things developing naturally

I was watching some performances of INXS from around 2010, where Jon Stevens and J D Fortune were playing the part of the lead singer. They're both great singers. I actually really like Jon Stevens. 

Even though their performances were good, they made me appreciate a certain aspect of Michael Hutchence as a performer, when I watched videos of him performing with INXS afterwards. What I really noticed was the ease and naturalness with which he performs. He doesn't seem to be working hard. He's in his element. It's not that he's lacking in energy or taking it easy. He's a powerful performer. 

It's probably an unfair comparison though. Michael Hutchence was in his element with INXS because it was his band. It makes sense that performing with them would be natural. Whereas, Jon Stevens and J D Fortune were kind of performing as themselves, backed by INXS. In the performance I watched with J D Fortune, which was at the winter olympics, most of the songs were reworked - the arrangement was different - which I think makes sense because it's saying, this is something new - we're not trying to be Michael Hutchence's INXS without Michael Hutchence. 

I just learnt that there was another lead singer for a couple of years (2011 - 2012) - Ciaran Gribben. I watched some of his performances with INXS. To me, he seems to have done a better job at really being part of the band - actually being the lead singer rather than being a kind of substitute. But he doesn't seem to have done that much with INXS...not that Jon Stevens and J D Fortune did that much either. (I found out later that he actually did a world tour with them though). 

I watched an interview of Ciaran Gribben and the interviewer asked him how he ended up fronting INXS for a time. He explained that he just happened to be in Sydney, working as a support act for another artist, but he was good friends with Andrew Farris and they used to hang out regularly. Being musicians, they started jamming together, Ciaran sang an INXS song, and that gave Andrew Farris the idea. It's interesting....Ciaran Gribben is such a humble guy. He talks about how he was kind of in awe of INXS and when Andrew Farris first suggested that he might play a part one day, he was like, no way. But then a while later - after Ciaran had gone home to Ireland - Andrew rang him and invited him to come and sing with INXS. Then, after trying out a few songs, they offered him the gig. It's interesting - in the interview Ciaran comments on how casual the whole thing was. 

When INXS first decided to re-form, there was a big competition - I think there was even a TV show about it - with all of these singers competing to be the frontman of INXS - all working really hard and putting on their best performance. But it seems like the singers that emerged from that didn't really work out with the band. It didn't become a long term thing. Then, years later, through the friendship of Andrew Farris and Ciaran Gribben, and them jamming together and then eventually Ciaran meeting and working with the band, the role just developed naturally. And, like I said, even though there aren't that many videos on youtube of Ciaran Gribben singing with INXS, the performances seem so much more natural than the ones I watched with other lead singers.