Homecoming weekend always means alumni rolling into town, but these alumni just happen to rock, too.
In fact, they’re still the biggest name in the music business to come out of Omaha.
That’s right — 311 is coming home this weekend. OK, technically it’s across the river at the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs, but that’s close enough — even Tim Mahoney calls it home.
“It’s a homecoming for me and the whole band,” the 311 lead guitarist said in a recent interview with the Daily News. “It’s a show we really take pride in. It’s a special place.”
311 returns to the Omaha area every year, but Mahoney said it’s usually a festival-type atmosphere. This show, he said, is as authentic as it gets — lights, sound, equipment and great set lists.
“Over the summer, the focus is more on the new record and radio singles,” said Mahoney, who still has a home in Omaha. “This tour, we’re preparing more for it and working on songs we haven’t played in a while, so there will be a lot more album tracks and songs people haven’t heard in a while.”
Mahoney said the energy level will be different, too, because it’s an inside venue.
311 caters its set list more to the vibe of the outside stage while on summer tour, Mahoney said, but this show will have more amplified energy.
It’s the high-energy songs that tend to work better in amplified venues, he said, which means 311 will focus more on rocking out at this performance.
“If you saw us in the summer, it’s a different set list. And if you haven’t seen us in a while, it’ll be a new experience for you,” he said.
Formed in 1988, 311 found success with its mixture of alternative rock, hip hop, funk and reggae, quickly taking the band from the middle of the country to the mainstream. “The Blue Album” in 1995 brought 311 to the forefront of rock music with hits “Down” and “All Mixed Up.”
Since 1995, no 311 album has failed to reach the top 15 of Billboard’s Top 200 chart, including “Uplifter.” The newest 311 album is also the highest debut of an album, proving the band keeps getting better and better.
“We’re really fortunate we have a core group of fans who support us and allow us to continue making the music,” Mahoney said. “We’re a blue-collar band. We make a living by playing live every night, and that’s my favorite thing to do.”
Just a handful of bands that broke through in the mid-1990s are even still touring, much less recording new music. But Mahoney said that despite selling 8.5 million albums and not having a single fail to chart in more than a decade, he still doesn’t feel secure in his career.
Saying there are always better songs to be written and room to hone their musical skills, Mahoney said 311 is always striving to make the next project the best, not wanting to be one of those bands with its debut ranking as catalog highlight.
“Everyone feels as blessed as I do to play music,” he said. “We have been fortunate because I know a lot of bands, a lot of really great bands, can’t keep it together because they can’t get along or can’t make ends meet financially because it’s harder and hard to play music for a living. I think as long as we’re getting along, our communication is good and we enjoy each other’s songwriting, I think we’ll always play.”
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