Band: Incubus
Venue: Riverstage, Brisbane
Words: Andrew Treadwell
Photos: Andrew Treadwell – Hang Me On Your Wall Photography

Brisbane was the final stop on Incubus’ Australian Tour, and while some bands tend to go through the motion and phone in their final shows, Incubus left their all on the stage and completed their tour in style.

Straight out of the gate with “Glitterbomb” front man Brandon Boyd commanded the stage with ease, connecting with the crowd making sure they were all in for a great night, and they almost drowned out the band on the chorus. The Morning View album was represented next with “Circles” followed by “Nimble Bastard” from the band’s latest album “8” kept the pace going. If you haven’t seen the video for this song, I suggest you go check it out. Hilarious.

The jangling guitar riff from Mike Einziger signalled the intro to “Anna Molly”, and it’s a song like this with its many shifts, where you see just how insanely talented this band really is. The “A Crow Left of The Murder gets representation in the set next with “Meglomaniac”, with Boyd encouraging the crowd to take over on the choruses. They didn’t disappoint at all.

“State of The Art” gives the new album its second song in the set. A lot of bands tend to rest on nothing but hits, but Incubus know they have particular songs they will always need to play, but use their shows to introduce newer material to the more casual fans. And the fact that there were no dead spots in the set showed the quality of their songs. “Pardon Me” followed up next and took everyone on a very cool trip back in time. Such great playing by the whole band on this track.

“Paper Shoes” from the “Light Grenades” album came up next and for a song that was released 12 years ago, it still really stood up and was a great little mellow break in the night.  “Sick Sad Little World” followed on the back of this one, and again a bit more mellow number in the set gave the fans a rest, but they also got to hear some super haunting vocals from Brandon.

With the rest over, they launched into one of their hits “Nice to Know You”, the Riverstage crowd was absolutely deafening, easily drowning out the band, the smiles on the band’s faces were huge and full of pride.  I need to mention, besides the bands performances, the quality of their sound and the truly awesome light and video show that accompanied them, is something that is missed by bands these days. Incubus and their crew really delivered.

“Stellar” from the “Morning View” album came along, and seemed to be a big crowd favourite, and of course another sing along ensued. Back to the “A Crow Left of The Murder” album is once again showcases with “Talk Shows on Mute” but a big surprise came at the end of the song when drummer Jose and bassist Ben broke into the intro to INXS’ “Need You Tonight”, The rest of the band kicked in to a faithful but brilliant cover.

The “S.C.I.E.N.C.E” album gets its first showcase with the blistering “Vitamin”. A super powerful songs with heaps of twists and turns, the crowd were jumping all over the place. “Loneliest” from the new album came up next, with its absolutely moody, haunted lyrics, and it almost lulled the crowd into a false sense of security, as the band finished off their regular set with a stunning version of “Wish You Were Here”, which also threw in a beautiful version of Pink Floyds song by the same name.

After a quick break the band came out and finished up the night with their biggest hit by far “Drive”. The crowd and band came together for one final time and everyone sang along as one. Unfortunately, Riverstage’s curfew meant two songs were cut from the end of the set, but the crowd didn’t know this and all walked away happy.

Incubus are one of those bands that everyone needs to see once in their lifetime. For me it was my first, I truly hope it’s not my last.

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