Incubus with The Duke Spirit:
Slightly Stellar but still worth the drive

Brandon Boyd, vocalist of Incubus

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August 16, 2009
Bayfront Park Amphitheater, Miami, FL

Review by Michael Hernandez
Photos by Lauren Laufer

After about a year hiatus from personal projects and other business (like drummer Jose Pasillas having a baby girl and guitarist Mike Einziger studying at Harvard), Incubus reunited, touring in support of their Greatest Hits and B-Sides album Monuments and Melodies. One of their last spots to visit on this U.S. summer tour was at the newly renovated Bayfront Park Amphitheater, being the first band to christen the newly constructed stage. It was a great way to introduce a (sort-of) new venue with a band who has been playing for nearly two decades, with a tight, non-stop rock show that fully enthused the crowd and was for the most part, (here’s my song pun of the month!) stellar.

Ben of Incubus

The opening band, The Duke Spirit, has been in support of the band the whole tour and has also had their fair share of success. They played about a 50-minute set, with great energy and stage presence by lead singer Liela Moss. Then the 90s, early ‘00s, marched on stage, and Incubus took full command of the show by starting off with their earliest single, "Pardon Me," which grabbed the audiences’ attention immediately, almost showing that everyone was going to get what they wanted in this set list. (Plus, if you looked at past shows, they played the same songs, in almost the same order.) From there, they went into "Nice to Know You" and "Anna Molly," which had the crowd at the pinnacle of excitement.

With the casual “Hello, boys and girls” from lead singer Brandon Boyd, which caused a fury of giddy screams from women and men alike, they kept it simple. The basic stage set up was a screen in the back behind Pasillas and DJ Kilmore, which was only really used to provide an astral backdrop for the spacey, intergalactic love ballad "Stellar," and to show the video for "Megalomaniac," which featured Hitlers in winged jet packs. There was an amalgamation of singles into their set list, which should have come as no surprise since they just released a greatest hits album. There was nothing that came as great surprise, which was unfortunate, but knowing the band hadn’t played in sometime, it was predictable what was going to be played.

With the casual “Hello, boys and girls” from lead singer Brandon Boyd, which caused a fury of giddy screams from women and men alike, they kept it simple.

Leila of The Duke Spirit on tambourine

"Just A Phase" was the last song to be played before the show turned into a more intimate part, with "Drive" done acoustically and sounding great stripped down, with bassist Ben Kenney coming in halfway, eventually deviating to a jam session between Kenney and Einziger, and finishing with the chorus and everyone in a harmonious sing along. Followed were "Talk Shows on Mute" and "Dig," which finished off a nice acoustic set. And out of nowhere, Boyd showed up with the Australian aborigine musical instrument, the digeridoo, performing "Redefine," the only track from their first full LP S.C.I.E.N.C.E. The last song, "Aqueous Transmission" sounded superb, with Einziger playing the pipa, with its hypnotic riff and the great melodic singing of Boyd.

Not just for this particular song, but the whole show was masterfully done. Every song sounded great, due in part to the band being very tight, with complex, precision-timed drums by Pasillas, masterful guitar by Einziger, and pitch-perfect singing by Boyd. The new sound system at Bayfront made each song on par to studio quality or even better. The problem though is that it can become too formulaic. The acoustic set was a nice touch, but everything sounded exactly like the album, with no sense of experimentation going on or new additions; there were no surprises. That is not to say the show was unimpressive. Everything was played great, and all the fans, which had sold-out this show, enjoyed every second and were fully captivated by it. They screamed and clapped for the encore, which were the funky songs "Are You In" and a fun cover of Prince’s “Let's Go Crazy."

The Duke Spirit

And that’s what everyone did: They went crazy for Incubus, and the band really seemed to recognize the amassed crowd, singing every lyric and playing every note on their air guitar and bass. They gave the fans what they wanted. It’s easy to see why one fan behind me had seen them up to seven times (and counting after this show). They perform very well and are sharply talented, and their performance really was a great way to bring in the new Bayfront Park Amphitheater with a full crowd of boys and girls, singing along, captivated by a great live band like Incubus.

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