The word Hoobastank has many different meanings to many different people. But most of all, when someone hears Hoobastank, they think of a generous, good-looking, down-to-earth band that has swept the rock world by storm.

Ok, so maybe the name could use a little work, but if one looks past that, he/she can smell the stardom all over these L.A. based newbies. Truly they aren't a new band at all. They started over seven years ago in Los Angeles along side fellow rockers Linkin Park and Incubus.

Concert Hype jumped at the chance to interview and review Hoobastank when we heard they would be playing the Civic Tour with headliners Incubus during the spring. The show was played at the U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids, IA to a crowd about half the size of their usual shows. Ah, the joys of Midwest concert going.

There were only two bands performing, Hoobastank opening, and Incubus closing. (Hoobastank will be on their own headlining tour this summer when they come back from touring in Europe.)

Hoobastank had the smallest set in the world. Even as openers, they deserved a bigger time slot" STYLE="text-decoration: none; border-bottom: medium solid green;" HREF="http://search.targetwords.com/u.search?x=5977|1||||slot|AA1VDw">slot for their break-through self-titled debut album to be heard. Their set only flirted with the edge of their musical capabilities. Five or six songs, only twenty minutes worth of "Hoobastank interventions," didn't satisfy my hunger for their meaningful lyrics and creative guitar riffs.

As for the mosh pit, let's just say that it was completely capable to take good close pictures without the God forsaken photo pass. That's partially the crowd's fault, though. Beginning the concert with Hoobastank's head-banger special "Pieces" should have brought a little push and shove to the floor viewers. C'est la vie! Life will go on.

The pictures we took were rather wondrous. And I must say that they really surprised me with their great stage presence. And I'm not saying this for the guys (even though they told us to!) HOOBASTANK WAS THE BEST THING EVER.

Incubus played also for about three hours. A fan, but not a die-hard fan, could easily get sick of their marijuana-induced continuous slides and arpeggios. I am one of these fans. The band was too high, and the concert was too long. I don't understand why they didn't split the time in half between the two bands instead of so many Incubus songs, which in my opinion all sound the same. At least Brandon Boyd took his shirt off and sang to our side of the stage during the 30 minute long encore.

By the end of the show my feet hurt from standing with no support from my fellow moshers. I think if the drunk girl behind me would have yelled one more out-of-tune lyric in my ear I would have stabbed her with my illegally-worn spiked collar, or flashed the hell out of her with my stupid anti-zoom camera.

The show was good, though. There's no denying that.

Review by: Gabby