INXS' Tim Farriss Says More Live Bands Could Curb Pub Violence

INXS guitarist Tim Farriss has entered the debate about curbing alcohol related violence, telling News Corp Australia that the answer could lie in having more live music to entertain revellers.

In an interview published today, Farriss says he believes the decline of live entertainment in pubs and clubs could be the reason behind an increase in violence in those same venues.

"There would be a lot less alcohol-fuelled violence if people were getting their rocks off watching bands live, maybe getting something from Harry's Café De Wheels and then going home. But nowadays everybody just stands around in pubs and gets geed up for a fight," he said.

Farriss believes that live entertainment can serve as something of a distraction from drinking heavily.

"People are going to drink but let 'em drink in an environment where they're spending a lot of time looking at some band, dancing, being entertained. They forget about the alcohol as their only focus, for a start.

"No one fights after going to Tropfest. Even New Year's Eve, it just goes to show if you entertain people and they're not bored, they don't turn mindlessly to violence."

Tonight's finale of the INXS miniseries Never Tear Us Apart features a retelling of the king hit frontman Michael Hutchence bore the brunt of while holidaying in Copenhagen in the 1990s, leaving him without a sense of taste or smell.