Date: Wednesday July 15th 2026
Venue: Hollywood Casino, Penn National Race Course
City / State: Grantville, PA
Subjects: 311

Nick Hexum of 311 performing in Grantville at Hollywood Casino Outdoor Stage.

311 wasted little time getting into their set opening up with the hit “Beautiful Disaster” leading the crowd in a sing a long for the chorus which would be a popular theme throughout the night as most of the band’s selections are radio hits and it’s hard-to-find folks in the crowd who don’t know these songs. They followed that up with the one to punch of “All mixed up” and “Come original” which both saw Doug “SA” Martinez take center stage for his rapping and higher pitched portions of the song. The band is led by vocalist / Guitarist Nick Hexum who formed the band in Omaha Nebraska back in 1988. The band will be celebrating their 40th anniversary as a band in a mere two years. “Sunset in July”, “Champaigne” and “Don’t Tread on Me” had the entire venue vibing and moving around to every note of the music. In between songs Nick would be his usual laid back and comical self and would always be asking if we were having a good time. Judging by the movements and constant smiles from audience members that seemed to be a unanimous yes. The band broke into “I’ll Be here Awhile” which is off the 2001 album “From Chaos”. In an interesting note the song was written by Hexum when he was only 20 years old, though he would be into his thirties by the time the band released it. The band is not typically a cover act however they do have one smash hit cover in their repertoire: that being “Lovesong” by the Cure. The track was recorded for the Adam Sandler hit movie soundtrack “50 First Dates”.

The night before leaving for Inkcarceration I decided to do a little concert prep and head to Grantville to see a band I’ve never seen up close before. Sure, I saw 311 at festivals before but never a headlining set and never close up. This wasn’t a full-on headline set, rather a co headlining slot with the band Dirty Heads. The band was on tour with them and switching back and forth each night as to who would be performing last. On this night 311 would pull the opening slot which was good for me because they were who I wanted to see. Dirty Heads are great, but I had a long drive the next day and was there for the 311 vibes. I’ll say I did manage to see the last two songs of Ocean Alley and though I know nothing of these guys I really enjoyed what I saw. I’m going to attempt to see a full set or possibly just book them myself at some point. The venue is awesome. There really isn’t a bad place to be in the entire place. They have the pit upfront, which is where I was. Then they have seats behind the pit, and then more standing room. You can honestly see the stage decently well the second you walk in once it becomes in view and also the parking is easy. If you get the preferred parking (I Believe that’s what it’s called), it takes less than 5 minutes to get to the entrance. It’s really convenient.

‍ ‍ After Lovesong it almost felt like a second half. The sky became darker and the setting turned into a much more concert friendly atmosphere. “You wouldn’t Believe” and “Applied Science” came next as the crowd swayed back and forth along with the band. Eventually it came time for Nick to please all the ladies and take his shirt off. If only that was written about me. Anyway, with a collective scream from the ladies the band began ripping through the final portion of the set. Drummer Chad Sexton put together a fancy drum solo while the crew rolled out some bongos on stage and then the rest of the band joined in for a nearly 10-minute drum circle. Probably the two most popular songs of the night were two of the final three. “Amber’ likely saw the biggest roar from the crowd and the band would close out with the song that put them on the map, the ever popular and rocking “Down”.

311 SETLIST:
01. “Beautiful Disaster”
02. “All Mixed Up”
03. “Come Original”
04. “Sunset in July”
05. “Champaigne”
06. “Don’t Tread on Me”
07. “I’ll Be Here Awhile”
08. “Flowing”
09. “Lovesong” (The Cure Cover)
10. “You Wouldn’t Believe”
11. “Applied Science”
Drum Solo / Drum Circle
12. “Use of TIme”
13. “Don’t Stay Home”
14. “Amber”
15. “Creatures (For Awhile)”
16. “Down”