311 + Slightly Stoopid @ Metropolis

By Stephanie Ng Wan - We . Are . Canadian - 03/19/2008

Slightly Stoopid opened the show at precisely 8pm on the dot last week. They were a reggae-influenced group with elements of punk and ska that at times reminded one of the earlier stuff of 311, the night’s headlining act. While the Metropolis was empty when I walked in a little before show time, the room quickly filled up as Slightly Stoopid got more and more into their set. They played for a solid forty-five minutes and aptly warmed up the audience with their at times mellow and other times more upbeat performance.

After a rather lengthy intermission of over thirty-five minutes, 311 hit the stage. Now, I consider myself an “old school” 311 fan so my desire to attend their Montreal show was more for nostalgic reasons than anything else. And while the Nebraskan group was sure to acknowledge those in the crowd familiar with some of their earlier work, the concert was definitely geared to their newer fans.

While it’s a bit rare for an act to tour when they have no recent album out (311’s last full-length, Don’t Tread on Me, came out three years ago) or at least very soon on its way (the group only recently announced that they are in the initial writing stages for a record that is to come out sometime in 2009), 311 decided to arrange their Spring tour to include dates for Canada this time around. As such, one would think then that 311 would feel a bit more freedom to play whatever songs they liked from their repertoire because they have no actual record to promote or concentrate on, and while they did play a fairly generous twenty songs in total, it would have been nice to hear a few more oldies in their set.

311 did play twenty tracks, but the show only lasted about an hour and 20 minutes. The majority of the alternative rock quintet’s songs are fairly short in length and they seemed even more sped up that night. They played the tunes well but, it seemed, not with much passion or energy. The group has been together since 1993 and yet there was very little band camaraderie present -- in fact, all the members seemed located especially far apart. The drummer was on a raised platform near the rear of the stage with the bassist in one corner and the lead guitarist all the way in the other. The two vocalists, Nick Hexum and SA Martinez (who is also the DJ of the band) would take turns singing their respective parts, barely interacted with one another. They did dance and groove to the music as required (one of them doing a much better job than the other I might add), and the requisite “thank you”s to the cheering crowd were made but at almost forty dollars a ticket, I would have expected a bit more from the band than just simply and straightly playing their songs (for the most part anyway).

About halfway through the set, the band did go for a bit of a change of pace as percussionist Chad Sexton went into a drum solo in the middle of a song. The other members walked off to give him his moment in the spotlight -- literally -- as the rest of the stage darkened and only Sexton and his drum set were lit up. While the audience watched the performance, a small set change was performed under the cover of the dark and as Sexton started his finale, the lights went up to reveal the rest of the members of 311 back on stage, standing in a semi-circle in front of the drummer, each one with a single drum which they begin to hit in synchronicity along with Sexton leading the way.

Among the songs 311 performed that night were the singles, “Don’t Tread on Me,” “Amber,” “Come Original,” “Prisoner” and “Down,” which Hexum dedicated to all the old school 311 fans. These were the tunes that, at like any show, received the most enthusiastic response from the largely male audience. Non-single tracks that were played included “Freeze Time” and “Rub a Dub.” The songs that I wanted to hear that were missing: the 1996 hit from their self-titled disc, “All Mixed Up,” as well as “Beautiful Disaster” and “Transistor” from their 1997 LP, Transistor. The three-song encore included 2003’s “Creatures (For a While)”, taken from Evolver.

What I found the most interesting about the show was the fact that 311 certainly rock much harder live than they do on their albums, which are more melodious, and reggae or pop-sounding. I did not expect the mosh pit to get as violent as did during some songs, though during others, 311 did slow things down, for example, with a Caribbean island-style instrumental jam during one song.

Perhaps what the band needs is new material to be excited about; they have the fans, the songs, and the experience. With an album in the works, there is sure to be a tour to follow sometime in 2009. While I enjoyed hearing some of the songs I loved back in the day, I would also have enjoyed feeling more like 311 loved playing them just as much.

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