Incubus @ Sunburst KL, Bukit Kiara Equestrian Club, 15.3.08 - Us vs Them

We defied the sun and rain, we tolerated the excruciating pain in our ears (and eyes) from seeing the sets of the likes of Joe Flizzow, we starved, we thirsted, we endured the cynical stares of fans when we looked annoyed and zombie-fied during the set of others. We were a barricade away from the stage, we thought that was the closest we could get. In a minute or so before Brandon Boyd and boys hit the stage, we saw THEM with tags printed ‘FREELOADER’ or ‘ROCKSTAR’ in bold hanging around their necks. They stood between the barricade and the stage, alongside the balding overweight security men. I don’t care if they are Tom, Dick, or Harry’s friends, some local ‘so-called’ celebrities, or pimply teenagers with well-off parents. I was disappointed, call me cheap-skate if you want to, I have not just spend RM200 just to see some little elite heads popping up and down, have I? I tilted my head to right, and to left, so I could get a view of the band on stage from their shoulder-to-shoulder’s tiny gap. Then this photographer came right in my eyes, with his lady friend who tagged along with a big green ‘MEDIA’ tag around her neck. Clutching a nice hand bag and sporting some fancy heels, she was one of THEM. Then I saw more of them, exactly like her, dressed up nice and clean, not doing anything what a media would do. Now I know what a photographer friend is for, I shall bang my head for not having one myself.

Despite feeling ripped off, Incubus mended my dissatisfaction straight away with their brilliant performance. One hit after another were belted as we sang along to every word. The band played a mixture of older material with some tracks from their latest album ‘Light Grenades’. Brandon Boyd was charming as ever, he indeed aged well, the girls in the crowd could not take their eyes off him, especially after he went topless under the sweltering heat in this region. DJ Kilmore, almost obscured by the turntable on the stage, occasionally came up a little bit and did some awkward dance moves. Ben Kenney, the bassist was putting his magical touch to songs like Vitamin and Megalomaniac that would sound explicitly mundane if lacking his plodding bass lines. Dress in a sweat shirt, drummer Jose Pasillas sure was ready to put out all he might to add some intense drum beats to those tunes. Mike Einziger was rocking out the hooks of the band’s hits, he also played Pipa in Aqueous Transmission, the closing of a three-song encore.

After the set finished, the feeling of disgruntlement and emptiness surged in again. We applaud the effort to bring us a festival, we despise the way we ticket buyers were treated inferior to those free-riders. This is the reality, I shall get numb to this kind of injustice treatment soon. I can’t complain anywhere, can I? Perhaps here. I think I have just contradicted myself, call me a hypocrite.

-Sim-