Badfish

The difference between a cover band and a tribute band is the difference between a slut and a prostitute: One plays with all sorts of people’s stuff simply because it’s fun; the other plays with particular people’s stuff simply because it’s a profession with a paradigm. But tribute bands can be pimps as much as prostitutes because they’re peddling the music and mirror image of certain famous bands.

Like a phallus in wonderland, Badfish is on the rise as one of the nation’s premier tribute bands, and it claims to turn hundreds of fans away from its sold-out shows each night. The Rhode Island trio performs a plethora of Sublime songs, from the well-known (“What I Got,” “Santeria”) to the more obscure (“DJs,” “Don’t Push”), and although the bandmates don’t necessarily go out of their way to look like Sublime, they do sound just like the Long Beach legends.