Marquee Theatre
February 22, 2011
Until last night I had never attended a sold out show at the Marquee. I had also never been surrounded by fans chanting any band's name as loudly as the audience of lovable stoners did last night as they waited anxiously for 311 to take the stage. Everyone in the venue was shouting, "Three eleven, three three eleven!" It sounded like the crowd would have collectively swallowed whole anyone wasn't enthusiastic.
311 is one of the most fun bands to watch. SA Martinez rocks back and forth and sways wildly as he raps, and Nick Hexum has as much energy on stage as Chris Martin of Coldplay does when he gets up from the piano. Nick jumped, kicked, flailed, and danced around the stage. It really got people going. Tim is amusing to watch as well -- he seemed to play most of the show with his eyes closed as though he's off in his own little guitar world, but as long as he could produce great sounds, which he did, then it's all good.
The band didn't waste a second by starting off with their loud and heavy hit "Down," and it only took one song for Nick to take off his button-down shirt and get even more comfortable with the crowd. I guess I wasn't the only one who let that good old 311 adrenaline rush get the best of me.
I've seen 311 three or four times before, but I've never heard the band play several songs they did last night, which was a nice change of pace. These guys always make a solid effort to significantly switch up their set list from night to night, which everyone can appreciate.
At every 311 show you go to, the highlight is usually one of three things: your favorite 311 song, the one song you've been dying to hear them play because they haven't played it in a while, or the solos.
For me it has always been the solos. P-Nut was slappin' da bass, and he sure did it well. Chad Sexton's drum set is only second to that of Neil Peart. There's nothing like seeing the group's drum routine, which is why their fans come out to see it time and time again. They do it at every single show. I don't care that P-Nut admitted to me that it's a complete rip-off of Jane's Addiction. In case you couldn't make it, this is the drumming greatness that you missed.
The guys performed a handful of oldies but goodies, which definitely made for a lot of crowd-pleasing hits. The energy reverberating between the band and their fans was immeasurable, and it undoubtedly made for a memorable night for anyone who attended the show.
Critic's notebook:
Last night: 311 at the Marquee Theatre.
Personal bias: Three eleven! Three three eleven! They're one of my favorite bands even though I've only been listening to them for about three years.
The Crowd: I wish there were more female 311 fans. Maybe there are lots of them and they just don't come to the shows. That's their loss. I've taken part in that uneven gender ratio at a 311 concert myself: I once went to a 311 show with nine guys. Last night was a sausagefest, as 311 concerts usually tend to be for whatever reason. Also, stoners enjoy them. You should've seen the guy behind me. He was so high he looked like he didn't know where he was.
Random notebook dump: Not surprisingly, the show was sold out. What was a little surprising was how many other states some of the crowd members came from.
Setlist:
Down
Prisoner
You Wouldn't Believe
Sick Tight
Love Song
Mix It Up
Brodels
All Mixed Up
Running
Applied Science > Chad Sexton's drum solo > group drum routine > Applied Science
Beautiful Disaster
Starshines
From Chaos
Lucky
My Stoney Baby
Don't Stay Home
P-Nut's bass solo
Jackpot
Amber
Feels So Good
Encore:
Mindspin
Creatures (For a While)
