The lights dimmed. The video screen behind the stage flickered on. First it showed a setting sun and then a moon rose.
And then Incubus hit the stage and blew the crowd away last night at the Bryce Jordan Center.
Launching into "Circles" from last year's Morning View, the band immediately started the show off on the right track. The song, featuring Incubus' famous loud/soft interplay, got the crowd on their feet right away.
"It's like a 15 out of 10," Kristen Sheetz (sophomore-public relations) said of the concert. "It's off the charts."
Vocalist Brandon Boyd bounced around the stage, which was adorned with a couch, chair, end table and lamp, all of which were used midway through the show during a three-song acoustic set.
DJ Chris Kilmore, who hails from Dillsburg, stepped up to his turntables in a Zack Mills jersey and instantly demonstrated what makes Incubus such a unique musical experience.
While other bands might have a DJ as a member, Incubus actually uses theirs to maximum effect as the scratches and samples that Kilmore produced blended outstandingly with the blasting rock the rest of the band sent screaming across the arena.
The hits were there as the band played many rock radio staples like "Drive," "Wish You Were Here," "Warning" and "Pardon Me." But while these songs may have gotten a huge response from the crowd, less well-known songs like "Glass," "A Certain Shade of Green," "Are You In" and "Clean" showed the band at its best. While the radio hits sounded good, it was on these other songs that the band best displayed their musical diversity. Able to play both fast and slow songs with the same intensity and skill, Incubus easily showed why they're near the top of today's rock heap.
Before playing "Glass," Boyd asked how many people in the crowd had seen them before. Greeted with a loud response, he told the audience that he would play the older song for them.
"This was my second time seeing them," Stephanie Blough (freshman-photography and graphic design) said. "It was even better than the first time. Their music is, like, inspirational. It's about real stuff."
Brian Gemino, who has also seen them before, shared a similar sentiment.
"I think over the years they've improved their live performance. Everything's coming out clearly. They get the crowd into it really well."
One obvious setback for the concertgoers was the lack of general admission seating on the floor of the arena. The packed house on the floor could be seen just standing there during much of the concert, due to the lack of room for them to move to the music because of all of the seats, which were seldom in use anyway.
30 Seconds to Mars opened the show. Although the crowd in the arena was sparse at the time, lead singer Jared Leto of My So-Called Life fame was greeted by screaming girls and shouts of "I love you Jared."
Although the band was far from spectacular, they at least managed to prove that they are more than just a cut above most bands fronted by actors turned rockers.
Even though at times during the evening the yelling seemed to be less about the music and more about the poster boy looks of Leto and Boyd, the show was able to steer clear of falling into a boy band spectacle. While not all of the crowd might have been there exclusively for the music, the bands proved that they certainly are more than capable of bringing the house down with rock 'n' roll.
