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Supersuckers
Bottom of the Hill
December 17, 2017
San Francisco, CA
By Dan Wall
Setlist:
Get the Hell, Rock and Roll Records (Ain’t Sellin’ This Year), Sugie, Cool Manchu, Beat to Shit, Doublewide, Gone Gambling, Fisticuffs, Going Back to Tucson, The Evil Powers of Rock N Roll, Mudhead, Creepy Jackalope Eye, Empty, Coattail Rider, Luck, I Want the Drugs, Rock Your Ass, Goodbye, Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers/Drug Store/Pretty Fucked Up (with Blag Dahlia from Dwarves), Born With A Tail. 90 minutes.
There are rock bands; and then there is Supersuckers.
The self-proclaimed “greatest rock and roll band in the world” may not be all that, but the trio is certainly one of the hardest working groups in the land. Together for nearly 30 years now, leader Eddie Spaghetti (that’s his name) and his group of merry noisemakers constantly cross the land, playing souped-up, three-minute rock ditties with an unabandoned glee that transfers directly to the crazed members of the quartet’s fan club.
How about a set list that included such songwriting classics as “Beat to Shit,” “Rock Your Ass” and “I Want the Drugs”? Yep, all present here and delivered in a manic rush that allowed the band to play nearly 22 songs in 90 minutes onstage. And a cover of Z.Z. Top’s “Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers” during the “encore” (the band doesn’t do encores-it’s a big part of the show, the “fake” encore call) that ended with the classic “Born With a Tail.”
As you can probably tell, this show is lot more about fun that being cast as an arena-sized musical presentation or structured to be fit onto a DVD. These guys do what they want, when they want, and if you want it too, then you’ll have a good time. The band’s mix of the Ramones, Motorhead and Lynyrd Skynyrd can make for some interesting moments, but for the most part, the band just plugs in, turns it up to 10 and rocks.
Spaghetti is an interesting dude, a guy who is just as comfortable hanging with a rock band or a country outfit (he dresses and looks like he could have played for any of the bands mentioned above), and has kept this band alive for three decades by being the ultimate road dog (he’s probably been on every road and slept in every dive in this country). With various members coming and going over the years (guitarist Marty Chandler and drummer Chris Streicher are the other current Suckers), Eddie has become the host of one of rock’s most enduring traveling rock fests. He sings tunes in his low-register growl and hammers the bass, while the rest of the band bashes away behind him, awaiting the next explosive power punch of a song to be thrown their way.
To make this show just a bit more special, the boys brought out good friend Blag Dahlia, lead singer of Dwarves, for a three-song spot that featured “Beer Drinkers,” the Dwarves song “Drug Store” and original “Pretty Fucked Up,” an exciting segment that nearly blew the roof off the tiny club.
It was another thrilling night of sleazy rock in the City. Dead Boys, the Johnny Thunders tribute (a review is on the way) and now Supersuckers-who knew that punk rock would still be this much of a hit at the tail end of 2017. But this show was proof that the only real rock shows are held in small, sweaty, smelly clubs like this, where your ears bleed and you can literally smell band onstage. And the guy next to you.
