A little while ago… (don’t give me that look! Alright, alright ages ago I’m a busy girl give me a break)… I got a free ticket in the mail to go and review the Incubus concert at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre. I had my game plan to get there relatively early and get to the front, a plan that was made easier upon the discovery that I had left my wallet at home so no chance of being tempted by a drink or the merch desk. First up was Papa Vs Pretty who were an amazing bunch of mop-tops who reminded me of those bobble-head dolls you see in tacky American road movies.. except they were a great band who gave a cracking performance one minute all firecracker brilliance and the next displayed subtle touches of Jeff Buckley brooding passion. The crowd was pretty blah and I kept to self-restrained hair swaying feeling like the girl from the K-OS videoclip ‘Born to Run’ (Short synopsis: K-OS performs and dances on a moving floor infront of a futuristic looking crowd who all look the same and they sit nonchalantly watching him like he’s a rat on a spinning wheel, unimpressed by this performance except this one girl who starts getting into the groove and dances like a loony until she feels the overwhelming scorn and disappointment from the crowd and stops and sits back down, conforming. Just watch it)
And then it was time… (insert giddy excitement and groupie-esque wide-eyed swooning)
… and then there was light…
There’s something about hearing bands that you liked in your teens again for the first time in a long time that really evokes something nostalgic and a little bit depressing. Those awkward years when your hormones were kicking in, nobody really understood you – like your “friends” the next day sworn enemies – life and your visions of the future where so overwhelming and daunting that you felt you could explode. Now there in that dark entertainment centre hearing the magnificent beauty that is Brandon Boyd’s voice and those tortured feelings of my f*cked up youth come creeping up on me…
… and then they are cut short by the end of the song and the hilarity of everything short circuiting and the sound cutting out. They played another song but then in a twist of semi hilarious fate (only semi because your hoping this isn’t going to happen the entire concert) it happened again. At exactly the same time as the first incident right at the end of song number two, the photo above is Boyd’s shocked face with a hint of nervousness. I like to think of this moment as the contemplation of the possibility that he might die from Mic electrocution in this shitty town…
… that would be nervous laughter
… they all walked off-stage and said they would come back after everything was fixed. Needless to say I had some guy next to me on his phone calling up his girlfriend saying that it was probably going to be cancelled – doomsdayer’s what do they contribute to society?…
But ten minutes later they were back and all was forgiven because f*ck me what a voice, songs such as ‘If Not Now, When’, ‘Warning’, ‘Friends and Lovers’ and ‘Isadore’ just grab you by the heart, cut straight to your soul and sound great live. Chris Kilmore is so freaking cool stomping around and swinging his dreads about while mixing, meanwhile screams of joy erupted when Boyd took off his top. ‘Sick, Sad Little World’ had a great bass solo from Ben Kenney that sounded excellent live, as well as in ‘Are you in’, before Boyd came down to the front of the stage and started singing ‘Riders in the Storm’ by The Doors. His mic cut out again but was skilfully covered up with Kilmore spinning a mix and continuing a great keyboard solo till it was fixed five seconds later. All of them are excellent musicians it’s great to watch a band gel so well together and where the members don’t just meld into the background of an amazing lead vocalist, if anything they complement each other and make Boyd the fantastic lead vocalist he his. ‘Nice to Know You’, ‘Drive’ and ‘Wish you were here’ were predecessors to the most thunderous genuine encore I have ever been privy to in my life. You already knew they were coming back out but the crowd cheered and begged for it as the band came out to ear-trembling gratitude. Playing a few more before finishing off with ‘Certain Shade of Green’ the night was freaking awesome and I left wanting more. One of those rare nights that you’re slow to leave as the lights come on, you shuffle your feet but soon your out in the cold and popping in the band’s CD to try to recapture some of the magic you had seen that evening. - (Excerpt of my review from The Mouth)
… and that was the end of that. You have no idea the insatiable urge I had to wait outside the Hilton Hotel on the 95% chance that they were staying there and I could get a picture with the band.. (right next to Brandon Boyd of course).
