Sublime With Rome, SOJA, and Common Kings

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Sublime With Rome, SOJA, and Common Kings: Live
AVA Amphitheatre, Tucson, AZ, USA , June 15, 2019
by Mary Andrews

The warmth of the Caribbean beaches and the tropical sun was injected into the hot summer days of Tucson when Sublime With Rome, SOJA, and Common Kings appeared at AVA Amphitheatre. It was a night of reggae, ska punk, alternative rock, and reggae rock music. The fans were very happy to partake in the exuberant flow of the reggae sounds on a Saturday night.

The Grammy-nominated Common Kings started the night with their brand of reggae music. The band mentioned that they were from California. The set was filled with energy, swagger, and great musicianship. Bandleader JR King had the fans dancing and swaying to the music during their 40-minute set. It was a perfect warmup for things to come.

SOJA (Soldiers Of Jah Army) (credit: Mary Andrews)

SOJA (Soldiers Of Jah Army) followed next with the largest band of the night. Frontman, Jacob Hemphill, is originally from Africa but moved with his family at an early age to Virginia. There he met bassman, Bob Jefferson, in the first grade. By the time they reached middle and high school, they met Ryan Berty (drummer), Patrick O’Shea (keyboardist), and Ken Brownell (percussion). SOJA was formed in 1997. They later added Rafael Rodriguez on trumpet, Hellman Escorcia on saxophone, and Trevor Young on guitar and vocals.

Their live sound is large and expansive. These musicians have played together now for over 20 years and they are tight and have fun. That fun was contagious for the crowd throughout the set. Escoria and Rodriguez played their brass impeccably, each having an opportunity to solo and jam. Solos were plentiful for every member of the band. Their hit songs, “I Don’t Wanna Wait,” “I Believe,” and “Bad News” were given the royal treatment.
Sublime started in the late 1980s with lead singer and founding member, Bradley Nowell. The band released three studio albums before Nowell’s untimely death from an overdose in 1996. Their self-titled third album was their most successful with their only number one single, “What I Got.” The band temporarily disbanded.

The surviving members reformed with lead singer Rome Ramirez. However, the Nowell’s estate legally blocked the band from using the name ‘Sublime.’ From there, the band would forever carry the name ‘Sublime With Rome.’
Pushing forward to today’s show, Sublime With Rome is considered by many to be the most successful ska reggae band. Ramirez’s vocals are very close to Nowell’s voice and he plays a mean guitar. Many of the songs in the set are from Sublime’s first three albums.

The set started with an enthusiastic cover of The Toyes’ “Smoke Two Joints.” Next, fans were immediately singing along to “Wrong Way.”
The band is famous for their genre mashups and that was the order for the night. “Wicked Heart” had a more Caribbean lilt and Ramirez even sang with more conviction and played a good guitar solo. “Garden Grove” is a more recent song with a Caribbean groove. And “April 29, 1992” was among the best songs of the night. Ramirez delivered sharp singing, as Eric Wilson, the last remaining original member of Sublime, played a mean bass. The show’s energy often fell to shirtless, perpetually-in-motion, drummer, Carlos Verdugo.

The third song in the set was “Date Rape.” One would think that with the “Me Too” movement in 2019 that the song would have been dropped from the set. The lyric “Date rape isn’t so bad. If it wasn’t for date rape, I’d never get laid” was glaring, to say the least. The song is a joke that many are offended. But still, the crowd cheered loudly. There is enough music in their arsenal that the song is not necessary.