Photos by Rebecca Clark | Review by Renee Clark Quade and Rebecca Clark
Sublime returned to CMAC on Saturday, August 22nd, bringing the chill ocean vibes to the Finger Lakes for a night filled with music, dancing, nostalgia and a whole lot of singing.
The show was nearly a sellout, which was pretty amazing to see. Sublime has been around for decades, but there were so many younger fans in the crowd singing along to the songs. That says a lot about the staying power of the band’s music, but also about what Jakob Nowell is doing with the band his father, Bradley Nowell, started. He’s bringing these songs to a new generation while keeping the spirit of Sublime alive.
But before Sublime took the stage, we got two very different bands that both fit the night surprisingly well.
Opening the show was Bedouin Soundclash, a three-piece band that brought a mix of reggae, ska, pop and punk to the stage.
Lead vocalist Jay Malinowski was immediately interacting with the crowd, and the crowd was giving it right back. There were several moments where he was laughing and smiling at their reactions, which made the whole thing feel really natural. Bass player Eon Sinclair was also having fun with the crowd, smiling and pointing toward different sections of CMAC. He also played a headless bass, which was pretty damn cool to see.
Their drummer was pulling double duty too, playing while handling backup vocals, which is no easy thing to do.
Some of their songs had a light, floaty, almost dreamlike quality, while others leaned more heavily into the ska and pop-punk side of their sound. They reminded me a little of Skindred in the way their reggae roots come through, although Bedouin Soundclash leans much more toward pop and ska while Skindred pushes more into the metal side of things.
If you like No Doubt, I think you’d probably enjoy Bedouin Soundclash.
They ended their set with a mashup of songs, including “Stand By Me,” which was one of my favorite moments of their set.
Next up were The Ataris, and if you grew up with emo and punk music in the early 2000s, their set was basically a trip down memory lane.
They had just played Warped Tour before coming to CMAC, which seemed pretty fitting because their entire set brought back that era of music.
They were definitely different from Bedouin Soundclash and Sublime, but the punk influence made them fit really well into the lineup. Sublime may lean heavily into reggae, but punk and ska have always been a big part of their sound too, and The Ataris brought that side of the equation to the stage.
They opened with “In This Diary” and followed it with “Unopened Letter to the World,” “The Hero Dies in This One,” “Takeoffs and Landings,” “The Saddest Song,” “The Boys of Summer,” “Boxcar,” “The Car Song” and “Eight of Nine.”
Lead vocalist Kris Roe dedicated “Unopened Letter to the World” to his fiancée, which was a really sweet moment.
“The Boys of Summer,” the Don Henley cover, and “Boxcar,” originally by Jawbreaker, were fun additions to the set, especially for anyone who grew up listening to that music.
They sounded great and put on one hell of a set for the emo and punk fans in the crowd. At the very end, Roe put his guitar on top of his amp and went absolutely crazy with it, creating a wall of noise that reminded me a little of the kind of thing Gavin Rossdale from Bush does.
It was a fun way to end their set and definitely left me feeling nostalgic.
Then it was time for Sublime. One of the first things I noticed was a crew member skateboarding around the stage. There was even a little kicker ramp set up, and Jakob made good use of it throughout the show, climbing onto it to sing to the crowd.
Old footage from 1994 also played on the screen behind the band, including footage of someone skateboarding. It was a cool connection between where Sublime came from and where they are now.
They opened with “Date Rape,” “Johnny Butt” and “Wrong Way,” before getting into “40oz,” when black-and-white spotted balloons started flying around the crowd.
Then came “Smoke 2,” and if you looked across CMAC, you could see little clouds of smoke going up all over the place as people apparently took their cue to light up at the same time. It was definitely a Sublime show. Jakob spent much of the night moving around the stage and getting as close to the crowd as he could.
Zane Vandevort, Jacob’s guitar tech and player, handled guitar duties for much of the show, giving Jakob the freedom to move around and really be a frontman. Jakob did pick up the guitar himself during “Burritos,” though.
There’s obviously a lot of history attached to Jacob Nowell being the frontman of Sublime.
His father, Bradley Nowell, passed shortly after Sublime’s self-titled album was released, so watching Jakob perform with the band his father started carries a lot of weight.
Jakob dedicated “Badfish” to his father, and later came “Sun Explodes,” a song he wrote for Bradley.
During the song, footage of Jakob performing played behind the band before transitioning to footage of Bradley. Seeing father and son appear together on the screen while Jakob sang was a really powerful tribute. It was a simple but emotional reminder of how much that history still means to him.
And what really struck me throughout the night was how many young people were in the crowd. Sublime’s music has been around for decades, yet there were plenty of people at CMAC hearing these songs live for the first time.
Jakob isn’t just performing his father’s songs for the people who grew up with Sublime. He’s helping a whole new generation discover them.
It was also pretty damn cool seeing original member Eric Wilson still holding down the bass. He may not be the one running around the stage, but hearing those familiar bass lines come to life again was a reminder of just how much of Sublime’s sound comes from the music he helped create.
Drummer Ian Foreman stepped in for original member Bud Gaugh during the band’s Northeast run, including the CMAC show. Gaugh was absent due to family plans, and Foreman, who also plays with Jakob Nowell’s project Jakob’s Castle, was called upon to fill the seat behind the kit. You never would have known he was stepping in, though. Foreman absolutely crushed it, bringing the energy and precision these songs demanded and quite literally not missing a beat all night.
There were some sound challenges throughout the night, and at times Jakob Nowell’s vocals were difficult to hear clearly. From where I was standing, it appeared that crew members were working behind the scenes during parts of the show, so it was clear that something was being addressed.
Live shows are complicated, and sometimes things just don’t go as planned. What mattered was that the crew appeared to be working on the problems while Sublime kept the music going. Honestly, I think continuing was the right call. The crowd kept singing and dancing, and the technical issues never stopped the night from being a good time.
Was the sound perfect? No. But sometimes technical issues happen at live shows, and from what I could see, everyone involved was doing their best to keep the show moving.
Some of the other songs in the set included “Doing Time,” “What I Got,” “Greatest Hits,” “S.T.P.” and “All You Need,” all of which kept the crowd singing and dancing along.
Jakob made it clear he wasn’t interested in wasting the crowd’s time with a long wait for an encore, keeping the momentum going right through the end. They closed with “Santeria,” and the crowd sang every word as Jakob took a video camera into the audience, continuing to sing while walking through the crowd.
Afterward, he stayed onstage for a while, messing around with the keyboard and interacting with the audience before giving away picks to fans.
There were some bumps in the road Saturday night, but the overwhelming feeling at CMAC was that people were having a damn good time. Nearly selling out the venue was impressive, but seeing so many young fans singing along was amazing to witness.
Jakob Nowell has stepped into some very big shoes, but he’s doing more than keeping Sublime’s music alive; he’s carrying it forward to a new generation. And judging by that crowd, the music isn’t going anywhere.
Sublime Photo Gallery
The Ataris Photo Gallery
Bedouin Soundclash Photo Gallery
