Reviews are in - INCUBUS & Young the Giant

Brandon Boyd

Sunday night I attended one of the best concerts I've seen this summer - INCUBUS. This is a band I've wanted to see live for sometime now & as an added bonus Young the Giant - one of my unknown favorites - opened for them.

Young the Giant

99.9% of people attending a concernt rarely make it in early enough to catch the opening act, especially when the main event is a band like Incubus. Even though Young the Giant was playing to a minimal crowd they still rocked it out and were everything I hoped they would be live - Passionate, Electric & Fun. They even joked with the crowd asking, "so who here actually knows who we are?" But they played like they were standing in front of a crowd of thousands - intensely, impetuously & heartfelt. They closed with their single, My Body,and with that song you could see that these guys have a great future ahead of them.

Then the main event hit the stage - Brandon Boyd stepped out onto the stage with the rest of the incredible band - Mike Einziger, Jose Pasillaz, Ben Kennney & Chris Kilmore and Musical Magic ensued. They kicked off the show with Megalomaniac off the 2003 album, A Crow Left of Murder. I was so glad to see that they would be playing their older tunes instead of strictly off the new album (which is AWESOME), but its always great to hear the songs that made you a fan in the first place. They even followed it with Wish You Were Here - at that point I don't think there was a soul in the audience that wasn't singing along, and it was only song number 2. (See the full set list here)

Promises, Promises

A few songs later the piano was wheeled out and when Mike Einziger sat down & started playing Promises Promises that's when I had my - Holy F*ck these guys are amazing moment. Firstly, this song is by far my favorite of their new album & 2nd-ly anything Einziger does makes me swoon - he is so genious when he plays it almost leaves me without words. Whether it is guitar or piano or whatever I fall in love everytime. I know 90% of Incubus fans are 100% devoted to front man, Brandon Boyd, & believe me I don't think Incubus would be Incubus without his incredible voice & body for that matter - BUT -  Einziger carries them way more than he is accredited with. He is WITHOUT QUESTION one of the best guitarists playing today.

Concerts like Incubus are my favorite kind though - not just because of the incredible musical talent that is displayed but it's the type of show that you can feel the elelctricity running through the audience. Everyone was captivated by the musicality & appreciation that Incubus played with. You can tell that even after almost 20 years (yikes) Incubus still plays with passion and sincerity - as though they were playing together for the first time every time. It is like a part of them still cannot believe that there are hundreds and thousands of fans there for them. After the platinum albums and all of the acclaim they still play with graciousness and put everything they have into their music and its all for their fans. For instance when Are You In was played - Brandon held out the mic for the audience - who in turn sang every word. In that moment he couldn't have looked happier/more grateful for where he was and what he was doing. It's rare that you see a band that still displays such gratitude at a live show.

All and all I will definitely be attending an Incubus show in the future - You clearly should too!