For music fans, the ‘90s were like a chameleon. The decade started with the blown-out hair rock from the likes of Poison, and ended with the invasion of boy bands and more bubblegum pop stars.
While many other genres were introduced during the ‘90s, two of the decade’s most appreciated acts, 311 and Sublime, have been embraced by the public well beyond their heyday and the subsequent pop takeover. To further prove the bands’ music perseverance, the two have joined forces for a fiery summer tour, which included a near-capacity stop at the Bethel Woods Center in Bethel, New York Monday, July 25.
Taking the stage around 7, Sublime with Rome – as it’s now known after a lawsuit from the estate of late original frontman Bradley Nowell prevented the trio from touring as ‘Sublime’ – hit fans with a tight “Panic,” the lead single from its newly released album ‘Yours Truly.’ Although the trio – Rome Ramirez on guitar and vocals, Bud Gaugh on drums, and bassist Eric Wilson – delivered a half dozen cuts from the new album, the band realized and respected that most fans were there to revisit the music that helped define a generation.
With energetic runs through fan-favorites like “Date Rape,” “Smoke Two Joints,” and “Wrong Way,” it was nearly impossible to find someone who wasn’t dancing during the 70-minute set. Having the music make people get up and dance while giving a feel for life in the Long Beach region of California may have been one of the most appealing aspects of the original lineup, and the new version is doing a fine job in carrying on that tradition.
After grabbing the audience with the old cuts, the trio managed to do one of the hardest things in music: keep the crowd dancing with new material. Tracks like “Lovers Rock” and “Same Old Situation,” have the same ska-funk sound that Gaugh and Wilson have built a career on. And Rome, sounding almost too eerily like Nowell, is the perfect choice to make the outfit whole.
However, the biggest pops of the night occurred during the older cuts like a spot-on take of its cover of the Grateful Dead classic “Scarlet Begonias,” which included Nowell’s original rap about life following a band on the road. On other classics such as “April 29, 1992,” “Badfish,” and the original lineup’s Number One hit “What I Got,” you could go deaf from the mutual screaming of 15,000 rabid fans reliving its younger days. After a brief break, the trio returned with a blistering version of its reggae-fused hit “Santeria,” which served as the perfect ending to a nearly-perfect set.
Following a half-hour break, the funk/rock/alternative/reggae collective 311 took the stage for a ferocious 20-song set, which kicked off with a rousing version of the crowd favorite “Beautiful Disaster.” Much like Sublime with Rome, 311 – Nick Hexum, S.A. Martinez, P-Nut, Tim Mahoney and Chad Sexton – brought out material from its new album ‘Universal Pulse.’ Early in the set, the lead single “Sunset In July” proved that the band never lost touch with its almost rap/rock roots.
Other rap/rock bands of the time, like Limp Bizkit, have lost its staying power, but the music and the message of 311 have always continued to thrive and elevate the band to new thresholds, like its headlining status today.
But, like any good live act, the Omaha, Nebraska outfit realizes where its fans hearts are at: the older material. And like any good live act, they didn’t disappoint. Ripping through cuts like “Come Original,” “All Mixed Up,” “My Stoney Baby,” and “Amber,” 311 kept the fans out of the seats and sent them into a dancing euphoria, with its mix of funk and rock, interspersed with a trippy light show.
After ending the main set with the new “Time Bomb,” before launching into its early-era Number One hit “Down,” the band encored with a fitting “Who Got the Herb?,” followed by “Creatures (For A While).”
If this tour can prove anything, it’s a wake-up call to people who remember the 90’s as nothing more than a decade full of imposter boy bands and wannabe pop stars. Yes, they were a huge part of the decade, but where are most (not all) of them now? Surely not filling amphitheatres like Sublime With Rome and 311. Then again, that was the 90’s, and things change.
And the beat goes on…
http://www.timesleader.com/pittstondispatch/columnists/omalley/311_and_Sublime_prove_they_rsquo_ve_survived_the_test_of_time_08-06-2011.html
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