SUPERSUCKERS - Live

Live May 23/18 - Lee's Palace, Toronto

On a Wednesday night in Toronto, the Supersuckers blew into town. When the World’s Greatest (active) Rock’n’Roll Band (TM) arrive, you know it will be good. Like Motorhead, Supersuckers don’t do bad shows and the 200 people or so in attendance were ready for it. Supersuckers have been a three piece band since 2014, which does thin their sound out a bit, but when you are playing bars, splitting the proceeds three ways rather than four makes a big difference.

Opening with four new songs from an album that hasn’t been released yet was a bit confusing for the crowd, but perhaps they thought a small mid-week show was the time to do it. The fourth song in particular (“Ball-breaker”?) was a standout track amongst the new ones. Another new song that stood out (of the 7 or 8 they did) was “I’m Gonna Choke Myself and Masturbate ‘till I Die”.

By the time the band hit the first older song “Get the Hell”, the crowd was sufficiently warmed up that noise heading back to the stage was impressive. For such a small crowd, the sound of singing along to fan favorites like “The Evil Powers of Rock and Roll” “I Want the Drugs” and “Born With a Tail” was astounding. As band founder/bassist/vocalist Eddie Spaghetti quipped, “it may only be a Wednesday, but you guys are making it feel like a pretty good Thursday!”

Spaghetti’s voice has degraded a bit over the band’s 30 year existence, but hey, this is punk’n’roll, not pop or opera, so who cares? Marty Chandler has taken over as the primary stage presence now that he is the only guitarist, and he does a fine job of it, as does drummer Chris Von Streicher.

One criticism I have is that with so many new songs being featured, the band should not have done two covers (“Cowboy Song” and “Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers”), and should instead have done a couple more of their own numbers instead. Still, all in all, another great night for Supersuckers and for rock’n’roll. If these boys come to your town, do yourself a favour and go!