However, his first concert? That choice he will take to the grave. Listen to American Book Of The Dead here.Before heading to my seat at Friday night’s Incubus show at Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Irvine, I overheard an interesting conversation in the bathroom. Larry Craig propositioning somebody in the stall next to me, rather two concertgoers talking about the lengthy career of the Calabasas-based headliners. “You don’t know man, they could break up soon like Rage Against the Machine did,” one of the guys said, while the other lamented the fact that one friend couldn’t make it because he was strapped for cash.Īnd OK, maybe I waseavesdropping, but it got me thinking about the band’s career and the number of people that have staunchly followed this outfit since the days it hung out with nü-metal bands. Thankfully, I didn’t need to reminisce too much because the quintet’s sprawling 19-song set was quite the career overview. Starting off with the building “Quicksand” and booming “A Kiss to Send Us Off” – the first two tunes from November’s “Light Grenades” – the band, bathed in simple stage lighting, proved that solid playing will top an intricate stage show or fancy set design any day. It’s a sign that this is an older, wiser, better Incubus that relies much more on the performance of everything from the obscure (an upbeat take on Prince’s “Let’s Go Crazy,” the Asian-influenced “Aqueous Transmissions” with guitarist Mike Einziger strumming the pipa, “Punch Drunk” from the Japanese version of “Grenades”) to the absolutely necessary (“Anna Molly,” “Stellar,” “Oil and Water”).Īs if covering Prince wasn’t enough, Incubus really shined on older material, namely “Pistola,” where the band (including frontman Brandon Boyd on guitar) turned in some impressive improv in the vein of the Mars Volta.Īt one point, Einziger, arguably one of hard rock’s greatest guitarists, channeled the fuzzy dissonance of Volta guitar prodigy Omar Rodriguez-Lopez which took “Sick, Sad Little World” to a whole new level of awesome. Sure, we got “Summer Romance,” but what about “Glass” or “Under My Umbrella?” If there was any one downfall to the night’s performance, it’s that it just wasn’t long enough. While I’m fairly sure it’s not an easy task to compile a set list from six studio records, the band had two glaring omissions: “Wish You Were Here” and (gasp!) “Pardon Me,” arguably the song that put this outfit on the map.

Not a bad night though if that’s the only complaint.Īs if they knew Incubus would surely impress, even New York indie-rock quintet the Bravery played its strongest on this night.

Incubus band dissonance