Sublime Have New Singer

03/03/09 12:10pm

by Kate Harper (CHARTattack)

Sublime sort of reunited on Saturday night in Reno, Nev.

Bassist Eric Wilson and drummer Bud Gaugh took the stage at the Catina Los Tres Hombres on Feb. 28 with a new singer named Rome to play a short set of Sublime songs that included "Wrong Way," "Santeria" and the band's biggest hit, "What I Got." The reformed band took the stage after Gaugh's surf rock group, Del Mar, played a full set.

Rumours surfaced several months ago that Sublime might reunite with a new singer to replace the late Brad Nowell, who died of a heroin overdose in 1996. While it wasn't immediately clear if the Reno set was a definite reunion, this blog entry posted on Del Mar's MySpace page on Sunday cleared things up.

"So Del Mar played the gig at Cantina last night in Reno, it was packed and amazing. What really fucking killed it was SUBLIME reuniting and playing with new singer, Rome. We're fucking stoked for Bud, Eric, and Rome- Bud's still playing with Del Mar, and Sublime doesn't have any firm tour plans or anything YET, but we'll keep you posted on their progress."

The reunion has drawn mixed reactions from fans. Some of those who posted on punkdisasters.com suggested the new Sublime are just another version of the Long Beach Dub Allstars, Wilson and Gaugh's post-Sublime band whose last record was 2001's Wonders Of The World. Another fan said Sublime ceased to exist when Nowell died, and "that's like saying Nirvana reunited last night."

Nowell, Wilson and Gaugh formed Sublime in 1988 and released two albums — 1992's 40 Oz. To Freedom and 1994's Robbin' The Hood — before their 1996 self-titled third album propelled them to mainstream success. Nowell died before that album was released.

A posthumous album of unreleased tracks and live and acoustic discs followed before Gaugh and Wilson formed the Long Beach Dub Allstars in 1997. Wilson now plays drums for Stone Wing and an Iggy Pop cover band.

Gaugh is a former member of the short-lived Eyes Adrift, which also included ex-Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic and Meat Puppets guitarist Curt Kirkwood. He and Kirkwood later formed Volcano before he started Del Mar in 2006.

Del Mar's After The Quake debut album is due this spring.