Two of the most notorious musical deaths of our generation were those of Bradley Nowell of Sublime and Kurt Cobain of Nirvana. Nirvana ended its short but prolific run in 1994 with Cobain’s death. Kris Novoselic (bassist) went off to join some lesser known grunge-punk groups, most recently San Fran punk band Flipper and Dave Grohl, Nirvana’s drummer, went on to play with a little-known band - Foo Fighters. Sublime members, Eric Wilson and Bud Gaugh, went on to form the Long Beach Dub Allstars after Bradley’s tragic heroin overdose in San Francisco in 1996. The band seemingly existed in the shadows of Sublime for the last decade.

Just when we thought our mid-90’s musical obsessions were all but a memory, word slips in late 2008 that Sublime is going to be re-uniting. I received this news with mixed feelings. The idea of Sublime without Bradley just didn’t feel right, but rumors had it that Eric and Bud had been searching for a new frontman. On Feb. 28th, 2009 at Cantina Los Tres Hombres, a cozy venue in Nevada, following a live performance following Bud’s current band Del Mar, that new frontman was unveiled. Rome Ramirez, a 20 year old from NorCal stepped on stage into what would most likely be the first of many lime-light performances. With mixed reviews, a common undertone was “he is no Bradley, but he is good…” Whether they are going to actually call themselves Sublime is still undetermined, they are however, in the studio laying down new tracks, so the collaboration seems to have been more than just a reunion show. Other than Bamboozle (Jersery music festival) in May 2009, the band has no shows scheduled. We will keep you posted as we know more, but in the meantime, let us know what you think about the idea of Sublime coming “back from the dead.”

Sublime - Greatest Hits (from Robbin’ The Hood)