Incubus. Deftones. Red Rocks. 08.24.15

Life is full of choices and opportunities. Sometimes the path forward is clear, while other times you just have to trust your gut. There was a time when I was on the road to a career in journalism. My dream was to write for Rolling Stone Magazine. If I couldn’t achieve that lofty goal, I thought I would switch gears and try my hand at being an A&R Rep. The road had other plans for me though. As they say, the best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry. In my case, the alternate course ended up leading me in the right direction. Technology was my way forward. In fact, it was THE way forward. Technology not only provided me with a stable career, but it also saved me from irrelevance. There are many people to blame for the current state of Rolling Stone, but the #1 culprit is technology. The advent of the World Wide Web made most music publications worth less than the paper they were printed on – especially when those publications completely lost touch with reality like Rolling Stone did. The choice to study the OSI Model (instead of journalism) afforded me the ability to pursue my love of live music, while also making a living. And the choice to sharpen my personal skills (instead of learning how to extract information from people) earned me a technology sales position and the freedom to write whenever I want to. I was able to find the perfect balance between work, life and art. As for the A&R gig, I think I dodged a bullet there as well. Back when I started going to shows on a regular basis, I would have put my money on Butt Trumpet and Phunk Junkeez over Deftones and Incubus. So obviously I didn’t have the vision I might have thought I had.

The internet has proved that the human element of A&R has largely been replaced by blogs and social media, but it still baffles me how some bands lose favor with their fans based on market (and fashion) trends, while others seem to never go out of style – even as their peers go bankrupt. Deftones have always been one of those bands who have maintained a solid base despite changing scenery. The first time I saw them perform live, they were sandwiched between a bunch of punk, hardcore and ska acts on the first Warped Tour. Six months later they were opening for Anthrax. They were branded nu metal, and then alternative metal, but they always managed to avoid the stigma of bands like Limp Bizkit, Papa Roach and Linkin Park. Nothing against any of those bands (to each their own), but none of them have been able to maintain the level of integrity (or cool factor) that Moreno, Carpenter and Cunningham have held onto over the past 20+ years. Very few bands have been able to avoid being pigeonholed into certain fleeting scenes the way Deftones have. Last night they proved that their longevity has nothing to do with A&R or social media — it’s all about their sound and stage presence. Great bands are great not because of what they look like, or what decade they sold the most records in, or how many “rock” journalists want to interview them. They are great because of their unique, timeless sound. Deftones brought that sound (and energy) to Red Rocks last night, and it was the missing piece to bridge the gap between the dance-punk of Death from Above 1979 and the arena-sized alt-rock of Incubus.

With autumn around the corner, and a sold-out crowd, it was the perfect evening to get rowdy on the Rocks. So after a short, but impressive set from the young Los Angeles duo, The Bots, and an extremely loud, unhinged performance from Toronto’s DFA1979 (seeing a drummer sing is always insane to me), Moreno and crew were greeted by a cauldron of chaos boiling over between the two monoliths as they opened the set with “Diamond Eyes”. When they continued on with another selection from that album, I couldn’t help but be distracted by the frame around the stage. I’m not sure what it was supposed to be (maybe a building with windows?), but all it did was block the full images from the large LED screen behind them. Lucky for us, Deftones were more than capable of overcoming any distractions, so the stage props were all but forgotten as they took us back a couple decades for “Be Quiet and Drive” and “My Own Summer”. “Look at this fucking crowd!” Having played numerous shows at the venue, it might as well have been Moreno’s first time on that stage. He was sporting a Morrissey t-shirt and a guitar with Eazy-E’s face stuck to it, and as he led the five-piece band through an incredible triple play from White Pony, the groovy metal rang true between the rocks. So many of the best elements of my generation were represented all at once. As I looked at the thousands of screaming faces around me, I realized they ranged in age from preteens to senior citizens…proving that good music really cannot be held within the confines of a single generation.

After highlighting a couple tracks from their latest album, the band dedicated the “next three and a half minutes to blowing the fuck up” as they ripped through “When Girls Telephone Boys” like a September hurricane. The sonic storm couldn’t stop the beach balls from flying through the air. It did nothing to curb the “smoking and drinking” on this particular Monday night in Morrison either. It was during “Passenger” (hold the Maynard) that I started to feel sorry for Incubus though. Even my friend, who was specifically there to see the headliners, leaned over during “Change (In the House of Flies)” and said “good luck Incubus!” Deftones were literally laying waste to the entire venue, so it was almost a merciful act when they left the stage just before 9:00pm. But they didn’t do so before taking us all the way back to that first show in ’95 with the rap-metal stylings of “Engine No 9”. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t glad they have evolved from that sound over the years, but I’d also be lying if I said it wasn’t great to see them pull it off after all this time.

The first time I saw Incubus, at Soma in San Diego, they were opening for 311. The second time was at the same venue, opening for Sublime, less than a month later. They were a funky metal(ish) band back then. I liked them enough to buy their Fungus Amongus tape, but not enough to buy their mushroom t-shirt. I predicted Sublime would have a long, prosperous career, but I didn’t think Incubus would ever make it beyond Southern California. Bradley Nowell was dead less than six months after that show, but Brandon Boyd, Mike Einziger and Dirk Lance would end up on world-wide tours, supporting radio-friendly, double-platinum albums chock-full of #1 hits. I quit listening to the radio well before Make Yourself and Morning View were released, but only the deaf could have avoided songs like “Drive”, “Pardon Me”, “Nice To Know You” and “Stellar”. Incubus became a respectable chart-topping band that barely resembled what was represented on their first albums. I honestly never really followed them, and I kind of assumed it was Deftones who filled Red Rocks last night, but when the giant clock hit 0:00 and the band revealed themselves with “Wish You Were Here”, I realized they were completely capable of the headlining slot.

Incubus, like Deftones before them, decided to use their own visuals rather than rely on the Rocks. Unless you have some extremely elaborate stage rig (see Slipknot), I think it’s a mistake to conceal the natural backdrop, but the band’s flamboyant use of abstract symbols and laser lights fit their music well. Incubus can still get a little heavy and funky, but overall they spend the majority of their time delivering the songs that kept the radio waves alive in the early aughts. The swirling lights danced in unison with the big rock songs, as the audience sang along as if they were alone in the shower, rather than among thousands in the greatest venue in the country. I was surprised when the band opened with one of their biggest songs, but as Boyd took us on a journey of sight and sound (and ballad and burner), I was shocked each time one hit was followed by another. I had literally forgot all about “Pardon Me” until they fired it up toward the end of the set. I had screwed up my back earlier in the day, and I was fighting a cold, but nothing could stop me from joining the collective consciousness as we all helped to make the song something so much bigger than it actually was. “So pardon me, while I burst into flames!” There were exactly zero music snobs in the crowd during that particular track.

The set continued on in that fashion through songs old and new. They proudly presented their latest singles, “Absolution Calling” and “Trust Fall”…they took us back as far as S.C.I.E.N.C.E. with “Vitamin”…they played the hits and they played a few deeper cuts. But they decided to leave their psychopsilocybin days back in that other realm – back in that place where they were just a group of guys bumming around, eating mushrooms and opening for whoever would have them. And that’s ok. Because they are a much different band now. They are the type of band who can sell-out Red Rocks. They are the type of band who can bring people from all walks of life (and all generations) out to sing along with songs that were once considered ‘alternative’. Incubus will never be one of my favorite bands, but I appreciate them for what they are. I appreciate that they rocked the hell out of Red Rocks last night. I appreciate that they brought me back to a time I had forgotten. I also appreciate that they brought Deftones, Death from Above 1979 and The Bots along with them. I can’t think of anywhere else I would have rather been on a Monday night in late August.

Deftones:
Diamond Eyes
Rocket Skates
Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away)
My Own Summer (Shove It)
You’ve Seen the Butcher
Sextape
Feiticeira
Digital Bath
Knife Prty
Tempest
Swerve City
When Girls Telephone Boys
Passenger
Change (In the House of Flies)
Headup
Engine No. 9

Incubus:
Wish You Were Here
Anna Molly
Circles
Absolution Calling
Are You In?
Vitamin
Trust Fall
In the Company of Wolves
Nice to Know You
Here in My Room
Sick Sad Little World
Pardon Me
Love Hurts
Megalomaniac
Warning
Drive
A Crow Left of the Murder