One of the meanings of Incubus is “a cause of difficulty or anxiety.” But there was certainly no difficulty or anxiety on Wednesday night at the Green Point A Track, as Brandon Boyd and the rest of Incubus gave Cape Town a concert that will be long remembered.
The scene for a great event was set by a magnificent Cape Town summer’s evening, a full moon, an engaging and uncluttered venue, plus an enthusiastic crowd of rapturous fans who had been waiting many years for this event.
It is always hard to predict what type of response a band such as Incubus will have on our public. A sizable crowd greeted them in Pretoria, and it was good to see that Cape Town did not let them down.
For the uninitiated, Incubus is an American Alternative /nu-Metal band, who have somewhat surprisingly been around since the early nineties. To date, they have sold in excess of 20 million albums, so we are not talking about a “fringe “band at all. Their sound, whilst having comparisons to bands such as Faith No More and Alice in Chains, differs in that the melodies and lyrics often have a more subtle and gentler edge to them, whilst never losing the power of their performances. They have been touted as "nu-Metal for those who don’t like nu-Metal,” and perhaps that’s a valid comment.
That being said, this is no group of soft rock crooners but an extremely talented band of musicians who combine to bring across a potent barrage of great rock anthems, well-crafted and all enveloping.
Lead vocalist and frontman Brandon Boyd led the charge from the first note and had the audience in the palm of his hands for the rest of the evening. His melodic and textured vocal style draws you into his songs,without ever having to resort to vocal overkill.
But this is not about a lead singer and his backing musicians, it's about a BAND and that is why their set is so engaging.
From lead guitarist Mike Einziger, who never overplays the guitar hero role, the entire band work together to perform great music, supported by creative lighting and background visuals which comes together to give the crowd a performance to remember
The set list covered some of their more recognised hits, with a good selection of numbers from their last album, "8".
I thought the venue was perfectly suited for the size and vibe of the show, with well-placed facilities on hand, and the space to get comfortable.
Let's hope Incubus considers us favourably for a return visit — we certainly would welcome them back!