all photos courtesy of jamie butler, taken at the austin, tx show.

the last time i caught incubus was on the light grenades tour in september of 2007. i left satisfied, but incredibly disappointed at the setlist. while i liked a handful of songs off of light grenades, it just wasn’t the right album for me. then came monuments and melodies, their inevitable greatest hits collection. if there ever was a chance to hear a great deal of old material, it’d be on the tour supporting this release.

in any case, houston had inclement weather all afternoon, so it was pretty much factored into the equation that the lawn at the woodlands pavilion would either be muddy or soaking wet. after parking at the venue, we were told by “authorities” to stay in our cars as a precaution to a probably hailstorm headed our way. so we parking lot pimped for a while, and would eventually make our way towards the venue.

rest of the recap after the jump.

-grizzly

all photos courtesy of jaime butler, taken at the austin, tx show on 8-19-09

there really wasn’t much waiting as we walked in at about 9 p.m. and the opening band, the duke spirit was just finishing up. they didn’t particularly sound too interesting, so i wasn’t sweating it in the least.

incubus eventually came out around 9:30 p.m. and pretty suppressed my appettite for make yourself, opening with “pardon me.” the dudes came out swinging and kept the between song and crowd banter to a minimum, belting out ‘hits.’ i mean, only a few songs in, and it was pretty apparent that the show was by all means a greatest hits support tour. i read somewhere that the band has been switchin’ up setlists the entire tour, having about 60 songs rehearsed and ready to go. always a sign of a great tour. (ed note: unless you’re saves the day – and your 70 song master setlist is heavy in under the boards and every shitty song you’ve released after the year 2001)

all photos courtesy of jaime butler, taken at the austin, tx show on 8-19-09

fans of morning view (see: grizzly) would’ve been more than satisfied with the setlist. the band churned out seven songs off morning view, including my personal favorite, “just a phase.” they also closed out the set with “aqueous transmission,” pipas abound. fans of s.c.i.e.n.c.e., however, wouldn’t be as enthused about the setlist. incubus seemingly ignored it, along with a crow left of the murder. i’m also surprised they didn’t play their newest single, “black heart intertia,” too.

all photos courtesy of jaime butler, taken at the austin, tx show on 8-19-09

other than that, my main grief comes with the encore. coming back on the encore with a b-side (“punchdrunk”) is never a good idea, especially in a crowd where a nostalgic hit single would be a prime choice. then to follow that with the title track from light grenades? come on, fellas. this would’ve been a prime opportunity to pump out a jam like “sick, sad little world” or even a single/fan favorite like “the warmth,” or “A CERTAIN SHADE OF GREEN.” i all-caps that because i had been yearning to hear that song all night, and never got what i wanted. they did end the night with a cover of prince’s “let’s go crazy,” which was a treat.

all photos courtesy of jaime butler, taken at the austin, tx show on 8-19-09

the crowd was as typical as you’d expect. bros throwing back brewskies with their other bros, singing off key and yelling during the slow songs to where i couldn’t really hear over the chitter-chatter of how drunk this bro is, etc. in short, it was a bunch of these guys. other than that, the weather was really nice, considering it was a summer’s night in houston after rainfall. it was cool and breezy, nowhere close to being hotter than 80 degrees.

all photos courtesy of jaime butler, taken at the austin, tx show on 8-19-09

completely happy with the turnout of the show, though. such a great list from a band i’ve been listening to since i was 11 years old. the near two-hour set was an easy way to get your $30 worth, and i’ll probably be at all of their shows until they call it quits.

all photos courtesy of jaime butler, taken at the austin, tx show on 8-19-09

setlist:

pardon me
nice to know you
anna molly
stellar
megalomaniac
circles
love hurts
just a phase
drive (acoustic)
make yourself (acoustic)
dig (piano/acoustic)
under my umbrella
are you in?
oil & water
quicksand
kiss to send us off
wish you were here
aqueous transmission

encore:

punchdrunk
light grenades
let’s go crazy (prince cover)

-grizzly