When you think of rock acts that inspire tribute bands, you generally think of legends such as The Beatles, Led Zeppelin and The Doors, all of whom have suffered deaths that mean they will never get back together. Or groups such as Pearl Jam, who are back on the block but stayed off the road for quite a while. Or The Rolling Stones, whose tickets are so expensive that most people can't go see them, and can't get within a country mile of them if they do.

But Sublime?

The group lasted eight years, put out three proper albums and had one major hit with "What I Got" in 1996. Their mix of punk, reggae, ska and hip-hop was skillful but hardly new (and even less so now). And singer Brad Nowell died in 1996, before their self-titled breakthrough album came out, so they didn't even get a chance to fully capitalize on the success of "What I Got."

They seem like an unlikely subject for a tribute band. But Badfish endures. The Rhode Island-based tribute band plays about 150 shows a year, usually including a pair of two-month tours, paying tribute to Sublime.

Badfish drummer Scott Begin allows that the band had a couple of hits, "but above and beyond that, I think the music itself has an appeal, because it's very danceable; it has a party kind of feel to it. And it covers so many different styles. . . . And the songs are very well-written."

Begin says he's found Internet evidence of a few other Sublime tribute bands, in California, Georgia, Philadelphia and Rochester, N.Y. -- but that none tour or play as often as Badfish.

Still, I don't know that I've ever heard anyone call Sublime their favorite band.

"I kind of agree with you. It seems strange that there were so many bands that had a couple of hits from the mid-'90s that came and went, but Sublime kind of endured."

It might have something to do with Brad Nowell dying -- "that can kind of turn some musicians or bands into a cult kind of thing," Begin says. "But they've definitely endured, and who knows what the reason is?"

BADFISH GOT TOGETHER in 2001, when Begin, bassist Joel Hanks and guitarist-singer Dave Ladin were students at the University of Rhode Island. Begin and Hanks had been in a band together, and Hanks and Ladin had played together in high school. They added keyboardist-saxophonist Pat Downes about a year and a half ago.

Being in a tribute band was "not something I had ever considered," Begin says, but it worked out. "We're all fans of the music, and we thought it was something we'd try out as a fun thing to do. It's fun and challenging music to play."

The first show was at the Ocean Mist in Matunuck, and Begin says "we were very surprised at the response we got." They played almost exclusively at the Ocean Mist for a year, and "after we graduated, we were able to pursue this on a full-time basis. . . . This is it for us right now."

Begin says Badfish has a repertoire of between 40 and 50 songs, which covers the band's two main albums -- the breakthrough self-titled record and the earlier 40 Oz. to Freedom -- as well as earlier songs and some of the band's many bootlegs.

Most people are attracted to hits such as "What I Got" and "Santeria," Begin says, "but there's always a group of people at any given show who are just shouting out songs that we don't even know how to play. . . . They know every song."

And not only does Badfish keep Sublime's music alive, but to some extent, Begin reckons, the band brings it to people and places it hasn't been.

"There are people who just knew the radio hits who, after seeing us, I'd like to think were inspired to go out and get a disc."

Badfish plays at Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel, 79 Washington St., Providence, tomorrow at 8. Tickets are $13.50 in advance; $17 the day of the show. Call (401) 331-5876.

Creole Royale

The underground hip-hop group ApSci is led by producer-MC Ra Lamotta (formerly of the indie-rock group Vitapup) and singer Dana Diaz-Tutaan. On their debut album, Thanks for Asking, they take a dark, electronics-laden approach, with light-as-air beats and an overall sense of foreboding, but with more of a chilly sheen than is typical for the genre.

They're at the Providence Black Rep, 276 Westminster St., Providence, Saturday as part of the Creole Royale indoor-outdoor event that also includes the funk of Miss Fairchild and locals Zawadi, as well as the local hip-hop of Riders Against the Storm and the DJ duo Certified Bananas.

The whole thing starts at 6 p.m. Call (401) 351-0353.

Gnomes in the soup

Stone Soup cranks up its 26th season, and while longtime MC Richard Walton has sadly decided that it's time to call it a career, the same committed spirit will surely reign at the venerable venue.

The coffeehouse opens up with a local splabbatacular featuring Joyce Katzberg; supergroup The Gnomes, featuring Cathy Clasper-Torch, Phil Edmonds, Ron Schmitt, Otis Read and Peter Breen; young singer-songwriting hotshot Ryan Fitzsimmons; and Corinne Wahlberg.

The whole shebang begins Saturday night at 8 at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, 50 Park Place, Pawtucket. Admission is $12; call (401) 457-7147.

Wide folk range at Narrows

The Narrows Festival of the Arts is a daylong celebration featuring 40 visual artists, a children's area and two stages of music, featuring three of the big splashes from last month's folk festival in Newport -- incendiary guitarist Sonny Landreth; the boogie-rock of Grace Potter and the Nocturnals; and the traditionalism of The Wood Brothers. Boston-area alt-country hotshot Sarah Borges is also on the bill.

The show is Sunday from 11:30 to 6:30, it's right in front of the Narrows Center for the Arts -- 16 Anawan St., Fall River -- and the whole thing's free. Call (508) 324-1926, ext. 95, for more.

rmassimo@projo.com / (401) 277-7206