Free Mills Park concert should be a sober good time

The former drummer of rock band Sublime and his wife have organized an anti-drug concert tour that kicks off in Mills Park on June 27.

Called "Punk Rock Against Meth," the free concert's message is simple - meth destroys lives - said Bud Gaugh, former drummer of Sublime, a ska-punk band that's sold over 14-million records.

Gaugh knows first hand the destruction drug abuse can cause. In May 1996 lead singer Bradley Nowell, 28, died of a heroin overdose in a San Francisco motel room. Gaugh found him.

Now living in Lake Tahoe with his wife, Nicole, and newborn daughter, Chloe, Gaugh said that in December the couple began brainstorming a way to reach out to kids about the dangers or drug abuse.

"We have been affected by the meth epidemic," he said Wednesday after a press conference at the Carson City Sheriff's Department announcing the concert. "So I figured if we build it they will come."

The goal of the June 27 concert and skate competition is to send out the message that music and extreme sports are a healthy and productive alternative to methamphetamine.

The concert will run 1-6 p.m. at Mills Park and organizers are looking for local sponsors to help cover operating costs and offer prizes for the skateboard competitions.

They are also searching for a local Carson City garage band to open the show and they intend to do that at each of the 11 concerts scheduled across Nevada and California through September 27.

The lineup of the Carson City concert includes bands SexRat, Dog Party, Bert Susanka's Astronaut Love Triangle and Gaugh's current band Del Mar - of which wife Nicole is also a member. Also on hand will be popular Reno band Harmonic Prophecy.

In addition to the music and amateur skateboard competitions, there will be drug counseling, resources and information about the meth problem.

Sheriff Ken Furlong noted that first lady Dawn Gibbons brought the group and Partnership Carson City together. After a presentation, Mary Bryan of the Community Counseling Center, quickly became the major sponsor, said Furlong.

"Children - instead of receiving their values from parents and teachers at the schools - receive their values from music and their friends," said First Lady Dawn Gibbons in explaining why she believes the concert will work. "We are determined to save our youth."