Two looming tour buses and an impossible semi stood outside The Bottleneck Wednesday night as 311 brought positive vibes, a stadium-sized show and a trunk of funk in the tiny venue. The Omaha quintet, who got it's start by relentlessly touring the Midwest, are on a nationwide tour to promote the group's newly released album, "Transistor." The tour focuses on small venues - mostly intimate theatres to medium-sized clubs - giving the band ample oppurtunity to get close to it's die-hard fans.
The Bottleneck show is the tour's smallest gig, but one the bands insists on, because the club was an early supporter of the group. The show sold out in rocrd time - just under six minutes.
Judging by the audience's reaction, they were all rabid 311 fans. The highly pumped crowd sang along to every word, moshing and pogoing with total abandonment.
The band tore through a fiery set of songs, highlighting material from "Transistor" with plenty of classics thrown in for good measure. The group's mixture of influences - from metal to rap to funk to punk - made for an eclentic, entergized show.
Lead sing Nick Hexum traded lines with rapper and turntable master SA Martinez, while drummer Chad Sexton and bassist P-Nut stayed locked in the groove. Guitarist Tim Mahoney filled out the sound with chicken-scratch funk and sheets of thunderous noise.
The group tore into each number with fervor, barely coming up for air before launching into the next souped-up cut. By the shows midpoint, the walls, the floor, and the crowd were soaked with sweat.
After nearly two hours, the band came our for the encore of "Who's Got The Herb?" (easily the most popular number of the night) and a raucous "Feels So Good," inciting the audience to yell "P-Nut, beat that thing" as the bassist wailed away in a Funkestein frenzy.
311 came to Lawrence to pay back the loyal fans who supported the group from the beginning. Those fans couldn't have asked for more.
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