So the place was the legendary Fillmore auditorium. The event: 311. The crowd: mostly surfer/rockers (surfing brand names were seen on the majority of tee-shirts). Then there was me. In order to be completely enthusiastic about the whole evening I needed a good sapphire tonic first. After taking care of that I loosened up and quickly smushed towards the stage with the die-hard fans.
The opening band was The Exit, a progressive rock band from New York. There were three of them to start: Ben Brewer on Guitar/Vocals, Jeff Darosa on Bass/Vocals, and Gunner on the Drums/Vocals. They started off slow, with Jeff strumming a six string with a harmonica in his mouth, playing something folksy. The crowd wasn’t too pleased. Luckily, as soon as he was done the others came on stage, picked up their electrical instruments and commenced with the jamming. Their music was very progressive as it changed tempos throughout the songs a bit, yet kept good balance and flow. It was very lyrical and audible, which I find rare in loud rock bands. Their lyrics were about love, life, and the plagues of our modern times. I dug it. The only thing that threw the vibe off was when Ben would sing by himself. His voice was a little off key, but when combined with the others they created something beautiful and truly enjoyable. Towards the end they brought out a saxophonist and the sound of the band really came together. Their whole sound brought to mind a mix of AFI and Elvis Costello.
Next up was 311 and they took their sweet time getting onto the staage. But after they did, they started off fast and hard. It was not long before the moshing started and the room filled with some mysterious green fog. I was shocked and appalled that white male surfers had urges to do marijuana while listening to rock n roll, but I shortly felt a feeling of euphoria and let it go. Anyway their sound was good, but I didn’t know that they had two singers who did almost nothing but sing. One of the singers, Doug, who also occasionally did the scratching, sounded like he was hopped up on helium.
Their play list, I thought, was the weakest part of the whole thing because they would get the crowd pumped, get the mosh pit nice and wide, and then straight into the slowest song they’ve got. What gives? Most of the evening was like that except one part, where they busted out with four tom-toms and five symbols and did this drum line thing banging each other’s drums and symbols. It was like a drum river dance.
They played a lot of songs from their latest album, “Don’t Tread On Me.” They threw in a lot of old stuff too, from “Grassroots” and “Transistor,” which appeased the crowd and the hardcore fans.
Overall I like the opening band more and thought that they had a lot of potential. And don’t judge my critique on 311. I do like them, but I only went to see them because I got a free ticket from my brother.
