Alt-rockers 311 brought plenty of loud, infectious energy to Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center for Alt 103.3’s Birthday Bash, and the crowd ate it up. Currently on a co-headlining tour with Dirty Heads, 311 have been together for 29 years, and they know how to entertain. They came out rocking with 1994’s Homebrew, a strong rock tune, and kept the audience on their feet through the entire 15-song setlist.
Along with classics such as Beautiful Disaster and All Shook Up, 311 played four songs from their latest album, Voyager, which happened to drop the very same night! As you can imagine, the band was pretty stoked about it, and the audience responded well to all the new tunes. My personal favorite of the new songs was Stainless, a rocker with a strong bass line and heavy guitar riffs.
I was impressed with the energy and enthusiasm exhibited by Nick Hexum on vocals/guitar, SA Marintez on vocals/DJ, Tim Mahoney on lead guitar, P-Nut on bass and Chad Sexton on drums. They were doing what they love on the stage, and it showed. The entire set was entertaining, but one number, Applied Science, really stood out when the drum solo at the core of the song became a group effort, with every band member thumping in unison on a different percussion instrument. The rhythm was compelling, and the crowd ate it up.