SUBLIME WITH ROME // Celebration Selectors

Sublime With Rome – Big Top at Luna Park, Sydney – 10 March 2017

Due to legal reasons, the Sublime name could not be used on its own. What a world we live in, right? Sublime with Rome may not sound as smooth, but damn, they can still play.

I can’t imagine being asked to join a band like Sublime at such a young age, but Rome has yet to disappoint, and this was evident last night at Big Top. Can’t say that it would’ve been the venue of choice for them to play, but it truly does fit their demeanour. As I looked around it seemed as though this show was going to be overstaffed and undersold, again, I was wrong. By the time Rome, Eric and John hit the stage the venue was packed full of eager fans who could’ve been my parents or my younger siblings. A Sublime crowd knows no age, and as long as you were over 18 and had a ticket, they let you in.  Call the babysitter, the boys are back, the boys are back! It had been many years since Sublime with Rome toured Australia, but no one seemed sore that it took so long for them to return.

Hot Subliminal Ish

The lighting crew was probably thrilled as they didn’t have to set up a fog machine. The burning of the devil’s lettuce took care of that for the night, and only a select few lucky fans got a personal escort out of Luna Park; now that’s what I call a VIP experience. I can’t say the sound crew had the same luck though, what a bass heavy mix they had to deal with. Sublime was always known as a reggae/ska/rock band, but last night they showed that they could go on tour as a punk band and still draw quite the audience. Of course they still had their reggae feel, but they are pushing their sound and that’s something to celebrate. Speaking of celebration, the wrong way to celebrate your favourite song being played is to throw your shoe on stage. Honestly, who throws a shoe? It’s entertains for a few seconds, but then you have to realise you’ll be walking home with one shoe like a fool. 

Sublime with Rome is too rad to pass up seeing. Do you really want to wait more than four years again?

Their set lasted for a little over an hour, but it was just enough to fit in all the Sublime classics and new Rome material. Every so often you can hear a bit of Bradley’s voice in Rome and it’s slightly creepy, but it works. By the end of the gig the crowd left happy, and that’s all the band could ask for. Were they happy because of the music, or maybe the haze that filled Big Top? I’d like to say a little bit of both! You could’ve mistaken the leaving crowd as zombie extras in the next blockbuster hit, but nope, just a bunch of Sublime fans that had a swell night. Luna Park would make an excellent setting for zombie movie though, maybe one day… 

You’re basically too late to catch Sublime with Rome in Australia again, but if you feeling adventurous, you can catch them as they play across the US often. You’d have to deal with the lovely political turmoil, but Sublime with Rome is too rad to pass up seeing. Do you really want to wait more than four years again?