July 7, 2004
Wild ride on the Incubus

TORONTO -- Incubus played for two hours last night, keeping themselves and most of the crowd at the Air Canada Centre entertained throughout.

The group, touring in support of their latest album A Crow Left Of The Murder, got off to a rather stagnant start though with Megalomaniac and Nice To Know You. But it didn't hurt that the youthful crowd on the floor and filling the venue's lower bowl could see no wrong.

"Hey, what's happening boys and girls?" lead singer Brandon Boyd asked early on to cheers, hoots and hollers.

The biggest problem for the early portion was how quickly the studio-perfect tracks were run through with little spontaneity. This was true of Idiot Box and Just A Phase.

Although it took a while for them to get going, the rock group with some hip-hop leanings found their footing with the driving punk rock of Priceless, which featured Boyd banging on congas opposite drummer Jose Pasillas II. Another early highlight was Wish You Were Here from the group's Morning View album.

The concert changed for the better with the unlikeliest of tunes. Here In My Room, which comes off like a slow, soulful doo-wop ditty at times, resulted in cigarette lighters flickering all around.

Boyd then segued into the classic Temptations hit My Girl with mixed results.

"I got so much loving ... I don't know what the rest of the words are," Boyd said with a laugh before quickly wrapping things up.

The light-hearted moment seemed to loosen up guitarist Mike Einziger and bassist Ben Kenney for a revamped, keyboard-driven version of Drive and then a lengthy, crowd pleasing Vitamin. Here Boyd, Pasillas and Kenney, who used a small drum kit, pounded away for several minutes on drums and congas.

One problem though was how a couple of the band's obvious hits of yesteryear were put aside on this night. Stellar wasn't performed nor was The Warmth. The band instead relied heavily on the new album, including Talk Show On Mute and Pistola. Both went over okay but can't compare to their proverbial oldies.

Another slight annoyance for some might have been the lack of eye candy. With no video screens behind them or to either side of them, fans left in the upper bowl were out of the loop somewhat.

As Incubus hit the homestretch, Boyd removed his T-shirt, which got an instant response from some in the crowd. But one of the bigger reactions was for Sick, Sad Little World, featuring a strong guitar solo from Einziger as those standing on the floor jumped around.

The band returned for a three-song encore beginning with Pantomime with Boyd alone and an electric guitar strapped to him. The slower and melodic Are You In? also led nicely into Leech.

"The ride's over, did you enjoy yourself?" Boyd sung to the crowd. By then, it seemed they most certainly had.

Opening the show was Sparta, whose 30-minute set featured material from its forthcoming Porcelain album.

JAM! Rating: 3.5 out of 5