Doors 7pm // Show 8pm // Ages 21+ // $13 Adv & $16 Day of Show

DUB CONGRESS

Dub Congress, Santa Cruz’s most popular home-grown reggae band throughout the 1990s and 2000s, is returning to the stage after a 10-year hiatus.

Formed in 1994, Dub Congress was an early innovator and prime mover in the indigenous West Coast reggae and dub scene, releasing three full-length CDs, performing countless live shows, and giving an early forward push to the “Cali reggae” movement that continues to this day. Best known for their trippy, dubbed-out stage show and their influential 2002 album Down in Santa Cruz – a wry tribute to their hometown, and perhaps that city’s definitive musical statement of the era – they earned 2003’s “Best Local Band” honors in the Santa Cruz Good Times readers’ poll, and proudly carried the mantle for Santa Cruz reggae for 15 years before unofficially retiring in 2009.

Now, a full decade later, Dub Congress is back. Santa Cruz’s finest will once again bless the stage with their heavyweight brand of reggae, dancehall, and dub.

The 2019/2020 version of Dub Congress features the classic early-2000s lineup of the Down In Santa Cruz era: On lead vocals and guitar, Nathan Martisius, whose conscious, visionary songwriting and off-the-dome freestyles have always benchmarked the band’s approach. On lead guitar, Ehrin Poklen, whose unique plucking style is a treasured and essential feature of the Dub Congress sound. On keyboards, Danny Dub, a veteran bubbler who has toured with Jamaican roots reggae luminaries like the Itals and Winston Jarrett, and most recently the Polynesian reggae star Fiji. On drums, Aaron Sonnenshine (a/k/a Sunshine), whose booming kick drum and crashing cymbals mark a style that traces back to the heaviest roots reggae of the 1970s. And on bass, low-end guru Mony Lujan, also a founder of Salinas reggae pioneers Dubwize, and now a singer and solo artist in his own right.

with THE RUDIANS and DJ G-NYZE