Concert Sutra Celebrates Transistor with 311

by terri sapp

Photographs by Leah Yetter

© Concert Sutra, All Rights Reserved

click photos for photo gallery

I can remember the very day, August 7, 1997, when 311 released their most experimental album to date, Transistor.  I rushed to the local music store in Macon, Georgia (I was finishing up in college), bought a couple of copies (one of which is still in the wrapper), and cuddled up with my CD player.  I pulled the lyrics booklet out, and pushed play.  From beginning to end, I read along with the music and was blown away.  Up to this point in their recording career, we only got traces of the side of 311 that would elevate even the most focused Buddhist monk.  Transistor was the first time 311 really stepped out of the comfort of the heavier sound that dominated the first few studio albums.  I believe that the success of the blue self-titled album allowed them the freedom to create something truly original and test the waters, with the heavy grassroots following they had accrued, with styles and flows we were not used to at that point.  Transistor, in my experience, has always been the most controversial album among fans of 311.  Most either love it or try to hate on it.  I personally LOVE it!  Of course, I am the kind of 311 fan that has really never heard one note that I did not respond to from them.  I felt then and now that Transistor is a brilliant collection of songs that spotlight the versatility of the band that I most love to spend my time with.  You can imagine how happy I was when Nick Hexum announced, “Now, seeing as this is the ten year anniversary of a record we made called Transistor, we’ll play a couple songs off of it.”  At that point, I screamed…and had a glimmer of hope that they might finally play my song, “Running,” in Atlanta…after ten years of begging… Continue reading →