Incubus

Coronavirus Concert Casualties

Gatherings of 250 people became officially banned in San Diego as of March 13th, 2020. Nationwide lockdown followed shortly after. The list of concerts below are the ones I intended to attend that have been impacted (so far):

3/13/20 Local H @ Belly Up – RESCHEDULED to 10/10/20 – Local H was set to open for Soul Asylum in support of their album Lifers that was about to drop on 4/10/20

UPDATE 4/24: Local H decided to let fans on their Facebook page vote on an entire album from their catalog for them to play live from their “bunker” in Chicago. The album that received the most votes was Whatever Happened to P.J. Soles? and they livestreamed their performance on both Facebook and YouTube. I would have paid good money to see this live so this was quite a treat as the first livestream concert I ever watched. The picture quality was better on Facebook but the sound was better on YouTube. HHH

3/28/20 Rage Against the Machine @ Pan American Center, Las Cruces, NM – POSTPONED – Before Rage announced a full tour there were originally only five shows scheduled: El Paso, TX, Las Cruces, NM, Phoenix, AZ and as the headliner for both weekends of Coachella. I had no interest in going to Coachella due to the expense and “scene” that I am very much not a part of so Phoenix was the logical choice due knowing people that live there and distance but New Mexico was on a Saturday. That was enough reason for a group of us to decide that a trip was in order.

UPDATE 5/1: The rescheduled tour dates have arrived and it looks like I will not be seeing Rage Against the Machine until May 2021!

4/4/20 Loudermilk @ The Uptown Theatre, Richland, WA – POSTPONED – This was to be the first time I had been “home” in over nine years and with The Ladybird Unition set to open it was going to be like I was 17 years old all over again.

4/13/20 Pearl Jam @ Viejas Arena (SDSU) – POSTPONED – Pearl Jam was one of the first bands that decided to halt their tour. This was to be only my second time seeing Pearl Jam and ironically at the same place that I saw them the first time. This tour was slated in support of the new album Gigaton released on 3/27/20.

4/24/20 The Darkness @ Observatory – POSTPONED – The Darkness was set to tour for their newest effort Easter Is Cancelled, which turned out to be a prophetic title.

UPDATE 5/15: CANCELLED – Well Poop2

5/8/20 The Rolling Stones @SDCCU Stadium – POSTPONED – This was to be the second time I had the pleasure of seeing the Stones. As a bonus this was going to be the opening night of the tour within walking distance of my place on a Friday…

5/22/20 System of a Down, Korn, Faith No More and Helmet @ Banc of California Stadium – POSTPONED – This was a one-off concert in L.A. that had such high demand that a second show was added.

SOAD

UPDATE 5/22: RESCHEDULED – This event will now happen on the same date in 2021 as if this year never happened at all. SKFH

6/10 Styx @ San Diego County Fair – CANCELLED – This was set to be my second time seeing Styx but the show and better yet the entire county fair for 2020 was cancelled.

7/12 The Black Keys @ North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre – CANCELLED – This was to be my third time seeing these Ohio natives. Good thing I was able to see the beginning of the “Let’s Rock” tour back in November.
7/19 Incubus and 311 @ North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre – CANCELLED – Two bands that I like on the same bill is always a treat. I guess this would instead fall under the category of trick.
7/23 Motley Crue @ Petco Park – ??? – On May 1st Motley Crue released a statement saying “Our goal is to have an official update to everyone by June 1 outlining exactly how we will proceed.” All signs are pointing towards an inevitable postponement/cancellation.

UPDATE 6/1: POSTPONED – Shocking! Motley

7/24 Weezer/Green Day @ Petco Park – POSTPONED – What was to be a rare concert on a Friday night is no more…until 2021
7/30 Ministry @ House of Blues San Diego – RESCHEDULED – There is a website called bandsintown.com that I am on the email list for and this was how I learned that the Ministry show got rescheduled to April 29, 2021. Hopefully Uncle Al is still around.
8/1 Primus and Wolfmother @ Open Air Theatre – POSTPONED – This was going to be a unique show with Primus undertaking the task of replicating Rush’s 1977 classic album A Farewell To Kings. I was also looking forward to seeing the entire Wolfmother performance after the last one got cut short.
8/8 Guns N’ Roses @ Sofi Stadium – POSTPONED – This was going to be my second time seeing GNR and first time visiting the new gazillion dollar monolith stadium in L.A. where the Rams and Chargers will play.
9/1 Disturbed @ North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre – POSTPONED – This tour was to celebrate the 20 year anniversary of the debut album The Sickness, which now seems like an even more apt title.
10/9-10/11 Aftershock Festival @ Discovery Park, Sacramento – CANCELLED – See you in 2021!

11/1 Aaron Lewis and Sully Erna @ Del Mar Fairgrounds – CANCELLED – Just when I thought I was going to get some sort of live music even this got cancelled…

Aftershock 10/14/18

To nobody’s surprise I woke up still a little drunk from the day before this morning. After getting our shit together we walked down the road to our staple Buffalo Wild Wings to watch some football and get some beer and food. After we were nice and sauced on $5 pitchers we made a pit stop at a local dispensary for edibles on the way to the show.

We made it just in time to catch Seether, who was badass as per usual. Their newest album Poison the Parish came out in May of 2017 but for some reason I had not picked it up yet so was unfamiliar with the two songs they played from the album but I did like the songs. Note to self: pick up the album.

To our delight we did not have to leave this stage for the next band we wanted to see which was Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators. Slash was melting faces like it was 1987. I never really went down the rabbit hole of Slash solo material so most of the set was unfamiliar but hearing “Nightrain” made the whole set worthwhile.

I had just saw Incubus exactly a month earlier at Kaaboo. I think they played exactly the same set but that was just fine by me.

Alice In Chains had just released Rainier Fog less than two months before this and played a short but intense set.

AIC

This is when another night starts to get fuzzy again as Marvin and I got separated from the other two. We managed to make it to see System of a Down, which I am always pumped to see. They had not released new material in nearly 13 years at the time of this concert but we all keep lining up because they are incredible live.

At this point Mr. or Mrs. Reader you are probably asking yourself (again) why I continue to spend a lot of money to just get trashed and not remember everything. For the answer we need look no further than the wise words of Wooderson: L-I-V-I-N.

Kaaboo 9/14/18

Attending all three days of Kaaboo the previous year was a little too much standing in the sun, drinking and spending a shit ton of money so Ingrid and I decided to cut it down to just one of the days this year. Based on the lineup of Everclear, Incubus, Blondie and Foo Fighters the day that was decided upon was Friday. Unfortunately Ingrid had to bail out at the last minute and sell her ticket due to an impromptu bachelorette party in Vegas.

The Charter Bus worked out well last year so I decided to do that again instead of paying for a surge priced Uber or staying sober and driving. After sucking down a tall boy of Bud Light on the way, our bus rounded the last corner to the Del Mar Fairgrounds to reveal a line of people trying to get in that nearly stretched to that intersection. I could not believe what I was seeing but thankfully there was a far shorter line near the bus drop off point because Everclear was set to kick off the festival about 10 minutes later. Even that line was moving slowly but moments later a festival worker announced that there was a line specifically for people without a bag that was empty. It is baffling to me that an expensive festival that expected 40,000 people could be so disorganized but what can you do?

I got in just in time to grab a cold 16-ounce Corona for $13 as Everclear took the stage around 2 pm. I had not seen Everclear for 17 years and had all but stopped paying attention to any new Everclear material since So Much For the Afterglow so I did not know what to expect. What I got was a band that passed as Everclear but did not go as full force as they could have with the songs at their disposal. I loved that nearly their whole set was songs from Sparkle and Fade and So Much For the Afterglow and it was great to hear those songs live again (especially “Heroin Girl”) but despite Art Alexakis’ best efforts the songs still sounded slightly lackluster. Maybe it was just impossible to impress me because of that time I saw them tear the roof off the place when they opened for Filter about two months before they hit it big with “Santa Monica” back in the day.

Near the end of the Everclear set I met up with Larry and basically just kept drinking and wandering around until Larry’s wife Christi showed up because the next band I wanted to see was Incubus and they were not on until just after 6. We went to watch comedian Tom Papa and quickly realized it was more of a plug for bread baking then it was a comedy show so we caught a little of The Zombies set before more drinking and wandering around ensued.

Close to the time Incubus was to go on I was reminded that every time there are too many people in one spot the woman’s bathroom line is always crazy and there are always a few brave women willing to go into the men’s bathroom. One particular pair of younger girls in front of us were not going into the bathroom to use the toilet but rather to go do some coke with a 70 year old billionaire. After we exited the bathroom Christi and Larry started chatting with them and the gold digging vibe was making me sick to my stomach so I ended up basically ditching them and standing by myself for Incubus because Kyle had come in later and found Larry and Calvin and Jane never returned my text.

This was to be my seventh time seeing Incubus but I had not seen them for nine years. Their newest effort was the album 8 that was released a year earlier but other than “No Fun” they stuck to older songs and treated us to a one/two punch of “Calgone” and a great cover of “Need You Tonight” by INXS. I feel like Incubus made the most of their limited time and age was not about to slow them down. Not that they are old by any means but they were still sounding fantastic playing the shit out of their songs with passion and enthusiasm after all these years.

SETLIST: Privilege, Anna Molly, Meglomaniac, A Kiss to Send Us Off, Circles, Pardon Me, No Fun, Love Hurts, Calgone, Need You Tonight (INXS), Are You In?, Nice to Know You, Wish You Were Here, Drive, A Crow Left of the Murder

Next up was Blondie. Even though there are only five Blondie songs I really like I was excited to see them because I had never seen them before. After getting a round of applause for basically telling some jerk chick trying to cut in front of everyone in the beer line to fuck off I got to see a 73 year old Debbie Harry do her thing. She was still pretty spry but something was just missing for me from the band as a whole. I got to see “One Way or Another,” “Rapture,” and “Call Me,” but had to get my ass to the other stage to see Foo Fighters so I missed “Heart of Glass” and “The Tide Is High.” At least I got to see someone playing the keytar before I left.

Once I made my way to where the Foo Fighters were playing I ran into Christi and Sierra. Larry, Kyle and Sierra’s boyfriend had gone to get beers so I just waited there and watched the Foo with that group. This was my eighth time seeing Foo Fighters but this time was not like the last time I saw them a year earlier at a festival made up of strictly rock and roll bands that they headlined. This was a diverse group of bands gathered so they knew their audience and filled the limited set time with mostly hits. To be fair they do have a lot of hits. Regardless of this a Foo show is always packed with energy and surprises. Taylor’s drum riser literally started rising during a drum solo tacked onto the end of “My Hero” that lead into him singing “Sunday Rain.” The most rocking song I got out of them was “The Sky Is a Neighborhood” but the most fun moments started near the end when Dave sang Van Halen’s “Jump” over the music of “Imagine” by John Lennon. It matched up surprisingly well. After that we got a little “Hey Ho, Let’s Go” from the Ramones “Blitzkrieg Bop” followed by a full on cover of Queen’s “Under Pressure” with Dave climbing behind the drum kit to let Taylor come out front and sing after he proclaimed, “Here’s one Vanilla Ice stole from Queen and we’re taking it back.” Those moments made the whole day worthwhile.

SETLIST: All My Life, Learn to Fly, The Pretender, The Sky Is a Neighborhood, These Days, Walk, My Hero, Sunday Rain, Another One Bites the Dust/Imagine/Jump/Blitzkrieg Bop, Under Pressure, Monkey Wrench, Best of You, Everlong

Incubus 7/9/09

So this was Ingrid’s first concert ever (outside of concerts @ the Del Mar fairgrounds)! We went with Jason, Sherrie, Bob, and Macy but Macy decided to wing it and try to find a ticket once we got there. After picking up Ingrid we came about two inches from rear ending someone as soon as we got back on the freeway (nice driving skills Jason). After all our hearts were pumping at max pace we arrived at the venue and commenced tailgating. Macy asked me, “how do I find a ticket?” I responded by screaming “does anyone have an extra ticket for sale” into the crowded parking lot. A guy in the car right next to us said “I do.” I walked over and asked “how much?” “10 dollars.” “Sold.” I was happy that we found her a ticket so easily but jealous because the rest of us paid $30 for our tickets, but our tickets included a free hot dog and soda…So we get inside and run into my friend Calvin and his wife Jane while looking for the concession stand to redeem our free food. We finally found the right stand and stand in line only to find out that we were supposed to go get a voucher at a different stand in order to get the hot dog or soda! How convenient. So basically they’re banking on the fact that most people won’t go through the hassle of redeeming the ticket to get their “free” stuff. So much so that they’ll pay an attendant to do nothing but hand out vouchers instead of just being able to show your actual ticket at the window. So then we get the vouchers and all of a sudden they are sold out of hot dogs…even though two other people reached in a drawer and grabbed hot dogs after I was told this! I threw a fit and we got our goods. We found a spot on the lawn, spiked our sodas and only had to wait a few minutes before Incubus came on stage and opened with “Privilege.” They also played “Pardon Me,” “Drive,” “Stellar,” “Nice to Know You,” and “Anna Molly” but the highlights for me were “Love Hurts” and “Pistola.” At one point the ladies left to go to the restroom and Ingrid ran into a friend and stuck around to talk with her. She ended up losing us but thanks to modern homing devices (cell phones) I found her. They closed with a song I was unfamiliar with and “Aqueous Transmission.” After waiting to get out the parking lot for a half hour and a 7-11 nacho purchase we all made it home safe and sound.

Lollapalooza 8/23/03

This was the first time Lollapalooza had hit the road since 1997 (the time Tool melted my brain) and would be the last time it was a touring festival before making Grant Park in Chicago its permanent annual home. This would also be my second and last time to White River Amphitheatre. I went to this show with Earl, Marvin and Ben. I remember getting drunk before getting even more drunk (someone was feeding me whiskey after many beers). At some point we ran into Shane from Loudermilk and talked to him for a little since he played hockey with Marvin and Ben.

The first band I remember wanting to check out was 30 Seconds to Mars. Someone burned me a copy of the first album and I thought it was pretty good. I was curious to see if Jared Leto was the real deal or not and much to my surprise they were really good. They had a unique style both visually and musically. I remember seeing Kings of Leon on that stage in passing because they looked like they were straight out of 1975. This was many years before they gained super popularity.

This was the second time within two months that I missed the band Cold (Endfest). They were slated to be a part of Lollapalooza and dropped out at the last minute for some reason, so the first band playing that I was really there to see was A Perfect Circle. They were about to release their second album less than a month later and the lineup now had James Iha from the Smashing Pumpkins on guitar and Jeordie White (Twiggy) from Marilyn Manson on bass. Maynard was now comfortable embracing his role as front man from the back of the stage as he played the first song or two shadow dancing from behind a curtain. At this point I am certain Marvin basically just walked into the floor section (the beginning of a long history of walking into things for free) while the rest of us watched from the lawn.

Incubus played next and were still touring for the album Morning View. This was the fifth time I saw them but nothing stands out in my memory about this performance (maybe the whiskey?).

Up after that was Audioslave, which I was also excited to see. This band was a no-brainer since I love both Soundgarden and Rage Against the Machine. Chris Cornell kicks ass as a singer and Tom Morello is a guitar wizard. They rocked through almost all songs on the debut album and had the crowd whipped into a frenzy. I also remember a moment when Maynard came out to duet with Chris Cornell for a song.

Jane’s Addiction closed the show. I am not a huge Jane’s fan but like a handful of their songs. This was the first time I got to see them and I remember thinking how comfortable they looked onstage. Perry Farrell was in a crazy looking suit and Dave Navarro looked the part of a rock star wearing a boa and sunglasses with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth.

Incubus 4/11/02

It had been about a year and a half since I last saw Incubus and about six months since the release of their stellar album Morning View. This trip to the Memorial Coliseum was the familiar lineup of Lucinda and I. We lucked out because this was the very first stop of the tour. They were fresh and down to play many of the new songs (which was alright by me). The opening band was Hoobastank, which I thought ironic because my ears always processed Hoobastank as a shittier version of Incubus. That set aside the selection of songs had me beside myself in pure bliss.

SETLIST: Circles, Nice To Know You, Stellar, Glass, Wish You Were Here, Warning, Vitamin, Make Yourself, Echo, Mexico, Pardon Me, New Skin, Privilege, Are You In?, Just a Phase, Nowhere Fast, Drive, A Certain Shade of Green, The Warmth, Aqueous Transmission

Deftones 10/15/00

Alright, so at this point I know it’s starting to look like I’m obsessed with Deftones. This was already the sixth time I had seen them and had just seen them about two months prior, as well as just seeing Taproot and Incubus at Ozzfest. It seemed like a good deal plus something to do because Portland can be pretty drab most of the time due to the rain. Besides, going to concerts is something that gives me great pleasure in this life. This also gives you an idea of how much devotion these bands put into touring. I believe it was just Lucinda and I this time. I don’t really have much to say about the show itself except every band rocked. I brought a stick of cookies n’ cream incense with me into the show because I thought it would be novel but in reality the ashes kept falling all over everyone and those that were in direct line of the smoke got a very concentrated whiff. This was also the most elaborate stage show I have ever seen Deftones put on. They actually had lights, etc. instead of just a bare bones stage with them rocking out. “Dai the Flu” is one of my favorite songs from Around the Fur and after all the times I’ve seen them this remains the only time I have ever seen it played live.

SETLIST: Korea, Feiticeira, Change, Root, Lifter, My Own Summer, Dai the Flu, Mascara, Back to School, Digital Bath, Teenager, Around the Fur, Headup, Be Quiet and Drive, Birthmark, 7 Words

Ozzfest 8/24/00

Main Stage: Ozzy Osbourne, Pantera, Godsmack, Static-X, Incubus, Methods of Mayhem, P.O.D., Queens of the Stone Age

Second Stage: Soulfly, Kittie, Disturbed, Taproot, Reveille, Primer 55, Black Label Society

So here I am again returning to the Gorge with my honey Lucinda for some good old rock/metal. Friends Mark and Claude joined us. Taproot was touring for their debut album Gift and the first band up that we were interested in seeing. They seemed pretty polished to be playing on the second stage. Disturbed played next. There was a buzz around them and they did not disappoint. They had just released The Sickness in March and played the finer moments of the album in their set. I remember wanting to watch Soulfly but the distance between the second and main stages at the Gorge is sometimes too great for the time allowed between bands. I didn’t want to miss whoever was up next on the main stage. Speaking of the main stage, Queens of the Stone Age should have been there but for some reason our show was the first they were not at (they took a break from Ozzfest August 24th-30th). Methods of Mayhem were the first band there that we watched on the main stage instead. Tommy Lee did a great job as a frontman/guitarist for being known as a drummer. He had a funny narrative about crawling back home after a night of heavy drinking. Incubus was next and this was the first time I had got to see them perform songs from Make Yourself. After seeing them open for 311 I forgot about them until I heard an acoustic version of “Pardon Me” that blew my mind. They definitely impressed the crowd. Static-X followed with almost the same setlist as the year before but had pumped up their stage show a little. Wayne’s hair may have grew a little longer too, which for those who are unfamiliar with it is about two feet of hair sticking straight toward the sky. Godsmack was after Static-X. Their debut album slowly grew on me after hearing Lucinda play it a number of times to the point of me actually looking forward to seeing them. They rocked their ass off and even played the then unreleased song “Awake.” As the theme of the summer seemed to be, I was once again really at this show to see one band: the almighty Pantera. I was turned onto them by Claude right after Vulgar Display of Power came out and have been a fan ever since. I was lucky enough to be able to buy Far Beyond Driven and The Great Southern Trendkill the day the albums came out. For this show they were on tour for the album Reinventing the Steel that had just been released a few months prior. I remember the crowd going crazier than I have ever seen a crowd go. They were fucking going off. I remember trying to protect Lucinda from the debauchery since she was so small and we were in the floor section. Dimebag was a showboater but with his level of talent had every reason to be. We stayed around to watch Ozzy but weren’t really that stoked to be there. Pantera kicked our ass and I’ve never really been a fan of Ozzy’s solo efforts because I have Black Sabbath to compare to. Don’t get me wrong, he was nuts but unfortunately he had the displeasure of playing after Pantera and competing against my previous year’s experience of watching Black Sabbath. If you are fan of Pantera then unfortunately you know how the rest of their story unfolded, which is why I never got to see them again.

The Family Values Tour 10/13/98

The Family Values tour was created and headlined by Korn and 1998 was the first edition. That year it also featured Rammstein, Ice Cube, Incubus, Limp Bizkit and Orgy. The reason why I included this show is because it never happened. This tour didn’t run through Seattle or Portland so we decided on Boise, Idaho since that was the closest the tour came. Instead of getting to finally see Korn (see Lollapalooza 1997) the curse continued and the concert was cancelled. The really shitty thing was they didn’t cancel the show until four days beforehand. I was so upset that I ended up writing Korn a letter (super funny to read now). Needless to say, I never got a response. They did end up releasing an album of material that was recorded live on that tour. Unrelated but I had also started a job at UPS working in the warehouse.

311 11/5/97

Less than two months later and my whole world was about to be rocked. Roscoe and I decided to make a trip to Seattle to see two consecutive nights worth of concerts. The first of these concerts was this 311 concert. I believe we stayed with my friend T-Bone. The first opening band was a then little known band called Incubus. They were touring for their second full length album S.C.I.E.N.C.E. Brandon Boyd had long dreadlocks and beat the hell out of a hand drum on “New Skin.” I remember thinking they were pretty good but then forgot about them until after Make Yourself came out. Next up was Sugar Ray. They were enjoying the success of the song “Fly” from the album Floored. I thought they were alright but the singer, Mark McGrath, was pretty funny because he was so sarcastic. Then came 311. They just flat out rocked. They were on tour for Transistor but I had got into them via Rose right after the self-titled album came out. Some short random girl asked me to put her on my shoulders, which was cool because she was cute, but that got old fast.

Rock N Roll Recollections

Fuzzy recollections of bands that rocked my world