03.10.12 311 @ MGM Grand Garden Arena - Las Vegas, NV

311

Tonight we had the band 311. Honestly, when we booked it I had absolutely no idea who they were. I had to look them up on iTunes. Amber is the Color Of Your Energy is the only song I remotely recognized. They loaded in a couple days early. No reason other than they probably just had some free time from the last gig. Their stage and light rig wasn't terribly complicated. Normally I don't like it when tours load in early. Just more time for them to drive me nuts. But these guys were cool. Laid back, groovy, hippy-like. Several weeks earlier we had done a walkthru of the arena with them and I knew they'd be great to work with. 

Fans waiting for early entry

No big surprises. In fact, I hardly saw any of them except when I bumped into them on the way to the bathroom. The stage manager/security guy Rosco might be the coolest dude with a Grizzly-Adams beard I've ever worked with. He's all about peace, love & harmony. Sometimes people like that drive me nuts because they're too laid back, bordering on incompetent. Rosco had so much calm and chill coming out of him, it was palpable. He gave good hugs too. 

Countdown to 311 Day!

I roll in around 2.00p on Sat. My guy Dave was in early covering the early shift so no need for me to waste my entire day at work. Hell, I was still there for over 12 hours and with Daylight Savings by the time I got home it was 3.30a. This was a late show. Because the band is called 311, March 11th is obviously a big day for them so we purposefully opened doors and hour later than normally. The band didn't even hit the stage until 9.00p and they played until about 12.20a. As part of the show they had an official "countdown" clock to March 11 (which actually took place AFTER March 11 because they played long) but no one seemed to care. 

Fans love their band!

This show was a GA floor meaning there were no seats. Standing room only. I love doing GA floor shows. So much easier. The 311 crowd was great too. Pretty young compared to most of our shows. I'd say 30s. Predominantly white males with their girlfriend/wives. Not a group that has or spends too much money. Nascar was in town this weekend too so room rates on The Strip were high but most of the fans stayed at places like Excalibur or less expensive hotels. Not bagging on them. Room rates in Vegas can be ridiculous. The fans probably bought some merch but they didn't spend a lot in alcohol at the concession stands. My guess is because most of them were high. I personally didn't witness a single customer or crew member smoking pot but let's just say the arena smelled like one huge bong. After day 1 I had to stick my pants in a bag, seal it and bring it to the dry cleaners. They probably thought, "Pot-head." 

311 on stage

No drama to speak of. After we got doors open I popped up to Shibuya to meet up with VP-guy and 311's manager. I wasn't able to have dinner with them because I was busy with the show but managed to catch them just before desert. I love schmoozing with people. It's one of the best parts of my job. The 3 of us had good chemistry. Fun time. I comped their tab and we headed to the arena and I left them to their business.

VIP Room 

Around 9.00p the band hit the stage so that was my cue to hit Seablue for dinner. Normally I eat alone once the concert starts up there. Trubes is usually busy with settlement and has dinner w/DQ and the boys in tour catering but this time she came up. Since there were 2 days of 311 she didn't have to do settlement that night. My pal Chris the fire marshal was there too. His friends were at the show and he (like me) had no desire to watch the band so we had dinner together at the bar. Fun times.

Net on the ceiling for
psychadelic lighting effect

We finish up at Seablue and I head into the arena to check out some of the show, take some pics to tweet for the Grand Garden Arena feed. The crowd loved every minute of this show. I'm not sure the people who actually had seats ever sat down. Shows like this, regardless of whether or not I care for the music, always amaze me. It gives you chills to see (in this case) 10,000 people all singing the same song. 

Day 1 of 311 was a complete success. A couple of bumps and bruises to the GA crowd from moshing & inadvertent elbows to the face and some drunkies but nothing out of the ordinary. Like Jimmy Buffett, I could do 311 all day long. That's how cool they were to work with and how good the fans were. You might be thinking, "Of course you liked that show. You're high!" Whatever the reason, it's good because I've got another night of them tomorrow.

311 Set List - Saturday

Set 1
Omaha Stylee
Do You Right
Time Bomb
Taiyed (311th time)
Evolution
Salsa
Large In The Martin
Starshines
1,2,3
Sweet
Time Is Precious
Don't Stay Home
Something Out Of Nothing
Bass Solo
Nutsymptom
I'll Be Here Awhile
Right Now
M Stoney Baby
T&P Combo
Mindspin

Set 2
Freak Out
Soulsucker
Today My Love
Wild Nights
Freeze Time
Thank Your Lucky Stars
Full Ride
Hostile Apostle
Dancehall
Transistor
Inner Light Spectrum
Waiting In Vain
Six
Sunset In July
Hydrophonic
Nix Hex
Old Funk
Welcome
Countdown To 311 Day
Sick Tight
Jackpit