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Incubus excites pavilion crowd

Alternative rock band Incubus revved up the crowd on Saturday at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion in the Woodlands, performing songs from their latest album, Light Grenades.

Before The Bravery took the stage, alt-country band Simon Dawes performed songs from its album Carnivore. The set was reminiscent of alt-country star Ryan Adams, although the newcomers of Dawes were more lively and performed with enthusiasm to the incoming crowd.

As part of the opening act, the challenge for Dawes was getting the audience to pay attention, and for those who did, the set was an amazing blend of 1950s style rock and sometimes moody lyrics.

Opening act The Bravery didn’t quite manage to get the crowd’s attention and, despite front man Sam Endicott’s antics of throwing the mic stand on stage and tossing around the microphone, the audience was not very enthusiastic. Bassist Mike Hindert was off stage for most of the set and generally appeared sullen while performing. With the recognizable "An Honest Mistake" from their self-titled debut, the audience seemed to be reminded of who the band on stage was.

When California-based Incubus finally took the stage, the band wasted no time and got straight to work getting the audience riled up. Released last November, Light Grenades showed a shift in the band’s focus toward social issues, such as global warming and diamond exploitation in Africa.

Unlike both Simon Dawes and The Bravery, Incubus didn’t take the time telling anecdotes about their songs. The crowd was not disappointed with their performance, which began with "A Kiss to Send Us Off." The rest of the set was upbeat, with frontman Brandon Boyd’s vocals cutting clearly over the noisy audience, although his voice seemed to falter during "Dig." During "Sick Sad Little World," Boyd joined drummer Jose Pasillas on percussion by playing the bongos.

The band also performed some of their more popular songs, such as "Wish You Were Here," which raised several lighters from the crowd; "Megalomaniac," from their previous album A Crow Left of the Murder; and a sobering version of "Drive." Incubus, joined by Simon Dawes’ Taylor Goldsmith on piano, also covered a spirited version of Prince’s "Let’s Get Crazy". Incubus ended the night with a high energy "Stellar" and a mellow version of "Aqueous Transmission" to ease the crowd out of the pavilion.

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