Incubus @ PNC on Friday August 7th

Incubus is one of the early mainstream alternative rock bands I heard growing up and one of my favorites, so getting to hear and see their “Monuments and Melodies” tour brought back at least a few memories of my middle school days. It's good to see that after the band's 1997 debut EP Enjoy Incubus, that the band still manages to stay relevant and pack huge venues.

Opening the show was The Duke Spirit, a U.K. band with a lady singer, nice groove and '70s/ '80s rock vibe to them. They played for 30 minutes, which I feel wasn’t too long. But they had a big sound to them and the sound quality was awesome. It’s a bummer people were still hanging out in the parking lot during their set, they missed a good band.

Incubus came on at 9pm kicking it off with “Pardon Me,” where the crowd quickly got pumped. It was nice hearing all the hits, acoustic songs, and the oldie “Redefine.” I didn’t expect the band to play anything off of “S.C.I.E.N.C.E,” so it was a cool treat. Brandon Boyd still maintains a youthful appearance and high energy after being in the band over 10 years which is really awesome to see. The excitement of the big show was topped off by the lighting and video screen which were like mini music videos that fit each song the band played. For instance, during "circles" there was a bike wheel spinning in the video.

The band played an hour and a half set, then came back out for a 3 song encore that closed with a jammy, almost heavier song that didn't sound like an Incubus song, but I later found out it was Prince’s “Let’s Go Crazy.” It was an interesting choice to close with a cover, but it seemed to work and everyone indeed went “crazy.”

Incubus Setlist
http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/incubus/2009/pnc-bank-arts-center-holmdel-nj-33d7b401.html

1. Pardon Me
2. Nice to Know You
3. Anna Molly
4. Stellar
5. Megalomaniac
6. Circles
7. Love Hurts
8. Just a Phase

9. Drive (Acoustic)
10. Talk Shows On Mute (Acoustic)
11. Dig (Acoustic)

12. Redefine
13. Warning
14. Oil and Water
15. Quicksand
16. A Kiss to Send Us Off
17. Wish You Were Here
18. Aqueous Transmission

Encore:
19. The Warmth
20. Sick Sad Little World
21. Let's Go Crazy (Prince cover)

--By Star Child