Barbados’ own pop-punk powerhouse, Sundown Superhero, is set to electrify Foursquare Rum Distillery on Saturday, September 13, when their signature event Sundown Fest 2025 kicks off at 4 p.m.
What began in 2019 as a small grassroots showcase has now grown into one of the island’s most unique festivals. The concept is simple: original music only. Every band on the Sundown Fest stage performs its own written and recorded songs, giving Bajans and visitors an authentic taste of genres often underrepresented locally.
“The whole premise of Sundown Fest is that it’s original music only,” explained frontman Emile Sabga. “These are all local recording artists. There’s no covers here. Every artist is here to play their own music that they have written and recorded themselves.”
Formed back in 2010, Sundown Superhero is made up of Sabga (guitarist and vocalist), Philip Norville (drummer), and Craig Haniff (bass player). Though the trio is all Bajan-born, they are in different parts of the world — Sabga in Toronto, Haniff in Macau, while Norville is still on the ground in Barbados.
By day, the members juggle demanding careers, but when the sun goes down, they transform into Sundown Superhero, driven by their passion for music that transcends borders.
“Craig is a pilot, I’m a doctor, and Phil is a loans officer,” Sabga laughed. “That’s what we do when the sun is up. But when the sun goes down — that’s when we’re Sundown Superhero. And we take this band as seriously as our day jobs. This isn’t just a hobby for us.”
Sabga explained that the festival grew out of a need the band saw in Barbados’ music scene: “We realised there just wasn’t a platform here in Barbados for pop-punk and alternative rock. Sundown Fest started as a way for us, and other musicians like us, to have a stage. It’s about diversity — showing that Barbados’ music scene is more than just soca, reggae, calypso, and jazz. There are so many other talented musicians on this island playing genres outside the mainstream, and they deserve to be heard.”
This year promises to be the festival’s most ambitious staging yet. With a larger venue, stage, bar, and food court, Sundown Fest 2025 is designed to accommodate a growing fan base while maintaining its authentic underground vibe.
“Every year we grow, and we love that because it shows the people of Barbados — and even folks flying in from abroad — are responding. This year, the venue is bigger, the stage is bigger, the bar is bigger, the food is bigger — everything is bigger,” said Sabga.
The lineup features a mix of local and international acts. Alongside Sundown Superhero, the stage will welcome: Incert Coin from Trinidad, Nothing Serious from Canada, Among Legends from Canada, and Fighting Traffic, EDN, and Gochita from Barbados.
“What we’re very excited about is being able to showcase more international bands. It’s about exposing Bajans to talent offshore but also bringing international folks here to show what Bajans have,” Sabga said.
With two EPs, a brand-new full-length album, Louder Than Waves, released just last month, and three Canadian tours under their belt, Sundown Superhero is no longer just local: “We started small, but everything we do, we try to make it the best we possibly can. We’ve toured in Canada, we’ve put out records, we’ve made connections with bands from England, Jamaica, Trinidad, the US. And through all of it, we’ve been representing Barbados.”
Their mission, he says, is bigger than themselves.
“We are Bajan through and through, and our goal is to show the world that Barbados is more than just this myopic view of soca, calypso, and jazz. Barbados is diverse. We want Sundown Fest to be proof of that,” Sabga explained.
For Saturday’s show, the band says patrons can expect high energy, powerful music, and an atmosphere where fans can immerse themselves in something fresh and unforgettable.
(TM)
The post Sundown Superhero brings pop-punk energy this weekend appeared first on Barbados Today.
