Concert in your area for Metal, Rock, Reggae, Indie & Alt, and Funk & Soul.
Formed of vocalist/guitarist Nick Hexum, lead guitarist Jim Watson, bassist Aaron “P-Nut” Wills, and drummer Chad Sexton, the band derived their name from the Omaha Police Department’s code for indecent exposure after the band’s original guitarist was arrested for streaking. That guitarist, Jim Watson, departed the group shortly after the band's conception and was replaced by Tim Mahoney. The band began honing their skills, performing in the local area before moving to Los Angeles, California and signing with Capricorn Records in 1991.
During the 1990s, 311 released a string of albums including the well-received “Music” in 1992, “Grassroots” in 1993, and 1995’s eponymously-titled album, otherwise known as “The Blue Album”. The latter peaked at No. 12 on the Billboard 200, helped by the singles “All Mixed Up” and “Down” eventually selling over three million copies in the U.S.
311’s 1996 was consumed by nonstop, relentless touring, which the band showed off with their live home video “Enlarged to Show Detail”. Subsequently the modern rockers released the album “Transistor” in 1997, a platinum selling release, which led to the the album “Live” cataloging 311’s live shows. “Soundsystem” arrived in 1999 before the group switched to label Volcano Records for their sixth studio album “From Chaos”, which was issued in 2001.
The band’s seventh album “Evolver” turned out to be their worst ever performing material in 2003, however went on to release a “Greatest Hits” compilation of hit singles to celebrate over 10 years as a group together. New material arrived in 2005 with the band’s eighth full-length album “Don’t Tread on Me” followed by “Uplifter” in 2009, “Universal Pulse” in 2011, and “Stereolithic” in 2014.
311 - that’s pronounced ‘three-eleven’, for the uninitiated - have to be one of the most sonically-diverse bands ever to sell eight and a half million records (that’s in the U.S. alone). Over the course of eleven records and twenty-five years, they’ve veered between straight-up alternative rock and some more diffuse offshoots thereof; they’ve dabbled in rap and funk, and even reggae, whilst you’ll find some heavier, harder stuff too, if you look closely enough.
Highlight of the calendar year, if you’re a 311 fan (and American) is of course the 11th of March (or 3/11) - 311 day. Over the years, the band have marked it with spectacularly lengthy sets that surely challenge both the legs and attention span of even the most ardent supporter; the current record, set back in 2004, stands at 68. They’re probably not going to be getting close to that when they next tour the UK, but you can expect them to tear through a career-spanning set with little in the way of distractions; frontman Nick Hexum isn’t really one for stage banter. They’re probably one of those bands who are never really going to go looking for a crossover - they’ve got an ardent enough cult fanbase - but the sheer energy of their live shows should be something that most can appreciate, even if they’re perhaps musically a little esoteric for a mainstream audience.
Joeg_67
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