Cardiff CIA

Well the wait is over, Brandon and the boys are the next to take the nation’s International Arena stage to a sold out crowd of over excited youths scrabbling for a barrier position for an evening of alternative rock and funk Californian style.

A black camo net back drop coupled with quite vivid white lighting sets the platform for the Californian five piece to take stage, after some quite unusual choice of eighties crowd exciters from the Dj. The response to Incubus taking stage was one of the biggest I’ve heard in the CIA for a long time and they were not to disappoint those eagerly waiting since the re-scheduling of the date from April, due to a hand injury to guitarist and “Side Show Bob” look-alike Mike Einziger.

“Quicksand”, the opener off the new record “Light Grenades” was to open the set quickly followed by the explosive “Kiss to Send us off” much to the satisfaction of the ready to explode front section. Well, I say that but it was obvious that Incubus had created more of a pull than I imagined and the crowd on a whole mixed off all ages seemed more than up for the Calabasas concoction of heavy riffs, turntablism and funk. Crowd sing along to “Wish You Were Here” only three songs in meant Incubus had pretty much cracked it from the start. “Anna Molly” received a mass response from the active CIA crowd as did every other in the 16 strong set. I must hand it to them I think, and I wasn’t alone in thinking this that Incubus sounded just as precise this evening on stage as to each of their recordings, which is a struggle alone without the perils of the CIA acoustics. There’s something about these lot that either puts you right off them, or keeps curious and always happy to hear something new from them on the radio or more likely MTV2.

Plenty of impressive improvisation, extra percussion and spotlight shenanigans courtesy of ladies favourite and front-man Brandon Boyd coupled with a set list of crowd pleasers spanning all four albums made Incubus more than a success with the Welsh paying public.

The presence of the “Ko-Kyu” making the beautiful tranquil tones of the set closer “Aqueous Transmission” closed the set perfectly and again showed another side of the Incubus ability to be more than just pounding percussion and distorted guitars. Some a little surprised by the lack of “Are You In” but surely not disappointed.

words by Neil photography by Gareth Davies

to see more of Gareth's photos from the gig click here