311, Spearhead both do
Red Rocks crowd right
By Patrick Miner
Staff Reporter
MORRISON, Colo. - “This is not
a rebel song.”
This time, the line was spoken by
Nick Hexum, not Bono, before the
song “Lucky,” as 311 took its turn to
electrify the crowd at Red Rocks
Amphitheatre. The former Omaha
and now Los Angeles based quintet
played the Aug. 9 show in front of a
sellout crowd with Spearhead open
ing the event.
Spearhead, promoting its latest
album, “Chocolate Supa Highway,”
thrilled the crowd with its mix of hip
hop, funk and reggae. The band’s set
included such songs from “Highway”
as “Why Oh Why,” “You Can’t Sing R
Song” and the title track, with which
they opened the show. The band also
played several numbers from its
debut release, “Home,” such as
“People in the Middle,” (the band’s
first hit and MTV buzz clip) “Hole in
the Bucket” and “Of Course You
Can,” which changed with crowd par
ticipation. Spearhead also played
hilarious covers of the Notorious
B.I.G. and Fugees, and included a
special reggae version of 3 1 l’s
“Transistor.”
Lead man Michael Franti’s lyrics
are very deep and positive, leaving
the listener thinking a lot about
Franti’s records long after playing
them. However, in concert,
Spearhead ups the tempo and puts on
a great show, as the fans find them
selves bouncing up and down much
of the time. Franti’s voice is extreme
ly versatile, and with sidekick Mary
Harris throwing out more harmony
and rhymes, the band is definitely
something to experience.
About 15 minutes after
Spearhead exited, the white curtain
covering the stage fell down and 311
opened its 90-minute set with
“Down ” It was great to see them play
it first because it got that song out of
the way and everyone knows the
words. They continued with “Freak
Out,” and kept the set going at that
pace for the rest of the night.
There were some definite surpris
es throughout the set. First of all, they
played “8:16 A.M.,” off of
“Grassroots,” a song I haven’t heard
them play in concert for probably
three years. They also busted into
“Who’s Got the Herb,” a song off the
“Hempilation” soundtrack. It was
somewhat depressing though to see
them only play the five songs
“Transistor,” “What Was I Thinking,”
i '
Courtesy Photo
511 ’s LATEST ALBUM, “Transistor,” was released nationwide last week,
and the band is now touring in support of that album. The band’s current
lineup is (from left to right) Timothy J. Mahoney, Nicholas Hexum, Chad
Sexton, P-Nut and S A Martinez.
‘Prisoner,” “Light Years” and
‘Beautiful Disaster” from the new
album. However, realizing the record
only came out four days before the
show, they probably just wanted to
give the fans a chance to digest it
before playing a lot of it at a concert.
Chad Sexton again played the
drum solo he performed at the
Mancuso Convention Center in
Omaha last year. This time though, it
was a little longer and he added sever
al new twists. Also, to the amazement
of many of the people who just knew
the words to “311,” there was an extra
verse added to “All Mixed Up.”
The lighting was definitely better
than it was at 311 ’s previous shows, a
screen displayed spinning 311 logos
and alien heads behind the band and
you can’t go wrong with the sound
system at Red Rocks. Matt Markel,
take note.
Overall, 311 played 23 songs in
the set and a three-song encore
including “Omaha Stylee” and “Do
You Right.” They played nine songs
from “Music,” as well as harder songs
from “Grassroots” like “Offbeat Bare
Ass,” “Silver” and “Homebrew.” This
choice of tracks made it obvious that
the band wanted to put on a standard
311, very hard-driven show instead of
playing a lot of slower tracks from the
new album. The crowd was definitely
into the concert throughout, especial
ly during P-Nut’s bass solo on “Feels
So Good.”
Moving into the rest of the tour,
311 will next tour the East Coast with
De La Soul, a band Hexum has long
expressed appreciation for. They will
then venture off briefly with
Goldfinger, and finish up with long
time pals Fishbone, who will join 311
for the Sept. 21 concert at Westfair
Amphitheatre in Council Bluffs,
Iowa.
311 will probably play more of
“Transistor” at that show, which
promises to be one of the best concert
events to hit this area in ’97.
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