Chingonwey

Incubus Kick Off U.S. Tour
It Happened Last Night
By Scott McDonald on July 10, 2009 10:09 AM Comment

Incubus' Brandon Boyd / Photo by Jenny Ziomek
It was apparent early on that Incubus'tour-opener in San Diego Thursday night wasn't going to include a whole lot of messing around. The band that expertly juggles the move from Ozzfest to Gap ads utilized that same dexterity throughout their90-plus-minute set.
While alternating between funk-metal blasts like A Crow Left of the Murder's "Megalomaniac" and pop ballads like Light Grenades' "Love Hurts," frontman / heartthrob Brandon Boydlet his songs do the talking and kept chatter with the audience to a minimum.
The set's midpoint, however, found Boyd open up a little prior to a deafening sing-along. "I've known this guy since wefirst had pubes," Boyd joked before he and guitarist Mike Einziger played an acoustic version of "Drive." The audience sang the gentle hit so loud that Boyd stepped away from the mic and let them takethe lead on its last verse. They belted even louder without Boyd's help, and were praised for their work: "Your singing is the coolest thing in the world," the frontman said.
Next, Boyd grabbed adjembe drum and the band served up an acoustic version of "Dig," allowing the audience to continue singing along.
Then the quintet offered up a steady second half that included the rock of "Redefine" andthe somber synths of "Quicksand." The band also played "Wish You Were Here" and a new, similar ballad called "Black Heart Inertia," both of which appear on their just-released greatest hits album,Monuments and Melodies.
But this was Incubus' party. And if you looked between the Marshall stacks stage right, written on one of the band's cabinets in big white letters was the word "VERITAS." Whiletruths in music may depend on who's listening, Incubus proved that even after years in the music biz, as long as you can still bring it live you really don't have all that much else to worry about....