LONG BEACH, CA — It’s summertime in the LBC, and the living just got a little bit easier with the announcement that Long Beach’s own Sublime will be performing the highly anticipated Vans Warped Tour in July.
During the Wednesday Grow Long Beach presentation, which highlighted several economic opportunities coming to Long Beach in the future, Mayor Rex Richardson announced that Sublime would be a featured headliner at the largest-ever music festival in the city’s history.
“Only in Long Beach would you find the perfect blend of music and culture and punk rock and reggae and ska,” Richardson said during the presentation. “There is no band that is more qualified to represent the LBC.”
Sublime’s newest frontman, Jakob Nowell, the son of the band’s late singer Bradley Nowell, took the stage along with bassist Eric Wilson during the presentation.
“Gosh, this is so cool to get to be here, man, to get to be a part of a long-standing tradition. I myself grew up in Long Beach,” Jakob Nowell said before playing a rendition of one of the band’s most popular songs, “What I Got,” with his father’s old guitar.
Sublime was formed in Long Beach in 1988 and performed at the very first Warped Tour in 1995. They became a cult favorite in the Southern California music scene with their reggae rock and ska punk style, Bradley Nowell’s dalmatian, Louie Dog, serving as the band’s mascot.
They released their first album in 1996, but the band dissolved following Bradley Nowell’s death the same year.
They attempted a comeback in 2009 as Sublime with Rome, bringing on musician Rome Ramirez to be the band’s frontman. After more than a decade together, the band disbanded.
In 2023, Jakob Nowell joined Sublime. He recently performed with Sublime at Coachella and will look to carry on his father’s legacy at the Vans Warped Tour on July 26 and 27.
Long Beach city officials expect 85,000 people to attend the event each day.
“What a homecoming,” Richardson said. “We’re making history. We’re continuing to make history.”
For more info on the Vans Warped Tour, click here.
