Incubus makes up for lost time with Pinoy fans in sixth Manila concert
In the numerous times that Incubus has been in the country, the American rock band has consistently evoked nostalgic vibes and stirred poignant emotions among the audience.
The band made up for lost time since their last visit in 2018 by delivering riveting performances of their all-time favorite hits from their ‘90s to recent albums last Thursday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. They first rocked the country’s music scene in 2004, then in 2008, 2011, 2015, and 2018.
The songs performed by the group at their recent sold-out show, presented by Wilbros Live, resonated strongly with their long-time followers who have been attending their concerts over the years. Some concert-goers even came all the way from different provinces just to hear their rock idols play live, including ditties that brought back the good and not-so-good memories from the different phases of their lives.
Incubus warmed up the crowd with Quicksand, a lesser-known track compared to their 2015 show’s opening song Wish You Were Here. In 2018, they kicked off their act with Love in A Time of Surveillance, a newly-dropped single from their album 8 at that time.
The quintet followed it up with adrenaline-pumping tunes Nice to Know You, Anna Molly and Stellar.
The stage’s light backdrop, mixed in yellow, violet, green, and blue, complemented the smoke effect on stage as Incubus continued their setlist with Sick Sad Little World, Circles, and The Warmth.
Frontman Brandon Boyd’s commanding stage presence and the band members’ contagious energy reverberated with the crowd as they joined forces in belting out Pardon Me, Are You In?, and Vitamin. It was coupled with stamping of feet, clapping, screaming, cheering, raising of hands in the air, and other intense moves in a typical rock concert.
Brandon, who would say thank you to the crowd after every song, was still clad in shirt, pants, beanie and sneakers at this point.
“I missed you, guys, so much. You all are beautiful, thank you so much,” he told the crowd and introduced their new bassist, Nicole Row, who replaced Ben Kenney. The emotive I Miss You would have been an apt segue since Brandon mentioned how he missed his Filipino supporters. I was kind of hoping they would also mount the soul-piercing Dig, Talk Shows on Mute or Love Hurts.
Anyway, what is an Incubus show without Brandon taking off his shirt? He made the atmosphere hotter when he removed his shirt midway through his Karma, Come Back performance. He bared his toned physique at 48. He was like a rock god on stage, basking in the admiration of fans.
Moreover, Incubus surprised the event-goers with covers of The Beatles’ Come Together, Portishead’s sultry tune Glory Box, and David Bowie’s Let’s Dance. In 2015, they also did a few verses of Lionel Richie’s classic Hello.
The hyped-up crowd received a “warning” from the band, reminding them to not “ever let life pass you by” when they launched into Warning.
The sea of people went wild when Incubus carried out the heavy guitar-driven and head-banger Megalomaniac from the A Crow Left of the Murder... album.
The mood toned down a bit when Brandon brought up “some old sh*t” story with lead guitarist Mike Einziger, also his friend and founding member of the band with drummer José Pasillas.
Brandon refreshed Mike’s memory with a scene where the latter smashed his guitar during one of their earlier shows in Manila while staging Megalomaniac.
Mike apologized for that and said, “I just wanna say sorry… I was terrified. I just got a little upset. I was like I calmed down (after that). So thank you for coming (again), seeing (us) right now.”
Brandon quipped, “I feel like me and my friends kinda wanna smash the guitar again.” The audience played along with Brandon and chanted, “Smash that guitar.” Of course, that didn’t happen.
Brandon went on to jam on the djembe but he continued teasing Mike, “Mikey likes his guitar.”
“You really wanna see that, huh,” responded Mike.
“F**k that guitar, kill it. Since it all started here,” uttered Brandon.
The two settled down later, sat on the stage monitor speaker, and executed a tweaked version of Drive, from Make Yourself album, as the crowd waved their cellphones flashlights and crooned with them.
Incubus members briefly left the stage, then everyone shouted “more,” and they eventually returned to the platform to deliver their encore Wish You Were Here, injected with DJ Chris Kilmore’s signature turntables spin.
Brandon once again expressed his gratitude to the concert attendees, Nicole and Mike threw their guitar picks to the crowd, bid goodbye, and called it a night.
Wish You Were Here from the Morning View album was a fitting conclusion to the show. Those who weren’t able to watch the concert would wish to be there to experience the rowdy, guitar and drum-laden gig that struck a chord with everyone present at the music event.
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