Slightly Stoopid stoked to play hometown Petco Park stadium show with Sublime
When it comes to creating a double pinch-me musical moment, Slightly Stoopid is happily rising to the occasion.
The Ocean Beach-bred band is headlining Saturday’s nine-band Field of Dreamz Festival at Petco Park, the downtown home of the San Diego Padres. And the group is sharing the stage with Sublime, the pioneering Cali reggae trio from Long Beach, whose now-deceased leader - Bradley Nowell - was a key mentor to the budding Slightly Stoopid when its members were still in their teens.
“It’s pretty surreal to be playing in our hometown ballpark,” said Miles Doughty, Slightly Stoopid’s devoted leader and co-founder.
“We grew up as Padres fans, so working with them to create this Field of Dreamz Festival has been amazing. And Sublime gave us our start and took us under their wings when we were just starting out. Now, with Brad’s son, Jakob, leading them and (Sublime co-founders) Bud (Gaugh) and Eric (Wilson) back in the fold, it really is a full-circle moment.”
Music is Sublime for Jakob Nowell, who now heads the band his late dad once led
Both bands fuse reggae and ska with elements of punk-rock, hip-hop and other styles to create a dance-happy blend. But while the understandably shellshocked Gaugh and Wilson put Sublime on hiatus for more than a decade after Bradley Nowell died of an accidental heroin overdose in 1996, Slightly Stoopid has not had to weather any similar tragedies.
With a determination and work ethic that belies their group’s hazy stoner image, Doughty and his bandmates slowly but surely built a national following.
“Our first decade was grueling,” he recalled. “We’d show up at a gig and there’d be five people there. But we needed $75 in gas money to get to the next gig in the next town. When we were 20 years old, I don’t know that we were thinking about a career. But we kept playing and the audience grew from 5 to 10, then 20, and got bigger.”
Doughty, 48, chuckled.
“We were touring before the internet exploded,” he recalled. “Back then, we had to send flyers to our street teams to paper the town to let people know we were coming there. The greatest lesson we learned from Bradley, Bud and Eric is to earn your audience. Now, our fans - we call them ‘Stoopidheads’ - travel and follow us from show to show.”
In 2013, Slightly Stoopid became the first homegrown San Diego band to headline or co-headline here for six consecutive years at the nearly 20,000-capacity North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre. It’s a feat unmatched by any other San Diego-based act, including blink-182 and Grammy Award-winners Jason Mraz and Switchfoot.
Music is Sublime for Jakob Nowell, who now heads the band his late dad once led
With its Field of Dreamz Festival on Saturday, Slightly Stoopid will join blink-182 as the only San Diego band to headline two concerts at Petco Park.
“I’ve seen some killer shows there, including blink-182, Motley Crue and Def Leppard - which was pretty insane - and Zach Bryan,” Doughty said. “We played at Petco in 2023. This time, the show will be bigger. And in addition to Sublime and Stephen Marley, we’ve got local guys in the lineup who will be playing, including Boostive and Band of Gringos.”
Does Slightly Stoopid have any surprises in store at Saturday’s concert at Petco Park?
“Oh, yeah!” Doughty replied. “There will be a lot of special guests for the show and we’re excited. San Diego is our hometown and we’re part of the whole surf rock reggae scene.”
In January, Slightly Stoopid celebrated the 12th anniversary of its seaside Closer To The Sun festival in Puerto Aventuras, Mexico. In May, the band won Song of the Year honors at the 2026 San Diego Music Awards. Their upcoming new single, “Backseat Drivin’,” teams Slightly Stoopid with Wiz Khalifa and G. Love. In October, the band will launch its three-city Cali Road Trippin 2026 mini-tour.
But first comes Saturday’s big show at Petco Park, the downtown San Diego stadium that is almost a home away from home for Doughty.
“I try to go to a Padres game at least every couple of weeks,” he said.
“If you look on social media, you can see I’m at Petco Park quite a lot. I’ve been going to Padres’ games since it cost $5 to go to a game at Jack Murphy Stadium in Mission Valley. Tony Gwynn is my all-time favorite player. As a band, we feel great when the Padres are doing well and sad when they are doing bad. And we’re super stoked to be playing at Petco Park again.”
Field of Dreamz Festival, with Slightly Stoopid, Sublime, Stephen Marley, The Elovaters, Pepper, DENM, Z-Trip, Band of Gringos, and Boostive
When: 3:30 p.m. Saturday, June 13
Where: Petco Park, 100 Park Blvd., downtown
Tickets: $103.19-$262.35; VIP packages are $500.85
Online:ticketmaster.com
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