Incubus at Hammerstein Ballroom, NYC, September 16, 2001

I wasn’t sure if I was going to make it to this concert. It was just 5 days following the cowardly 9/11 attacks, and New York City was now a completely different place. Incubus even considered canceling this show, but they decided that life goes on and if anything, this city needs a show like this, right now.

There was so much love in this mosh pit. The crowd at times drowned out the band with “U…S…A” chants. There was such a powerful sense of unity in songs like “The Warmth” and “I Miss You.” There were also nothing but good feelings when the band broke into a cover of the Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back.”

This was a show that needed to happen. The city needed it and we needed it. No Incubus show I have seen since has come close in comparison.

*The video above was taken about a month before, 8/12/01, in Melbourne, Australia. All other videos on this countdown are from the actual show discussed unless otherwise noted.