Omaha, Nebraska's, 311, are nearly impossible to classify musically. They have managed to successfully cross numerous genres from alternative and modern rock to sub-genres of metal, rap, funk, reggae and even jazz fusion. For that reason one can find their fans in most any setting. Each year on March 11th, the band celebrates their fans, and their music with 3-11 day. This year, it was held in Las Vegas, but Treasure Valley residents did not have to wait or travel to get a taste of the celebration.
311 (pronounced, three eleven) rolled into the Boise Knitting Factory last Friday night to an enthusiastic and fully appreciative crowd. Boise fans came alive to hear the band's funky sweet sounds.
The opening act, Tomorrow’s Bad Seeds began the night throwing down some nice soulful reggae tunes and moving the crowd. They managed to blend high energy punk with some excellent reggae. The 311 crowd had no problem enjoying TBS, and it was difficult not to. These guys worked hard and were a lot of fun to watch. They played a nice eight song set, closing it out with “Vices” which was perhaps their best song of the night. If you like The Expendables or Slightly Stoopid, you should definitely enjoy Tomorrow’s Bad Seeds.
And then there was one… one band to rule the night. With a sold out crowd, the air was thick with anticipation. The lights dimmed and the crowd screamed. The first thing to be seen on stage was bassist P-nut’s light-up fret board on his beautiful Warwick bass. These eerie green dots floated about for a few seconds and then the light illuminated the the stage just enough to watch the band walk on stage. One thing I loved about their entrance was how casual it was. They walked on with confidence and without glamour. They knew that everyone there loved their music and that they were going to honor their fans.
The kicked off the set with “Jackpot” from their latest album Uplifter, and the crowd went nuts. Photographer Ben O'Brien was busy dodging crowd surfers coming over the barricade. Perhaps he deserves hazard pay.
Next up was “Sick Tight” and then their most popular song, “Beautiful Disaster.” The atmosphere around this band was absolutely electric and you could not help but move to their music.
Vocalist/Turntablist, Doug 'SA' Martinez was his usual unenergetic sweaty self, spitting rhymes and harmonizing with vocalist Nick Hexum. They played several songs off Uplifter including “Mix it Up” and “India Ink.” Over the course of the two hour set, fans were treated to both new and old 311. Classics like “Come Original” from 1999's Soundsystem and “Down” from their self-titled '95 CD, were great to hear again. Chad Sexton treated the crowd to a tasty drum solo, although he could hardly seen behind his notoriously huge drum kit. After a few more tunes the lights turned the classic amber color and the crowd immediately knew what was coming next. Lighters and cell phones popped out and waved in sync to their hit song “Amber," a sweet reggae tinged love song from 2001's From Chaos album.
“P-nut, beat that thing” and he did just that. The bass solo from P-nut was amazing. I would have come just to see him play that Warwick. After 21 songs the band waved goodbye and strode off stage for a breather. Meanwhile the crowd was so loud screaming for the encore, I was briefly contemplating ear plugs or duct tape for the mouths of the overexcited high school girls behind me directing their screams into my ear canal. I was quite relieved when 311 appeared on stage again and treated us to “Creatures (For a While)” and “Feels So Good” to close the show.
As usual, 311 did not disappoint at all and left the audience with their rock thirst quenched... for the meantime. The Boise Music Examiner highly recommends putting a 311 show on your bucket list and getting out to see Tomorrow’s Bad Seeds when they come around. Stay Prime \m/
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