Chad Sexton, the diminutive drummer for 311, made sure to leave no sensibility unoffended when searching for the correct group to compare his stoner-friendly crap-metal ensemble to in a recent interview with MTV. “I think we have the same appeal as a band like the Grateful Dead. We have some Deadheads in the band, and when they stopped touring, Phish kind of took over for them, and maybe Dave Matthews Band has some of that same appeal as well. We can jam on our [songs] like those bands, but I’d say we’re kind of a band between–and I’m not comparing us to these bands, but just in the level of status and accomplishment, and that they’re still together–U2 and Phish. It’s somewhere in the middle of that, and we’re hoping to define that a little better over the next couple of years.” While no one would call me a big U2 fan, I don’t think its fair to bring them up when trying to explain what a concert draw your shitty band is. Wouldn’t it have been more appropriate to place 311 between Phish and the Kottonmouth Kings?
Damn, LiveNation! Would you ban the birds for singing? In a rather belated response to two alcohol-related deaths and 83 arrests at the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel last August, LiveNation is banning tailgating from at least five shows at the venue this summer. These gigs will include ones by John Mayer, OAR, 311, Linkin Park, and WTKU’s Beatstock. Not that I planned hitting a 311 concert in Jersey this summer, but this still seems painfully uncool. There has to be a way to curb violence and underage alcohol abuse without eliminating half the reason people go to hippie jams and festivals in the first place. And why only these five shows?
Snoop Dogg will co-headline 311’s annual Summer Unity Tour this summer, a long-running jam that has featured such collegiate favorites as the Roots, Matisyahu, and OAR. More »
As part of Idolator’s continuing effort to geekily analyze every music chart known to man, we present a new edition of Project X, in which Jackin’ Pop editor Michaelangelo Matos breaks down rankings from every genre imaginable. After the click-through, he travels back to his least favorite year of the ’90s, and said year’s attendant Modern Rock Top 10:
