Live Review: Incubus

                                                        Photo credit: Ken Leanfore

06 February 2012

by Poppy Reid

Friday February 3
Hordern Pavilion, Sydney, NSW

Whether Sydney fans bought tickets to a sold out Hordern Pavilion in the hopes of a wistful Incubus set list or simply for a chance to catch frontman Brandon Boyd in the flesh, Friday night’s performance sated fans from both ends of the spectrum.

Boyd held his vintage-style mic in a way that made it disappear inside his fists, while guitarist Mike Einziger, keyboardist/DJ Chris Kilmore, bassist Ben Kenney and drummer Jose Pasilas seared into the anarchy of A Crow Left of the Murder single Megalomaniac. Through a powerful Pardon Me, and new track Adolescents, Boyd performed like the 24-year-old who jolted about the Big Day Out main stage twelve years ago. Kenney held his guitar high on his chest and during Kilmore’s indulgent interlude for the title track of If Not Now, When? he offered quirky side steps and foot stomps. Over the band’s more than two-decade career, their alt-rock has remained mostly unchanged, much like their variegated appearances and influences.

Eight tracks in and Boyd finally greets his minions. “Hey, how we doing so far boys and girls?” he says before Talk Shows On Mute. You don’t attend an Incubus gig for between-track banter; his impressive rap styling on the bongos during Vitamin and his zombie walk (with his shirt over his head) before In The Company Of Wolves were enough to let the set breathe.

2006 Light Grenades track A Kiss To Send Us Off saw Boyd placate the crowd with his now ritualistic shirt removal; some fans followed his lead as bras flew onstage. The ingenious weaving of The Doors’ Riders On The Storm with Are You In? not only cemented talk of the ‘70s psych-rockers influence but also tied in beautifully with the dark, soaring track.

During Nice To Know You, an over-zealous crowd member managed to jump the barricade onto the stage, but that’s as far as he got as three beefy security guards dragged his skinny frame offstage, marking the only fail of the night.

The band’s breakout tracks Drive and Wish You Were Here were saved for last, with Einziger tucking in his chin for a Drive guitar solo (which the crowd cheered audibly over) and Boyd introducing a maraca, which was discarded before the second chorus in Wish You Were Here.

The unsurprising encore came complete with three surprises: The Original, Magic Medicine and fan-favourite A Certain Shade of Green. The step back into early-work was more than just a welcome time warp; Incubus may now be a seasoned, more mature band in every way but they hold the same arduous fire in their chiselled bellies that stopped us in our tracks two decades ago.