Thirty years after Bradley Nowell’s death froze the band in amber, Sublime is a working group again — and on Saturday, August 22, 2026, they bring that improbable second life to CMAC in Canandaigua. The Long Beach trio plays the outdoor amphitheater at 7 p.m., and they arrive with something nobody expected to ever say about a Sublime show: a brand-new record to play from.
Sublime in 2026
The current lineup pairs founding members Eric Wilson on bass and Bud Gaugh on drums with Jakob Nowell out front — the son of late frontman Bradley Nowell, who was a baby when his father died in 1996. Jakob isn’t doing an impression. He’s singing these songs in his own voice, which is the only framing that makes this project make sense, and the reason it has landed closer to “this actually works” than the skeptics predicted.
This summer’s run is special on its own terms: in June, Sublime released Until the Sun Explodes on Atlantic Records — their first album in three decades and the only one fronted by Jakob, who has called it a “love letter to my father.” So Canandaigua won’t just be a nostalgia set. Expect the catalog everyone came for — “What I Got,” “Santeria,” “Wrong Way,” “Doin’ Time” — threaded with new material from a band that, against all odds, has more to say.
CMAC — Canandaigua’s Outdoor Stage
CMAC is the Finger Lakes’ marquee summer venue, a true amphitheater of reserved pavilion seats fanning out to a wide, sloping lawn. Open sky, rolling hills, the lake not far off — it’s built for exactly this kind of warm-night, sing-every-word show, and the lawn remains one of the better deals in Upstate live music. See the CMAC venue guide for parking, gates, and food before you go.
For more outdoor shows across the region this summer, browse Finger Lakes concerts.
Disclosure: Some links in this article are affiliate links. Upstate Concerts may earn a commission on ticket purchases at no additional cost to you.