Variety provides plenty of spice at concert by 311 (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

It's a tribute to just how trendy the hybridization of pop that a band like 311 can draw on four or five genres at once and come away sounding exactly the way you'd expect a commercial alternative rock band to sound in the age of one world, one music, one record collection.

They hit the stage rapping to heavy guitars last night at the Coca-Cola Star Lake Ampitheatre, treating the crowd of 9,349 to an opening block of "Hive," "Freak Out," and "Misdirected Hostility."

It was all very Red Hot Chili Peppers without an actual tune to hang a groove on until they dipped into the title track of their latest effort, "Transistor." It got an odd beat that you really can't dance to (at least at first), but the song is a well-deserved hit boasting some of the band's most accessible hooks, from the opening riff to the slow reggae ending.

It's hard to imagine Nick Hexum, a white guy, pick up a Jamacian accent from his parents or friends growing up in suburban Nebraska. Still, it was very effective in pulling the newer, more reggae-inspired material over. He credits the Clash to turned him onto reggae as a child, and it showed on the two most intriguing cuts they played from their newer album, "Light Years" and "Prisoner."

"All Mixed Up," a stand-out from the band's self-titled breakthrough, built from a Red Hot Chili Peppers funk-guitar groove to a lazy feel good chorus as a disco ball dropped from the ceiling and splashing the crowds with streams of light. A heavier hit from their last album, "Down" drew the biggest response of the evening.

The set was a mix of hip-hop, metal, reggae, disco, funk, and arena rock (on the drum solo anyway). There was even a point in which the guitarist, Timothy J. Mahoney, appeared to be channeling Jerry Garcia. There wasn't a whole lotta soloing going on, though Mahoney and Hexum did a cool twin-guitar lead on another reggae cut from the new one, "Beautiful Disaster".

Hexum didn't have much to say, but when he did talk, he knew just what to say to whip up the crowd into a frenzy, inviting them all jump up to the beat together.