Incubus
With The Bots, Death from Above 1979, and The Deftones
Riverbend (Cincinnati) and Klipsch (Indianapolis) Music Centers
7/25 and 7/26, 2015
Note to Readers: This is a first for The Music Pill: A guest post from a friend of the site, who was able to catch a couple Incubus shows that I couldn’t make it to. Hope you guys enjoy reading a different perspective!! -Dave
I saw Incubus three years ago at Riverbend in Cincinnati on a sultry August day. I remember mostly drinking tepid beer and standing in line for more tepid beer, during hydration to dehydration cycles. We were in the lawn at the venue, which makes it very easy to get distracted from iconic bands, as foolish as that sounds. At Riverbend Music Center in the lawn, you can easily replicate the experience by doing the following: Drag a small television into a field, prop it up on a beam that would block your view of anyone playing music behind it, bring an Ipod and a knock off speaker, dunk the ipod and speaker into water. Close your eyes. You’re at Riverbend Lawn. Just saved you twenty bucks.
Despite my inebriation at that concert it did encourage me to see Incubus live again, albeit closer than several hundred drunken feet. This is a band who’s CD Morning View I wore to an unrecognizable unplayable scratched frisbee. I had to buy it twice from Media Play. Both of those previous sentences sound very old because both CD’s and Media Play were destroyed and consumed by Apple’s dominance. In fact, I think “An Apple a day keeps the Media Play away” is what Steve Jobs would chant as he skipped by vacant Media Play buildings turned into seasonal Halloween/Firework stores.
Clearly, I’ve learned that the Pavilion is the way to go at Riverbend, which is what we sprung for at this Incubus show. There was plenty of energy emerging from the band and it was reciprocal from the crowd. They knocked out a 15 song set, with three for the encore. Incubus played homage to Nirvana by dropping in Come as You Are into Megalomaniac. (Speaking of covers, I’ll see your Nirvana and raise you a cover of Drive by Of Mice and Men back at you.)
“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.” Says Chuck Colton, and imitate away if their covers this good.
Conclusion in Cincinnati? A good mix of old and new songs. A solid performance, let’s see them again.
Enter the pit at Indianapolis, we keep getting closer and closer. It’s raining. Heavily. Consistently. Concert Cancellingly. They evacuate the venue. Then Incubus tweets “We are heading back to the stage! See you soon Indianapolis”. Unevacuate the venue. Waiting. Still raining. The crowd would have waited for Incubus during Armageddon. The road crew was conducting their own Pavlonian experiment during sound checks. Any string tuning or flickering of the stage screen would engage the crowd into a burst of cheering that flowed across the soaked landscape. Just as you’re about to give up hope, Incubus casually walks onto the stage. Suddenly GA uncasually knocks down the gates in one motion of excitement and rushed the Pit, turning the venue into a PitGA of mud, beer, and broken sandals. This time around you got a song set of 13 with no encore due to time and weather conditions. Another well performed show even with the rain hammering down on the band. Ben Kenney at one point had a towel over his hand as he played bass. The breakdowns were spent wiping down instruments. BUT. They still went on and they still killed it, even though the performance was a bit truncated, one can’t complain.
So what did you miss by not getting soaked in sweat in Cincinnati or soaked in rain in Indianapolis? You missed reminiscing the high energy hits of Anna Molly, Pardon Me, Megalomaniac, and Nice to Know You. You skipped out on seeing Brando throw on a wolf mask that looks like an creepy owl mask from a distance during In the Company of Wolves. You passed on the introductions to the new album first runs of Trust Fall, Absolution Calling, and Make Out Party. You neglected the opportunity to see a powerful back an forth between Jose Pasillas on drums and Brandon on the Djembe. Overall it would be hard to be disappointed to catch them on this tour.
Most good concerts have their challenges or annoyances. This one, delay concert, possible weather cancellation, work in the morning, 2hr drive home, pneumonia….But, during that trek back to the parking lot through the muddy graveyard of girls abandoned broken flip flops, us fans honestly can tell ourselves it was worth it. That’s why we all stand shoulder to shoulder in our PitGA tribe for mutual respect and admiration of the music. We know the hits might be mundane to play at this point, but you still do it with passion. You obviously appreciate your fans and it’s a testament to your staying power as a band. The notes were hit wonderfully night after night in what would render most people’s voice useless the next day or for life. If I attempted to sing like Brandon back to back nights alone, it would sound like I chugged glass shards mixed with napalm. These concerts were a rejuvenating experience which brought me back to the attention of Incubus music. Although, this time, I’m not wearing out CD’s, I am letting DJ Pandora spin Incubus on the daily.
Until Next Time!