A love story inspired by Incubus(and other highlights from the band’s 5th Philippines concert)

MANILA, Philippines — Rocker Kean Cipriano and actress Chynna Ortaleza surprised not a few hardcore fans when they patiently lined up for a meet and greet with the US band Incubus last Saturday at the Big Dome.

The wait lasted for roughly two hours in what isn’t exactly the most comfortable place closest to the venue. But there was nary a complaint from them over the little discomfort prior to seeing Incubus up close and personal.

The good-for-two meet and greet package for the Incubus #8Tour reportedly cost $350 or around P18,000. According to Chynna, the amount went to the Make Yourself Foundation (MYF), which its website described as a nonprofit started by Incubus in 2003 “to support causes they care about.” It also said that MYF has raised more than $2,000,000 and gave funding to over 60 nonprofit organizations since its inception.

Band members Ben Kenney, Jose Pasillas, Brandon Boyd, Chris Kilmore and Mike Einziger thank their Filipino fans —Photos by Geremy Pintolo

“I super stalked them (online) and when I found out that they were coming, I just felt like, oh we should try to meet them and be sure about it,” said Chynna on why they eschewed special treatment, when they could have pulled some strings or exhausted music connections for that brief backstage encounter with the band.

“We’re really fans. We decided to donate to their foundation through their meet and greet passes, and the proceeds will go to their foundation.”

So, how big of a fan are they, really?

“I’ve been a super big fan of them since their second album,” the Kapuso star told The STAR, referring to the 1997 Incubus album S.C.I.E.N.C.E., “and their music plays a big part in our love story.”

She continued, “Both of us really love the band very much. Our first conversation was about music because he’s a musician, and I’m also like a music fan. And I remember he asked me if I liked Incubus. That was like the ice-breaker for us.”

Chynna attended all of the past Incubus shows either alone or with friends until the 2015 concert wherein she went with the Callalily frontman whom she was already dating at that time. Kean, on the other hand, said that Chynna already caught his eye during one of the earlier shows of Incubus.

Brandon heats up the Big Dome stage

Their “bucketlist goal” of watching another Incubus concert together — this time, as a married couple who even named their firstborn after an Incubus hit song, Stellar — finally happened last Saturday night.

In an Instagram post, Chynna captioned a photo with the band (that showed her and Kean attempting to hug frontman Brandon Boyd): “This pretty much sums up all the feels! We love you @incubusofficial! It took all my control not to ugly cry. Thank you @kean for the gift and for making my dream a reality.”

Fans who make your music a soundtrack for their special life moments and who enjoy the music journey with you are what every band hopes for.

Incubus, whose members aside from Brandon are Mike Einziger (guitar, piano, backing vocals), José Pasillas II (drums), Chris Kilmore (turntables, keyboards) and Ben Kenney (bass), is celebrating 27 years since they released the first record Fungus Amongus in 1995.

“You know, it’s just been a 27-year-long evolution and our personal worlds musically, as a band, have been pretty amazing. I think we’re in a pretty good place right now, loving, creating and playing music. We’re still very fortunate to do what we do, and for that we’re very grateful,” drummer José told The STAR in an interview arranged by the record label Universal Music.

“We just sort of write music that feels good to us, that challenges us and inspires us. That’s really all we can do. I mean, we hear music around us all the time, and we just sort of know what we do and tread on our water and make our own paths, and we just hope people enjoy it with us.”

With Ovation Productions bosses Renen and Celinda de Guia (rightmost and third from right, respectively)

Asked if they have a favorite memory from the time they were still starting out, he said, “Just traveling in a van trailer for a couple of years. We did that before we had our bus. It was just the five of us, lugging our equipment around, setting up, breaking down everything and traveling the US back and forth. It was super fun, very fun memories of us.”

“It was definitely hard,” José was quick to add. “A lot of sleepless nights, a lot of driving, a lot of craziness but we were just so happy to be out in the world, playing music, that none of that really affected us.”

He also recalled the first time they played before Filipino fans in 2004. “It was in this big field with 20,000 people. It was crazy! It was totally unexpected and it was Ben’s birthday that night and it was just incredible.”

For the Pinoy fans, the latest concert was another incredible night with Incubus, who never failed to fill up venues in each visit.

Returning for the fifth time in Manila, the band opened the show with Love in A Time of Surveillance, a song from their 2017 album 8. The two-hour show evoked a mixture of ‘90s and present-day feels as they rocked the stage with a combination of classic and newer songs.

When celebs became fans: Callalily frontman Kean Cipriano and wife Kapuso actress Chynna Ortaleza jokingly hug Brandon at the Incubus meet-and-greet event, which will benefit the band’s Make Yourself Foundation     — From Chynna’s Instagram

The iconic rock group did not disappoint the fans when they performed their hits, starting off with Warning, followed by Anna Molly, Megalomaniac, Pardon Me, Stellar, Drive, Nice To Know You and Wish You Were Here. They also performed latest tracks from 8 such as Nimble Bastard and Glitterbomb, which kept the crowd going.

One of the highlights of the night came when Brandon teased the audience and took off his shirt in the middle of a performance, sending the ladies in the house screaming.

The enthusiastic crowd also cheered a “Happy Birthday” to the lead singer who turned 42 last Feb. 15.

Brandon thanked fans in an Instagram post: “Manila! You are magical. Thank you so much for pickin’ up on what we send out. We love you!”

Formed in 1991, the band has sold more than 20 million albums worldwide and remained solid after more than two decades of making music. They still have “it” — nostalgic and relevant at the same time.

The concert was produced by Ovation Productions, the same group that brought Incubus to Manila in 2015.