I’m a y-millennial that was still in High School in the late 90’s, early 2000’s. It was back then that my regular circles of live shows included, among many other groups, 311, Long Beach Dub Allstars, Save Ferris, and Zebrahead. So you can’t blame me when I had to double-check what year it was after seeing that 311 will be hosting the aforementioned groups in 2018.
311 has had 10 consecutive albums debut in the Top 10 inside Billboard’s Top 200. That’s every album that they’ve put out dating back to 1995 when they dropped their self-titled record. And lets be honest, if they released the 2 albums before that, Grassroots or Music, today, they’d still find themselves sitting cozy inside the Top 10. Their music is timeless and it’s special to see them continuing to pack venues with line-ups of artists they were performing with 20 years ago. 311 will be celebrating their infamous 311-Day with 2 sold-out shows on March 10th and 11th in Las Vegas, but before that they’ll be performing back-to-back shows in San Diego on March 5th & 6th with Zebrahead and Save Ferris opening up each night, respectfully.
[Related: 311 Day Returns to Las Vegas 2018]
Zebrahead is an alternative pop-punk group that fuses rapping and occasional ska elements. I first discovered them in 1998-1999 when they dropped their hit album Waste of Mind. It was during this time that I would see them playing with 311 when CD’s were your main media resource and the closest thing to Facebook was an AOL Chatroom. Zebrahead plans to release their 12th studio album later this summer titled, Happily Never After. Maybe they’ll perform new songs planned for the new record in addition to their cover of No Doubt’s Underneath It All.
Zebrahead vocalist, Ali Tabatabaee, tells The Pier: “We first toured with 311 around the year 2000. I remember meeting the guys and thinking how cool and down to earth they were. Since then, we have run into them all over the world. Whether it’s Germany or Japan, they have remained friends of ours and we try and catch up whenever we can. We are all excited for the show at the House of Blues in San Diego because it will be the first time we’ve played with them in the U.S. in over 17 years. It’s going to be a blast!”
Save Ferris was a late 90’s Ska group led by front-woman Monique Powell who saw break-out success when they released their debut full-length record, It Means Everything, in 1997. They had a cameo in the major-motion picture 10 Things I Hate About You and were known for their ska cover of “Come On Eileen.” The group dismantled before reforming again recently, and in 2017 they put out a 5-track EP titled Checkered Past.
On April 19th, it’s being booked as 4:20 Eve on the Rocks, 311 will be performing at the world-famous Red Rocks Amphitheater in Morrison, CO with Method Man & Redman, Collie Buddz, PROF, Long Beach Dub Allstars, Chali 2na of Jurassic 5.
Method Mad & Redman broke out onto the scene in 1999 when they dropped their album Blackout while Chali2na was blowing minds with Jurassic 5 to kick off the millennium.
Long Beach Dub Allstars were formed on the heels of Sublime’s untimely end when they formed in 1997 before breaking up in 2002. During that time they released 2 records and after reforming with new music in 2017, it’s exciting to see that the ‘Dub Allstars will be sharing the stage on the Rocks with 311. Chali2na from the hip-hop group Jurassic 5 is also on the bill, so its only natural for us to anticipate him joining the ‘Dubs on stage for a song, possibly to spit his verse from the song “Life Goes On.”
On the main-stage of all this excitement is 311. 311 went from throw-back Ska and Alternative Punk with openers Save Ferris and Zebrahead in March to more Reggae-Hip Hop throwback groups in April with Method Mad & Redman and Long Beach Dub Allstars. I didn’t even mention their New Years Eve show with The Original Wailers and one of the first proclaimed White Boy Rap groups of the 90’s in the Phunk Junkeez. 311 is engaging their older fan-base with throw-back line-ups across multiple genres and time-periods from the early 90’s to the present day.
In May, 311 will once again be performing at Cali-Roots festival as the event is scheduled to be May 25–27th. The full line-up and details for that will be forthcoming. Until then, we’ll continue to update you on new music as it’s been seen on their social media that 311 has been in the studio working with Goldfinger’s John Feldmann.
Related Links:
311 Website
Zebrahead Website
Save Ferris Website
Long Beach Dub Allstars Website
Method Mad & Redman Website
Exclusive 311 Blog
Article By: Mike Patti
Watch: 311 – “Come Original”
Watch: Zebrahead – “Underneath It All” (No Doubt Cover)
Watch: Save Ferris – “New Sound”
Listen: Long Beach Dub Allstars – “Holding Out”
