I'd never seen a 311 crowd quite like the one I witnessed Friday night. The crowd was split into two types: the hyper-active teenagers in the pit on the floor, and the drunken, perverted college guys along the walls of the club and surrounding the bar. For some reason it seemed as if this was the crowd's first 311 show. Slam dancing was in full effect, with one particular girl being thrown around amongst this circle of sweaty teen boys.

Goddammit, I thought moshing, body surfing and slam dancing went out when Kurt Cobain put a bullet in his head. Still, The Opera House was filled with impatient teens ready to boot people in the head, and loaded men ready to grab at any ass or breast in the club.

311 is an energetic band to witness live. The two frontmen of the band, Nick Hexum (vocals, guitar) and SA Martinez (vocals, DJ), are the main attention-getters in the band. Not only are they easy on the eyes, but they know how to move around a stage. SA is a perfect example of a great performer. He stomps around the stage, throwing his arms from side to side to the music, head bopping up and down, with shoulders hunched down. Sounds like an odd thing to look at, but once 311's mish-mash of reggae and rock explodes through their speakers, then it's pretty easy to see that he's just rockin' out to the music.

311

"Lucky" off of Grass Roots was the highlight of the night. This is a tune that isn't usually on their setlist to play, but on this night it was a pleasant surprise. Not too many songs from Transistor were played (thank god!), since the album was crappier than shit in a toilet. They just stuck to the good stuff, playing a balance of songs from earlier albums and the newest release, Soundsystem.

311 played a hard, fun set for nearly two hours. The finale was a blistering version of "Down" that sent the kids in the place crazy. Their most successful song to date was an obvious hit with everyone who recognized the chorus, and they gladly danced and sang along. And that's pretty much how receptive the sold-out audience was to the show. Be it shoving each other around, crowd surfing (god, I hate that shit) or just dancing with themselves in the corner, there's always plenty of action going on at a 311 show.