311 | Hawaii

In 1995 I began working for 311. During the eleven years that passed after that , I had the opportunity to travel with them all over this country, including Hawaii. Generally when the band visited Hawaii they would rent Harley Davidson motorcycles and spend at least a day cruising the island. Being that they were somewhat novice riders, management would often encourage these joy rides to take place after the show, so that any accidents would not interfere with the concert. Most of the band equipment was shipped in days before the concerts, including the merchandise for the shows. The promoter would hold the stuff until the first show, and then we would rent a small airplane to island hop the gear between shows. Some of those small cargo planes were incredibly rickety looking, and rusty. The band and crew took commercial planes, or sometimes helicopters between islands.
Promoters are allowed to print posters to advertise the show. Some of these are done with more artistic talent than others. All of these promo posters become collectible. Very rarely, the bands photograph is included in the art. These posters are distributed to record stores, bars, nightclubs, and schools in order to advertise the upcoming show.
On March 24th 2006, Three-Eleven performed a show at the Kona Brewing Company, in Hawaii. The promoter was allowed to incorporate a photograph of the band in its Promo poster.
I am auctioning this RARE poster, with a portion of the proceeds to benefit Habitat for Humanity.

311| Sticky Aftershow Pass

This authentic and unused 311 backstage after show pass comes from the Soundsystem tour of 2000. I don't remember what the marks CS stood for back then. These after show passes are generally reserved for attractive audience members, radio station personnel and contest winners. Unfortunately, a pass like this guarantees nothing other than being held at bay by a local security guard, while the band showers, eats, parties with friends, and then maybe stops by the meet and greet area, hours after the last note of the evening has been played.

To be sure, in some venues, it is a different story altogether. If the promoter offers a room, and staff, catering and couches the parties can, and do rage. Most often, promoters are trying to save money, and contribute nothing to the after show party on the 311 tour.

Most of the after show meet and greet happens on one of the bands 3 tourbusses, only a few of the people sitting in the house holding pen, get invited onto a bus.

In 1993 I toured with Gun's and Roses during their tour with Faith No More and Metallica. They brought 3 semi-tractor trailers full of after show equipment (one of which was a patio that unfolded to accommodate three 8 person hot tubs) which were used to build tents around the enormous after show parties at every venue.

There were over 30 trucks that carried the G'n'R tour around. 311 generally travels with 3 trucks max.

311 | 711

In 2000, 311 was touring to support The From Chaos Album. I traveled with the band sporadically on this tour as more and more mail-order/Internet business was pouring in at home. Many shirts have been popular over the years but one that stood out was the 311 7-11 logo. It was one of the most popular. Whenever I ordered it though, in the back of my mind, I thought I wonder what 7-11 thinks of this. Well one day in October of 2000 we found out. The 7-11 corporation hired an attorney in New York, to contact us to say that they did not like us selling a shirt that looked so similar to their logo. They asked us to cease and desist selling the shirt, and to send them all the remaining shirts. We sent them a few boxes with an apology. Since we had just ordered hundreds of them we tried to unload them quickly at shows in New York, Pennsylvania, and Boston, at $5 each. They sold like crazy at $5 a pop, but soon we got another letter from 7-11 claiming damages. At this point, we decided to use them as giveaway shirts to local crew at the end of each night. Again, threatening letters came from their lawyers. At this point we just sent the rest to the lawyers and walked away from one of the best selling 311 shirts of all time. During the shows where we sold them for $5 some fans bought dozens at a time, and I still see them being auctioned on eBay from time to time. The venues who we asked to sell $5 HATED doing this, since it was equal work for ¼ pay. One venue hated it so much that they counted us back several dozen bootleg Jessica Simpson shirts slipped in with our returns for the evening, thereby increasing their profits. Merchandising is a cut throat affair, that any band who is popular is blessed by the curse of.

311 | Second Itinerary

311 Itinerary

Rock tour itineraries are often called the book of lies by the road crew. Three-Eleven's were no different. The problem stems from the fact that the production manager is trying to get so many things ready for the upcoming tour that the information about dates that won't happen for another 2 months always seem to change after the book is printed. Nonetheless, a tour itinerary, and a laminated pass are tools that all national tours rely on. Generally touring personnel are given 2 books. One for themselves and one for their home or home office. The itinerary I am auctioning on eBay, traveled with me and the band during the tour of 1997, I kept notes in this copy , so this one being auctioned has lots of road wear, notes and scribbles. I imagine some fan might like to see the specifics of different venues, hotels, and promoters that the band encountered on this national tour. Also listed are the names of the touring personnel, promoters, times for sound check, breakfast, lunch and dinner, as well as warm up act information. Any non- public information about the band or its touring crew has been redacted for privacy.


The cover art is beautiful. Soon I will post some old tour laminate passes and gold record awards for auction. A portion of the proceeds from this auction will benefit Amnesty International.

In unrelated news:
Check out http://www.thelesssaid.com/

AND CHECK OUT THIS PHISH STUFF

311 | 911

On the morning of September 11th 2001, I was in Las Vegas, on the "From Chaos" tour with the band 311. I was training our new road merchandising guy, Alex. The show was to be at the Hard Rock Casino and Hotel's club- the Joint. My hotel room window at the Hard Rock provided a view of the Maccaran Airport tarmac directly below, and the mountains to the distance. The crew and I arrived early on the morning of September 10th, after a bus ride from California following the show the night before in Fresno. The band slept at home after the Fresno show and flew in to the Hard Rock later that day. From my bed on the night of September 10th, I could see the long lines of planes on the runways waiting to take off , the long lines of planes on the horizon, waiting to land, and the general hustle and bustle of Las Vegas' biggest airport.

At about 6 am I was awoken by a phone call from my wife, in Boston. She told me that the same flight that I had flown several mornings earlier, Flight 11 from Boston to Los Angeles had, this morning, crashed into the World Trade Center in NYC. I, like most of the rest of the world, was stunned. We stayed on the phone as the other planes crashed that day, and cried. It was terrifying. As I stood next to the bed, 2,500 miles from home, watching the sunrise, it was announced that all air traffic in this country was being grounded. Out of the corner of my eye, and almost in unison , I saw all the planes outside of my window halt right where they were. Some were in line to take off, some just landed, some were mere feet from reaching their gates. Many hours later, I could see some of the planes, letting people off onto the runway, right where they'd stopped, sometimes by scaffolding stairs, ladders and emergency ramps.

As the morning wore on, that nights concert at the Joint was cancelled. It is the first and only Rock show that was ever cancelled on the day of show in my then 8 years in the business. It practically never happens. The band had a meeting to discuss whether the tour should be postponed, or cancelled and decided that it shouldn't because it would be giving in to terrorism. My flight home from San Francisco was cancelled by the national ban on air travel, so I instead was resigned to continuing with the tour and spending a few more days training Alex. When we left for San Francisco late that night the planes were still exactly where they'd stopped hours earlier.

The laminates and tour books for the Three-Eleven "From Chaos Tour" were given to band and crew on September 7th. The designs were laid out weeks earlier. Five days later, they had to be completely revised and reprinted. The one with buildings and fire was the original theme. The "lady liberty ala flag" was the revision. None of us could believe the irony of the initial choice.

I am currently auctioning this pair of ALL ACCESS laminates from that early September tour, over 5 years ago. Although the laminates are in great shape as collectibles, their true value is in the history and story of their production.

311 | Tour Jacket

This Jacket is a Flight Bomber Style with beautiful embroidery front and back. Under 100 of these were made and given to 311's road crew, key players, support, and management during the 2006 tour. Tour Jackets are amongst the most highly prized possessions of any roadie, and is even a more rare addition to a die hard fans collection.
This wearable collectible has never been worn for more than a minute, and is made of heavy duty construction.
The band 311 was EXTREMELY involved in every area of the design and production of this gift to their road crew. Sometimes they would revise an item of merchandise 12 to 40 times before it was ready for production, this was no exception. The size of the embroidery on this jacket is what proved to be the biggest challenge though. We were able to cut the stitch count down from 575,000 to 65,000 by using a white underlay cloth. This also reduces the amount of disfigurement when this garment gets wet or is cleaned. Three-Eleven was VERY happy with the final outcome. It was by far one of the most expensive gifts they had ever given their road crew.

The jackets were barely ready in time for the last show before Christmas. Band and management were freaking out that they'd have nothing to give their crew before the holiday break. I got calls and emails hourly for days. The band during this time also expressed that they were looking forward to presenting these jackets to the crew personally when they arrived. The problem is sometimes the band does not arrive to a venue, until most people in the crew are knee-deep in work, making presentation hour rather pipe dreamt. Anyway, when the Jackets finally DID arrive in the nick of time on the last day possible, my new employee took it upon herself to hand them out right away. I had to call her and explain why I'd asked her to call me the minute that the jackets were delivered, which she didn't. She ended up hanging up on me, and (I later found out) retrieving all the jackets from those she'd given to, so that the band could " surprise" everyone at dinner with these gorgeous gifts. I heard later that every one of the recipients put in a fine performance of surprise and gratitude.

I am auctioning the one that they made for me, I am sure it'll find a good home with a 311 fan.

311 | Backstage Passes

Backstage passes on 311 tours and on all national Tours in the United States for that matter come in basically two varieties, sticky or laminated. The sticky pass can further be broken down into 4-10 types, depending on the tour and the venue that the show is being played in. On the Three-Eleven tour, laminated passes are worn by the band, their crew, the production staff, the merchandiser, and travelling representatives of the sound and lighting companies. Sticky passes generally change color for each city that the tour visits. Additionally the date is written on the colored pass of the day, and then another word or code is also written to prevent counterfeiting, and fraud. Sticky passes are used on the day of show with the following designations in order of importance: Working, Local Crew, Guest, VIP, Photography, and After Show. The After Show pass, only gets you partially backstage after the show. Depending on the promoter, the show , the band and the city, the after show party can range from a group of fans being held in what looks like a detention room by a number of local security, to a half naked orgies in the bands dressing room or buses. On a recent tour, the two production assistants were women. The secret code written on the after show passes, in addition to the date was "TULSA", backwards for "A Slut" . These women were terminally jealous that they were invited less to the after shows than the local fans. Most of the after shows were fun, and respectful parties though.
Laminates and Sticky passes make great collectibles. The art is often some of the nicest representations of the current Cd's artwork.

311 | Auctions

I've started listing some of my OLD 311 stuff on eBay! and can't believe how little the stuff is auctioning for...... An original RIAA certified PLATINUM record award with a COA from me, and a ton of provenance just went for $150! with 9 bidders! Oh well, at least it went to a good home. Next up? Some super rare laminates and itineraries.

311 | Awards

When I received this from the band 311 almost a decade ago, it was the first award any band had ever given me. The merch guy on concert tours of any size generally works for a big merch company to which the band has signed over its tour merchandising rights to. I had worked for one of those companies and had never been recognized for my efforts on the road promoting a current album like this before. I am sure that the companies I worked for received awards from some of the artists sometimes, but not the road guy. I could not believe it! I was so pumped. Later I learned from Yonnie ( their tour manager) what a big deal it was getting the management to agree to send them to any of their road crew. I know that everyone who got one really appreciated it. I also know that over the years , those who did not, came to resent it. Any band relies on many people to help in the promotion, production, and distribution of a CD. To thank ALL of them whenever a CD goes Platinum, would be a major expense ( one which the band would pay the cost of. ) The band goes on tour to promote their CD and over the course of a few years ends up living with the road crew more than the "home" crew. So it makes sense that they'd want to thank the road crew in a very special way, like this. Since, I was one of 311's partners in a newly formed merchandise company called 311merchandising, and not just a swag guy from "Winterland/Brokum/NiceMan/FEA Merchandising" I really was honored by the fact that they'd thought of me too. Of course, for many years one hung in the greenroom hallway at the Howard Stern Show in NYC also. I guess he probably did as much a Trevor Cole to promote the Blue Album.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220070418342

and also http://stores.ebay.com/merch311days-Store