311: What It Means To Me

I have a very hard time putting into words what the band 311 is to me. I've been a dedicated follower for about 12 years. I've seen them in concert 14 times in the past 9 years, and as long as they tour, I will keep on going to their shows. Whenever I bring up this band, people either love them or hate them. There doesn't seem to be much of the in-between. I remember when I bought their first album, Music, down in Ocean City, New Jersey, when I was 16 or so. My life was changed from that minute on.

My favorite song of all time: Do You Right, off of Music

My first 311 show was in Holmdel, NJ at the PNC Bank Arts Center with Incubus. It was Father's Day 2000. Me, my brother, and two friends of our's drove up to central NJ in a guy's 1969 Firebird. Our seats were third row, stage left. And it was just amazing. The energy flowing through the crowd was electric.

It doesn't matter how many 311 shows I go to, I still get the same feeling in my belly when the lights go down and the band's intro starts up, and I can see Nick's, SA's, P-Nut's, Tim's and Chad's silhouettes moving into position on the stage. It's devastatingly uncontrollable excitement. Depending on the tour, the time of year, and which album has just been released, my brother and I usually can pinpoint which song they open with. This is a group of five guys from Omaha, Nebraska, who share some of the tightest musicianship I have ever seen. They feed off of each other's energy and inject it directly into their performances. Sometimes I just stop dancing in my spot just to stare in awe and take the whole experience in. It's better than any high I've ever had.




I've seen the band live in Southern California, Virginia, Washington, DC, New Jersey, and Philadelphia. I remember when tickets cost about 20 bucks and they were still playing at the Electric Factory in Philly.



One of the beautiful things about 311 fans is that we all know why we are there. We all know about the affinity we share for the music being played onstage. I can turn around in the crowd at any given moment and seeing hundreds of people all singing along to the same song. When the infamous drum solo begins during Applied Science, everyone goes still, and all eyes are focused on the stage. I don't care what anyone says, Chad Sexton is one of the best dummers of all time.



And if you don't know about the team-effort drum solo, then look it up on YouTube. It is show-stopping.






"My yin hates my yang but what the hell ya gonna do? It's a rocky-ass path but that's how I like it, Life's a bowl of punch, go ahead and spike it"