Badfish hits Richmond with the Sublime style

Badfish, a tribute to the band Sublime, entered Richmond’s Canal Club on Thursday night. Attracting the biggest crowd they’ve yielded in Richmond, according to bassist Joel Hanks, concertgoers charged to the stage at the first note of the show.

The band opened their set with the song “Badfish,” which, coincidently, spawned the name of the tribute band.

“Who’s ready to party tonight?” said Dave Linden, lead singer and guitarist for the tribute band, raising cups to the crowd.

Badfish proceeded to string through Sublime’s catalog, including performances of songs from all three of Sublime’s studio albums and the infamous cover of the theme song to the cartoon, “Hong Kong Phooey.”

During the show, moshing, skanking and the nodding of heads made the show seem more like a party with good friends than a concert.

The crowd consisted of many who have been listening to Sublime for more than a decade, but were unable to catch them live due to the death of Bradley Nowell, Sublime’s lead singer and guitarist.

“I never got to see Sublime, and this is the first time I’ve seen Badfish. I really liked it,” said Jen Heilborn, a fan of Sublime for 12 years.

Adam Miller, a fan of Sublime for over a decade, said he would like to have heard more of Badfish’s original music, rather than a set compiled of strictly Sublime tunes.

Badfish’s drummer, Scott Begin, said in an interview before the show that they do have their own original songs, but only play them every once in awhile.

The band ended their set with “Bro Hymn Tribute,” one of the few songs they play that isn’t part of Sublime’s catalog. The song, originally performed by Pennywise, is a tribute to the death of their bandmate Jason Thrisk.

“We like to play that song because it’s a great sing-along song and incorporates the sentiment of a lost friend,” Begin said.

The band started at the University of Rhode Island around 2001, not as a tribute band. The group decided to play a tribute set at a show around their school and said people went wild.

“It’s like leading a sing-along when we play,” Linden said.

Linden said that Sublime’s music is timeless and that he wants people to continue listening to keep the spirit of Sublime alive. Linden, like most of the concertgoers, never saw the band live.

Begin said that the most rewarding aspect of touring as Badfish is getting up onstage and playing for the crowd, and, of course, the “chicks.”

“As soon as I get up on stage, it’s the best feeling,” Begin said.

The band started touring around Rhode Island, New Jersey and New York at first. But for the last two years, the band has taken on a full-time touring schedule, encompassing all of the East Coast, the South and Las Vegas.

“We had to make a decision; either keep our jobs, or quit our jobs and.make things happen,” Begin said.

Badfish toured through the Richmond club Alley Katz before but, according to Hanks, not a lot of people showed up.

“It was always kind of an off night, like a Sunday, when we played Richmond. So, not a lot of people would come out,” Begin said.

After the show, the band said they would tour through Richmond again on their next tour.

“I’m definitely coming to see them again,” Miller said after the show.