MANILA, Philippines?Alternative rock band Incubus kept some 10,000 fans in rapture for two hours Sunday night at the Araneta Coliseum.

Vocalist Brandon Boyd, resembling a beach bum walking around in loose rags, let the opening chords at the start to lull the crowd, before leading his band in exhilarating bursts of energy, song after song.

Guitarist Michael Einziger, bassist Ben Kenney and drummer Jose Pasillas provided an atmospheric sound that was dense, tight and enhanced in no small part by DJ Kilmore's sci-fi squeaks and effects.

Incubus music is a hybrid of influences difficult to pin down, especially for one who thought it was grunge with traces of punk, metal and hip hop-as hinted by the screeching and scratching in the DJ mix.

Mayhem and chanting

At one point, Einziger unleashed guitar mayhem, as Kilmore did some fancy turntable exhibitions and Boyd chanted like a Buddhist monk. What the heck, it was overpowering.

The songs have both heart and intelligence. The images in "Wish You Were Here" are sharp, no matter that they seemed straight out of a poetry workshop: "The ocean looks like a thousand diamonds/Strewn across a blue blanket... "

Other titles pique the mind-"Anna Molly" (a wordplay on "anomaly," whispered a lady fan), "Aqueous Transmission," "Megalomaniac"-this last one has raised controversy for its politics.

Everyone in the crowd knew every word in every song. Is it any wonder that the youth are getting their education through music?