“311 Live in Concert New Orleans 3-11 Day 2004”
By terri sapp
Every year for the past few years, 311 has come together with their fans in New Orleans at the UNO Lakefront Arena to celebrate 311 Day, March 11. The original idea was that they would play 3 hours and 11 minutes worth of the best 311 you could hope for. That was fine and good at first, but this year, on March 11, 2004, these boys went above and beyond the call of duty, playing over four hours (64 songs to be exact) of some of (amazingly enough, not all) the best 311 songs of their time. There are a few songs that I was surprised not to see on the DVD, and a few B-sides and rarities I couldn’t believe they played!
Nick Hexum (vocals and guitar), P-Nut (bass), SA Martinez (vocals and DJ), Chad Sexton (drums), and Tim Mahoney (guitar) have really topped themselves with this “311, Live in Concert” DVD. Just when I thought they couldn’t do it any better, they finally give me my favorite song live (they haven’t played “Running” at all 40 of the shows I’ve attended!) along with 63 other wonderful live songs…AND on DVD!!! If that weren’t enough, we even get a bit of the behind-the-scenes with the band and their fans, which is always more interesting when you put 311 fans at a general admission show with limited room on the front row.
311 Day is obviously not just any 311 show, but the show of all shows of the year for this group of musical geniuses and their ever dedicated followers (myself included). In 2004, they brought out fire girls, feather fan dancers, jugglers, stilt walkers, big heads, and even Nick’s little brother, Zack, on saxophone on one of their early soundtrack cuts, “Outside.”
By far, the most important and most impressive aspect of the “311 Live in Concert” DVD is the setlist. So, without further ado…Set One; Freak Out, Reconsider Everything, Taiyed, Come Original, Do You Right, Homebrew, Love Song, Jupiter, Eons, Beyond the Gray Sky, Offbeat Bareass, Large in the Margin, Galaxy, Gap, Flowing, Use of Time, Visit, Other Side of Things, Sweet, White Man in Hammersmith Palais, Amber, Paradise (YES! One of my favorite lines from 311 in this song, “I have no fear of death, and no fear of life!”), Life’s Not a Race, Welcome, Applied Science, 8:16 AM, Champagne, Freeze Time, Sever, Stealing Happy Hours, T & P Combo, Cali Soca, My Stoney Baby, Purpose (love this one!), Summer of Love, Seems Uncertain, You Wouldn’t Believe, Lose, Unity, Hydroponic, Feels So Good. Set Two; Creatures (For A While), Lucky, Random, D’yer Mak’er (Led Zepplin! Oh My God!), Running (Favorite, but never heard live!), Starshines, Beautiful Disaster, Juan Bond, Crack the Code, Outside, Don’t Stay Home, Nix Hex, Light Years, Sick Tight, Let the Cards Fall, Right Now, Don’t Dwell, Sometimes Jacks Rule the Realm, All Mixed Up, Omaha Stylee, Down, Who’s Got the Herb, Fuck the Bullshit.
For more information, and to get your hands on a copy of this fan-tastic concert DVD, visit www.311.com.