Before The Music Ends: 07.10.09

Are we too Incubated?

Last night was the San Diego show on the Incubus tour. In terms of this band, I like to consider myself a "whatever fan"; I don't particularly dislike the band, but I don't like them enough to get their records. Makes sense, right? However, being the concert junkie that I am, it was hard to pass up some last minute free tickets to Incubus... why not?? Incubus is one of the lasting grunge/rock bands since the 90s, so here's the wrap up of the show.

For starters, Brandon Boyd still has the innate ability to make girls scream and squeal. I'll admit, I'm somewhat of a sucker for my skinny rockers with half sleeves. Before the show got started, on the big jumbotrons were ads being displayed, but underneath were text messages people were submitting, scrolling on the bottom of the screen. For the small fee of a regular text message, you sent in your message, and it would appear before the hundreds (yeah, at first it was pretty dead) of fans. Some were funny, others were inappropriate, there were the "Mike was here" texts, but the majority read along the lines of "Brandon Boyd have my babies!" I left a little disappointed that my text was never shown... As the opening band started playing, The Duke Spirit from San Diego, it was a little worrisome that the pit had about 100 people tops and the seats nowhere near half filled. My instant thought: damn recession is affecting these concerts. I later came to the conclusion that the opening band was boring and "blah" and thats why it was dead. 

When Incubus finally got on stage, the sun had already set and luckily the entire places was filled up; the pit was full, the seats were filled, and above me the lawn was covered in blankets and lawnchairs. The economy is no match for Incubus fans. Boyd came on stage to a plethora of howls and screams of girls who looked and sounded like they were willing to kill for him. Opening up with "Pardon Me" was a good choice. The set was simple; they had a giant screen behind them that changed colors with every song, and occasionally random clips popped up. At times, the crowd sang louder than the band which was impressive considering that the crowd consisted of too many 15 year olds. By far, their best performance was "Megalomaniac", which had the crowd jumping along, singing along, and even I threw up my fists a couple of times. 

The encore was a disappointed. After they played their "last song", which was I Wish You Were Here, they disappeared, but reappeared 5 minutes later to play two more songs. They were BORING!! Maybe its because I'm not a fan, but they chose to play two slow songs and then disappear for good. The only good thing that came from that was watching the chick next to me dance as if she was in a belly dance competition.

All in all, I have some tips for Incubus and their tour managers:

1.  Brandon Boyd, if you're going to wear a wifebeater, make sure it fits. 

2. Only the stage speakers were on. The rest of the amphitheater speakers needed to also be on. The wind kept blowing the sound and I'd say half of the show sounded muffled.

3. NO ONE WANTS TO PAY $10 FOR THREE CHICKEN TENDERS. 

4. Don't EVER end with two slow songs. You should have ended with "Wish You Were Here" instead.

Would I recommend and Incubus show to others? Yeah. If you're an Incubus fan. While they do have stage presence, it's nothing exciting. I feel like this show was meant for those fans who were genuinely there for the Incubus music and didnt care about the stage and all the extra stuff.... for me, if I'm paying for a show... I want a show. But, the guys still have it, there's no denying it, and theres no better feeling than watching a live band on a warm summer night under a full moon... that alone is worth my $1o chicken tenders.

MUSIC OBSESSION:

THE TOUGH ALLIANCE- "Neo-Violence". Very Electro-pop with a Carribean feel to it... what? don't ask. just listen.

Stay Rockin'!

Remember to Email me for ANY AND ALL comments! dalit@themensfashionblog.com