Unity Tour hits all the high notes

UNITY TOUR WITH 311, OFFSPRING, PEPPER, USANA Amphitheatre, July 21

WEST VALLEY CITY — Watching 311 is like watching old friends at a jam session. The band — drummer Chad Sexton, lead guitarist Tim Mahoney, bassist Aaron "P-Nut" Wills, vocalist Nick Hexum and vocalist/DJ Doug "S.A." Martinez — always gives summer a kick in the pants with its annual Unity Tour.

This year, the band recruited the Offspring to round out the line-up which included, as usual, the island rock/reggae rhythms of Pepper.

Pepper kicked off the show with it's three-man beach-bum set that gave the audience a good dose of laid-back Hawaiian-influenced ditties.

The band — vocalist/bassist Bret Bollinger, guitarist/vocalist Kaleo Wassman and drummer Yesod Williams — salted its set with bawdy, suggestive and tongue-in-cheek lyrics and opened the gates for the Dexter Holland and the boys in Offspring.

Fronted by Holland and guitarist Kevin "Noodles" Wasserman, the band mixed old-school and new-school songs that only added to the anticipation for the arrival of 311.

The band cranked out "Come Out and Play," "Self Esteem" and "Gotta Get Away," but also dished out "Pretty Fly (for a White Guy)," "Why Don't You Get a Job" and "(Can't Get My) Head Around You."

Holland still possessed that frantic cutting siren vocals while Wasserman's fingers continued to pull lethal leads from the strings and fretboard.

At one point Holland took "Gone Away" and made it into a solo piano ballad. The song became more dark and soulfully painful without the original bombastic arrangement.

As Offspring wrapped its set, the power to the amps on stage cut out, but was rectified in a few short minutes.

The power cut out again during 311's set. And after a few minutes of the audience cheering and pounding the USANA Amphitheatre seats, the sound came back on.

Still, the band didn't lose its momentum, although an annoying buzzing could be heard between songs.

The set opened with the trademark crank of "Down" and included "All Mixed Up," "Mix It Up" and "Beautiful Disaster."

"Amber," "Come Original" and "Hey You" were also among the rock/reggae jams.

Giving the fans what they wanted, 311 also blasted into "Applied Science," which featured Sexton's drum solo.

The solo, as it always has, segued into a communal jam featuring the band members pounding on individual drums and cymbals.

It was a perfect summer concert.

e-mail: scott@desnews.com