After the death of the great Bradley Nowell in 1996, the music world lost a little bit of its magic. Although the band’s legacy lived on through recordings, the beauty of live Sublime music ceased to exist.

Before their reunion in 2008, there was a different group of musicians that gave fans a chance to experience Nowell’s words in concert. Badfish.

Some may think: Why would a person go to a tribute band if the real band is back together? Well, one fact that all fans would agree on is that if there is going to be a giant “jamfest” of Sublime’s music is an event they’d like to be at.

Friday night, Badfish gave Houston a night to remember.

The opening act, Full Service, started the night off right. Their soothing, reggae music set the vibrant mood that continued to up-rise throughout the show.

Scotty Don’t, which is actually Badfish’s members’ own original music, came on afterwards. The new singer, Pat Downes, reassured the crowd that they were in for a good night. When they played their hit song, “Everything’s Alright”, the jamming really kicked into high gear.

When Badfish finally came out around 9:45 p.m. fans were overflowing with anticipation. They opened up with “Doin’ Time”, a major crowd pleaser. They had taken requests earlier in the day on their Facebook page, and they played many favorite hits such as “Garden Grove”, “Santeria”, “STP”, “What I Got”, and of course… “Badfish”.

But it is safe to say that one of the most exciting parts of the night was during the encore. Bass player, Joel Hanks, crowd surfed in a giant plastic ball while the rest of the band jammed to “Pawn Shop” with the help of Full Service members.

Thanks to the ska reggae tribute band, every person present at the House of Blues that night got a little bit of music’s magic back.