It's 311, so why not?

For the diehard 311 fans who crammed into the House of Blues for a rare small-venue performance, the band’s extensive merch offerings were a treasure trove of brand-new items ranging from $100 posters to T-shirts emblazoned with the logo of the band’s new beer brand (synergistically named 311 Amber Ale).

Too bad not everything could be as new and exciting, though, as anyone hoping for a fresh stage show once again walked away disappointed. A warm-up gig for its super-sized concert event known as 311 Day, held in New Orleans every other year on March 11, the band’s 20-song, 90-minute show in the Gaslamp was, performance-wise, a carbon copy of any other concert it has played for the past ten years.

Singer-guitarist Nick Hexum slithered through the same dance moves, stripped down throughout the show to the same wife-beater T-shirt, used the same verbiage to introduce songs, and read lyrics off the same teleprompter that have been a part of his stage act since the George W. Bush administration, saying nothing off the cuff to the sold-out crowd in between familiar hits such as opener “Freeze Time” and finale “Down.”

Come original? Hardly.

• Concert: 311
• Date: March 7
• Venue: House of Blues
• Seats: GA (center stage)