the bill.

Bad weather kept the crowd well short of the 100,000 expected, and it raised $500,000.

Centennial Park lies 4 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district.

Sydney’s big eastern park, free to walk, 4 km east of the city.

Sources
The angular, patterned facade of Perth Arena in 2012
Perth Arena in November 2012, the month INXS played their last show there. Samuel Wiki · CC0

Wellington Street · 1978 and 2012

Perth again

At the newly opened Perth Arena on 11 November 2012, INXS said they were playing their last show. Pengilly called it right to finish where they had started 35 years before.

In 1978 the Farriss parents moved to Perth with Jon; the rest of the band followed once Hutchence and Andrew had left school. They played briefly as The Vegetables and went back to Sydney ten months later.

The arena officially opened on 10 November 2012, the day before, on Wellington Street near the site of the old Perth Entertainment Centre.

Now called RAC Arena, in the city centre by Perth station. In with a ticket for a game or a show.

Sources

Where it is now

Whale Beach, Narrabeen and Frenchs Forest are all on the Northern Beaches; Umina is further up the coast. The Opera House, St Andrew’s and Centennial Park are a short ride apart in the city. Perth, Hong Kong, Prague and London are trips of their own.

Where it is now

10 places you can visit, from Whale Beach to Wembley. The family house in Belrose is private and left out; the Double Bay hotel is named in the story but not mapped.

Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.

  • General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: area · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A public surf beach at the top of the Northern Beaches, 40 km north of the city. The sources don’t name the room of the 1977 debut, so the beach marks the suburb.

  • General reference · Restricted access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A working state school: see it from the street and don’t go in.

  • General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: area · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A beach suburb on the Woy Woy Peninsula, 85 km north of Sydney. The Ocean Beach Hotel is not mapped here, so the beach marks the suburb.

  1. Whale Beach, a curve of sand between green headlands, seen from a hillside road
    Whale Beach from Rayner Road, 2016. Sardaka · CC BY-SA 4.0

    Whale Beach, Northern Beaches, Sydney

    Whale Beach

    The Farriss Brothers made their debut on 16 August 1977 at Whale Beach.

    A public surf beach at the top of the Northern Beaches, 40 km north of the city. The sources don’t name the room of the 1977 debut, so the beach marks the suburb.

    Sources
  2. Low brick buildings of Davidson High School in Frenchs Forest
    Davidson High School, Frenchs Forest, 2007. Stravin (talk) · CC BY-SA 3.0

    Frenchs Forest, Sydney

    Davidson High School

    Andrew Farriss talked his classmate Michael Hutchence into joining his school band, Doctor Dolphin.

    A working state school: see it from the street and don’t go in.

    Sources
  3. The sand and surf of Umina Beach on the Central Coast
    Umina Beach on the Woy Woy Peninsula, 2015. The beach, not the hotel. FotoSleuth · CC BY 2.0

    Umina Beach, Woy Woy Peninsula, Central Coast

    Umina Beach

    The band’s first show as INXS was on 1 September 1979 at the Ocean Beach Hotel in Umina.

    A beach suburb on the Woy Woy Peninsula, 85 km north of Sydney. The Ocean Beach Hotel is not mapped here, so the beach marks the suburb.

    Sources

Stay

A room over Whale Beach.

Eleven rooms on the hill above the beach where it began.

Jonah’s

Jonah’s, Whale Beach

69 Bynya Road, Whale Beach NSW 2107 · See the rates page

A restaurant with eleven rooms on the hill above Whale Beach, each with a balcony over the sand. Open Thursday to Sunday; rates on its own page. Pictured: Whale Beach.

See rooms

Go there

Inside the Opera House, and further out.

The house’s own tour, days up the Northern Beaches, and walks over Charles Bridge.

Sydney Opera House

The Sydney Opera House Tour

Bennelong Point, Sydney · Adults $50 booked ahead, $55 on the day

The house’s own one-hour guided walk inside the building where Kick was rehearsed.

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What’s on

Nothing dated yet.

We list events only once we have seen their dates.

No current dated events are listed. Check providers for the latest programme.

Take it home

Kick, and the Wembley album.

Kick on 12-inch from 1987, and Live Baby Live from 1991.

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Kick

INXS · 12-inch LP, WEA (Australia), 1987

Rehearsed at the Opera House, written partly in Hong Kong, recorded at Rhinoceros in Sydney and in Paris.

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Live Baby Live

INXS · CD, Atlantic, 1991

The live album named for the Wembley film of 13 July 1991.

Live marketplace search · listings and condition change

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Dates, prices, rooms and stock change: confirm with the provider before you travel or buy. A stay or tour is described as a filming location only where the card says so.

The full record

Every place and moment behind this page, with sources.

10 of 10 places · 18 of 18 Moments

  • Whale Beach

    Whale Beach, Northern Beaches, Sydney

    • The Farriss Brothers

      Six friends play their first show as the Farriss Brothers at Whale Beach.

    • The Royal Antler car park

      In a Narrabeen pub car park Midnight Oil’s manager offers to help the band.

  • Davidson High School

    Frenchs Forest, Sydney

    • Doctor Dolphin

      Andrew Farriss brings his classmate Michael Hutchence into his school band.

  • Umina Beach

    Umina Beach, Woy Woy Peninsula, Central Coast

    • In excess

      The band plays its first show under the name INXS.

  • Sydney Opera House

    Bennelong Point, Sydney

    • Rehearsing Kick

      The band rehearses the new songs at the Sydney Opera House.

    • Rhinoceros

      Recording of Kick begins at Rhinoceros Studios in Sydney with Chris Thomas and David Nicholas.

    • The cab that waited

      Andrew Farriss keeps a cab waiting forty-five minutes while he tapes the Need You Tonight riff.

  • Centennial Park

    Centennial Park, eastern suburbs, Sydney

    • Concert for Life

      INXS play a heart-research fundraiser in the rain.

  • St Andrew’s Cathedral

    1400 George Street, Sydney

    • 22 November 1997

      Michael Hutchence dies in Sydney, aged 37, on the eve of the band’s 20th anniversary tour.

    • The funeral

      600 people at St Andrew’s; his bandmates and brother carry the coffin.

  • Perth Arena

    700 Wellington Street, Perth

    • Ten months in Perth

      The band follows the Farriss family to Perth and plays as The Vegetables.

    • Where they started

      INXS announce their last show at Perth Arena.

  • King George V School

    2 Tin Kwong Road, Ho Man Tin, Kowloon, Hong Kong

    • A Kowloon school

      Michael Hutchence goes to King George V School in his early teens.

    • Two weeks in Hong Kong

      Hutchence and Andrew Farriss write Need You Tonight, Kick and Calling All Nations in Hong Kong.

  • Charles Bridge

    Karlův most, Prague

    • Cut and copied

      For the Need You Tonight video Lowenstein cuts up 35mm film, photocopies single frames and lays them back over the footage; it wins five MTV awards.

    • Prague

      Lowenstein films Never Tear Us Apart in Prague, on Charles Bridge among other places.

  • Wembley Stadium

    Wembley, London HA9

    • Supporting Queen

      INXS open for Queen at Wembley.

    • Live Baby Live

      74,000 at a sold-out Wembley, filmed by sixteen cameras.

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