American alternative rock bands 311 and Dirty Heads have embarked on co-headlining Summer Tour of 2019, joined by Dreamers, Bikini Trill and The Interrupters. While 311 is a well seasoned band and have released a total of thirteen studio albums, Dirty Heads are about to drop their seventh. Both bands music styles complement each other and they have collaborated recently on the song So Glad You Made It included in The Dirty Heads sixth studio album Swim Team.
All opening bands played excellent sets and were well received by the audience. Manhattan, New York based trio Dreamers are supporting their second studio album Launch Fly Land that was released on April 26 of this year. The band is ranked high on Alternative Radio and is poised for a breakthrough. As part of their rise they are scheduled to partake in the summer festival circuit with stops at Lollapalooza, Reading and Leeds.
California based Dirty Heads set was a perfect fit for a hot summer day’s end. Their alternative rock sound with strong reggae and hip hop fusion got many dancing while having a cold beer and some recreational weed smoking which the band seemed to embrace fully. Needles to say the atmosphere was joyous and relaxed!
They opened their set with four songs from which three were from the fourth studio album Sound Of Change – Burn Slow, Franco Eyed and My Sweet Summer. Closer to the end of the show and much to the delight of the crowd, they performed Medusa from the same album. From the anticipated album Super Moon which will be released worldwide through Five Seven Records on August 9th they performed Lift Me Up and the title track before closing out their set with their smash hit Vacation from their last album Swim Team.
Dirty Heads’ core lineup has remained virtually unchanged since 2006 when they were formed with their only changes being a new drummer Matt Ochoa and the addition of keyboard player Shawn Hagood. Both vocalists Jared Watson and Dustin Bushnell also known as Duddy B, set the tone with their southern California relaxed slacker style. Jon Olazabal provided the necessary reggae feeling with his percussion work, while Matt Ochoa was going crazy on drums. Original member David Foral was on bass providing the backbone of the group’s hard hitting groove.
While 311 and Dirty Heads co headline this tour, they exchange their closing order. This time in New Jersey it was 311 time to close out the show. The alternative rock veterans hit the stage just in time as the giant screen on the stage finished the space themed countdown, celebrating their latest album Voyager which was released just a few weeks ago on July 12th. The album has not only a space themed name but also space themed artwork created by British artist Sam Williams.
The band’s set mostly included material from more than two decades ago. First three songs were from the mid 90’s – Homebrew, All Mixed Up and Beautiful Disaster. Only four songs were from the early 2000’s although they did their best to promote Voyager, from which they played the most material, five songs to be exact – What The?!, Stainless, Good Feeling, Better Space and Don’t You Worry. So to sum up their choice of music, is to say that it was a trip down the memory lane with a hint of a new sound. Though the band lauded the album as search for a new sound it seemed as if they had still maintained that classic 311 feel to it.
The performance was electrifying to say the least. Giant video boards behind them provided hypnotizing visual elements while vocalist and guitarist Nick Hexum was all over the place singing, playing guitar and interacting with band mates and the audience. Same goes for Doug “SA” Martinez, who really laid it all out during the show rapping and working the turntables and was nearly exhausted by the end of it. The now veteran act has made themselves a name as one of the best live bands and they certainly proved it again tonight. Tim Mahoney on guitar and Aaron “P-Nut” Wills on bass were more visible than Chad Sexton on drums who somehow was mostly left in dark with no spotlight on him, but none the less they all sounded perfect. The band has stayed together through the decades and it showed as they were a close knit unit during the performance.
Now the tour is going South and then towards the West of America covering mostly metropolitan areas and will end on August 20th in Utah.
PHOTO GALLERY
Photos by Andris Jansons
311
Dirty Heads
