Review | Four Bands, Zero Weak Links

Winding down this particularly warm summer with a Bowl show is always a good decision. Especially when the gate opens earlier than usual at 3:30 p.m., but for good reason. The “So Glad You Made It” Tour brought out four performances, all of which had their own unique vibe and energy, almost feeling like a one day music festival. 

Openers Rome and Atmosphere both brought their special flair to the concert  line-up. Rome Ramirez, who core reggae fans will know that he had filled in as the lead singer for Sublime in 2009, but due to legal restrictions from a lawsuit from the Nowell family estate, the band had to revert their name to Sublime with Rome the following year. In that time, the band had built a solid discography under the new moniker. Rome played songs “PCH” and “Take It or Leave It” from his time with Sublime and capped his performance off with a cover of Sublime’s popular song “Badfish” that the crowd vibed along too. 

Atmosphere, the hip-hop duo of rapper Slug and producer Ant, who hail from Minneapolis, brought their underground introspective sound. It was refreshing to see a lyric centric rap performance with no backing tracks. For the duo, their west coast connection has been a pillar of their touring career. While being from the midwest, they have built a dedicated following due to them performing often on the west coast. Although their genre of music wasn’t the same as the other three groups. Atmosphere showed how their upbeat production resembled the good vibe oriented music resonating with the reggae crowd. 

The duo played tracks, “Sunshine,” “God’s Bathroom Floor,” “The Best Day,” and my personal favorite, “God Loves Ugly.” What’s so unique about Slug’s delivery on this track is about his own self deprecation and about how God has ironically blessed “ugly” people. The idea of how being deemed ugly makes them better in other areas of life other than standard beauty, which inevitably fades over time and with age. Nothing was ugly about his performance. As unassuming as he looks, dressed in a Timberwolves jersey with shorts and his prescription glasses, he is one hell of a rap artist and had one of the better rap performances I’ve seen in a long time. 

Co-headliners Dirty Heads took over just as the sun faded away. While Dirty Heads are usually classified as a reggae act, labeling Dirty Heads as such doesn’t do them justice. The band’s versatility is rare, their music goes beyond the classic reggae feel. It’s bordering reggae fusion mixed with a hip-hop delivery style sprinkled with pop oriented melodies. Members Jared “Dirty J” Watson and Dustin “Duddy B” Bushnell lead the vocals for the band, contrasting one another with Jared’s rougher voice and Dustin’s more flowing smooth singing. Song highlights were “Rescue Me,” “My Sweet Summer,” and their new song making its rounds on the radio, “One of Those Days.” Dirty Heads got the party really in motion, and luckily 311 was ready to keep it going.

311, originally from Omaha, Nebraska are definitive pioneers to the reggae rock scene. The band has been together making music for the last three decades. Combining the forces of reggae rock, metal, and rap with groovy influenced island vibes, their blend of songs helped solidify them in the 90’s and define their original sound, which was on full display. Lead singer Nick Hexum, at 56, has still got every bit of youthful energy to perform and sing at a high level, sounding every bit as good as the studio recorded tracks do. 

Similar to Dirty Heads, the band utilizes dual vocalists who contrast one another with the same style: soulful singing and punchier verses. Doug “S.A.” Martinez, who joined the band in 1992, is 311’s catalyst who brings the high energy rap element to life. 311 covered a career-long catalog of songs, including “Beautiful Disaster,” “All Mixed Up,” “Lovesong (Cure Cover),” and their number one song that everyone sang along with, “Amber.” Drummer Chad Sexton had his moment to shine, running an extended drum solo that awed the crowd. I was wondering if his arms were gonna fall off if he kept going any longer than he did, but the crowd erupted as he concluded. 311 ended their set with an epic performance of their grunge metal hit “Down,” as Hexum finished the song shirtless and shredding his guitar to cap the epic night in true rockstar fashion. 

The “So Glad You Made It” Tour really lived up to its name. Four bands, one warm summer evening, and zero weak links.