Every year on
March 11th, five piece rock act
311 holds a huge show in
New Orleans, Louisiana, due to that date being 3/11, thus, their name. The tradition began in the
late 90s and at first was a show in which they'd play a 3 hour, 11 minute show every year, yet
311, one of
America's most preeminent
alternative rock acts, had quite a notable installment to this rich rock tradition that on
March 11th, 2004.
While 311 certainly isn't getting any younger (average age in the band is exactly 32.8), it's rare for a band that's been around as long as 311 to be able to keep doing what they do so well and so consistently while continuously experimenting with their sound (their 2003 effort Evolver makes my case for this point) as well as continuing to play epic live shows, as 3-11 Day 2004 was.
3-11 Day 2004 was possibly the pinnacle of their careers as live musicians. 311 played sixty eight songs in their record long five hour set to make it the longest show in the fourteen year history of 311.
Three days before the show, fans in 311 garb had already pitched tents in parking lots around the UNO Lakefront Arena, where the event was to be held. As the days went by, more fans showed up, massive amounts of tailgating, partying and multiple displays of unity (as the band would say) occurred. The day before the show it was official, 311 fans had officially invaded the French Quarter neighborhood in the city of New Orleans, where March 11th is officially recognized as a city holiday in honor of the band.
Before the sold out show, it was officially determined from ticket sales that 311 would take the stage in front of 8,311 fans that had traveled to New Orleans from all fifty US states and four countries outside of North America.
The setlist from the show is as follows:
Source
www.311music.com
"Are You Ready" Intro
1. Freak Out
2. Reconsider Everything
3. Taiyed
4. Come Original
5. Prisoner
6. Do You Right
7. Homebrew
8. Love Song
9. Jupiter (played by popular request, hadn't been played since 9/19/97)
10. Eons
11. Beyond the Gray Sky
12. Offbeat Bareass (during which a fan threw their bassist, P-Nut, a joint on stage that he then put in his mouth)
13. Large in the Margin
14. Galaxy
15. Gap
16. Flowing (w/ two women twirling flaming bolos on stage)
17. Use Of Time
18. Visit
19. Other Side of Things
20. Sweet
21. White Man (In Hammersmith Palais) (dedicated to Joe Strummer)
22. Amber
23. Paradise (w/ two women dancing with feathered fans on stage)
24. Life's Not a Race
25. Welcome (w/ extended intro and alternate SA intro verse)
26. Applied Science (w/ extended drum solo featuring the entire band)
27. 8:16 AM
28. Champagne (w/ bubbles)
29. Freeze Time (w/ fire jugglers)
30. Sever
31. Stealing Happy Hours
32. T & P Combo
33. Cali Soca (instrumental, last played on 6/23/00)
34. My Stoney Baby
35. Purpose
36. Summer of Love
37. Seems Uncertain (first time ever played)
38. You Wouldn't Believe
39. Lose (last played on 4/3/02)
40. Unity
41. Hydroponic
42. Feels So Good
~~Intermission w/ circus jugglers~~
When 311 returned to the stage, Nick announced that they had been playing 3 hours and 11 minutes
43. Creatures (w/ balloon drop)
44. Lucky
45. Random (w/ two big head dancers-- a court jester and dracula)
46. D'Yer Ma'Ker (Led Zeppelin cover song; setlist debut; Nick and SA threw in some "Amber" teaser lyrics towards the end)
47. Running
48. Starshines
49. Beautiful Disaster
50. Juan Bond (first time ever played EVER)
51. Crack the Code (w/ fan dancers)
52. Give Me a Call
53. Outside (w/ special guest Nick's brother Zack Hexum on saxophone; extended intro and the first time they ever played it)
54. Don't Stay Home
55. Nix Hex
56. Light Years (w/ two 2 stilt walkers)
57. Sick Tight
58. Let the Cards Fall (last played on 4/3/02)
59. Strong All Along (SA switched the lyric "Brooklyn Zoo" to "Audubon Zoo," a local zoo in New Orleans)
60. Right Now
61. Don't Dwell
62. Sometimes Jacks Rule the Realm (first time ever played)
63. Transistor
64. All Re-Mixed Up
65. Omaha Stylee
66. Down (dedicated to old school fans)
e:
67. Who's Got the Herb (Performed w/ old ending.)
68. Fuck the Bullshit (w/ SA singing the original lyrics to the song as they appear on the album "Unity." Two stage dives from Nick. Tons of confetti was dumped on the crowd.)
The five hour set was absolutely historical. The band played four well known songs for the first time ever, played songs they hadn't played in years, did variations on their classics and even whipped out a few covers. The band also showed some instrumental knacks not often seen on their albums or at their shows. P-Nut played a stand-up bass during “Seems Uncertain” and Nick played a hollow-body guitar during “Sometimes Jacks Rule The Realm”, Nick's brother made a rare appearance with the band and Nick played a harmonica during the cover of The Clash's “White Man in Hammersmith Palais.” Keeping with the Mardi Gras theme they seem to have every year for this show, burlesque dancers waving huge feather fans, stilt-walkers, fire twirlers, jugglers, fire eaters and Mardi Gras Big Heads were all featured onstage.
The entire event, and the week leading up to the event, was documented on a DVD released October 26, 2004.
As I mentioned before, this may just be the pinnacle live achievement of 311's career...but with these five...you really never know.
We’ll be here awhile, ain’t going nowhere