311: The Hometown Throwdown!

Story and Photos: Spencer Fleming

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Whoo! Another summer, another 311 show is in the books. This was such an awesome package tour with Dirty Heads, Ocean Alley, and Rome. On Wednesday (8.5) Stir Cove felt like one big family reunion. Let's get into it!

The night started with Rome Ramirez formerly of "Sublime with Rome". I've been lucky enough to catch Rome a few times over the years but this was my first time seeing him solo. He brought a lot of soulful energy doing mostly originals, but he hit an awesome cover of "Badfish" towards the end of his 30 minute set. Rome definitely set the tone for the night with his Irie chill vibes.

Next up was Ocean Alley coming all the way from Australia! The band told the crowd this was their first time in the U.S. and they were stoked to play these huge shows. Ocean Alley continued the chill vibes with a mix of reggae, indie, and alternative. Their first song out of the gate almost had like a bluesy twang to it. Their bass player even looked a bit country with a big cowboy hat and mustache. Like Rome, they played a lot of original material, but they pulled out a great cover of "Baby Come Back" by Player towards the end of the set. All throughout the venue couples swayed together as mild winds blew. By now the place was packed and the vibes were immaculate.

Quick shout out to the fans!

Ocean Alley

After Ocean Alley was the first of the co-headliners, the Dirty Heads from Southern California! This was my second time seeing the band so I already knew the crowd was in for a treat. Funny enough the first time I shot photos of the Dirty Heads they were touring with you guessed it, 311! That was such an awesome show, I knew the Stir Cove show would be no different. The band stepped out to the sultry sounds of the horn section pumping out some reggae tones. Hitting "Seven Seas" the opening track of their brand-new album of the same name, the Dirty Heads got the crowd vibing early. I really like the album Seven Seas. It has a lot of the things I've come to love about Dirty Heads, a little bit of hip-hop, some ska, and a lot of reggae. The band kept things fresh with their set list, pulling out classic hits like "My Sweet Summer", "Vacation", and "Rescue Me", but also throwing in some cool covers. Dirty Heads played a reggae version of "Life's Been Good" by Joe Walsh, and "Sloth's Revenge" from the Goonies! What a wild mix of tunes. Just when I thought I wouldn't hear one of my favorite songs, the band closed with "Medusa".

I'm still hoping to hear my favorite, favorite Dirty Heads song, "Stand Tall", someday. I first heard "Stand Tall" on the Surf's Up! soundtrack along with tracks from 311 and Incubus. I checked it out and the rest is history. Looking at former set lists it seems like a rarity for their shows so I was stoked to get my second-best pick "Medusa". The track is so fun because it mixes up reggae, rock, and electro beats into one funky jam. If you get the chance to check out Dirty Heads live, I highly recommend it.

As I waited in the photo pit with all my fellow photographers I told everyone around me "I'm manifesting a fist bump from Tim Mahoney". Sure enough 311 stepped out and Tim walked to the front of the stage and gave me a fist bump! I was flying so high after that.

311 kicked off the set with the fan favorite "Beautiful Disaster" from their 1997 masterpiece Transistor. Next year the album will be 30 years old! I bet we get a re-mastered vinyl. I was lucky enough to find an original pressing in the wild years ago at the Antiquarium in downtown Omaha. The store carried mostly Indie and obscure titles so every once in a while you could find a used copy of something a bit more mainstream and it would be heavily discounted due to the store's hipster nature. Their loss man! Transistor still holds up as one of the best albums in alt-rock history. Those opening twin leads are so cool. Tim and Nick always groove out together which makes for a great photo op.

311 continued the greatest hits run with "All Mixed Up" and "Come Original" before hitting the crowd with a deep cut "Freak Out". All across the venue the excitable ones were jumping up to the beat in unison. 311 hit us with some more classics like "Champagne", "I'll Be Here Awhile", and the summer jam "Sunset In July". There were so many people out of their chairs rocking out and as the song suggests "Having the time of their lives".

You know it wouldn't be a hometown throwdown without "Omaha Stylee"! I heard on a podcast the other day that S.A said it's the song he would want 311 to be remembered for in a 100 years, because it's a nod to 311's home town and it's a banger. I totally agree! It's definitely one of my favorite 311 songs and to hear it in Council Bluffs (Omaha) is such a joy.

311 blasted the crowd with 15 bangers before dedicating their biggest hit "Down" to all the old-school fans in attendance. That opening crunchy riff still hits hard every time!

It seems the days of completely unique set lists may be gone, but the spirit and vibe of 311 is still going strong. After 36 years together these five friends are still bringing their A game every night. It's been an honor and a privilege to capture photos of Tim, P-Nut, S.A., Chad, and Nick so many times. I hope to continue going to the Summer Unity Tour for many more years to come!

Thanks so much to 311 management for photo access and Stir Cove for being such gracious hosts. Thanks for reading and we'll see you at the next one!