It was a gig which attracted a massive crowd to the Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre 25 years ago – and the audience lapped up the performance of Australian band INXS.
Yet, while there was a celebratory facade to the display of Michael Hutchence and his colleagues on stage, tensions were brewing behind the scenes and the seasoned vocalist was struggling with addiction problems.
The band had achieved international success in the 1980s and early 1990s with hit albums Listen Like Thieves, Kick, and X, as well as the singles What You Need, Need You Tonight, Devil Inside, Never Tear Us Apart and, what remains their most memorable creation, New Sensation.
However, by the time they rolled up in the north-east on June 10 1997, their fan base had diminished and their popularity seemed to be waning. And the pressure of reversing that decline was taking its toll on Hutchence.
And, just six months later, he committed suicide at the age of 37.
In 1997, the group had released a comeback album Elegantly Wasted, which garnered mixed reviews and only reached No 16 in the UK charts with some critics describing them as a shadow of their former selves.
But, although the evidence was mounting that fans wanted to hear the old hits rather than the fresh material, Hutchence was convinced they would warm to the new songs once they heard them being performed live.
INXS dazzled their Aberdeen fans in 1997
When they arrived in Aberdeen on a warm summer’s night, he put on a display which was described in the Evening Express as “sensational”.
Yet the tone of the review indicates that all was not right with the band.
It said: “They may be pushing 40, but INXS still managed to blow the roof off a packed Exhibition Centre last night.
“The Aussie rockers turned in a barnstorming performance to delight their north-east fans and rubbish reports that they are past their sell-by date.
“Admittedly, the older numbers were greeted with louder cheers than the tracks from their latest album, but the swagger and style which rocketed them to superstar status in the late 80s was still there.”
The band launched their set with Elegantly Wasted, but soon dipped into their prodigious back catalogue, including Taste It and Never Tear Us Apart.
And Hutchence was in his element as he bantered with the crowd and made it clear he was in the one place where he could still control his own destiny.
Michael Hutchence’s banter with Aberdeen crowd
He told them: “We played in Glasgow last night and they were all mad. But we have got high hopes for you as well.”
Whereupon, the man dressed in black poured himself into another bravura rendition of the now-iconic New Sensation.
The momentum built up the longer the gig progressed and the Evening Express reported on how a close rapport was established between the group and those who were cheering them at the venue.
It added: “The audience duly responded as they clapped and sang for their lives. Throwing bottles of water into the crowd seemed to be the favourite between-song activity for the band and the crowd literally lapped it up.
“After 90 minutes on stage, everyone in the 7,000-strong crowd was on their feet for the grand finale and one of their greatest hits, Suicide Blonde.”
Sadly, the title of that farewell song was mirrored in real life. On November 22 1997, the music world was shocked when it emerged that Hutchence had been found dead in his hotel room at the Sydney Ritz-Carlton.
In February 1998, New South Wales State Coroner Derrick Hand presented his report, which ruled that Hutchence’s death was a suicide while he was depressed and under the influence of drugs and alcohol.
Despite this conclusion, many INXS aficionados constructed lurid conspiracy theories to explain his demise and some blamed his girlfriend, Paula Yates, who had previously been married to Bob Geldof.
A few days later, Hutchence’s funeral was held at St Andrew’s Cathedral in Sydney. Nick Cave, a friend of Hutchence’s, performed his 1997 song Into My Arms and insisted that the television cameras were switched off.
It was a sorry end for one of rock’s greatest showmen.
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