40 Oz to Freedom at Turf Club (December 12, 2025)
Sublime tribute band 40 Oz to Freedom, along with local opener Lost Island Society, held a ska-infused rock evening at St. Paul’s Turf Club.
- Disarray
- Divided We Fall
- Get Lost
- 1312
- Living the Meme
- Anxiety
- Summer of 96
- Another Year
- FINE
As the temperatures were plummeting in the Twin Cities, I expected people to be staying home. But over at the Turf Club, with some high paced music from Sublime tribute band 40 Oz to Freedom sure to have some people sweating before the night was out, there was a solid audience ready for the show.
The evening started with a bit of a planned delay from original posted times, pushing both bands out thirty minutes. Eventually, local ska band Lost Island Society kicked things off. We last saw them in June, here at Turf, opening for Dead Larry. The band has a 2024 album, Living the Meme and released the single Go It Alone in August, in perhaps the start to the next record. The quintet (vocals/guitar, bass, saxophone, trombone, and drums) started with Disarray which was clearly ska, and also gave a great musical interlude for the brass to go off on some great solos. I was amused by several of the band members in holiday gear, including an ugly Xmas sweater. The early going had up to three vocalists, with drummer and bassist contributing on that front. The drummer was an important spark plug of energy, driving pace and getting the crowd into things. 1312 had a bit of onstage choreography, and was a great example of how the bright sounding music belied the more caustic lyrical content.
The title track from their album had both brass members singing along, even though they had no microphone near them. That bit of joy was a pretty good summary for Lost Island Society, who checked all the boxes on the ska sound and were a perfect opener for the evening. A little training for the audience participation from the drummer was brief and amusing and the band had worked its way to the fastest tempo and busiest song of the set in Anxiety, with the closing section having all five members singing (brass found ways to get to mics, y’all). Another Year started as a straight punk rock song, with a good guitar solo, before giving way to those ska sounds. Moving straight into the closing song, Lost Island Society had cruised through their opening set and had effectively set the table for the evening.
The headliner, 40 Oz to Freedom, came on to finish out the night. Founded in Southern California, the band is centered by front man Dane Scott and was created about a decade after Sublime broke up with the death of their lead singer. They’ve been at it since and much longer than the original, though with Sublime getting back together in late 2023 (we saw them at Minnesota Yacht Club this summer), things must feel a little awkward. Regardless, after another short delay, the band finally got to stage with the trio (vocals/guitar, bass, and drums) and got going with Jailhouse. The song Right Back gave Scott his first extended guitar solo, and he had some skills, earning him some dancers near the stage. And that was a repeated motif for the set, with Scott often on extended and fairly impressive guitar solos.
It was interesting to watch the liberties the band took to stay in those longer musical riffs. As they transitioned across songs, it seemed like they often cut out whole verses to stick with the guitar rock vibe. I don’t know the why of it, but the band had people moving with the guitar work and it didn’t seem to matter much that the whole front half of Scarlet Begonias was simply not there. 5446 let the bassist go off and there was a bit more of the ska feel in rhythms if not in instruments. A small water break led to several solo numbers, including Boss D.J. A cover of The Cranberries’ Zombie was an interesting detour, and had the majority of the crowd singing along. A little bit of a derail led to asking for requests and Bob Marley’s No Woman, No Cry made an appearance. The main set ended and the band left the stage, which backfired tremendously. Due to the lateness of the hour (it had rolled well past 11) and the brutally cold temperatures, a large percentage of the audience headed for the doors while the band took their time to get back for the encore. For those who stayed for the final two songs, it ended with the obvious choice of Santeria, with the sing-along in effect. 40 Oz to Freedom finished up and those who remained started bundling up for the very cold winter weather.
