The Star: July 16, 2020

The Star Thursday July 16 2020
28
SELWYN SOUNDS
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
Rocker to sing from big back catalogue
• By Matt Slaughter
WHEN JON Stevens’ song
Jezebel reached number one on
the New Zealand charts in 1979,
a career in music wasn’t on his
mind.
Said Stevens: “I made a record
when I was 16, it came out when
I was 17, which was Jezebel. It was
released and three weeks later it
was No 1 and all of a sudden, I
was famous in New Zealand.
“It [music] was something
that I didn’t pursue at all, it
was like a happy accident
actually because it wasn’t
something I was actually into
doing,” he said.
But Stevens, who is entertainer
Frankie Stevens’ brother,
couldn’t stay away from music,
and more than four decades
later, he is set to headline Selwyn
Sounds on March 6 at Lincoln
Domain.
Jon Stevens is best known
for being the lead singer of
Noiseworks. He was also lead
singer of legendary Australian
band INXS for four years after
former frontman Michael
Hutchence died.
The Selwyn Sounds crowd can
expect Stevens to belt out a set
of hits from both of these bands
when he takes the stage.
Said Stevens: “I’ve got a
pretty good setlist going with,
obviously, both bands’ songs.
You can’t please everybody, but
nobody’s disappointed ever.
“It’s just hit after hit, you
know,” he said.
Stevens said these hits will
include INXS songs Need You
Tonight, Don’t Change and
Suicide Blonde and Noiseworks’
Hot Chilli Woman.
Stevens fronted INXS in the
early 2000s after Hutchence’s
death in 1997 and toured with
the band for four years.
“When I joined INXS, it was
just one of those things where it
seemed like a perfectly natural
fit and it was, and it’s something
that I know, and we all knew,
Michael would have been more
than happy for me to do because
we were compadres.”
Stevens said he and Hutchence
had “mutual admiration” for
ROCKING
OUT: Jon
Stevens will be
performing a
set including
songs from
Noiseworks
and INXS at
Selwyn Sounds
on March 6.
The Lady Killers
will also be
performing. ​
each other.
“He [Hutchence] was a very
warm and engaging fellow. He
was a lovely bloke [with] charisma
to burn. One thing people didn’t
realise about Michael was he had
a really, really big voice, it was
really so loud.
“Because his subtlety in his
lower register was just incredible
and his tone was incredible,
when he jumped up an octave
and started belting it out, it was
just like, man, so full-on, and
that’s probably a big part of his
magic,” he said.
Stevens is looking forward
to the Selwyn Sounds crowd
hearing his spin on the INXS
songs and said he has the band’s
blessing to perform them.
Some of Stevens’ best career
memories have been playing
shows with artists including
Elton John, Aerosmith and Slash
and performing at venues such
as Madison Square Garden in
New York and Wembley Stadium
in London.
He said he is looking forward
to seeing the huge Kiwi lineup
set to take the stage at Selwyn
Sounds and his highlights will be
seeing Stan Walker, The Jordan
Luck Band, The Lady Killers and
Annie Crummer.
•To get tickets to Selwyn
Sounds 2021 visit https://
selwynsounds.co.nz/
6 MARCH
LINCOLN
JON STEVENS
THE
NOISEWORKS
+INXS COLLECTION
2021
STAN WALKER
JORDAN LUCK BAND
ANNIE CRUMMER • JASON KERRISON OPSHOP • THE LADY KILLERS
RODNEY FISHER GOODSHIRT • CHE FU SUPERGROOVE • NATHAN KING + ANDY LYNCH ZED
AUTOMATIC 80’s • THE REMNANTS OF HELLO SAILOR
Tickets On Sale Now
www.selwynsounds.co.nz