![\"\"](\"http://thefrontrowreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/untitled4.bmp\" "\\"Linkin")
![\"\"](\"http://thefrontrowreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/8-200x300.png\" "\\"Incubus\\"")
by Reggie Edwards
The organizers of this year’s Honda Civic Tour weren’t playing around when they set the 2012 lineup. The latest installment of the annual tour features two of the most iconic and prolific rock bands of our time- Linkin Park and Incubus,
Both bands have released highly-anticipated records in the last year, Incubus last fall with
If Not Now, When? And Linkin Park in June with
Living Things, and the front men of each band recently sat down with members of the press to talk about the star-studded tour.
With past tours being more punk and pop-rock oriented with bands such as Blink 182 and My Chemical Romance, this year is one of the heaviest and straight-rock lineups we’ve seen in awhile.
“I think the most special thing about this tour is the fact that you have two headlining bands singing together on one bill, which typically can be kind of hard to do, specifically, because usually when you’re in a position to headline a tour of this kind, you know, there’s only room for one headlining band usually,” says Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington. “So the fact that Incubus gets to come out and perform a full headlining set in full production andLinkinParkgets to come out and perform our full headlining set with personal production and everything is kind of special.
“But also, we kind of don’t really look at what the other artists have done on these tours and kind of go, ‘OK, what do we think we should do?’”Benningtonsays. “You know, we’re just going to go out and do what our fans want from us which is play songs that they’re familiar with and catch up on some on the new music and become familiar with that. So really I think fromLinkinPark’s standpoint, we’re just going to come out and put on the highest-energy show we can. And incorporate as much of the new music as possible.”
Incubus frontman Brandon Boyd added that with two giant rock and roll bands sharing a stage it’s going to be better than any of the bands would do in their own shows.
“It’s two headlining sets, including Mutemath which is going to be a good time as well so it’s almost like a mini-festival, which is amazing,” Boyd says. “Incubus has done a Honda Civic-sponsored tour before. It may have been one of Honda Civic’s first ones, I’m not sure, but that was like, over 10 years ago. And I remember it being really, really great.
“I think the listeners and friends and fans and family who came out to those shows had a really great experience, too,” Boyd says. “I know that we as a band are really looking forward to doing it again this year. And personally, this will be the end of our touring cycle for our newest record, and so we’re looking forward to just making some music and I’m very much looking forward to seeing Linkin Park with my own eyes for the first time since.”
Boyd said the lineup is one that’s been overdue for quite some time and that he can’t wait to get in front of the Linkin Park fans and that the response from just the lineup has been so positive Incubus is chomping at the bit to get the tour started.
“I personally think it’s an occasion that’s kind of long overdue,” Boyd says. “We have a lot of mutual listeners, our bands, and I think that it’s one of those things that once the idea was floated, and we really kind of caught onto it, that it seemed like, ‘Why haven’t we done this yet, type of a thing.’
“Linkin Park has a considerably larger reach than Incubus has had, and I think it’s going to be wonderful for us as a band to play in front of more people,” Boyd jokes. “So we definitely appreciate the opportunity there. But I personally think that it’s just going to be great because of that sort of, because of the carryover between the listeners, you know, there are a lot of Linkin Park listeners who are also Incubus listeners and vice versa. But we’ve never done something like this before. So as far as the feedback is concerned from people around the world-—Incubus has been on tour for the past year—once this tour was announced it’s been overwhelmingly positive and enthusiastic. So I’m really excited for it to get started.”
Benningtoncompared the Honda Civic Tour to the tours he went to when he was a kid, explaining one reason Lollapalooza became important as quick as it did.
“It was because it was the only place that you could go see [The Red Hot] Chili Peppers and Ministry and, you know, Pearl Jam and all these bands play together and Ice Cube,”Benningtonsays. “But there’s no way you were going to see all these bands together, you know? And that’s been the inspiration for modern festivals and I think that the fact that this does kind of feel like a little mini-festival, even though there are only three bands.
“It does have that feeling of something that’s going to be a show that you wanna go see cuz it’s got something special,”Bennington adds. “I’m excited. Honestly I think that, I also hope that our bands can walk away inspired from each other. I’ve always appreciated Incubus for their music and they’re also very good live. I’ve had the chance to pop over and watch them play a couple songs onstage here and there at some festivals throughout our career and they’re a great live band. So I think the energy is going to be really amazing out in the crowd.”
Honda Civic Tour 2012 Dates:
08/11 — Bristow, VA — Jiffy Lube Live*
08/12 — Uncasville, CT — Mohegan Sun Arena*
08/14 — Boston, MA — Comcast Center
08/17 — Camden, NJ — Susquehanna Bank Center
08/19 — Atlanta, GA — Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
08/21 — Detroit, MI — The Palace of Auburn Hills
08/22 — Cincinnati, OH — Riverbend Music Center
08/24 — Chicago, IL — First Midwest Bank Ampitheatre
08/25 — Indianapolis, IN — Klipsch Music Center
08/27 — Dallas, TX — Gexa Energy Pavilion
08/28 — Houston, TX — Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
08/30 — Denver, CO — Comfort Dental Amphitheatre
09/04 — Vancouver — Rogers Arena
09/05 — Tacoma, WA — Tacoma Dome
09/07 — Mountain View, CA — Shoreline Amphitheatre
09/10 — San Diego, CA — Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre
*Linkin Park and Mutemath only
![\"\"](\"http://thefrontrowreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/8.png\" "\\"Incubus\\"")
by Reggie Edwards
The organizers of this year’s Honda Civic Tour weren’t playing around when they set the 2012 lineup. The latest installment of the annual tour features two of the most iconic and prolific rock bands of our time- Linkin Park and Incubus,
Both bands have released highly-anticipated records in the last year, Incubus last fall with If Not Now, When? And Linkin Park in June with Living Things, and the front men of each band recently sat down with members of the press to talk about the star-studded tour.
With past tours being more punk and pop-rock oriented with bands such as Blink 182 and My Chemical Romance, this year is one of the heaviest and straight-rock lineups we’ve seen in awhile.
“I think the most special thing about this tour is the fact that you have two headlining bands singing together on one bill, which typically can be kind of hard to do, specifically, because usually when you’re in a position to headline a tour of this kind, you know, there’s only room for one headlining band usually,” says Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington. “So the fact that Incubus gets to come out and perform a full headlining set in full production andLinkinParkgets to come out and perform our full headlining set with personal production and everything is kind of special.
“But also, we kind of don’t really look at what the other artists have done on these tours and kind of go, ‘OK, what do we think we should do?’”Benningtonsays. “You know, we’re just going to go out and do what our fans want from us which is play songs that they’re familiar with and catch up on some on the new music and become familiar with that. So really I think fromLinkinPark’s standpoint, we’re just going to come out and put on the highest-energy show we can. And incorporate as much of the new music as possible.”
Incubus frontman Brandon Boyd added that with two giant rock and roll bands sharing a stage it’s going to be better than any of the bands would do in their own shows.
“It’s two headlining sets, including Mutemath which is going to be a good time as well so it’s almost like a mini-festival, which is amazing,” Boyd says. “Incubus has done a Honda Civic-sponsored tour before. It may have been one of Honda Civic’s first ones, I’m not sure, but that was like, over 10 years ago. And I remember it being really, really great.
“I think the listeners and friends and fans and family who came out to those shows had a really great experience, too,” Boyd says. “I know that we as a band are really looking forward to doing it again this year. And personally, this will be the end of our touring cycle for our newest record, and so we’re looking forward to just making some music and I’m very much looking forward to seeing Linkin Park with my own eyes for the first time since.”
Boyd said the lineup is one that’s been overdue for quite some time and that he can’t wait to get in front of the Linkin Park fans and that the response from just the lineup has been so positive Incubus is chomping at the bit to get the tour started.
“I personally think it’s an occasion that’s kind of long overdue,” Boyd says. “We have a lot of mutual listeners, our bands, and I think that it’s one of those things that once the idea was floated, and we really kind of caught onto it, that it seemed like, ‘Why haven’t we done this yet, type of a thing.’
“Linkin Park has a considerably larger reach than Incubus has had, and I think it’s going to be wonderful for us as a band to play in front of more people,” Boyd jokes. “So we definitely appreciate the opportunity there. But I personally think that it’s just going to be great because of that sort of, because of the carryover between the listeners, you know, there are a lot of Linkin Park listeners who are also Incubus listeners and vice versa. But we’ve never done something like this before. So as far as the feedback is concerned from people around the world-—Incubus has been on tour for the past year—once this tour was announced it’s been overwhelmingly positive and enthusiastic. So I’m really excited for it to get started.”
Benningtoncompared the Honda Civic Tour to the tours he went to when he was a kid, explaining one reason Lollapalooza became important as quick as it did.
“It was because it was the only place that you could go see [The Red Hot] Chili Peppers and Ministry and, you know, Pearl Jam and all these bands play together and Ice Cube,”Benningtonsays. “But there’s no way you were going to see all these bands together, you know? And that’s been the inspiration for modern festivals and I think that the fact that this does kind of feel like a little mini-festival, even though there are only three bands.
“It does have that feeling of something that’s going to be a show that you wanna go see cuz it’s got something special,”Bennington adds. “I’m excited. Honestly I think that, I also hope that our bands can walk away inspired from each other. I’ve always appreciated Incubus for their music and they’re also very good live. I’ve had the chance to pop over and watch them play a couple songs onstage here and there at some festivals throughout our career and they’re a great live band. So I think the energy is going to be really amazing out in the crowd.”
Honda Civic Tour 2012 Dates:
08/11 — Bristow, VA — Jiffy Lube Live*
08/12 — Uncasville, CT — Mohegan Sun Arena*
08/14 — Boston, MA — Comcast Center
08/17 — Camden, NJ — Susquehanna Bank Center
08/19 — Atlanta, GA — Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
08/21 — Detroit, MI — The Palace of Auburn Hills
08/22 — Cincinnati, OH — Riverbend Music Center
08/24 — Chicago, IL — First Midwest Bank Ampitheatre
08/25 — Indianapolis, IN — Klipsch Music Center
08/27 — Dallas, TX — Gexa Energy Pavilion
08/28 — Houston, TX — Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
08/30 — Denver, CO — Comfort Dental Amphitheatre
09/04 — Vancouver — Rogers Arena
09/05 — Tacoma, WA — Tacoma Dome
09/07 — Mountain View, CA — Shoreline Amphitheatre
09/10 — San Diego, CA — Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre
*Linkin Park and Mutemath only