311's big "fuck you" (a vent about new 311)

[$nipe]

This is the most epic thread direction shift ever.

[Element]

311 are sellouts

[$ayzak]

Perhaps they just wanted to practice playing several new songs in front of a non-biased, non-camera-ready audience. You know -- practice for the summer tour? As for the marketing... so what.

[dj3stripes]

i love how there's an argument that 311 sucks cuz you have to re-buy the album to get the bonus tracks. you can buy them seperately w/out purchasing the whole album, not to mention there's already a few megaupload.com links here. sucks about the show though. but if i cared that much about missing a 'secret show' and was pissed about it, the last thing i'd do is rant and rave about it on a forum as if you can rewind it and change the past

[$lmjimy311]

he said LEGAL

[dj3stripes]

he said LEGAL

yeah, you can BUY (i said BUY) just the bonus tracks individually separately by themselves without having to to buy the whole album.

[John Michael]

i was saying theres no conspiracy about hiding the show from hardcore fans, but thinking about it more maybe there is one, because they were only playing 9 songs and they knew ppl like u would bitch n moan like u did.

as far as marketing, if they are such rich and famous millionaires why would they be more concerned about sales?

To make it worth their while. I'm not saying they are absurdly rich, but they're definitely worth a few mil each in assets. When someone has made pretty good money, they don't want to stop making pretty good money. They want to make more money.

you are an idiot. first off to say they are worth a few mil each in assets is stupid because nicks island is an asset that is worth more than 2 million. chad's drum city is probably worth more than 2 million. Frankly you trying to estimate their net worth makes you look stupid and makes any other point you make questionable at best.

[John Michael]

Anyone else notice?

To legally own all the new tracks released today, we would all have to purchase the album more than once. Clearly many people are doing that, as evidenced by some posters on this board who have done so already. This is an obvious ploy to boost CD sales, since DTOM and Evolver were pretty weak sellers.

Ultimate "fuck you" to the devoted 311 fans: POMONA SHOW
Don't get me wrong, they sounded great last night. They've clearly honed every sound they produce with their instruments, especially the bass sound. Lots of new effects coming from Pnut that sounded fantastic to my ears.

BUT when it comes to the marketing of that show, their intentions are clear. They didn't advertise the show on their myspace page, or their official site. It wasn't available through the typical pre-sale agent that all of us usually get our tickets from. I think the only conclusion here is that the band was making effort to keep the really dedicated fans unaware of the show for as long as possible. Not coincidentally, a "311" search on ticketmaster.com came back with the Pomona show at the very top of the list. Their marketing strategy is pretty obvious at this point. Direct as many casual concert-goers considering a 311 show as possible to this show, and keep the long-time, dedicated fans in the dark for as long as possible. The fact that they were calling it a secret show is just insulting. If the show is the #1 result on ticketmaster, that is not really that big of a fucking secret. They were trying to keep the hardcore fans from spreading info about the show.

So when they played NINE songs, eight for the first time live, and interspersed their greatest hits between, I was really not surprised. This album is catered to the wider, pop-tune addicted audience. I don't mean to say this album is bad music by any stretch; their excellent musicianship most certainly is retained. But there's been an apparent shift to bouncy, pop-catchy melodies, four on the floor songs so even the most brain dead, rhythmically challenged idiot can find the beat (although some people last night wanted to prove that they STILL couldn't jump to the beat). And the older songs they did play, well those were the ones that even your non 311 fan friends would know. Amber, Down, Come Original, Beautiful Disaster. 311 knows exactly who they are playing to, and it is NOT us.

It's just patently false that 311 has in any capacity returned to what they used to be. They're middle aged, wealthy, and happy. They don't have the same drive and inspiration that was behind their old music. They don't care about saying fuck you to the naysayers anymore. Who cares about naysayers when you're all millionaires, with islands off Florida, record labels and clothing lines? They've found the formula to write songs that sound pretty good, and are pretty catchy. They've obviously taken this album as an opportunity to write some very concert friendly, high energy, sing-along type songs, all in an effort to appeal to the wider audience that they engineered to attract to the Pomona show, and get some word-of-mouth reputation started amongst a more casual base of listeners. Just look at how Nick has tidied himself up, he's dressing to impress! Does he have a J-Crew endorsement deal or what?

So, in summary, I'm pretty disheartened with 311. They've become the corporate sellouts we thought they would never be, with their crafty deals with distributors to boost CD sales. And they've betrayed the dedicated fans that like to hear all the obscure, rarer songs, by engineering their concert advertising strategy to usher in as many Amber-loving, casual concert goers with a taste in sing-along-ability rather than a taste in MUSIC. Please, let's stop pretending like 311 is the same bunch of angry, driven, inspired, innovative musicians that they were 15 years ago. It's all a business now. Music used to be their lives, now its their day job. That's all I'm sayin.

you make so many assumptions in this post will you just please fuck off already. thanks.

[$lmjimy311]

he said LEGAL

yeah, you can BUY (i said BUY) just the bonus tracks individually separately by themselves without having to to buy the whole album.

actually no you CANT (i said CANT), you can buy the amazon one, but not the itunes' one

[Nate]

Well said. Fortunately there are still a few bands around that don't do it for the dollar signs.

[Nate]

311 are sellouts

True, but not to a great degree. They have at least kept some of their dignity.

[FreeRayLiotta]

First of all - Welcome to 2001

so you are saying that they played 9 songs off of uplifter with greatest hits mixed in - 8 of them were their first time played? and there is something wrong with that? When is the last time their debuted 8 songs at a single show... did they even hit that number at 311day?

They probably kept the show 'secret' to keep the more casual fans out - not the hardcore idiots who are scouring for their every move. Any hardcore fan is going to be happy about getting 8 new songs played for the first time instead of hearing prisoner for the 50th time or 1,2,3 or some shit.

Maybe the show wasn't such a secret, but it sounds like a pretty cool move to me.

They are rich, they dress rich, they don't have the drive they used to - but at least they aren't like Green Day and faking what they are.

[nixhex]

i love how there's an argument that 311 sucks cuz you have to re-buy the album to get the bonus tracks. you can buy them seperately w/out purchasing the whole album, not to mention there's already a few megaupload.com links here. sucks about the show though. but if i cared that much about missing a 'secret show' and was pissed about it, the last thing i'd do is rant and rave about it on a forum as if you can rewind it and change the past

This isn't an argument that 311 sucks dude. That is not the point of this at all. I love 311, they've been my favorite band for almost ten years. My point is only that their new "direction" is just fundamentally different from their old attitude. And I didn't miss the show...I'm not ranting and raving that I missed it. I was AT the show. Is "they sounded great last night" a little too cryptic for you? You just made up two false points...if you're gonna shit on my post, at least read what I actually wrote.

[HydroponicGrassroots]

least they aren't like Green Day and faking what they are.

^^^^^^^^

[311junkee]

change is part of life

why the hell would they act like they're 20 again? that makes no sense

i can see where you're coming from though to an extent

the only problem with this post is that you sound like a total douche and no one is gonna respect your opinion now

sounds like you're a very bitter fan who should probably just move on

[HizzY]

311 is just a bunch of fag boys

[$lmjimy311]

FAGGOTSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

[Jordan311]

I rate this topic a whogivesashit/10


Later

[dj3stripes]

First of all - Welcome to 2001

so you are saying that they played 9 songs off of uplifter with greatest hits mixed in - 8 of them were their first time played? and there is something wrong with that? When is the last time their debuted 8 songs at a single show... did they even hit that number at 311day?

They probably kept the show 'secret' to keep the more casual fans out - not the hardcore idiots who are scouring for their every move. Any hardcore fan is going to be happy about getting 8 new songs played for the first time instead of hearing prisoner for the 50th time or 1,2,3 or some shit.

Maybe the show wasn't such a secret, but it sounds like a pretty cool move to me.

They are rich, they dress rich, they don't have the drive they used to - but at least they aren't like Green Day and faking what they are.

haha i can see/hear it now... 'they day we wear eyeliner the show will stop' -Hive/American Idiot...........

[Freeze Time]

*I love the new 311 album.
*I dont give a shit about the bonus song situation because you either buy what you want or just get them from mega upload links.
* I couldnt give a shit about secret or not secret shows because I havent seen 311 since 1998 and Id take them anyway I could.
* I dont care if 311 are rich. Actually Im happy they are. They deserve to be because theyve worked hard and brought happiness to many people.
* I don't care if Nick overuses words in really gay ways like Unity and Eclectic.
* I don't care when he even tries to make up dumb sayings like Danceable rock
* And I don't care that he wears white pants. He could wear any colored pants and I wouldnt care.

But more and more Im beginning to care about one thing. And thats how fucking sick I am of hearing 311 fans bag 311. If you don't like them anymore then just fuck off. I don't care how old school you are or how good they use to be. If you don't like the party go home, don't stay and ruin it for everyone else.