The almost-full moon brought a full house to the Austin 360 Amphitheater Saturday night for Incubus’ 8 Tour with special guests Jimmy Eat World and Judah and the Lion. The stadium was buzzing from the beginning to witness this strong lineup, and even more packed in as the night went on.
Judah and the Lion opened the night with their folk hop and roll tunes from their album of the same name. A keen choice by the tour headliner for their mutual overlapping of genres and influences.
Jimmy Eat World kept the spirit of the late 90s/early millennium alive with their full length set. Despite the considerable number of selfies being taken, the scene and fashion were very reminiscent of the same era and one could easily be taken back a couple decades in time. The set was a return to an earlier time of angst and emotion when they led the emerging emo scene. They turned up the set with material from their newest album, Integrity Blues. An acoustic-led “Here You Me” brought a softness after a humble thank you to the crowd, the vibe reminiscent of when lighters – not smartphones – waved in the air. Chase This Light’s “Always Be” picked it back up and they finished out the set with crowd participation favorites “The Sweetness” and “The Middle” where the audience had no qualms whatsoever being asked to ‘sing it back.’
JIMMY EAT WORLD PHOTO GALLERY
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Brandon Boyd came out on stage as a visionary in blue, illuminated by the colored stage lights and dressed all in black. It was unsure if his ‘Opti Mystic’ shirt was a shout out to the spiritual artists of the same name, whose work resembles this tour’s mandala-heavy set design, or if it was a label to the world of Boyd’s otherworldly presence, however there was no doubt that the show was indeed a spiritual one.
Holding the mic in his signature two-handed prayer-like manner, displaying his mantra inked forearms, Boyd opened the show with 8’s “Love in the Time of Surveillance.” Their signature cosmic themes ran strong from the beginning as the quintet played tunes from half a dozen of their albums, even reaching back to 1997’s S.C.I.E.N.C.E. with one song.
Incubus’ infectious new single, “Nimble Bastard” seemed to really kick off the energy of the show on stage, moving Boyd to dance around with the heavier songs and lend some additional drum percussion on “Megalomaniac” and “Redefine.” The group seamlessly flowed into a Pink Floyd outro of the same name on “Wish You Were Here” after Boyd, a man of few words throughout the entire show, made a comment about the heat “feel[ing] kinda gross but awesome.” The exceptionally humid Texas evening appeared to be felt by everyone on stage mid-set, and with only intermittent breezes passing through for relief, Boyd ditched his shirt a couple songs later revealing yet another spiritually symbolic back piece. Incubus rocked the crowd with an instrumental excerpt of Rush’s “Tom Sawyer” during “Pistola” and topped off the night with a few more songs from the new album. The crowd belted out “Nice to Know You” in unison as the parting piece, fully connected in lyrical catharsis of 20+ years of transformative material from the band.
The encore of “Aqueous Transmission” made hearts overflow in a zenful reminder of the method and wisdom so loved of Incubus and how that has made their music so timeless – now having spanned almost a quarter of a century. Brandon Boyd, with his mindful vocals and meditative howls, and Mike Einzinger on the Chinese Pipa, flowed through the final song leaving Austin with a stellar experience they would truly be fit to appreciate.
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SETLIST: Jimmy Eat World
1. Sure and Certain
2. Bleed American
3. Big Casino
4. I Will Steal You Back
5. Lucky Denver Mint
6. Futures
7. Pass the Baby
8. Pain
9. Work
10. Hear You Me
11. Always Be
12. Get Right
13. A Praise Chorus
14. Sweetness
15. The Middle
SETLIST: Incubus
1. Love in a Time of Surveillance
2. Warning
3. Nimble Bastard
4. Anna Molly
5. Glitterbomb
6. Megalomaniac
7. The Warmth
8. Wish You Were Here (w/Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here” outro)
9. State of the Art
10. Pardon Me
11. Drive
12. Undefeated
13. Redefine
14. Sick Sad World
15. Pistola (w/exerpt from Rush’s “Tom Sawyer”)
16. Loneliest
17. Stellar
18. No Fun
19. Make No Sound in the Digital Forest
20. Nice to Know You
Encore
21. Aqueous Transmission