- Sudy -

I found this review of their concert in New Zealand from Stuff.

Review: Incubus' Wellington concert
30 March 2004
Reviewed by ELLEN STEWART

Mention legendary rock band Incubus, and one thinks stomach pumping bass lines, spine tingling guitar riffs, melodic and haunting vocals, and a generally shirtless lead singer.


And that's what the large audience at Wellington's Events Centre got on Sunday night, along with highly talented, but fully clothed, local band Eight.

Mystery "special guests", the Kiwi alternatives Eight opened the show with their mix of rock and ballad, playing a relatively short set including their most well known songs Whale, Moments Gone, Shift, and latest single No Way to Decide.

Eight combined traditional guitars and drums in a pleasantly different fashion, incorporating intense melodies with calm, echoing riffs that sent the predominantly late-teenage audience into a positive pre-Incubus trance.

About 8.30pm main act Incubus made their long awaited appearance, feeding their music-hungry crowd with songs from all four of their albums, beginning with latest single Megalomaniac.

Their sound was that of an experienced and extraordinarily talented group, each member pulling out all the stops so that each song was an enhancement of the pre-recorded tracks, managing to improve on the sound that usually only studios and editing can perfect.

The group played all their superbly radio-thrashed hits, such as Wish You Were Here, Pardon Me, Are you In and Warning, as well as album favourites like Just a Phase and Aqueous Transmission.

A surprise was a unique rendition of 60s group The Temptations' My Girl, as well as a spotlight showdown between hip-hop DJ Gavin Koppel on turntables and outstanding drummer Jose Pisallas, resulting in a rhythm threesome with lead singer Brandon Boyd on a bongo drum.

The audience lapped up everything Incubus could throw at them in the seemingly short set, including a chance at speaking directly to Boyd when he passed his microphone into the audience for some feedback, as well as the occasional "Hello, New Zealand!" shouted out before a song.

Pardon me, but if you weren't in, you'd certainly wish you were there.

And this article
from The New Zealand Herald was kind of both negative and positive. I didn't really like it when it said, "But while they impressed as individuals, Incubus didn't quite gel as a band." [img]smilies/mad.gif[/img]

[ 04-05-2004: Message edited *Winter* ]