Sublime with Rome @ Shepherd’s Bush Empire (London, UK) on August 11, 2017 [Show Review]

To the joy of their thousands of UK fans, Sublime with Rome return for a second time to our shores. Following the tragic death of Bradley Nowell, no one in the UK ever thought they’d get the opportunity to hear his songs performed live, let alone for a second time!

Sadly, this time we lacked another original member of the band, drummer Bud Gaugh, now only leaving Eric Wilson from the original Sublime line-up. Despite this, lead singer, Rome Ramirez and Eric Wilson along with new drummer Carlos Verdugo, delivered a nostalgic set that brought every fan back to the old days.

Kicking off the set with the classic advisory story “Date Rape”, the crowd blew the roof off singing along and almost drowning out Ramirez. The energy stayed strong as they moved right into “Smoke Two Joints” then “Wrong Way”. What a way to start a show! Three epic tunes to pump up the audience.

I’ll confess, by this early point in the show I somehow lost myself in the music and for the first time in a long time, I found myself in the thick of the dance floor. For this reason, I am a tad hazy on a lot of the tunes they played, but I can confirm they were delivered with pure passion, which I honestly believe would have made Nowell proud.

Ending the set, we were treated with the epic “Santeria”, the perfect song to finish the show. This gig was well and truly a trip down memory lane. However, if I had one criticism it would be that there were none of the great songs written by Ramirez such as “House Party” or “Wherever you Go”. Still, though, this was a memorable set and my request to Ramirez and Wilson stands, “please come back again soon!”

Ring the alarm and watch the band’s video for “Sirens”.