09/04/2024 – By Sofia Silvestrini
April 11, 2024
Autumn wind and rain may have had us shivering on our way in to WIN Sports & Entertainment Centre, but 90s/00s rock powerhouses, Incubus and Live, were about to warm us up with a big ol’ blanket of nostalgia and noise.
Californians Incubus were up first. Opening with the dark, passionate ‘Quicksand’, we were transfixed from the first note – but did wonder where guitarist Michael Einziger was. He joined the band second song in, taking his place on stage in front of the effortlessly cool DJ Kilmore, and impressed us with his fine fretwork all set long.
Cheeky frontman Brandon Boyd serenaded us with impromptu line ‘I got it on in The Gong’ before launching into the massive ‘Pardon Me’ off 1999 LP ‘Make Yourself’ – one of many set highlights.
Another was the high-energy, instrumental jamming between drummer Jose Pasillas and Boyd on a bongo during ‘Vitamin’. Truly incredible stuff. More please!
Boyd then formally introduced us to ‘our friend Nicole on bass guitar’ – the sublime Nicole Row who recently joined the band, filling in for longtime bassist Ben Kenney who’s recovering from a brain tumour. She rightly received a rapturous applause, and we were then treated to our first of four covers sections of the set – a sultry version of The Beatles’ classic, ‘Come Together’.
‘Are You In?’ featured a Doors ‘Riders of the Storm’ bridge, Boyd singing Portishead’s ‘Glory Box’ was delicious, and David Bowie’s ‘Let’s Dance’ was so joyful – and dance we did!
Unsurprisingly, the crowd was loudest during massive hit ‘Drive’. Boyd performed most of the song perched on a foldback speaker at the front of the stage. Row and Einziger faced each other on their guitars behind him, clearly enjoying themselves and feeding off the good vibes radiating from the crowd.
The shimmery ’Wish You Were Here’ soared and brought us to the end of a stunningly beautiful set, and in that moment we were happy, happy (wink wink).
If for some reason you weren’t sure what band was playing next, you were told several times on the screens – Live seemingly love to perform in front of their own name. I lost track after the eighth different digital backdrop displaying their logo. You could, however, also rely on your ears to know who was on stage – frontman and only remaining member of the original lineup Ed Kowalczyk still has that strong, signature sound to his 90s rock pipes. His swagger hasn’t changed either. Exaggerated guitar strums and leg lunges were busted out throughout the set, and he even kicked things off wearing sunnies.
The one-two punch of ‘All Over You’ and ‘Selling the Drama’ whipped the fans into a frenzy. Kowalczyk put on a grandpa voice and announced we were going in the Live time machine back to 1997 for ‘Freaks’. Shortly after, momentum was temporarily lost when the songs slowed down. Lots of punters took advantage of the pause though and popped out to the bar and/or bathroom, which proved to be a great move if you made it back in time for set highlight ‘The Dolphin’s Cry’.
Kowalczyk’s guitar came off, “THE WAY YOU’RE BATHED IN LIGHT” was belted out by the frothing crowd, couples swayed, parents danced with their littlies – everyone was all in.
Later in the set, atop the drum rider with his arms in the air, Kowalczyk busted out some pelvis-oriented dance moves and his fans lapped it right up. The band may not officially identify as religious, but there was some serious worship happening here tonight.
The heavy, familiar riffs of ‘I Alone’ and ‘Lightning Crashes’ rounded out the show much to everyone’s delight. The crowd-turned-choir within WIN exited into the cold with warm hearts and smiling faces, all thanks to the somewhat unusual pairing of Incubus and Live. A fantastic night!
See the full gallery by JohnnyD Photography HERE