Incubus explores new sound

MANILA, Philippines - Incubus has enjoyed immense popularity and success since it was formed in the early ‘90s by four young and accomplished musicians who started playing together while in high school in California.

For the next 20 years, the band took the music world by storm with its unique and innovative sound that featured an eclectic mix of elements from diverse genres and styles that ultimately became rock standards and catapulted the group to the top.

The Incubus fever will sweep the local music scene when the internationally-acclaimed rock band visits Manila to perform at a major concert on July 28 at the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao, Quezon City.

The show, dubbed as Incubus Live In Manila!, is the Manila leg of the Asian segment of the group’s world tour geared to promote its new studio album, If Not Now, When?, which was recently released.

The18-month concert series, which kicked off with shows last July 15 in Sta. Barbara and July 16 in San Diego (both in California) will also take the band to other Asian destinations, including Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Mt. Fuji (Japan) and Jisan Valley (South Korea) before returning to the US for performances in Honolulu, Denver and Kansas City.

The one-night-only musical presentation from Ovation Productions will delight fans of one of the top rock bands in the ‘90s, whose string of chart-topping albums and singles has earned for it great critical acclaim and commercial success.

Among its best-selling albums were Fungus Amongus, S.C.I.E.N.C.E, Make Yourself, Morning View, A Crow Left Of The Murder, Light Grenades and If Not Now, When?, while its No. 1 singles included Drive, Megalomaniac, Anna Molly and Love Hurts.

Incubus was formed in 1991 in Calabasas, California by vocalist Brandon Boyd, lead guitarist Mike Einziger, drummer Jose Pasillas and bassist Alex Katunich, who began playing while they were studying in the 10th grade.

Its early years were marked by the release of its 1995 debut album, Fungus Amongus, followed two years later by its second album, S.C.I.E.N.C.E., which sold over 100,000 copies without the support of radio or television exposure.

 By this time, turntablist Gavin “DJ Lyfe” Koppell had joined the band.

 Incubus gained mainstream recognition when it started branching out creatively through its third album, Make Yourself, which was released in October of 1999. The album turned platinum (1,000,000 copies sold) and achieved wider popularity with the release in January of 2001 of the fourth single from it, Drive.

The single became a huge success and enabled the band to break into the mainstream as it climbed to the top of the Modern Rock charts, eventually hitting the No. 1 spot before reaching the top of the Billboard 100 singles chart.

Incubus attained the highest-ever placement for its recording with Morning View, its fourth full-length major label album, released in October of 2001 and which debuted on the Billboard Top 200 at the No. 2 spot (266,000 copies sold on its first week).

   The album featured as first single Wish You Were Here, which opened at No. 2 on the Modern Rock charts in August of 2001 and consistently remained among the Top 10 on Billboard’s Modern Rock charts at No. 2, while Drive stayed at No. 48 on the Hot 100 chart.

Incubus broke for the first time into the Billboard charts when its sixth album, Light Grenades, debuted at No. 1 on the charts in November of 2006 and received a gold certification in the US.

Another milestone in the band’s musical career was the release in June of 2009 of its first greatest hits album, Monuments and Memories, which opened at No. 5 on the Billboard 200, making it the band’s fourth album to reach the Top 5 on the Billboard 200.

The release of Monuments and Memories was accompanied by an extensive tour that took the band across the US, Japan and Canada.

Incubus recently completed its seventh album, If Not Now, When?.

As it marks two decades in the music and entertainment business, Incubus stands out for its outstanding record distinguished by the great critical and commercial success it has achieved for its exceptional collection of musical works.

As a musical trend-setter, it has been recognized for its creative and innovative talent for utilizing elements from a variety of genres and styles, including alternative rock, heavy metal, electro, funk, funk metal, jazz, hip-hop, new metal, rap metal, techno and techno hop.

The band has also used in its music a wide variety of instruments not traditionally associated with rock music, including adjembe, sitar, didgeridoo and bongos in many of its earlier tracks and during live performances, as well as a pipa in the song, Aqueous Transmission.

Aside from Brandon, Mike and Jose, other members of Incubus are Ben Kenney and Chris Kilmore.

(Incubus Live In Manila! at the Araneta Coliseum on is produced by Ovation Productions in cooperation with RJ 100.3 FM, Talk TV, 2nd Avenue, Diva niversal, Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge. It is also supported by The Philippine Star, BusinessWorld, The Rockwell Club, EDSA Shangri-La Manila, 97.9 Home Radio, Mellow 94.7, 105.1 FM Crossover, dwBR 104.3 and OptimaSignsolutions.

 Ticket prices are patron (101-standing) — P6,000; patron (103-standing) — P5,500; patron (seating) — P6,500; lower box (reserved, seating) — P6,500; lower box (reserved, seating) — P4,500; upper box A (reserved, seating) — P3,000; upper box B — P1,500; general admission — P750. For details, call Ticketnet at 911-5555.)