Concert Review: Incubus 8/2/09

I've been slacking pretty hardcore on this blog so I'm going to try and get it going again with some regularity. What better way to start things back off than with a review of me and my friend's awesome night at Mohegan Sun a little over a week ago? Thanks to my awesome mother, me and the guys in the band (sans Stephan) got hooked up with tickets to the Sunday Incubus concert at Mohegan Sun, as well as 2 connecting hotel rooms for the occasion. You couldn't have asked for a better set up going in, and the night did not disappoint.

We arrived at the casino at around 2 pm and went to one of the VIP lounges (also courtesy of my mother) to get started with some drinks. After a few quality beverages (Goose, Tangeray, etc.) we headed off to the casino floor to gamble a bit while we waited for check in to the rooms. I quickly lost $40 in the slots while Sean came close to blowing his whole wad at the roulette tables. That lucky bastard Dan however put one $5 bill into a $5 slot and hit $100. Asshole....good for him. At around 4:30 the room was ready so we got our shit together and god situated in our new digs for the night. We were well stocked with alcohol, having around 20 beers, a fifth of Patron, and a liter of Jack Daniels at our disposal for the night. After filling up our buckets with ice, we were ready to start getting a buzz going. We reorganized the room to make it pong friendly and played a couple of games. Here I got to experience how painful it is being Sean's teammate in this game. Thanks to some margarita mix and the Patron, I overcame the disappointment. While we were pounding the tequila, we were able to get hooked up with a couple of pizza pies from the brand new Frank Pepi's Pizzeria in the casino. Needless to say, it satisfied our appetites. At this point we were feeling pretty good and we decided to head into the show. This was going to be my first time seeing the band so my excitement level was at a fever pitch.

Having greatly enjoyed Incubus's two live DVD's, Alive at Red Rocks and Look Alive!, I had high expectations for this show. Thankfully, the guys did not disappoint. Fitting of a show from a tour promoting their greatest hits (Monuments & Melodies), the setlist was packed and they came out on fire with blistering versions of Pardon Me and Nice To Know You. It's hard to ask for a better 1-2 punch to open a show. They continued strong and uptempo with Anna Molly, Stellar (one of my personal favorites), Megalomaniac, and a kick ass Circles. This opening run was probably the best part of the concert, as the band immediately sucked everybody in the audience into the show. The middle of the show slowed down a bit to showcase some of the band's more melodic material. Following Love Hurts and Just a Phase, they played a short acoustic set that contained the huge hit Drive, Talk Shows on Mute, and a remixed version of the wonderful tune Dig. This group was heavy on the radio songs and the crowd ate it up. They came out swinging after the acoustic portion with a kick ass version of Redefine from the album S.C.I.E.N.C.E. (which was poorly represented at this show) with lead singer Brandon Boyd rocking the didgeridoo on the intro. Crowd favorites Warning and Quicksand->A Kiss to Send Us Off followed and both were great, especially Warning. The main set finished with two very "chill" songs but it worked really well. Wish You Were Here is always a crowd and personal favorite so it was nice to hear. I thought it would end there, but then they pulled out the hypnotizing Aqueous Transmission to end the main set. Wow. Great way to close out the show.

The only thing that was somewhat of a disappointment for this show was the encore that followed. The main set was so packed with great songs that it deserved an awesome encore. I was hoping they'd pull out something like Vitamin, Sick Sad Little World, Pistola, A Certain Shade of Green, or The Warmth for the ending, considering they had been playing these songs sporadically this tour. Unfortunately what we did get was slightly underwhelming. It started off with Punch Drunk, a Light Grenades B Side that was also featured on the greatest hits album. While it's a good song, very few people in the crowd knew it and it felt like a time killer in some ways. Then A Crow Left of the Murder came out, which surprised me. It's a good song, but I would've preferred a different one from that album such as Sick Sad Little World. Oh well, the closer will be awesome I though, right?? Eh, not so much. The only cover at this show, Let's Go Crazy by Prince, finished off the show. They do a pretty cool rendition of the song, but again nobody in the crowd knew it and it was a bizarre choice to close such a great show. In the end it didn't greatly detract from the show however. I was very pleased with my first Incubus experience. They performed fantastically and Boyd's voice in a live setting is breath taking. I would definitely see them again and recommend them to anybody looking for a great high energy show.

After the show we met up with Sean's cousin and some of his friends and preceded to gamble and drink the night away. I woke up the next morning with very little recollection of the night post-concert, as I had drank myself into a stupor in which I apparently spit on myself (Way to go bub). In the afternoon we grabbed a kick ass Bobby Flay Burger Palace lunch and then made the trek back to Cheshire. Overall, it was a very memorable day with my good buddies that I'll certainly remember for a long time. Except of course for the spitting.

Set List

Pardon Me
Nice To Know You
Anna Molly
Stellar
Megalomaniac
Circles
Love Hurts
Just A Phase
Drive (acoustic)
Talk Shows on Mute (acoustic)
Dig (Remix)
Redefine
Warning
Quicksand ->
A Kiss to Send Us Off
Wish You Were Here
Aqueous Transmission

Encore:
Punch-Drunk
A Crow Left of the Murder
Let's Go Crazy