On this day in 1979, INXS played their first show

The bands origins began at Davidson High School in Sydney when Andrew Farriss convinced his classmate Michael Hutchence to join his band Doctor Dolphin with fellow classmates Kent Kerny and Neil Sanders, as well as Garry Beers and Geoff Kennely from a nearby school. The line-up changed in 1977 when Andrew’s older brother Tim invited him, Hutchence and Beers to join him, younger brother Jon and friend Kirk Pengilly for a new band they would call “The Farriss Brothers”.

The Farriss Brothers played their first show together in August of 1977 at Whale Beach, north of Sydney. In 1978, the Farriss’ parents relocated to Perth with Jon, and as soon as they finished school the rest of the band followed. They performed briefly in Perth as The Vegetables before moving back to Sydney 10 months later.

Soon after, at chance meeting in the car park of the Royal Antler pub on the Northern Beaches of Sydney, Tim Farriss was approached by the manager of Midnight Oil, Gary Morris. This meeting would become a big opportunity for the band as they begin to regularly support Midnight Oil and other local bands. 

Morris informed the band that a member of Midnight Oil’s crew had suggested a new name of INXS, inspired by English band XTC and Australian jam company IXL. He also suggests the band adopt a Christian image, which the band briefly considered but decided against. On the 1st of September 1979, the band appear as INXS for the first time at the Ocean Beach Hotel in Umina, kickstarting their long and hugely successful careers.