Date: Friday July 18th, 2012
Line up:311, Slightly Stoopid, The Aggrolites
Location: St. Augustine Ampitheatre. St. Augustine, Florida
The tenth annual Unity Tour hit Florida this week & The Pier was lucky enough to catch the tour in beautiful St Augustine, Florida!
Over the years, the 311 live show has become much more than a show. Every night on tour has evolved 
into an experience, one which culminates into a ragging two hour sing-a-long! These experiences, fueled by the passion and traditions of many dedicated fans, are truly about uniting for the love of the music.
I spoke with a ton of excited fans, all eager for the night’s show, and hoping, “that certain song” will be played. After wondering around the pre-party, we packed up camp and got right into the venue.
The Aggrolites opened up the night promptly at 5:50. They only had 30 minutes, but they rocked every second! The LA quartet played their unique style of “Dirty Reggae”, touching several of their albums, playing favorites like “Funky Fire” among others. As with all early shows, the crowd isn’t prepared to get to the venue early. It was disappointing to see a smaller crowd for the Aggrolites, but the core fans were there, loving every minute!
The Aggrolites were off the stage at 6:20 sharp. DJ Peril, of San Diego’s reggae sound system, Tribe of Kings, started up Sublime’s “Summer Time” while the stage was set for Slightly Stoopid.
During the break, I was able to talk to a few fans in the pit. Emilio, a fan in a Rasta tank, probably had the quote that best sums up what everyone told us “It’s the best line up, I love 311 and Slightly Stoopid, I couldn’t miss this!” Before Stoopid’s set, a fan on a mission to the front was exited to talk to The Pier. Adam, told us how “stoked” he was for Stoopid’s new CD and said, as most of us have already shared by saying, “I can’t wait to hear the new stuff.” The “New Stuff” we’re all referring to is the release of Slightly Stoopids new album Top of the World that drops August 14th!
At 6:45 the black curtain covering the set flew into the wings, as the Top of the World 
backdrop appeared, and Slightly Stoopid took the stage! Starting out with Kyle on bass and Miles on guitar, the Ocean Beach Crew got right into it with the unreleased Glox instrumental intro. Keeping it going, they went into “Till It Gets Wet,” with the funky horn part featuring Dela on sax!
It only took three tracks, before Slightly Stoopid introduced new material from their upcoming album, Top Of The World. This third song was “Ska Diddy,” a track that features Fishbone’s Angelo Moore on the album. “Ska Diddy,” has the same tonality as “Baby I Like It,” and sure enough, that track came next.
All in all, Slightly Stoopid played a pleasing six songs off Top Of The World, in between older favorites. A few highlights of the set included Karl Denson’s sax solo on “Closer To The Sun,” and Half Pint’s guest appearance on “Del Roy.” The set ended on another high note, with a newer Charles Wright cover of “Express Yourself!”
For a set billed as “co-headlining,” Slightly Stoopid played an 18 song, hour long set with no encore. It was a nice mix of songs, but the set lacked the heavier older songs. With a limited opening set that has to make room for new material, it’s hard to include all the favorites. Slightly Stoopid fans are accustom to seeing the band close the summer show. So, it was admittedly weird to see the band jam for a tight hour and quickly rush off stage. However, it was very cool to see a whole Slightly set and then still get to see 311!
As the sun set on this July evening, just after 8 o’clock, 311 came walking out to the screams of close to 4000 fans. Playing his red flying V guitar, Nick Hexum jumped into one of their most infamous hits “Beautiful Disaster!”, “All Mixed Up,” & “Count Me In”.
311 is one of the best live acts on tour in the nation! Mainly, because they work the crowd so well. They effortlessly bring the energy of the house to a peak in the first stint of songs. With a set list that included a plethora of hits, and rarer songs off their deep discography, how could you not enjoy the epic rock show?!
As expected, the 311 experience was incredible! Playing 23 songs in just under two hours, 311 literally sweated through their jeans, pulling out all the stops! They performed the much anticipated group drum 
solo during “Applied Science” as well as P-Nut’s amazing five minute long bass solo. They ended with an energetic encore of “Transistor,”, “Beyond the Gray Sky,” and “Creatures!”
When you go to a 311 show, take a second a look around at all the different fans. There’s tons of people, all from different backgrounds, old and young alike, all singing their heads off. After the show, The Pier caught up with perhaps the youngest fan attending the concert. Right on the front rail for most of 311’s set was Ashley, a 10 year old from Central Florida. This was her third 311 show! As she explained how her entire family goes to see 311, she told us, “311 is great.. good sound!..I have so much fun watching 311!”
If you look back on 20th century music, the most successful bands of all time are the bands that communicate with their fans. They diligently listen to their fans and constantly create a beloved product, a show, that hooks fans like Ashley forever. 311 & Slightly Stoopid is by far the best example of this “for the fan” mentality. The whole experience is well worth it, everything from the parking lot, to the energetic performance, to the specialized regional merchandise. With 40 plus dates, the Unity Tour covers more ground than any other tour this summer. There’s no excuse to miss a show!
311 Set List:
1.) Beautiful Disaster
2.) Sunset In July
3.) Mix It Up
4.) Do You Right
5.) Prisoner
6.) Freeze Time
7.) 1, 2, 3
8.) Strong All Along
9.) All Mixed Up
10.) Count Me In
11.) Applied Science
12.) Never Ending Summer
13.) Inner Light Spectrum
14.) I’ll Be Here Awhile
15.) Sick Tight
BASS SOLO
16). Crack The Code
17.) Amber
18.) Time Bomb
19.) Jackpot
20.) Down
Encore:
21) Transistor
I Like The Way*
22) Beyond the Gray Sky**
23) Creatures (For a While)
*On list, but not skipped.
**Not listed, but played.
Slightly Stoopid Set List:
1.) Glox
2.) Till It Gets Wet
3.) Ska Diddy
4.) Baby I like It
5.) Don’t Stop
6.) Anywhere I Go
7.) Hold Onto The One
8.) Leaving On A Jet Plane
9.) Wiseman*
10.)Under Pressure
11.) Fat Spliffs
12.) Closer to the Sun
13.) Way You Move
14.) We Don’t Wanna Go
15.) Del Roy
16.) 2am
17.) Pon Da Horizon
18.) Express Yourself
Aggrolites Set List:
1.) Medley
2.) Free Time
3.) Feelin’ Alright
4.) Time to Get Tough
5.) Funky Fire*
6.) Countryman
7.) Fiddler
8.) Mr. Misery
9.)Dirty Reggae
10.) Don’t Let Me Down
Article By: Aaron Solomon
More Pictures from the night…
