College Jam Band Became Million Dollar Cover Band
If you’re a fan of Sublime, you know that no one except the earliest of fans were able to see the greatness of the band live as lead singer and guitarist Bradley Nowell died from a drug overdose two months before the band reached mainstream popularity. Sublime fans also know that there have been many cover bands that tour and try to replicate Sublime’s music, and that Badfish: A Tribute to Sublime is one of the best of the lot .
It all began in 2001, when Badfish’s band members met while attending college at the University of Rhode Island. Since then, the band has gone from playing local clubs, to local colleges, to full-blown national tours. in 2006 alone, the band sold just under 100,000 tickets and generated $1.4 million in sales, and has continued to tour as incessantly nearly a decade later.
In other words, Badfish represents the dream of finding a hobby in college, saying screw your stuffy major, and forging a new career out of your found passion. It also smashes the stereotype that cover bands will never stand on a leg of their own, as Badfish not only pleases die-hard Sublime fans, but is additionally critically praised. They even have the support of Sublime’s original dummer, Bud Gaugh, who played shows with Badfish several times with his band, Del Mar.
