Incubus in Concert! (“Unfurl” / “Shiny”)

Unfurl / Shiny

I’ll reiterate what I said last night, “OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG!” Watching Incubus in concert last night was so very very awesome. I think it’s the third time I’ve seen them in concert? So good.

This post might get a little meander-y, as I want to touch on two components of my experience last night. Gonna “long short” it every chance I get, though. 😉 Let’s see how this unfurls… *gag*

So, my partner’s co-worker friend said to her a few months ago, “You wanna go to Incubus?” Is there any acceptable answer besides, “Yes!”? I really don’t think so… Got the new album, 8, out of it, too. Ermagerd… So, last night we walk from a friend’s apartment to Shoreline Amphitheater for the show. Great walk, great conversation, great people. Get into the venue, grab something to drink, get a little nibble, and find our seats. Perfect seats, by the way. Not so close to the stage that we get blasted out, right on the aisle so our view is less disrupted by random people’s heads and clouds of marijuana smoke. Just, perfect.

We watch Jimmy Eat World, take some selfies, I send a note via Facebook to an old professor from college that works local shows as a roadie (HE’S A TOTAL BOSS), and my partner posts the selfies to her own FB account. Five minutes after Jimmy Eat World finishes their set, I notice someone talking to a security guide at the bottom of our section.

“Holy crap! That’s my brother!”

I go bounding down the steps. “Hey, just who I was looking for.”

Apparently, he has seen the selfie, deduced where we were in the venue, and was asking the security guy how close he was to narrowing down our seats. WTF?! He’s a freaking detective…

Now, my brother and I haven’t always gotten along, and we don’t exactly talk a lot, but I am just so excited to see him! I give him a big bear hug over the chain separating the sections. My partner has walked down behind me, gives him a hug, and we chat for a few minutes.

“Oh, is your wife here?”
“No, she can’t stand this.”
Blah blah, etc.
“Oh yeah, I bought extra seats and sold them off. There are still a bunch of seats near me.”

At this point, the security guy breaks into our conversation.

“If you want them to sit with you, I can escort them down after Incubus starts.”

WTF?!?!?! Really?!
(My brother’s seats are arguably better than ours, even if ours are perfect… More perfect? *wince*)

“You can text each other, right?”
“Absolutely.”
“We’re with friends.”
“Uh… *sharp breath in*”
“They’ll understand.”
“Eh…”

A little more gabbing, and we hug, wave, and go back to our seats.

The show starts a little bit later, and — well, just look:

If you can’t read Brandon’s shirt, it says:

eye
fuck
on
the
first
date
👁

I tried to get a good shot, but he was just moving so damn much. 😉

A few songs into the set, it’s clear my partner has gotten cold feet about ditching our friends. My brother and I text back and forth a bit, settle on “No,” and enjoy watching the show where we are.

Things I love about Incubus (I’ll keep it brief):

• They know how to put on a show
  • They know how to build a set list (Holy crap, so good…)
  • They know how to play with dynamics — sonically, visually, thematically
  • Their live mix was impeccable, just stellar
• Their lyrics are so fascinating
  • Even when it’s a heavy topic, there’s a bright side
  • I don’t think they are all from this planet…
• They seem like genuinely good people

I haven’t stood up for a whole set when a seat is available in a long time. Granted, I sat for a short couple minutes, but the performance was so good, I just kept shouting and singing. I was freaking exhausted today… If you saw the timestamp on last night’s post, you understand…

Brandon ended the show by saying, “Fuck fascism, promote peace.”

Well, I’m paraphrasing… He used a different word than “promote,” but I can’t remember it. I think “promote” might sound better due to alliteration… But I digress…

It was a great night, one for which I am very grateful. It was so good to randomly see my little brother like that. We played in a band together in high school. We both love rock bands from the ‘90s. I bet he was singing his lungs out, too.

Serendipity, and the people in our lives that make it possible.

serendipity (n): the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way

What that definition doesn’t say is, “because of the people involved.” I don’t want to forget that last part. I have never consciously experienced a “development of events” that was happy or beneficial without it involving people, either people I’m already with or people with whom I interact.

I’m desperate to wax poetic, but I’ll leave you with this:

Thank you. Thank you thank you thank you thank you.

I am grateful for every word read, every “like,” every follow. Specific shout-out to Bela. Your likes and comments on my early posts got me excited to see what you’d say about whatever I wrote next.

Good night, Frameshifters!
– Ryan

P.S. As I press “Publish” on this post, I’m listening to “Undefeated” by Incubus from 8. If you haven’t heard it, I really think you should check it out.

P.P.S. Oops… The track changed to “State of the Art” while I was putting in the final edit. Also super good. 🙂