Episode 7: Front Row, Backstage & Forever Fans: Craig & Lesley’s INXS Story

It’s something of a first for the Listen Like Fans podcast this episode, as we welcome our first husband-and-wife duo. We’re delighted to have INXS uber fans Craig & Lesley Hicks on the show today.

The very epitome of an INXS power couple, Craig & Lesley have travelled far and wide to see the band perform live. Beginning with Kick-era concerts in 1988, through tours in the ’90s, to seeing Jon Stevens in 2000, JD Fortune in 2006, and Ciaran in the final touring years.

Hear Craig & Lesley talk about their favourite ever INXS moment—being invited backstage to join Jon Stevens and the band at a private bar, chatting footy and fishing with Tim, and fielding questions from new frontman Jon himself, asking, “How am I doing?”

As INXS’s touring career drew to a close, we hear Craig & Lesley reflect on the “forgotten” lead singer of INXS—Ciaran Gibbin—and share their thoughts on his style as frontman, including the time Ciaran borrowed and wore Chris’s sunglasses during a gig.

Offering an insight into domestic life, the couple also discuss the challenges of finding space to display their INXS memorabilia—including Kirk’s framed jacket from Rock Star: INXS.

Lesley talks about being front and centre at concerts, keeping an eye on the always-charismatic Michael. This positioning proved fortuitous one night when he inadvertently dropped a bracelet his girlfriend, Helena, had given him. Hoping to keep it as a souvenir, Leslley instead ended up with Michael’s sweat-covered towel—much to the delight of the crowd!

Ever the dedicated INXS fan, Craig recalls queuing overnight to be first through the gates for the Concert for Life—but only if the birth of their child came before the gig. Thankfully, their new arrival came just in time, four days before the concert!

From humble beginnings hanging out at the roller-skating rink as kids, Craig & Lesley have known each other for nearly 40 years and have been married for 30. This match made in INXS heaven shows how a shared love of the band can bring people together—and continues to play a major role in their lives as part of the INXS fan community.

Thank you, Craig & Lesley, for sharing your stories!

Next week will be our Season ! finale. So listen to the end of the show to hear what we have planned.

Reviewed and written by Andrew Lambie

Podcast hosted and produced by Bee France.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Okay, Groovers.

SPEAKER_04 0:06

Welcome to Listen Like Fans for the Love of NXS. I'm B, and each week I'll be joined by a different co-host as we dive into the songs, the stories, and the moments that made us fall in love with this most iconic band on the planet. Let's go. Leslie and Craig Hicks are one of the most incredible couples who truly represent what this whole community is about. Husband and wife, lifelong in Excess fans, gig chasers, memory makers, and a couple who love this band just as much as each other. They don't just attend gigs, they bring the spirit with them. I've had the absolute pleasure of parting with these two a few times. And if you've ever shared a dance floor, a sing-along, or a late-night in-excess debate with them, you'll know exactly what I mean. They show up with heart, humour, stories, and photos and capture decades of devotion. They've been traveling to gigs across Australia for years. They lived the live era. They've got the ticket stubs, the snapshots, and the moments that only true long-term fans understand. But more than that, they're now part of our listen like fans, backstage legends. They support this show because they believe in keeping the music, the memories, and the fan stories alive. And that says everything about the kind of people they are. They're incredibly valuable to this community, not just because of what they've seen, but because of how they show up. So let's get into this. Leslie and Craig, welcome to Listen Like Fans.

SPEAKER_00 1:45

Thank you. What an intro.

SPEAKER_04 1:47

Yeah, thanks. Thanks, mate. That was uh great.

SPEAKER_00 1:49

I hope you live up to your hype now.

SPEAKER_04 1:53

Well, Craig and I, I think we've been talking on the socials for a while. I always see your name there. And when I did the first coach party, it was a touch and go if you could make it or not. I think you had a you had a holiday planned or something.

SPEAKER_00 2:11

Yeah, we had something planned that uh that weekend and we're like devastated. We couldn't make it.

SPEAKER_02 2:15

It was good that holiday plans got cancelled and we were able to uh party with you guys. And I could get to meet you both at last.

SPEAKER_04 2:22

Let's get into it. I mean, how many gigs have you two been to, do you reckon?

SPEAKER_02 2:26

Uh we've been to 11.

SPEAKER_04 2:28

Yeah, what was the earliest one then?

SPEAKER_00 2:30

It was uh kick. It was kicked back in '88 at Sydney Entertainment Center. Funny enough, we didn't attend together. We actually went separately at different times. So it was just different friends at the time. And um, I went with some friends and Leslie went with a different group of friends. You know, after that, we just yeah, just grew in, you know, to love an Inxcess.

SPEAKER_04 2:49

So were you together before your love of NXX started?

SPEAKER_00 2:54

Um mine was pretty much out of school once I left, you know, left school. I growing up in the 80s, rock and roll everywhere and um in excess at the time was one of the you know the biggest bands, and everyone at school loved them. And at the time I wasn't a big fan, but just after, you know, after no time at all, they just grew me.

SPEAKER_02 3:14

Again, there wasn't until around 87-88 with keep, you know, going to the roller skating rink, they would play them music, and you know, a fire would light in my belly and I'll pick up the speed and sing the song and belted it out. And you know, everyone in the roller skating rink was singing the music.

SPEAKER_04 3:30

Yeah. You two are based in Sydney, aren't you? Yeah. Yeah, so you would have been.

SPEAKER_00 3:35

Yeah, if you're you're all based in Sydney.

SPEAKER_04 3:36

Yeah, so you would have been lucky to have seen quite a few gigs down there, I should imagine. But have you ever travelled to a gig?

SPEAKER_00 3:42

Oh, have we? Uh yeah. Um well it was actually even the Red Hot Summit Tour with Kieran when he was fronting them, actually, um, down in Bonnie Doon.

unknown 3:51

Oh, cool.

SPEAKER_00 3:52

Traveled, yeah, traveled interstate. There was a bit of a story behind that. We had a couple of young kids at the time who were going to the show, so we dropped it off at Canberra, uh, that Leslie Sisters place. Um, so I was divert to ACT and then straight down to to Bonnie Dune. So that was um yeah, that was a great, great gig. Ginderbyton again. Um, that was John, John Stevens when he was he was frontnel.

SPEAKER_02 4:15

We always saw them locally. Yeah, anytime more locally than anything else.

SPEAKER_00 4:19

Like you said, we were quite gifted to have that opportunity to see him often in Sydney. Um didn't need to travel too far to really go because we've always now back out.

SPEAKER_04 4:28

Yeah, very lucky. So hence seeing them so many times. So um what's your best backstage moment?

SPEAKER_00 4:35

Well, uh, to be fair, it has to be when we got invited back to the after party um in Ginderbyne, even though John was fronting them, but that was around I think 2000. We spent three hours at a private bar after the gig with all the guys. I've never been able to top that with anything. Just standing around, just chatting to them like we were best mates, and you could talk about anything with with any of them. Like Tim and I got together and we're talking about footy, cricket, fishing, of course. John Stevens was so humble, he actually asked me, he said, as a fan, how do you think I'm going? Oh, mate, you know.

SPEAKER_01 5:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:09

And he was it was it was being true. Like he wasn't he wasn't just trying to stir me up. He he said, I want to know how you think um I'm going. I said, Oh mate, look, you're the next best thing. You're you're doing great. Love, love watching your you know, gig and hearing you sing. We had um best the best time. And it was funny how that came about because we went there with about four other friends. And after the show, we actually realized there was a security guard there that we had known, but we didn't know he was working. And we wanted a couple of photos signed. And we said, I only chance we could get Gary and Andrew to maybe sign these two photos we had. And the bloke walked off with the photos and he came back and he goes, No, sorry, I can't get it done. I said, That's fine, that's fine, you know. He said, But you guys, Ken. He said, Come this way. And he walked us into the bar, and that was it. We turned around, our four friends were looking at us, and we just we just waved and said, Sorry guys, we've got to go. They're taking preference over you guys, and it was the easiest decision we ever made. Just went straight into the the after party. And yeah, we'd like I said we'd sat there and drank and had a chat, and um it was just good to sit down and just you know talk to the guys. And the funny thing was the next day when we went to the snow, yeah, you yeah, what happened there? We win the at genderbein. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 6:21

And um, like they had they had in excess carved out in in snow, and they had like the colours of the in excess in the wording, and we went into we went to the bar too.

SPEAKER_00 6:30

We did a food court or something to get us lunch. Well, John Stevens was there, yeah, and Kirk was there, and John's come up and he goes, Oh, how are you guys going? He recognised us straight away from the night before. He said, How does it all pull up? And we said, Great. I said, Yeah, we're okay. I said, How are you guys going? He goes, Oh, yeah, good. And then you could just see Kirk and them walking across with their skis, go up, yeah, up the mountain. And um, it was it was just funny, but it felt really good that the next morning they actually recognised us and and tell that was like, oh my god, it was so good. So from the night to the day, it just was it was a the best backstage moment, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:03

Yeah, definitely.

SPEAKER_04 7:17

Would you ever into John Stevens when he was fronting Noise Works?

SPEAKER_00 7:21

Um yeah, I definitely. Yeah, again, back in the 80s there was all cassette players in our cars. I had you know, the Noise Works album, um, or the cassette. I had, you know, obviously plenty of in excess at the time. Um, but Noise Works always got to run, always got to run. Um, I like John, John always, yeah. Then when when they made a decision to put him at the front, it was like, oh great, you know, two bands together, kind of thing.

SPEAKER_04 7:44

Yeah, and he's such a great frontman as well, isn't he? Such a powerful voice. In fact, I don't know if you're going to see him, but he's um he's actually touring at the moment, or he's about to tour again with um Noise Works and in Excess songs. So you weren't.

SPEAKER_00 7:59

We've seen him actually at a when he first started out, we saw him at just one of the local pubs. And it was only probably about a hundred people in the room, and he done the whole Noise Works in Excess show. And it was, I think it was maybe not even 20 bucks to get in. It was it was cheese crazy straight into the yeah, into the bar, and it was um it was an amazing show. Good show, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:16

Whether he's singing his songs or in excess, he does do a really good job, and he's got that little bit of sexiness like Michael too. So, you know.

SPEAKER_00 8:24

We actually saw him down in um uh where was it down in Robinson or kind of the Southern uh Southern Highlands when he was with Cindy Lauper. Um they done Yes Done done a show of Cindy Lauper, Roger Stewart.

SPEAKER_04 8:37

Yeah, that was a couple of years ago, wasn't it?

SPEAKER_00 8:40

Yeah, it was, yeah, yeah. That was that was good too.

SPEAKER_04 8:43

And what were your thoughts about seeing Kieran?

SPEAKER_00 8:45

We only saw him once. Um he was good. I can't say he was probably our favourite person ever frontman. Um but we didn't get enough. I suppose we didn't get enough time to see me. You know, they played a small set at the back of James Rain and Vanessa Embarosi.

SPEAKER_03 8:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:00

Um, he was good, he can sing. Didn't feel that he had the same kind of power or something like that. Yeah, but like even John Stevens would get out there and really belt out and really, you know, well, not scream, but just build out the songs. Kieran kind of just I come across it, he just he just sung it.

SPEAKER_04 9:15

Yeah, yeah, at the time. Maybe it's a little bit different now. Because I know he's he's doing a set a set at the moment as well, isn't he?

SPEAKER_00 9:22

We saw him at the Hawkesby Valley Bad uh race date, rock the races, and he he sung in excess set as well.

SPEAKER_04 9:29

So Kieran did a song with In Excess, which was called Tiny Summer. Did you get to hear that played live?

SPEAKER_00 9:35

Yeah, we did when we went down to Body Doon. Um he sung it, he sung it down there. It was it was a good song. Um I think we you kind of got hooked a little bit after that.

SPEAKER_04 9:45

He's got a voice very similar to Bono's, hasn't he? I think a lot of fans thought Bono had stepped in at one point.

SPEAKER_00 9:51

He is Irish background as well.

SPEAKER_04 9:53

Yeah, true. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:54

Yeah, yeah, he does. Yeah, he has got that Irish twang when he talks. So I remember, yeah, because he was done a lot of talking in the show as well. Just he was a bit humble as well. He you know, said everybody, you know, it's a privilege for him to front the greatest band.

SPEAKER_04 10:06

Okay, out of the two of you, because it's always a bit of a competition, isn't it? Who converted who harder for in XS?

SPEAKER_00 10:14

We were both fans before we met. So we went in as equals, and it was one of the things I think that also drew us together, and we had that in common. So I suppose neither, if we had to, you know, to be diplomatic.

SPEAKER_02 10:26

And so we didn't need to be converted. We both, you know, we we loved in excess and we had the same passion for in excess and we loved the same songs, and yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:34

Oh, yeah. We're drawing together.

SPEAKER_04 10:38

Cute, cute. So was your wedding song Never Tear Us Apart?

SPEAKER_00 10:44

It wasn't actually, no. We um we had plenty of NXS, but um it was I Swear by uh Awful One.

SPEAKER_04 10:52

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_00 10:53

Yeah, it was just totally kind of left field. We didn't go for anything too traditional. It was just at the time, I think that song was pretty pretty important to us for various reasons. And um, when we're planning a wedding, that was yeah, the main one that we said we'll we'll have that. Yeah, everyone expected us to play in excess. Yeah, and I think a lot of our friends over the years have gone like, oh, more in excess. We're going, yes, we know, you know. Whether we've turned our friends away or you know, turning them off, I don't know, because we've we've flooded them within excess all the time.

SPEAKER_04 11:22

So how long have you been together then?

SPEAKER_00 11:25

Um well, that'd be me, I suppose I can answer that. We better get this right. Do you have been together 39 years? Oh, sorry, known each other, known each other 39 years, been together 37 and married just over 30. So we had our 30th anniversary last November.

SPEAKER_04 11:39

Well, congratulations on getting that far. I'm not far behind you with my host Ben. You definitely don't look old enough. You must have been like 10 when you met or something.

SPEAKER_00 11:50

That's well, funny, funny enough, yeah. Well, you can tell it, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 11:54

So everyone says, but when did you know Craig? I said, I've known Craig since I was 12. There was a big group of us at roller skating, and you know, sort of he hung around with the different people within the group because we're so large. But you know, within that group, everyone loved in excess, you know, and and like Craig said, you know, that sort of drew us closer just together within the group because we, you know, we had the same passion, and so whenever an in excess was on anywhere, or you know, there was a concert or something, you know, we were always going.

SPEAKER_00 12:24

Even if we just had to go on our own, didn't matter. We didn't have to go for groups, we'd always go on our own if we didn't matter. We just uh we just go.

SPEAKER_04 12:30

So, Leslie, what was the first album you bought of In Excesses?

SPEAKER_02 12:33

It would be Kick. And um, my brother bought me this the picture disc, which we have since had framed and up on the wall. But um, yeah, and that was my my very first pride and joy. Well, we've only just recently repainted, so it's only just gone back up on the wall. So trying to get everything, you know, with all the other things that we've bought of in excess.

SPEAKER_04 12:54

So yeah, but so does this mean you've got a dedicated room to in excess, or do you just pop it out?

SPEAKER_00 13:00

Yeah, I realised yesterday I've got more things to put on the wall, but I have a wall, so I've got to try and work out some more space.

SPEAKER_02 13:08

Yeah. Because originally it was out throughout the house, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00 13:12

So we had that corporate out here, but painted and I put up Kirk's jacket from um from Rockstar in Excess that we've got, and that's like about a meter meter by 90 centimetres. It's massive, it takes up nearly the whole wall on its own. So um, I'm just trying to build build around that with different things, and um, yeah, I've ran out of war.

SPEAKER_04 13:32

So is your favourite album upon the wall as well, Craig?

SPEAKER_00 13:36

Um, no, my to my favorite. Well, my favourite album is Kick, but my first album was Listen Like Thieves. And I think I I don't know the details on coming to buy it and when I brought it, but it would have been during my school years. And I think at the time it was just when I was starting to get into them, like I said before, with the school, everyone loved NXS, everyone had like an NXS singlet or a bag with NXS written all over it. And I somehow came out to to get Listen Like Thieves, and I remember I'd liked the album, and then as soon as Kik came out, it was like, Yep, there's the next one, and it's you know, go from there, and then as the singles were getting released, I was like, Yep, another great song, another great song. Um, and then Kik just grew. I mean, then first time I saw him in concert was Kik. So seeing Michael play, yeah, like in in real life, you know, live version of him, but instead of just being on someone on TV, that was like, yep, that's it's the album, master band for life, you know.

SPEAKER_04 14:28

And where do you position yourselves? I know when I've been with you, you're at the front, but is that at all you've always been at the front of the uh of the of the gigs?

SPEAKER_00 14:37

No, I look whenever we can. We we didn't manage to get we didn't get front row seats for the X tour. We was we sat up in the grandstand somewhere. But whenever we go to, yeah, whenever we went to gigs, it was always I would usually go down and go towards Tim's side. For some reason I just felt drawn to Tim and Gary. They used to always play on the same side, and then Leslie didn't really care where we were.

SPEAKER_02 14:59

Well, it was more front center. Yeah, um, as long as I had Michael in my view and behind him, right? If he'd walked to the left or right, I had John. So I was that that was my spot, you know. Or I'd like to go, you know, to the left. So I suppose that's one thing that, you know, as long as we're at the front, honestly, it didn't matter. As long as we could be right up close, that that was the main thing. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:23

It was funny because when you when you got to be in that position seeing the guys play, they all would look at you and make eye contact like they knew you. And we'd only be like I said, we only been to 11 gigs, and that wasn't, you know, all with Michael. But when you're down there and you look up at Tim and he sees you, he either gives you a guitar pick or something, or or drum. Well, we got to a few drumsticks off drum.

SPEAKER_02 15:44

I was so excited I got you know a few drumsticks off John.

SPEAKER_00 15:48

So I remember one saw him at Gary ran down from the back and gave me a high five. You know, I'm setting every hands up in the air, and he's he's he's he saw me, made a beeline straight for me in high five, and he went back to his spot and continued playing. It was just like, wow, he's noticed me, you know.

SPEAKER_04 16:04

You're almost indoctorated into their family by the sounds of it from quite a spot there.

SPEAKER_00 16:09

That's how they made you feel, you know, they were so just generous with time and and kind guys who, you know, we'd never I've never hadn't never had a a knockback for an autograph or um a photo or anything, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:23

They're all very humble, you know. They're all very talented and gifted, but they're also very generous with time and everything, you know, and and they weren't just playing music to the crowd. It was like, you know, it was like we were all family, you know? Yeah, it's something pretty special.

SPEAKER_04 16:50

So Michael, let's talk about Michael, Leslie. I think you might want to talk about Michael. So um what what hooked you in there? Michael's presence or the songwriting?

SPEAKER_02 17:00

His presence and his groove. I like I I've like I said before, I always like to, you know, be front centre and and watching, you know, Michael. And then, you know, if Michael drifted to left and he was out of sight, I I'd see John. But I always love listening back to the songs and listening to the documentary of how they came together with the songs and and and what part of their their lives they were at, you know, in creating those songs. I found that very fascinating. Like I said just before, you know, like they're very humble. So you know that when they talk, they're talking from the heart and how passionate they are about their songs. Yeah, definitely couldn't get enough of Michael. So I think all the whole package at the end of the day, the whole package.

SPEAKER_04 17:42

Did did you ever meet Michael?

SPEAKER_00 17:44

Well, impromptu.

SPEAKER_02 17:46

Yeah, yeah. At Bookig in our local um uh club, he was jumping around the stage as he does and you know, brushing back his hair, sort of thing, and his bracelet had fallen off, and he didn't realize and front row as I was in centre, I was able to reach and grab it. And so I was waving at Michael and he was singing, and then when we make eye contact, and I was like, And he said, Oh, oh, he said, I would. He said, But Helena gave it to me and she would kill me. He said, I'm sorry. I said, No, that's fine, that's fine, you know. Um, so he was you know grateful that I gave it, but as much as I didn't want to, he went and got a his towel, wiped all his sweat over his towel, and then handed me the towel and the whole crowd went off.

SPEAKER_00 18:32

Yeah, but you gotta tell the story of how he how he um crowdsurfed across the oh absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 18:38

So even um, you know, with his crowd surfing, you know, laying on his back and his arms out, and everyone's like during the crowd surfing, and Leslie's just having a good old touch of Michael and getting the most of him crowd surfing.

SPEAKER_00 18:51

You don't usually let Leslie fond of other guys, but you know.

SPEAKER_02 18:55

And I got a cheeky smile from him, so he uh definitely knew it was me. So yeah.

SPEAKER_04 19:01

Oh gosh, he's so much fun, so much fun.

SPEAKER_00 19:05

So we probably closer, probably got closer than many people have who even met him in a funny kind of way.

SPEAKER_03 19:12

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 19:13

Wow, wow, that's right, okay. I've got a bit of a sweat on after that. Okay, so and and the same question really to you, Craig. I mean, what hooked you into in excess? The songwriting or like Mus Michael's presence or or the the groove of the music?

SPEAKER_00 19:31

For me, it's hard to yeah, for me it's hard to put down to one thing, I suppose. Um from an early age, you know, we could we could both tell, or you know, we could just tell that they were was something special. The the guys were ahead of their time. You could tell the music was going to be always timeless. You know, the just from the the catchy tunes and the riffs, it was just something you didn't hear every other day during the eighties, um, and then you know, on to onto the 90s as well. You know, out of those great words that Michael would always would would sing, um, the charisma, um, that was just next level. Yeah, there was just something about him and the band that made you want to see more.

SPEAKER_04 20:15

So did you even have you queue overnight or anything to see these guys?

SPEAKER_02 20:20

Absolutely. Every chance we could, we would queue as early as possible, whether it was taking a day off work or just you know, getting to the venue so we could get first in and get that front row spots like we were talking about earlier. I'd always queue for the tickets, knowing it was going to be a sellout. Yeah, the craziest one was um well Well, that was me, I suppose.

SPEAKER_00 20:40

That was so the craziest one for me was when I uh went to the concert for life. Um that was definitely an overnight stay. There was me and about five, six other mates. We all drove into the cross um in Sydney, King's Cross. From there we managed to get over to Centennial Park and we we lined up at the front and then we took turns at night to just kind of tag in and out, go into the local pub. And then by the time we the morning kicked around, we were still front, and we ran, you know, we ran straight to that front row of um Centennial Park and the concert for life. That was that was yeah, that was a crazy time as well. Because the backstory to that was, and I know some of the guys that listen to this will probably have heard me say it before, but I was only allowed to go to the concert for life to see an excess play is if my firstborn was born. So at the time Leslie was pregnant with our first, and um I'd already brought tickets, and she said, you can go as long as as long as you know our our first child's born. So I think about four days earlier he was born, and then he was born on the 18th of March. So the concert for life was a 20 something, and yeah, I was off on my own with the mates and um a new dad at the same time. So I kind of had you know all the all the prizes in one go.

SPEAKER_04 21:51

Oh, very special.

SPEAKER_02 21:52

But all and for me too, you know, that the the last one that I DQ up for, I tried. The day off work because I didn't know how long. I was there so early and I didn't know how long it was going to take to get, you know, to get the doors open to get the tickets to get home. So I thought I'm taking the day off. So I was first in line at the door at the State Theatre, which I thought you was a concert that they never got to play. So absolutely obviously devastated. But um I remember the excitement being at the front door and people like, oh my god, what time did you get here? I'm like, you don't want to know. You don't want to know. Like, you will not believe me. So, because you know, the people get in there like really early thinking that they were gonna be the person. Yeah, so but yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:35

Yeah, we still got that um ticket stab.

SPEAKER_02 22:37

Yep. Yep, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 22:40

Wow, such dedication. I'm I'm very, I'm very jealous actually that you got to see them so many times.

SPEAKER_00 22:46

Well, it was good because we well, I suppose overall we've seen, you know, we've seen it with JD a couple of times, John Stevens, Kieran, obviously Michael. Every time every time's been great because you know, it's not just one person in a band, it's there's the other five guys as well. And every time we've been in, again, like we said, they've always been humble. Yeah. Um, and they've always played no matter who was, you know, played well no matter who was fronting them.

SPEAKER_04 23:07

So which was your favourite venue?

SPEAKER_00 23:09

I I we had a chat about this, and it I suppose again, different times meant different parts, like different different places, different times in your life. But I did feel that the Horden Pavilion was was probably one of the better ones for us because again, we're front and centre. That was when Michael had his um had his leg in a cast. I think he he'd broken his leg or his ankle, and we were right down the front near him. But the Horden pavilion was very small, it was a bit of a small room, and it was very intimate. So it wasn't like you were in a great big stadium. You were down the front, you know, rocking to the rocking to the tunes. Um, and Michael sat there most of the night on a stool and he didn't yeah, he didn't move around too much because of his leg, you know, which was which is good for us because we actually ended up on his or on Kirk's side, I suppose. And Michael spent most of the night on the on the left-hand side.

SPEAKER_02 23:56

It's a lot of eye contact.

SPEAKER_04 24:00

I can imagine that. Michael sitting still as well. Wow, that would be awesome to I know, right? Yeah, just gaze at him. Okay, so yeah, um, what's been the funniest moment at gig with the boys?

SPEAKER_00 24:13

It comes back to the one where Michael was crouched if that, I suppose. Um yeah, that was that was got that was kind of it was intimate, it was funny. Um it was the same one where Gary ran down and actually high-five me. He was wearing his New South Wales jersey that night. Um must have been around origin time. So um I just pointed to him and he ran down and high-five. Yeah, Tim handed over guitar picks, was always like cherished moments um and and fun times. And I suppose when when John walks down, when he when they finished a game, John would always walk down with his sticks in his hand and kind of sway and move to the crowd and and just kind of pin pick people out. And I was quite a lot of psychs.

SPEAKER_02 24:53

Yeah, like I said, if Michael wasn't in my view, John was in my view and and he would we would make eye contact like Michael. So yeah, absolutely. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:02

Another one I suppose, if you're talking in excess, was when we did go and see Kier, uh like Bonnie Dune, and Kieran was front, and we had a had a pair of glasses on.

SPEAKER_02 25:11

Oh yes.

SPEAKER_00 25:12

And Kieran actually um bent down and took them off my head and wore them for the neck rest of the rest of the set. And I've got a photo of him taking them off me, and there's a photo of him wearing them um during the show. Yeah, they were gold, but they'll gold oakley's, but they'll they'll really like good looking glasses. I thought, oh, am I gonna get them back? If I don't, I don't, that's okay. And again, and yeah, he he found us and he gave them yeah, he gave them back to me. So that was yeah, a lot of those little intimate parts. I suppose not too many funny moments because they all felt pretty personal and yeah, very emotional. And yeah, and I suppose every every moment like that's just a gift. Very and um you take them when you can because you never know, you know, as it turned, you never know if it's gonna be the last one or not, you know.

SPEAKER_02 25:52

Yeah, love that said I was pretty excited to get as tickets, so yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 25:56

So you must have thousands of photos or hundreds of photos that you've had over the years. What would be your favorite photo? Could you describe it to me?

SPEAKER_00 26:04

It's gotta be the photos from Ginderbine.

SPEAKER_04 26:06

I'd say yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:07

We I've got six photos of the main ones up on my wall, um, and it's with each member, each band member, or both of us together. Yeah. With each band member. So there was John, there was Andy. Yeah, I got all of us standing there, and always to stand up and have a bit of a chat. And again, like we said, I didn't mind getting the photos, I didn't didn't care. We end up getting our photos signed, which we asked them to, you know, for the original reason we went to the backstage party. Um we had Gary and Andrew signed those, so they're up in our wall as well.

SPEAKER_02 26:34

Ginderbine, yeah, I totally agree. And and unfortunately, you know, we've we've got photos of Michael, but not obviously with Michael. Every photo obviously of Michael is obviously is pretty special for the obvious reasons, but definitely agree with Craig that you know ginderbine was um pretty awesome. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 26:52

Earlier on, you mentioned Rockstar in Excess, and yet you've got uh Kirk's jacket. How did you get that? What's the story behind that?

SPEAKER_00 27:02

Yeah, you well, Leslie used to work for a charity, um, the Smith or the Smith family, everyone would know as um the charity that looks after, you know, people that are doing it a bit tough. I think just after that, Kirk was doing a bit of a campaign on supporting the charity. He was in at one of the stores and one of the people, one of the girls there around you.

SPEAKER_02 27:20

Yeah, so so that's pretty much it. He he was um doing um, you know, promoting the Smith family, the charity, and and uh he said, Look, I I've got, you know, um he said to the the retail manager um who looked after all the Smith family stores, so you know, local and interstate and country. And he said, Look, I've got a jacket that I wore on Rockstar in Excess. He said, you know, whether you put in a beef fruit or you sell it in a shop, whatever the case may be. And she knew I was a big in excess man for the obvious reasons, you know, you go into the office and find number plate is for INX 500 and black and white number plates. The five look like an S, so it looked like in XS double zero. And they knew that Hubbie had in excess number plates. So she said, You're not gonna believe it. We've we've got this jacket from Kirk. I'm like, I've got to have it. I've got to have it. I don't care how much it is, I've got to have it. I'm gonna give that to Craig for his Christmas present, and I'm gonna get it framed. And we've got, you know, obviously signatures of Kirk that came with it and authenticity and a certificate and everything. So Craig was absolutely gold smacked when I had that framed and and gave it to him for Christmas. So yeah, it was massive. Like it's just oh that's it's lay, it's a lay flat kind of, you know. So it's um it's quite, yeah, it it's yeah, it's pretty special. So did you watch the show? Did you watch Rockstar? Or did we? Yes, we did. We watched it every week.

SPEAKER_00 28:46

We watched it from start to finish, and I think we're halfway through the first episode, and we looked at each other and we just said, I think that bloke's gonna win. Yeah. And his name was JD Fortune.

SPEAKER_02 28:56

Yeah, yeah, we picked him from the start. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 28:59

I don't know what it was. I don't think he was trying to be anything like Michael, but he just had that that vibe where you know he was a bit out there. He was, you know, very I don't know, he was a bit of a bit of a naughty boy, yeah, a bit of a bad boy.

SPEAKER_02 29:12

For his his cheekiness, you know, and but he also could sing, and you could see the smile too on the boys, the rest of the band members, you know, when he was out there performing, you could see in their faces. I mean, there was uh the other contestants were grass.

SPEAKER_00 29:26

I was gonna say, yeah, the others were good too. They were picked a few out of there, and yeah, he would have been yeah, not gone wrong.

SPEAKER_02 29:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:33

Um, but yeah, I think that for us JD was the one.

SPEAKER_04 29:36

Yeah. And have you seen J D in concert? Did you see J D in concert with In Access?

SPEAKER_00 29:43

Yes, we saw him once or twice. So we saw Luna Park when they when they played. Yeah. And another early morning moment. We went down to Martin Place for the sunrise gig. Um Front and Santa. Front and Santa. I've got photos, photos of him there with his megaphone singing and um uh muffin got a photo with Tim in the background. Yeah, um, but that was like about 7 a.m. in the morning, and they still they still sounded pretty bloody good.

SPEAKER_04 30:10

Really? Yeah, yeah. Did you see JD when he was here a couple of last year, wasn't it? Yeah, did you see him?

SPEAKER_00 30:17

No, we didn't. We had something on the show that he was doing, and he can't they cancelled the Castle Hill show, I think, and we missed out on that. Um, but we've already got tickets to October show this year.

SPEAKER_04 30:28

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 30:28

So we're gonna see him.

SPEAKER_04 30:29

Yes, yes, it'll be here. I don't know if I'll be here if in XS get inducted. I might be. Oh, okay. So it's like what you might be busy. I might be a bit busy. Hopefully he'll wait long enough for me to see him. That'll be awesome. No, he did he's done a great job. I mean, I didn't get to see those years with him. I was too busy making babies and having babies. So has in excess ever caused an argument? I mean, it probably nearly did when you were about to have a baby there, Leslie. I'm sure you were pretty jealous about not going to that gig.

SPEAKER_02 31:01

I was absolutely jealous, but you know what? Um, I went through a long labour and so I was happy for just to rest. So look, many times I would say, uh, what side of the stage? Again, you know, Cray would sort of like, I would want front and center, he'd or or to the left.

SPEAKER_00 31:18

I'd be right, yeah. Where's Tim? Because Tim Tim would always hand out the picks and the and and things. So I suppose I'd be always wanted to go there, and you were always on the oboe.

SPEAKER_02 31:26

But that would be really about you, honestly. At the end of the day, it didn't matter as long as we went front row, you know, we we we would tend to drift, you know, even sometimes. Definitely um not not too many arguments, which is no, no.

SPEAKER_04 31:39

So you must play many songs while you're driving on long journeys or listening to podcasts, I'm sure. So who sings the loudest at the pair of you?

SPEAKER_00 31:48

I'd say I'd say me, usually. I'm the one doing most of the driving. When we head up north, you know, we head up to our in-laws in Queensland and load up the car with, you know, all the in excess mega tracks and with, you know, extra long versions. And I'll be sitting there and I'll singing and Leslie be asleep and I'll be singing, and she'll go, Shut up, turn it down, turn it down. I'm like, no, no, I've got to keep yourself awake. I'm driving, you know.

SPEAKER_02 32:10

Or even not sleeping with the singing duo, you know, even with the kids in the back, even the the kids in the back, they knew in excess and they would be singing the song. So I I do like a little bit of a nap, but then once I've had my nap, we're good to go. And it's the whole car singing the whole way through, you know. Like, funny enough, even Craig's mum knows some of the words. Um, yeah. So we had her for one trip, you know. The boys would say, Oh, I suppose we're gonna hear some in excess soon. And Craig's like, Yep, you know it, you know it.

SPEAKER_04 32:43

And now it's time for the quick fire question. Okay, quick fire rand, favorite album, Leslie. Uh me?

SPEAKER_00 32:59

Oh, a favorite album for me too. Sorry, yeah, kick for me.

SPEAKER_03 33:01

Kick's got it. Okay, Leslie, underrated track. I'm just a man. Yeah, I'm just a man. Yeah, cool track, very cool track.

SPEAKER_00 33:09

For me, it's probably don't lose your head. Or I think because it was in the movie face off as well, and um it got a lot of play in that, but didn't do much else after that, you know. I don't mind it.

SPEAKER_04 33:20

And both of those songs are off the elegantly wasted album. What did you think of that album?

SPEAKER_00 33:25

It was different.

SPEAKER_02 33:26

It was different. It took us a little bit to, I think, get into it more so than the others, but obviously in excess, we learned to grow and love it. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00 33:36

Whenever they released an album, like I remember when uh X came out and they released Suicide Blind. I'd know where I was at night. I was, you know, driving down one of the streets nearby where we live. And Triple M, I think it was, was doing a big uh release of it. You know, in Excess is new songs coming out, and they started playing it was like Suicide Blind. I went, uh, it's not bad. After I played it about 15 times, I loved it. Done that with all their albums, and we just play every single song. And and you know, I I can't name it now, but there's lots of songs on their albums that no one ever really knows or hears of on the radio. And they're actually when you listen to the words, they're actually probably better songs than some of the ones that go, yeah, but make it make it in the top 10, for instance. We've had out with a lot of songs, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 34:17

Yeah, I remember when I first started this, and I didn't really know um much like about Shibusha Bar and the first underneath the colours and stuff. I remember um a girl called Carmen, who was one of our first patrons actually. Hello to Carmen, and she just loved Soul Mistake. And uh when I first heard it, I was like, I don't get what you like here, but now it's such a great song. It's it's and it means it's a beautiful song. Okay, so you said you said that you played some of these songs like 15 times to get into them. But what what song have you played the most, Craig?

SPEAKER_00 34:54

For me, it's gonna be Don't Change. You know, I mean, for anyone, you know, obviously that knows in Excess, they also always finish off with that song, and it's it's what you'd take out of the out of the room, out of the entertainment center or out of wherever we went to go and see them, and they play that song last, and you'd walk out to singing it, and it just starts off great and it it finishes great, it's easy song to learn, and it's always yeah, it's catchy and you know, I love it.

SPEAKER_02 35:17

I mean, for me, um, it's um beautiful girl or to look at you, you know. Like I I love all the songs, and I suppose, you know, um what you need as well, you know. Um, yeah, there's just so many.

SPEAKER_04 35:32

So live-wise, going to your gigs, would it have been the Michael era or later on? Because it seems like you went to about the same amount for each release. Is it hard to say, or you just loved it all?

SPEAKER_00 35:48

Uh pretty easy, I think. I think it's it's it's always Michael.

SPEAKER_02 35:51

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 35:53

I mean, like, yeah, and a good credit to all the other guys, obviously, yeah, with John and JD and and Kieran. Great singers as they are, but you can't you can't be the original.

SPEAKER_04 36:03

Yeah, definitely. Totally agree. And it's more the the stage presence and his voice just as much as his looks at from Michael.

SPEAKER_02 36:12

Absolutely. And just even when he interacted with the other guys on on stage, you know, you can see the love, the brotherly love that they had, and it feels pretty special. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 36:22

Very special.

SPEAKER_04 36:23

Okay, your your favorite riff.

SPEAKER_00 36:25

Need you tonight. I think mainly because of the way it was made. You know, Andrew's sitting there waiting for a taxi, and he's just started, you know, pumping out a riff, and then bang, he's got this great hit, you know, which went on to you know, hit went on to um make one of the greatest albums they yeah, they ever made.

SPEAKER_04 36:42

Absolutely agree. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I I'd have to agree on that one as well. And and and the riff one, yeah, where I played at Wembley as well. I mean, that's just so iconic, isn't it? Play the riff kit to me. Yeah. Okay, one word to describe in excess. One word.

SPEAKER_02 37:03

One word?

SPEAKER_04 37:05

Yeah, that's good. Yeah, and yeah, and timeless now, really. Now now we've got like to this age, it's still you know, relevant because the lyrics are relevant and yeah. One word one word to describe each other as fans.

SPEAKER_02 37:25

Passionate or yeah, yeah, see, I would say the same.

SPEAKER_00 37:30

Passionate, you know. And fanatic, probably Lee so much. And um, you know, tattoos, number plates, you know, all that kind of stuff. Where we yeah, a bit over the top sometimes, but um, you know, no more than any of us fans.

SPEAKER_02 37:44

You know, we ask people, oh, we're gonna go see a cover band tonight, they go, Yes, we know an XS. Yes, okay, we'll come. So we don't even have to say anything anymore, you know. People know. And look, we do to go to other see other cover bands and go to other concerts, but everyone knows, you know.

SPEAKER_00 38:01

Oh, as soon as we put out a post saying, you know, turn up on this night and someone a message back and say, which NXS band is it? And we'll go, doesn't matter, just turn up.

SPEAKER_04 38:12

I was with you at the Don't Change gig in January. Oh, yes. And the way that Blair, um the front man of Don't Change and Ultimate in XS came up to you guys and interacted with you as well. Did that make you feel like there was it was a bit Michael like again? Because like Absolutely, yeah, I could see that you you just beaming the pair of you. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 38:39

Like, like I said, we've we've seen many cover bands, um, but definitely, you know, don't change Blair's band is the best, the best we've seen. They they don't just do a a show, they do a performance. It that's got to be the closest thing to seeing you know in excess because they all play a part, but uh he plays the best part.

SPEAKER_02 38:58

Um but Black also, too, he interacts with again the band members, you know what I mean? You know, they've got their cheeky little things happening on stage, and you know, that's that's what Michael used to do. So um, yeah, Blair is yeah, he is great. I mean, band's great, so absolutely loved it.

SPEAKER_04 39:15

Yeah, they they nail it really, don't they? They they they're so good musicians-wise, and they're not a cliche.

SPEAKER_00 39:24

That's right, no, but no, but don't but don't try and be but just play, but just play well, and they're they're they're a tight band, so it's you know, it's it's always a pleasure to go and see them.

SPEAKER_04 39:33

Yeah. So if you could relive one gig, what would it be?

SPEAKER_00 39:38

It'd be the concert for life, which was due to the enormity because it was a massive, it was a massive show, and um it's the biggest crowd I've ever stood in front of because I was down the front. It was yeah, it was and it was just fun. It was, yeah, like like I think like Michael said once, um it was the biggest room he's ever played, you know, or you know. And the other one would probably be our our one nearby, have a local pub where yeah, you got the crowd, Michael got the crowd surf over the top of us. For both of us, that's probably one and two.

SPEAKER_02 40:07

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Or even for me to have been able to experience again what what Craig did while I was at home with Mitch, my my firstborn. So yeah, absolutely. Not Michael, Mitch. Yeah, try if you believe it. I did try for Michael, and uh you know, I let Craig pick and said, Look, it's an M and I like Mitch. And Michael, yes, but Mitch. Let's have a bit of a discussion about it.

SPEAKER_00 40:35

Well, his initials are um MH.

SPEAKER_02 40:38

Yeah, oh yeah, cool.

SPEAKER_04 40:40

Yeah, okay. So the big the big thing that uh that's happened over the last uh two weeks now is that in excess of now, after so many years since 2006, have now become nominated. Oh, how do you feel?

SPEAKER_02 40:58

So exciting. Oh my god. Yeah, it's about time and it's so exciting.

SPEAKER_00 41:04

And it has to be our time.

SPEAKER_02 41:06

I hope so. I I really, really hope so. Um, I have a good feeling about it, and you know, we're all getting behind them and uh voting away and doing the best possible to spreading the word to getting it out there, and yeah, I just uh I think it's their time. Definitely, but it's very exciting.

SPEAKER_04 41:24

Yes, there's some great, great fan um action going on. Um there's people putting flyers up in cafes and all sorts of things, isn't there? Um we're all in a message chat box thing. Um, and it's just pinging every five minutes, isn't it? Someone's got some ideas and sharing photos, and yeah, it's so much fun. So thank you for being one of my backstage legends. It's absolutely been wonderful.

SPEAKER_00 41:50

Yes, no, it's been great.

SPEAKER_04 41:53

Well, thank you so much for coming on, guys. It's just been wonderful having you on the show. I know you were a little bit nervous at the beginning, and it's uh, but it was me that had the the flaws with the microphone. So thank you for bearing with me.

SPEAKER_02 42:07

Thank you, B. It's been great. I really enjoyed it. And and you know, talking again, you know, about in excess. It's just yeah.

SPEAKER_00 42:14

And I suppose while we have the opportunity, thank you for all your work that you do behind the scenes and and in front of the cameras, and not just yourself. I mean, and you know, the girls behind and everyone, everyone involved um overseas and and in Australia. Um, I think without without people like you, in Excess will just fade away. Not that they would deserve to, but I think we just need people out there pushing them. You know, we can play our records and our music every weekend to ourselves. Without the exposure they're getting now, um, our kids probably and our grandkids won't ever get to, you know, to hear it. Yeah. Um be you do now do great work. So yeah, congratulations to yourself and and Hayden and for everything you've done in the you know in the past with your podcasts and um you know and everybody else involved.

SPEAKER_04 42:55

Thank you. Thank you. That's very kind of you. Yeah, we're just so lucky to have been born in the era that we could have gone to these gigs and play the music and know them and and relive it as teenagers again, it feels like when we all meet up. So it's wonderful to um have you as friends now.

SPEAKER_00 43:13

So we think the same, yes, yes.

SPEAKER_04 43:15

Absolutely, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 43:17

You met some great people through our interaction as well, but we've made new friends and yeah, um, it's it is like you said, it's like we're all teenagers again, and we're and we all come together for the same same reason.

SPEAKER_02 43:27

And um same passion, same love, away with great stories.

SPEAKER_04 43:31

Yeah. All right. Well, I'll probably see you with a JD gig next.

SPEAKER_00 43:35

Hopefully, yes, yes, if not sooner.

SPEAKER_04 43:38

It'll be amazing. You watch, it'll probably happen that I'll have to go to see it. Well, I will go to see him, and I'm probably hopping straight onto a plane the next day to go and see in excess. Inducted, yes, yes, that's it.

SPEAKER_00 43:52

That's it. Yeah, vote one in excess.

SPEAKER_04 43:54

Thank you, guys. You take care. Thanks. Thanks again.

SPEAKER_00 43:58

Thanks again, boys. See you later on.

SPEAKER_04 44:02

Hey everyone, it's a quick update for all our amazing listeners and supporters. Next week marks the final episode of season one of Listen Like Fans, and we're wrapping things up with episode eight, where we'll be covering the huge news surrounding the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction announcement. Get your salves ready. I want your beers, your wine, your tissues. Let's all do this together. And what I want to do is I would like to make it extra special. So I'll be hosting a live stream recording with some of my team as we react together in real time. Yeah. This live stream will be exclusive to those who pledge the support on Patreon to help keep this show running. I really appreciate that. If you'd like to be part of the gang, join us on Patreon and I'll personally send you the invite via email. The announcement will be aired on the 13th of April in America on American Idol, which means that will be the 14th of April here in Australia in the morning, and the exact recording time will be included in your invite. And don't worry, if you can't make it live, the full recording will be available to watch afterwards on Patreon. And you can join Patreon for free if you like, and maybe you can pledge a later date. We'd love to have you there with us for what promises to be a massive moment for in Excess fans everywhere. Sign up, join the gang, and let's experience it together. So see you there. If you want to know more, then check out the links that are in our description and send a message.