The emergence of the Ben Folds Five kicked off the best performance of the evening. Much like their recent release The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner, Sunday night's performance was straight-faced, emotional and talented. Almost the entire set was taken from the new album, as Ben Folds impressively rocked out on the piano for "Narcolepsy," "Don't Change Your Plans" and "Army". But Folds was not going to leave without showing the brilliant irreverent side he has been known for, and finished the set with "Song for the Dumped," featuring the eternal lyric "Give me my money back, you bitch!".

Last but, thanks to Buckcherry, not least was 311. The band's name, police code for indecent exposure, becomes more relevant with each progressive year, as their rehashed material becomes increasingly distasteful. Far from their "grassroots" of energetic short sets in sweaty small venues, 311 performed in a large outdoor half-shell for almost two hours. At first, the crowd was psyched and ready to groove, but 311 lost their attention by reserving all of their radio hits for the final twenty minutes. Almost the entire set was devoted to tracks off their upcoming album, Soundsystem, and only the recently released single "Come Original" evoked any response, and only a minimal one at that. The pit was thrashing at first, but after an hour died down to an exhausted gasp. SA Martinez and Nick Hexum bounced around the stage in a vain attempt at reviving the energy, but finally relinquished to the bored faces by playing their hits--including "Down"--and exiting the building. The only time the show truly got "all mixed up" was afterwards during my battle with the escaping throngs for a seat on the shuttle back to South Station.