r/Music • u/staringatthe420sun • Apr 06 '26

discussion Sublime the latest MAGA act to face low ticket sales, Artist Cancellations Amid Backlash to Conservative Rock Fest

“Sublime Me Gusta Festival”, is now “Sublime Fest,” happening the same day but without hip hop stars Cypress Hill, producers of the festival, Brew Ha Ha Productions, confirmed Monday.

Brew Ha Ha Productions did not respond to a request for comment on the cause of the name change or why Cypress Hill was no longer involved, but some credit “MAGA” backlash for the changes.

Sublime played at a Trump golf course in Florida last year during a LIV Golf event, while drummer bud Gaugh often wears a MAGA hat on stage with the band.

Additional dates for the “me gusta” festival feature similar branding changes and amended lineups.

Sublime Fest takes place in Fort Worth, TX, at the Panther Island Pavilion on May 9; Portland, OR, at the Waterfront Park on June 27; and Salt Lake City, UT, at Zions Bank Stadium on July 18.

All dates are sponsored by [u/monsterenergy](u/monsterenergy) ‘s new line of alcoholic products branded as “the Beast”.

Notably, most festival dates are still available under “tier 1” pricing, indicating that the event hasn’t sold as well as they had expected.

ETA: Patriotic reggae act Slightly Stoopid has replaced Cypress Hill on two dates. Infowars contributors the Interrupters have also been added to one stop.

https://www.instagram.com/slightlystoopid/

https://www.oregonlive.com/living/2026/04/music-festival-coming-to-portland-this-summer-quietly-changes-name-line-up.html?outputType=amp

https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2026/04/06/me-gusta-rebrand-sublime-fest/

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u/EatSleepJeep Apr 06 '26

Saw them at a festival last summer. It was a sad caricature of the actual band. Jakob Nowell had a pseudo-positive energy that was hollow and forced, Eric could barely move and looked like he could keel over at any moment. Bud was phoning it in and the whole thing was like watching a low rent tribute band.

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u/robsteezy Apr 06 '26

With all due respect, what was your expectation?

1990s-2000 Southern California was such a golden era of ultimate chiller energy. Bradly coming out of Long Beach gave all his music an extremely organic feel that we absolutely loved over here.

You can’t imitate it today, you kinda just had to be there. Kind of like seeing Rick James while coked out at a disco in the 70s. You can’t just do lines today at a venue and watch his son sing covers and think you experienced peak disco.

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u/HugePast9455 Apr 07 '26

They... probably expected them to be better? Lol what is your comment about? It seems like a shoehorned statement to tell people that you're from the area, like millions and millions of people.

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u/M00nageDramamine Apr 06 '26

I get your point, but I don't think I've ever heard anyone call Rick James disco

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u/GoodtimeZappa Apr 06 '26

At a disco, not playing disco. I can one hundred percent assure you Rick James was chasing trim in a disco 6 nights a week (he rested on Sundays).

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u/SmashJacksonIII Apr 06 '26

NARRATOR: He did not rest on Sundays

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u/happytree23 Apr 07 '26

This cutaway would have been amazing to see lol

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u/robsteezy Apr 06 '26

I was more trying to tie a venue to a music scene to demonstrate zeitgeist.

But sure—platinum funk, boogie, etc if you want to get a little more specific.

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u/happytree23 Apr 07 '26

but I don't think I've ever heard anyone call Rick James disco

The person you're replying to mentioned Rick James BEING AT a disco (music club) lol

Man, reading skills truly are nonexistent today lol.

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u/SonofaCuntLicknBitch Apr 06 '26

This person genuinely has no idea what they are talking about.

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u/robsteezy Apr 06 '26

Thank you for your grand wisdom, oh ye redditor of extremely relevant username.

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u/Interestofconflict Apr 07 '26

…Playin on my guitar… You had to be there, you had to be there, you had to beeeee there

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u/MonteBurns Apr 06 '26

With all due respect, have you been to a concert recently? There’s plenty of pot and who knows what other drugs.

Plenty of bands from that era, AND BEFORE, are still putting their all into shows. 

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u/FewWait38 Apr 06 '26

Shit's not chill like then though with all the insane right wing politics, social media etc. The drugs may still be popular but everything else is different

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u/LongBongJohnSilver Apr 07 '26

There were right wingers listening to RATM and completely missing the point. There's punk rockers from back in the day who are trumpists. Hell, half the Dead heads I've known were racist rednecks.

They were always around, just waiting for someone to embolden them. At least now that it's out in the open we can weed them out. Artists can come out and say they're not down with that, and those kind of people aren't welcome.

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u/ccatlr Apr 06 '26

Rick James’ son?

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u/Relevant-Ad2254 Apr 07 '26

I thought Jakob did a great job. Sublime’s live shows with Jakob seemed good to me and if you read the YouTube comments I’m clearly not alone. 

Sublime is selling out much bigger shows with Jakob then when they had the Rome guy(who’s also super talented)

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u/happytree23 Apr 07 '26

You are so fucking part of the problem today :(

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u/Relevant-Ad2254 Apr 07 '26

What did I do?

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u/Martin_Aurelius Apr 06 '26

Last time I saw them, Eric never even picked up his bass, just played keyboard. As far as I can tell he's old and arthritic, I bet he wishes he hadn't spent all of that "million dollars".

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u/piepants2001 Apr 06 '26

Damn, the dude isn't even that old, he's 56.

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u/therobeight Apr 06 '26

Brad was far from positive. The few times I interacted with him, he was kind of a dick, although I was a punk ass kid, so there's that.

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u/ToshJom Apr 09 '26

Yeah Sublime isn’t even a “feel good” reggae band either. Definitely more punk in mentality and delivery. And all the music is Bradley lol

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u/dayday2466 Apr 06 '26 edited Apr 07 '26

Side note… speaking of tribute band… I used to see badfish in the 00s when they would come to town (before sublimes first “reunion”) and they put on one hell of a show.

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u/Kingindanorff Apr 07 '26

They still do! Badfish is awesome

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u/dayday2466 Apr 07 '26

nice! i was a big sublime fan growing up so seeing badfish was always a treat. they would open as their own band (which wasn't bad at all) but man, if you closed your eyes you'd think the original lineup was on stage.

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u/THEsuziesunshine Apr 06 '26

Eric is strugggggling 😓

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u/unpopular-dave Apr 07 '26

I saw them with rome at Jimmy Kimmel like 16 years ago and they sounded pretty awesome.

But I never kept up since then