Vocalist, guitarist Rome Ramirez—known to many as the former singer for Sublime With Rome—brought a delightfully diverse set of tunes comprised of reggae, pop, rap, and rock to Newport Music Hall in Columbus, Ohio on Monday, Nov. 17.
As Sublime’s vocalist for nearly two decades and having released four albums together, Rome announced his departure from the band at the end of 2023, and the son of late Sublime vocalist Bradley Nowell, Jakob Nowell (of Jakobs Castle), took over vocal duties.
Now, at the age of 37, Rome is focusing on his songwriting career and being a solo artist; last night he performed solo originals (featuring tracks from his 5-song EP GEMINI, released in September), a few covers and some Sublime With Rome songs.
Rome connected directly with the audience as he reflected on his past, present and future to introduce many songs through the nearly 20-song set, some story asides included:
—Sublime’s “What I Got:” Hearing the song as a six-year-old made him want to grab a guitar and pursue music.
—“Underwater:” Going through rough times and depending on family, friends, and fans to get through it.
—“Lay Me Down:” The song that unexpectedly took off to change his life and music career.
—“Gold:” A song he wrote that another artist wanted, but he decided to take back and keep as his own.
Rome’s diverse vocal talents shined during a performance of his new single—catchy, whistley Dirty Heads’ collab “Slow & Easy” (which he shared that the video features his family).
His guitar playing skills were prevalent throughout the night, as he often swapped guitars.
Overall, it turned out to be more of an intimate performance between Rome and attendees as he transparently gave personal insight into some songs before performing them.
“All day long, all I do is write songs,” smiled Ramirez. “Either that or practice baseball with my sons.”
The 90-minute set featured a lengthy solid mix of material as Rome’s backing four-member band stood out and supported the artist with their undeniable talent.
Earlier in the evening, two Columbus’ area bands took over the stage for 30-minutes a piece.
Levi Brown & The Smokin’ Section warmed the crowd with soulful prog-like originals presented by a well-coordinated, seven-member band: two keyboardists, sax player, drummer, lead guitarist, bass/vocalist and guitar/vocalist.
Rockin’ guitar solos and night club sax solos put the cherry on top of a solid funky-groove layered sundae that melted together for an instrumentally euphoric flavor of their own.
The band closed their set with a phenomenal cover of late great D’Angelo’s “Brown Sugar.”
Prior to Browns’ troupe, Honey And Blue performed a set of laid-back soul and rhythm-and-blues, with a side of salsa.
The performance featured wonderfully sustained vocals by Stephanie Amber and dancing guitar solos by duo partner Adam Darling.
Some songs had solo breakdown interludes by each band member (drums, keys, bass) and they closed to “honor their first time performing at the legendary Newport” with their new single and a cover of Aerosmith’s “Dream On,” truly making it their own—Amber stole the song with her crowd-cheering, high-reaching octave wails.
Tour Dates
https://www.romeramirez.com/tour
ROME
LEVI BROWN & THE SMOKIN' SECTION
HONEY AND BLUE
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