Terri, Jess, and I had to wait outside of The Chance in Poughkeepsie, New York for the INXS concert. We stood in line at the door. One of my college roommates, Karen, who lived in Newburgh, NY when we weren’t in Philadelphia at college, came to The Chance. Terri’s sister, Renee, and some of her friends, also came up to see the show.
The doors opened and the doorman wouldn’t let me in when I showed my Penn ID card. Terri was 19 and Jess was 20 so they were legal and got in. My roommate, Karen, was also only 18 but she wasn’t carded at the door, and she got into the venue. Renee and her friends were even younger than me and they were not allowed inside so they decided to go back to New Jersey.
I waited for a little while and then I took off my hat and got back in the line. When I got to the door, the doorman recognized me and said that there was no way I was getting in to see the show. I decided to wait for the band to show up. Because Kirk had talked to me at soundcheck; I thought he might let me go in with him if I asked.
I must have had a notebook in my purse along with my pen because I wrote this:
8/16/83
In a hundred words or less-Why America stinks. 1. Too many laws. Fuck it.
I can’t take all of this hypocrisy anymore. I am old enough to drink one hour and then I’m not old enough an hour later. I’m going to cry soon because this world sucks. It has to be a joke. I mean what kind of God would expect us to believe that we are here for a reason. There are no reasons for this insanity. God must be a sadist because you can’t win. Either you live under communist oppression, or you live under democratic oppression. I can’t believe that they won’t let me in on the ID that I have. Gimme a break. What’s the use of being alive when you can’t do what you want? If there is some reason, I really would like to know it.
It’s quite dramatic-so dramatic that I have to laugh at it now. I was so angry that they would not let me in to see INXS after they had let us in earlier in the day and served me alcohol during the soundcheck.
After I sat down near the stage door, some local guy who was doing the sound for INXS sat down next to me. I think his name was Jim. He sat down next to me and started asking me very personal questions. Being young and inexperienced, I sat there and answered them. Questions like “Do you have a boyfriend?” and “Are you a virgin?” The answer to the first question was no. I did not have a boyfriend. I told him that I had never done anything but kissed. That first year of college, I had kissed a guy who lived a floor above in the dorm. Jim told me that he had a girlfriend and that they liked to have sex. He said he wanted to take me to Great Adventure (A Six Flags amusement park in New Jersey) and show me a good time but that he wouldn’t try anything with me. I declined his offer.
Jim told me that he had been on tour as the sound mixer with the Thompson Twins and that every show of theirs was the same because the whole thing was on tape. Obviously, I wrote down that fascinating bit of information for posterity.
I explained to him about why I was stuck outside and that I was waiting for Kirk Pengilly from INXS to arrive so I could ask him to let me in to see the show. While I was waiting, the opening band took the stage and began playing. At that point, the sound guy decided to let me in himself.
He opened the stage door and told me to follow him inside. Then he told me to go along the side of the stage and down the steps. I thanked him several times because he solved my problem and made me happy. Terri and Jess saw me back there and waved and yelled. I walked along the side of the stage (the left side if you are facing the audience) in full view of the audience while the opening act was playing right next to me. As quickly and as carefully as possible, I made my way down the steps to the floor and joined Terri, Jess, and Karen in the front row. We were up against the stage.
I don’t remember much from the concert. When the band started playing Jan’s Song from Shabooh Shoobah, Michael Hutchence (the singer) plucked the hat from my head and wore it on his own. One of the lyrics from Jan’s Song is “She puts her hat on; looks in the mirror”, so my hat was an appropriate prop.
When Michael finished the song, he handed my hat back to me. While he was doing this, he said something to me. I have no idea what he said because I couldn’t hear him well enough. That was something that would happen again in the future.
During one song, Timmy Farriss, one of the guitarists, (we always called him Timmy and not Tim) threw some guitar picks into the audience. Karen caught one and gave it to me. A couple of months later, I gave it to Terri because Timmy was her favorite band member.
After the show, Jon Farriss, the drummer, was onstage for a minute, so I asked him to autograph my ticket. He said, surprised, “This is a whole ticket from tonight’s show!” and signed the ticket. He said he liked my hat and I said, “I like yours. Do you want to trade?” He said no because the hat was a gift from someone, and it had sentimental value. I don’t know what happened to the autographed ticket. I no longer have it. Perhaps I gave it away like I did with the guitar pick.
A photo of Jon wearing that hat from 1983.
The doorman saw me and said, “So, you managed to sneak in somehow. It’ll never happen again.” That was true because I never went back to The Chance. There was a fire there about a year later and it was badly damaged.
We went into the ladies’ room and a few other young women were in there. They knew where INXS was staying, and they told us. Karen decided to go home. Terri, Jess and I decided to go to the hotel.
We waited in the lobby of a Ramada Inn somewhere in the area. When the band arrived, some of them complained that the Holiday Inn they had stayed in the night before or whenever wouldn’t allow them to bring guests upstairs. Pretty sure Michael was one who complained, perhaps also Timmy or Kirk.
They went up to the floor where their rooms were, and we followed them, along with some other people who were in the lobby with us. At first, everyone stayed out in the hallway. Michael spoke to me and said, “Thanks for the use of your hat.” I told him, “Anytime!”
There was a room for business meetings at the end of the hall. Timmy opened the door to that room, but he couldn’t find the light switch. Then I went in to look for the light switches. I found them and turned on the lights. Timmy, Kirk, my friends and I went into the room. Perhaps some other fans came in, but I don’t remember. Most of the fans stayed out in the hall with Michael.
In the room there was a cart on wheels. Something similar to a hotel luggage cart-it was for transporting something. I got on it and started pushing it around with one leg-like a scooter. I stopped after I ran into something with it. Kirk called me a vandal when that happened.
There was also an easel with white paper and markers and a watercooler in this meeting room. It seemed like a good idea to play a game of hangman, so I drew the gallows. I had been a bit obsessed with the phrase, “the best thing since sliced bread.” To me, it was a weird saying. So, I chose “sliced bread” as the puzzle. Timmy was the one who guessed the answer and won the game. I think we played another game of hangman but it got boring, so we all went to Timmy and Kirk’s room. Back then they were two to a hotel room to save money. The door stayed open, and it became another area for the party.
Michael was just outside, still in the hallway, with a bunch of fans. He was playing the Talking Heads on a red Japanese boom box. Timmy told us how exciting it was for him and the rest of INXS to meet the Talking Heads. He was acting like he was a huge fan when he told us about it-just the same as how their own fans were when they met INXS.
Someone turned on the TV and we looked for something to watch. There was a show where a woman was giving birth. Another channel was showing an Aussie-rules football game (I think that is what ended up staying on). Terri wanted to watch the channel that was showing the colored stripes signal instead, basically expressing her displeasure at what was chosen. I was tired so I stretched out on one of the beds (I sat up against the headboard and my legs were on the bed and stretched in front of me) and watched TV. It was the bed farthest from the door and closest to the TV. I think Kirk and Timmy were sitting on the other bed or maybe just standing around with three or four other young women. I think Terri and Jess were sitting near the desks on the chairs.
It wasn’t much of a party. No drugs and no alcohol that I can recall, which was fine by us because we didn’t use drugs or even drink really. I think Andrew, Jon, and Garry went to bed. I don’t recall them being around. I was just waiting for Terri and Jess to be ready to go home. I wasn’t even talking to anyone.
Timmy must have been bored also because he decided to put on a mix tape that someone had given to him in Los Angeles. He said that it was a great tape. I sat there listening, but I was getting more bored by the minute because I didn’t recognize any of the songs and none of what I heard interested me. Then the fateful moment happened. A song came on that I knew and liked. Finally, something interesting was happening! I got excited, pointed at the boombox and said, “Hey, Shriekback!!” The song was “All Lined Up.”
Kirk heard me say that and I guess it was the opening he was waiting for. He walked over and said, “Move over, darling!” so I moved over, and he stretched out next to me on the bed. His first question was about what other music I liked. I mentioned several bands, but I only know for sure that I mentioned XTC. I don’t think I asked him about his musical tastes. After a day filled with events and conversations, it is impossible to remember everything even as soon as the next day.
I was having fun talking to Kirk. I told him about toxic waste in my home state of New Jersey. It’s kind of what the state is known for. New Jersey has the most Superfund sites of any state-those sites are the most polluted with hazardous, toxic waste. In the 1980s, the air smelled bad as you drove on the NJ Turnpike past refineries, etc.
The Emerson Hotel and my job there as a waitress was another thing we talked about. Kirk said, “I bet you’re good at it.” I said, “No, I bump into the chairs.” It was my first summer at that job and I was still learning. It was a popular restaurant, so I made good money which I needed to pay for college. My mother worked there as a second job, and she got me in. I told him that I had $600 in one-dollar bills stored in a suitcase in my closet. I didn’t tell him that I was keeping it hidden from one of my brothers who used to steal from me to buy pot (marijuana). I was not a fan of people who smoked pot because of that. It wasn’t until many years later that I found out that many of the members of INXS liked to smoke pot, including Kirk.
Sometime during our conversation, I asked for Kirk’s autograph. I don’t know why. He seemed disappointed that I did that. He signed a piece of paper from a note pad that came from the Emerson Hotel anyway.
From time to time, Kirk got up to check on the shirt he had soaking in the bathroom sink. It was a red button-down shirt with little horses on it. Another thing I wrote in my diary was that he said he wanted to name his future children Billy and Milly Pengilly. I’m glad he didn’t go through with that.
After a while, I got up and left the room to get a paper cup from the meeting room. I was thirsty. Terri and I also wanted to see what was happening out in the hall. Kirk followed me out.
Terri and I stopped to talk to Michael. I didn’t like Michael. He walked funny-like prancing on tip toe. To me, he seemed arrogant and obnoxious. Michael seemed to like to tell people how to dress and I think he said something about what Terri was wearing when we were in the hall talking to him. I can’t remember what exactly-only that he said something insensitive about the dark color of her skin and Terri was hurt by it. Something along the lines of whatever color Terri was wearing did not go well with her dark skin or maybe he said a different color would go better. I think he was clueless and didn’t notice that he hurt her feelings, but I noticed, and it made very angry. It was another mark against him in my book.
When we went back into the hotel room, we all sat around and talked to Timmy. We didn’t even know it was his birthday that day. I don’t think he mentioned it either. Someone at this party offered Timmy a piece of gum but he didn’t take it. He said he was allergic to artificial sweeteners.
Timmy told us a story about a guy named Simon. My diary says Timmy said he knew him growing up but now I wonder because I read an anecdote in the Story to Story book from when INXS played mining towns and it was similar. Timmy said that one of the things Simon used to do was put spiders in his mouth and then freak people out by having them crawl out of his mouth. I said, “I wonder what he does for kicks now”?
Timmy also told us that he, Jon, and Andrew had found out that their grandfather had died. They had had a concert a couple of days before and they were told about their grandfather’s death after they finished the show. I felt sorry for them because they were so far away from home and there was nothing they could do about it. Terri and Jess didn’t know what to say after hearing about Timmy’s grandfather. I said, “That’s a bummer.” Timmy said, “Yeah, it is.” I still say that when people tell me bad news sometimes.
Other random things- For some reason, during some conversation, I said, “It beats the heck out of me!” and Kirk laughed at that. I guess it’s not something they said back in Australia. Also, Kirk and I drew on the paintings on the walls in his hotel room. This was something that surprised me when I read my diary after so many years. I don’t remember doing it, but it sounds like something I would do back then. I wonder what we added to those paintings. Was it mustaches on people or flowers or what? Did Ramada Inn ever notice?
Before we left, I took a blank piece of paper from the notepad in the room. Terri took some of the hotel writing paper home with her. When we said that we were leaving, Kirk walked us out of the hotel. We stopped just outside, and Kirk said goodbye to Terri and Jess. They headed to the car. Then Kirk said, “And you!” and he sort of grabbed me. He put a hand on each of my arms near my shoulders, pulled me to him, and kissed me. I think I would have been justified if I slapped his face for doing that but instead, I kissed him back because I liked him a lot. We made out in the parking lot there for a minute or two before I said goodbye and walked to the car. Kirk walked back inside the hotel. I should have left it at that but I didn’t.