Incubus at the Santa Barbara Bowl 9/2 (Recap)
Photos/words: Sasha Huckoby
IIIIIIIIIIIIIII WISH YOU WERE (STILL) HERE!
On Wednesday, September 2nd, 2015, Incubus graced Santa Barbara with their beautiful presence. Every show that i’m granted privilege of covering really excites me, but this show in particular was like, NEXT LEVEL EXCITEMENT!
Growing up, I had the coolest poster of Brandon Boyd, for like, 6 years. You know the iconic shot i’m referring to. Angelic Brandon sans shirt, hair flowing in the wind, both hands on the mic, with just enough vein showing that you could only imagine how killer that note he was hitting must have been. Fast forward to ten years later, and i’m standing directly in front of him with a sort of matrix(y) mindset, flashing from my childhood poster, to the real f’n deal standing right above me, subliminally reminding me to focus (I was sort of in awe) and recreate that shot. My shot. You only get three songs, Sasha. Make it count.
Incubus isn’t the type of band that I feel like I need to do an entire write-up on. Not because they’re not worthy (they’re probably one of the most worthy alternative rock/funk/punk/glorious bands), but if you don’t know much about Incubus, you need to do your homework. The instruments, the lyrics, the body movements, the dreads, the energy, the stage presence, THE LIGHT SHOWS, the fucking California dream’s – just to throw out a few descriptive details. They’re the whole package, and such a pleasure to listen to/ see live if you get the chance.
Incubus has been around since 1991 and they’re currently on tour with the always epic Deftones, hitting about 20 cities on their North American tour. Although Incubus played the Santa Barbara Bowl solo, the Deftones did stop by our neighbors neck of the woods and played the Vina Robles Amphitheater in Paso Robles this year.
What a b e a u t i f u l show this was. No matter my stance on the artist, if you have *stellar* crowd involvement, you will win me over. Let alone, if you’re one of my favorite bands of all time and you have otherworldly crowd involvement. So many happy faces. So many familiar faces, as this show really brought out all types of locals and strangers alike.
I love you, Incubus. Thank you for coming back to Santa Barbara. Please make it a habit. You can overstay your stay anytime.
Thank you so much to Jessica Puchli of Nederlander Concerts and the Santa Barbara Bowl for letting Let Your Ears Decide cover another amazing event!
xxxo, Sasha
