Badfish – A Tribute to Sublime at Paddy’s

Badfish – A Tribute to Sublime at Paddy’s Beach Club brings one of the country’s longest-running Sublime tribute bands back to Rhode Island for an end-of-summer beach show Saturday, September 5. Doors open at 8 p.m., with music beginning at 9 p.m. at the oceanfront Misquamicut venue.

The show lands on Labor Day weekend, making it one of Paddy’s final big beach concerts of the summer. Rhode Island ska-punk band TJ & The Campers joins Badfish for the night, with the concert presented by Coastal Productions and PMG.

It’s also something of a homecoming.

Badfish didn’t emerge from Southern California.

It started here in Rhode Island.

Badfish Started in Rhode Island

The idea behind Badfish goes back more than 25 years, when a group of Rhode Island musicians began playing the music of Sublime.

That might sound unremarkable now. Tribute bands fill theaters and clubs across the country.

But Sublime was a different proposition.

The original band had become enormously popular just as its story abruptly ended.

Singer, guitarist and songwriter Bradley Nowell died from a heroin overdose on May 25, 1996. He was 28.

Two months later, Sublime’s self-titled album was released.

It became the band’s breakthrough.

Suddenly “What I Got,” “Santeria,” “Wrong Way” and “Doin’ Time” were everywhere, but the band responsible for them could no longer tour behind the record.

Sublime had become one of the defining alternative bands of the 1990s without ever getting to experience its biggest success onstage.

That left an unusual void.

Badfish eventually stepped into it.

More Than a Typical Tribute Band

Badfish takes its name from “Badfish,” a song on Sublime’s 1992 debut album, 40oz. to Freedom.

But the band has spent decades trying to do something more difficult than simply reproduce Sublime recordings.

Sublime’s music depended heavily on feel.

Punk could collide with reggae. Ska could give way to hip-hop. Dub, rock, dancehall and acoustic music could appear within the same set.

Bradley Nowell could move from singing to rapping to a loose reggae delivery without making the shifts feel forced.

Badfish built its following by treating that musical mixture as something to perform rather than impersonate.

The result has taken the Rhode Island-born band far beyond the local tribute circuit.

Badfish has toured nationally for years, developing the kind of dedicated audience usually associated with bands playing their own catalogs.

Why Sublime Still Sounds Like Summer

There may be no better setting for Sublime’s music than a beach.

The original band formed in Long Beach, California, in 1988 around Nowell, bassist Eric Wilson and drummer Bud Gaugh.

Its sound absorbed the environment around it.

Reggae and dub.

Southern California punk.

Ska.

Hip-hop.

Surf and skate culture.

The songs could be sunny and relaxed one minute, frantic the next and unexpectedly dark underneath both.

That contradiction became part of Sublime’s identity.

“Santeria” sounds almost effortlessly laid-back until you pay attention to the story.

“What I Got” turns a simple acoustic progression into an anthem.

“Wrong Way” pairs an upbeat ska rhythm with decidedly darker subject matter.

“Garden Grove” feels like a hazy drive through Southern California.

And “Badfish” slows everything down into reggae.

The catalog became so closely connected to summer, beaches and outdoor parties that hearing it with the Atlantic Ocean just beyond the stage almost feels like the East Coast version of its natural habitat.

The Album That Arrived Too Late

Sublime had already built a following before 1996.

40oz. to Freedom, originally released independently in 1992, spread through Southern California and the underground music scene. Robbin’ the Hood followed in 1994.

But the band’s third album changed everything.

Sublime was released July 30, 1996.

Nowell had been dead for two months.

“What I Got” became a major alternative-radio hit. “Santeria,” “Wrong Way” and “Doin’ Time” followed. The album eventually sold millions of copies.

Sublime had crossed into the mainstream after the original band was already gone.

That strange chronology helps explain why the music developed such an unusual afterlife.

Millions of listeners discovered Sublime knowing from the beginning that they would never get to see that version of the band.

Badfish Filled a Space That Never Really Went Away

That’s the environment in which Badfish grew.

There was an audience that knew the records, loved the songs and had never had an opportunity to experience them performed by Sublime during its commercial peak.

Badfish began building its own live following around that catalog.

Years became decades.

The venues became larger.

And what could have remained a regional tribute project turned into a national touring act.

The current lineup includes Pat Downes on guitar, Joel Hanks on bass and Scott Begin on drums.

More than 25 years after Badfish began, the group continues touring across the country.

But something else has changed.

Badfish has started making music of its own.

Badfish Is Moving Beyond the Tribute Label

The Paddy’s show isn’t exclusively about looking backward.

Badfish has been developing original music while continuing to perform the Sublime catalog that built its audience.

The group released “High With You,” featuring Little Stranger, in 2023 and followed it with additional originals including “F You Pay Me,” “Surf Party Lord” and “Bad Things.”

In 2026, the band released “WAY UP” and “Topanga,” the latter featuring SunDub.

Badfish is now preparing its debut album through Ineffable Records, and the Paddy’s concert is being promoted as including select original songs alongside the Sublime material.

It’s an interesting turn for a band that spent decades becoming successful by interpreting somebody else’s music.

Badfish has developed an audience of its own.

Now it’s giving that audience its own songs.

TJ & The Campers Bring Rhode Island Ska-Punk to the Beach

The opening act keeps the night connected to Rhode Island.

TJ & The Campers comes from the Providence music scene and draws heavily from the ska-punk of the 1990s and early 2000s.

The band grew out of friendships that stretch back to high school. Its members had spent more than a decade playing in different projects and jamming together before forming TJ & The Campers.

The current lineup includes Matt Lombardi, Izzy Tonelli-Sippel, Mark Depot, Christopher Depot, Sean Marran and Tim Marran.

The band’s sound combines ska rhythms, punk energy and the kind of hooks that flourished during the third-wave ska era.

That makes TJ & The Campers a particularly logical pairing with Badfish.

The younger Rhode Island band draws inspiration from a musical period that Sublime helped define.

Badfish has spent more than a quarter-century keeping that music onstage.

One More Saturday Night at Paddy’s

The setting completes the equation.

Paddy’s Beach Club sits directly on Misquamicut Beach at 159 Atlantic Avenue, with the sand and Atlantic Ocean immediately beyond the venue.

During the summer, Paddy’s operates as a beach restaurant and bar by day before live bands, DJs and special events take over at night.

On September 5, the summer calendar is nearly finished.

Labor Day weekend has arrived.

The beach season is winding down.

And Badfish is bringing music born out of Southern California’s beach culture to a stage sitting on the Rhode Island shoreline.

It’s hard to imagine “Santeria,” “What I Got,” “Wrong Way” and “Garden Grove” getting a more appropriate East Coast backdrop.

Event Details

Event: Badfish – A Tribute to Sublime at Paddy’s Beach Club
Date: Saturday, September 5, 2026
Doors: 8 p.m.
Show: 9 p.m.
Location: Paddy’s Beach Club
Address: 159 Atlantic Avenue, Westerly, RI 02891
Headliner: Badfish – A Tribute to Sublime
Special Guest: TJ & The Campers
Presented By: Coastal Productions and PMG
Age Restriction: 21+
Setting: Oceanfront concert at Misquamicut Beach
Weather Policy: Rain or shine
Refund Policy: No refunds unless the performance is canceled or postponed beyond a reasonable period

Songs to Know

Badfish’s Sublime repertoire includes favorites such as:

• “Santeria”
• “What I Got”
• “Wrong Way”
• “Garden Grove”
• “Badfish”
• “Doin’ Time”
• “40oz. to Freedom”

The band is also expected to mix select original Badfish material into the show.

More information is available at the Event Website link below.

To purchase tickets, click the Event Ticketing link below.

 

Featured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people, location, or activities shown.