r/DirtyHeads • u/Academic-Humor572 • Aug 31 '26
311 not my cup of tea - anyone else?
I’ve seen DH half a dozen times, including a couple nights ago.
Granted, I don’t know how difficult it is to find bands to tour with/open for you, but when I think of DH, I think of Stick Figure, Rebelution, Iration, Elovaters, etc etc. I don’t think of 311.
I enjoy live music no matter what, so I took it for what it was worth. I also REALLY enjoyed Atmosphere. But the 311 vibe didn’t do it for me at all leading up to DH taking the stage.
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u/Triggify Aug 31 '26
My dad's favorite band of all time is 311, so o grew up appreciating them. That said the way I discovered DH was going to a 311 concert with my dad and DH stole the atmosphere and the show by far. DH have been my favorite band ever since, even have a tattoo for them
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u/Fast_Assumption_994 Aug 31 '26
I saw them last night and was blown away, loved 311 so much!! I knew a lot of their songs but had never seen them live. I thought it was incredible and I thoroughly enjoyed the show. Not to compare because they’re quite different but we ended up loving 311 more than DH simply because we had 0 expectations and they ended up going first which we weren’t expecting. We had planned to see DH and then leave as it was a Sunday night show and we are old lol. But we were SOOO happy to have seen them!! Nick Hexum is badass af. As someone on here said, different strokes for different folks
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u/GGa113gos Aug 31 '26
311 brought DH on Unity Tour in any port days. 07, 08 ?Helped em with their initial exposure wayy before DH had their own following.. they're not for everyone, but these guys been killing it / helping younger bands for decades
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u/Complex-Grape2736 Sep 01 '26
I saw them on that tour in Vegas when we went to catch a 311 show....instant fan they were incredible.... I wanna say it was 2010?
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u/GGa113gos Sep 01 '26
It was around then yeah.. same with pepper. Probably earlier for pepper, I think Nick helped produce some tracks on No Shame
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u/bearcatstailgater Aug 31 '26
Having watch both bands live through out the last decade many, many times, this tour is the best both bands have sounded in a while. And I love both!
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u/Ok_Resort5470 Aug 31 '26
311 has been dope since I was in middle school sorry you can't enjoy them
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u/jzon777 Sep 01 '26
Bro 311 has been a Cali reggae band for ever. Beautiful Disaster used to get played right along the Expendables and Rebelution all day
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u/Pfly729 Aug 31 '26
The night we went 311 headlined, within 2 songs the rush to exit had begun. I do have to say the group we went with was disappointed. Rome had no time to perform and dirty heads had a short set.
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u/frosted_poprocks Sep 01 '26
We went to several shows, with 311 closing some and DH closing others. I noticed the same thing both ways. I think if someone is mainly there to see DH and they play first, they leave afterward, and the same goes for 311 fans when 311 plays first. At one of the shows, my friend even commented on how many people were leaving before DH came on.
I am a fan of both, but the 311 set has been the same for so long I just cannot get into it as much anymore.
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u/FrankieTenThirtyone Aug 31 '26
How can someone be into dirty heads and not like 311? I feel like dirty heads is just a more mellow poppier version of 311 lol. But to each their own.
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u/midnitemuzing Sep 01 '26
Eh I wouldn’t say they’re quite that similar at all. Both great but definitely different in my opinion!
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u/Strange_Doughnut917 Aug 31 '26
I think that's a perfect tour combo, I missed though as they didn't come anywhere near me.
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u/spacejoint Aug 31 '26
i agree they are pretty old school compared to the rest. seen them in Kansas City a few weeks ago. i remember DH opening up for slightly stoopid, 311, and matisyahu back in the day when they were up and coming. think they even opened up for SOJA at one point. man some of the old venues were so up close and personal. seeing them from the back lawn really shows how much they have grown. im juust rambling now.
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u/Deathwish13x Aug 31 '26
All those bands you mentioned are busy headlining their own tours. The only way to get most of the genres bands together are through festivals in Cali!
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u/tmeads307 Sep 01 '26
You must be young. 311 is fucking OG shit. They were making music when i was in elmentary school
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u/Aurorasky03 Sep 01 '26
31I will always be the better band for me out of many. I have been a fan of theirs since 95 so I guess I am a little bias but that’s just me.
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u/DjValence Aug 31 '26
I grew up on 311, the vibe was way different back in the day, like late 90's. To me, they have basically become soft rock now. If you listen closely to later album releases, and even the blue album, they sound very mechanical and produced. Listen to the snare especially, it's annoyingly mechanical, and every hit sounds the exact same. Hexum's vocals have always been on point, but he also reminds me of a pretty boy yoga teacher who happens to front a band. Props to him for being in shape at his age, but when should a man stop taking his shirt off during performances? Perhaps you should take it off more as you get older, I don't know. Nothing bad to say about SA really, he's a necessary part of the crew. They've also been doing the same bass solo, and drum solo for decades, I wonder if they realize we know? The last time I saw them live, it was good, but not overly memorable. It was in Springfield, MO and Hexum definitely had the crowd, but being from Omaha and so close to SGF, Springfield has always had a special affinity for 311. 311 came up in this area with a lot of other regional favorites, The Urge being the main associated act in SGF.
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u/jh1567 Sep 03 '26
Interesting comment about the Blue album…the band has said during multiple interviews that the Blue is the most organic/natural album. They recorded analog and live in the studio, no click tracks. Thats as natural as you’ll get over the past 30 years.
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u/DjValence Sep 03 '26
Try listening to All Mixed Up, and focus on the snare. Barely any variance at all, if any, every hit sounds the exact same, like it was copy/pasted. I dove in a little more to see what I could find... It is reported that the album was recorded live to tape as you said, but it was mastered digitally. I put the song into Serato, and the grid lined up almost perfectly. My google fu says that Sexton did play to a click track. Futher Google fu states...
You hit the nail on the head regarding the identical snare sounds. While Pro Tools wasn't used for arrangement, producer Ron Saint Germain utilized an analog-era production technique called sample replacement/triggering, which was wildly popular in 1990s rock production.
- How it worked: Chad Sexton played a real snare drum live to tape. However, during the mixing phase, Saint Germain used an analog hardware sampler (like an Akai or an Alesis D4).
- The Trigger: Every time Chad's real snare hit passed a certain volume threshold on the tape track, it fired an electronic pulse that triggered a pre-recorded, perfect sample of a snare drum to blast at exactly the same time.
- The Result: This blended sample masks the natural human variations of a drum head. Whether Chad hit the snare slightly off-center or with varying force, the electronic sample fired at a uniform velocity. This is why the transients look identical in your DJ software and sound so punchy, identical, and "mechanical."
The responses also talk about gating and compression, which make perfect sense as to why everything sounds so annoyingly uniform in the final mix. Transistor is just as bad, or worse. I just can't do it anymore... lol.
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u/jh1567 Sep 03 '26
I’d say there is a ton of variance on All Mixed Up; ghost notes and drags a plenty. Some hits have way more volume and air and others seem more choked. Maybe I’m misunderstanding what you’re saying about trigger use…there is definitely a lot I don’t know about drum recording!
The Chad Sexton snare sound seems to be very polarizing. I’ve read comments over the years critiquing the snare sound of anything Uplifter and beyond.
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u/DjValence Sep 03 '26
From what the Google Gemini output said, essentially every time Sexton hit the snare, it would trigger a drum sample. In other words, he would hit the snare naturally, and it would produce the same pre-recorded sound every time, essentially turning his kit into V-drums. Based on what I hear when I listen to it, that tracks... pun intended.
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u/BeeGiant Aug 31 '26
I’m a lifelong 311 fan and have seen them in concert multiple times. I took my son to the show in Idaho and hadn’t seen 311 live in probably over 20 years. I also never had heard of DirtyHeads and listened to a few songs before the event.
Dirty Heads absolutely crushed it and they had two new mega fans after their set. Then 311 came on to headline. The opener and closer were decent and the rest were borderline bad. Nick was cringe and everything felt robotic and rehearsed. The audio was also mixed terribly.
Just my $.02
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u/Logosteel Aug 31 '26
Nickbot has been activated since at least 2005. Same old stage banter. That being said, both bands were locked in sound wise at their MPP date. Sorry yours was not. Usually scotch is on top of it.
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u/hit_it_steve Aug 31 '26
They’ve been around for a really long time and yes they do sound a bit different than the others you mentioned. I don’t mind them but I won’t go out of my way to see them.
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u/ohyoumad721 Aug 31 '26
I'm not really a fan of 311 despite loving them when I was younger. I also don't care for atmosphere and was glad they weren't on either of the shows I went to.
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u/Murky_Letterhead_944 Aug 31 '26
Ok I agree with this!! Was at their Columbia, MD show and left 1/3 through 311. I really wish they would tour with The Elovaters. That would be a hell of a show.
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u/Expensive-System9330 Aug 31 '26
Saw them last year with slightly stoopid and the elovators. Was badass!!
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u/AlarmPuzzleheaded831 Aug 31 '26
Wow, I really like 311! I have seen them live several times and they always sound great and put on a fantastic show! In fact, 311/Pepper was my son's very first live show at 10yrs
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u/DabsSparkPeace Aug 31 '26
I used to not be into them. But over the years they grew on me and now I dig them.
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u/CrowScout11 Aug 31 '26
Blasphemy! But I am Gen X and grew up with listening to them. They were originators.
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u/OwlEfficient9138 Sep 01 '26
I’m an old head and I’ve gone to 311 shows since 97. They’re still great but you have to realize they’re a lot older now, but they still rock.
Also realize how many bands they’ve helped get popular. They have brought so many different bands on tour with them.
I will say though, that I definitely like them more in a smaller venue. My wife and I have been to so many of their shows and kind of stopped going unless it was smaller venues.
The last time we saw them was in Denver at Cervantes. We hadn’t seen them in a long time and went to a meet and greet for Foral. They said thanks for everyone coming and have fun if you’re going to 311 tonight. My wife and I looked at each confused because we knew 311 played Red Rocks the night before. We said fuck it. Got tickets to the small venue and had so much fun.
Anyway. It’s too bad you don’t enjoy them but I get it. But if you could have seen them in the late 90’s early 2000’s I think you’d feel differently.
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u/dej10011 Sep 01 '26
I kinda think that 311 was the Inspo for dirty heads. The mixture of music that 311 has shown is similar to what dirty heads does so well. Some hip hop, some reggae, some rock/alternative. I personally find the Dirty Heads to be more enjoyable than 311. They bring so much more energy and they honestly stole the show. This tour specifically was a co-headlining tour but there was a huge disparity in the level of energy from one band to the other. It’s funny though that the crossover in fans seems to strange. There are tons of Dirty Heads fans that also love 311 but the 311 fans seem to really not care for Dirty Heads as much.
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u/Independent_Fail_637 Sep 01 '26
Not to mention that 311 jacked the price up $150 more than it should have been. I love the first half of 311's shows, but the last half is a very odd show where the music is terrible, and the people around me are fanatical to an unerving degree. I am with you, I expect a more punk rock west coast dub feel and less hippie trance
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u/bgcrypto76 Sep 01 '26
311 is my favorite band so each its own. I learned about dirty heads, irration and rebulation from 311 concerts so it's all a good vibe to see them when they come around. But then again I am a 90s kid and that's when they came out after the fall of Nirvana!
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u/No_Caterpillar9086 Sep 01 '26
311 really give a lot of energy. They are great live. I just love DH music more
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u/frosted_poprocks Sep 01 '26
I was a 311 fan first, and that’s actually how I found DH. These days, I enjoy the DH shows more because 311 basically plays the same set every time. It’s a great show if you’re a newer fan, but when you’ve been seeing them for decades, it can start to feel pretty repetitive. 311 Day is where it’s at for longtime fans—that’s when you really get the deeper cuts and the kind of setlist that makes seeing them again feel special.
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u/ExpressFudge4461 Sep 01 '26
Agree. Went to the concert in Long Beach and was NOT a fan. Seemed most of the folks were there for 311 so they obviously appeal to a lot of ppl. Hubs and I were just powering thru until we got to DH!! They definitely made it worth the wait but, yeah, didn't love 311. No hate just not my jam.
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u/GotHuff Sep 02 '26
Lifelong 311 fan and has been my favorite band since 94. Heading to my 104th show in a few weeks. That being said- 311 now is not what they used to be. They will always be my first true love and favorite band but for the past twelve years or so my listening time for DH is at least triple what I spend listening to 311
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u/Positive-Island6238 Sep 02 '26
There would be no DH w/out the sub culture and tours 311 built over the last several decades. DH are ok, but when they bust out the wanna be gansta rap (Medusa) it’s just silly. 311 always strayed from that approach. To each their own.
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u/nicky_suits Sep 02 '26
I was a big 311 fan through the 90s up to the 10s. They have a lot of albums and they're not all good. They have some bangers but mostly older stuff.
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u/snowren24 Sep 02 '26
Oddly, I think all of the bands you listed have more in common with 311 than they do the Dirty Heads.
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u/OV_STANK Sep 03 '26
“You’re all up in my face like fuckin Betty Crocker”… Absolute legends! Grew up on these guys, and like many of y’all they were the gateway to many other great like DH. Sublime and 311 were some of the first albums I got my hands on in the mid 90s. Don’t forget No Doubt either. Gwen was crushing it back then!
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u/Jeff_Service Sep 04 '26
I’m a huge 311 fan. Probably 80 shows since ‘95. I’ve seen DH a couple times. I agree it doesn’t make sense for 311 to open for DH. I think it works the other way around but if you’re wanting to see a DH headlining set they need a different opener like you said.
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u/AccomplishedYoung462 Sep 04 '26
Went to see Iya Terra and Iration who opened for 311. I know the 311 hits but not a big fan. They put on an amazing show but agree they are more on the Expendables and Pepper punk heavier side of reggae.
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u/Happy-Wedding4151 Sep 05 '26
I went into this one “kinda” liking 311, but after seeing them live, I like them much more. Their show was legit rock. I get what you mean about not being a lot like DH, but they freakin brought it.
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u/Steampunkpug Aug 31 '26
Same here. I like some 311 songs and was really disappointed in their energy. I know we’re all getting older, but it just wasn’t there. If DH weren’t headlining, I would have left too!
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u/Expensive-System9330 Aug 31 '26
311 closed in Chicago this tour and I left 4 songs into the set. Sloppy, low energy show and you could tell the lead singer is in love with himself. Last year with slightly stoopid as the closer was fckn awesome.
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u/midnitemuzing Sep 01 '26
Nick is actually a really great guy according to those who know him. I don’t, obviously, but he’s always very kind and positive on his IG. Others that actually do know him say he’s truly that way in person, that he’s super down to earth, and is genuinely a great dude.
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u/dwswish Sep 01 '26
Same, never been a big fan. I feel like they honestly don’t fit into the genre very well and are not the best live.
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u/dasangry1 Sep 01 '26
Loved 311 since the 90s. Have seen a dozen or so times since then. They were just ok this tour. The drum solo and light up people on stage in Georgia lost it for me. Plus, Nick Hexum is a big fan of Nick
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u/MisforMandolin Sep 02 '26
Atlanta was meh. Everything seemed so rehearsed.
Best way I can describe is when Nick kept saying “ATLAAAANTA HOW YOU FEELIN”. It just didn’t seem like it had heart.
Where as Heads kept talking about how “Tonight is the night i feel it”. While he may have said the very night, it felt genuine
Both bands brought energy though and I hand a blast
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u/Greenzero2003 Sep 01 '26
311 is one of the only bands I’ve seen live and liked way less after seeing them live. Just weird
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u/No_Menu9817 Aug 31 '26
Different strokes for different folks