Each year for the past 10 years, High Dive has booked Sublime tribute band Badfish. On Tuesday, the band will be returning to Gainesville.
Badfish has been the most popular tribute band over the past decade for Glory Days Presents, a local promotion company.
“We have booked them every year for over 10 years now because the Gainesville crowd cannot get enough of them,” Pat Lavery, the owner of Glory Days Presents, wrote in an email.
The band is currently on its “Doin’ Time” tour, performing songs from Sublime’s 1996 self-titled album.
Drummer Scott Begin and bassist Joel Hanks were brought together by a computer science class at the University of Rhode Island. The two were fans of Sublime and would play music together, trying out different musical ideas.
“We would jam out a lot, then the idea of doing a Sublime tribute surfaced,” Begin said. “We decided just to try it out and see how it would go over. That’s really what kicked it off.”
The first show they put together in 2001 was well-received with a large audience. They kept playing shows as their fan base grew over the next couple of years. It was then that the band decided to go full time.
Begin said they tend to stick to the original sound of Sublime’s albums, but they allow for different variations on the set list, much like Sublime would do.
“We will pull from different variations that Sublime would perform live,” Begin said. “I think the people who know the album version of songs are definitely not disappointed.”
Lavery said many die-hard Sublime fans prefer Badfish over the current Sublime with Rome lineup, a musical collaboration with former Sublime bassist Eric Wilson and singer Rome Ramirez.
“Because their sound is so similar to the original Sublime recordings, you can close your eyes and imagine Bradley Nowell is on stage,” Lavery said.
Badfish has gained such popularity that they even reached Sublime and were able to play with Sublime’s original drummer, Bud Gaugh.
Begin considers it to be the band’s biggest accomplishment.
“When we were out west over the past year, we did a few shows with Bud,” Begin said. “We actually put together a show this past June at the House of Blues in Anaheim, and he played the drums for us the whole night.”
Begin said it feels good to know one of the original Sublime members loves what they’re doing enough to play a whole set with them.
“Me, being a drummer, it was a really cool thing for me to sit back and get to watch him play with my bandmates, playing this incredible music that he was a part of creating in the first place,” Begin said. “It was really complimentary to what we were doing; it was a lot of fun.”
Badfish will perform at High Dive, situated at 210 SW Second Ave., on Tuesday. Doors open at 8 p.m., and the show begins at 8:30 p.m. Tickets range from $12 to $18.
