In the words of Eddie Spaghetti, it was a marathon set for a marathon career.
That’s how the frontman for the venerable Seattle band Supersuckers summed up his group’s set at Showbox at the Market Saturday. The concert marked the band’s 20th anniversary, and like all things Supersuckers, it was a rollicking celebration of drugs, sex and rock ‘n’ roll.
The show started off with “This Is Rock-N-Roll,” and afterward, Spaghetti addressed the crowd before breaking into “Poor,” the first song the band wrote together.
“It took us 20 years to sell out the Showbox. But don’t worry, we’ve got 20 more left in us.”
From there it was on to Supersuckers 101, featuring a 35-song lesson plan that spanned the band’s career. For the most part, the group went through its catalog in chronological order with a few songs from the band’s new record, “Get It Together,” crammed in at the end. Highlights included “Coattail Rider,” “Creepy Jackalope Eye,” the one-two combo of “Killer Weed” and “Non-Addictive Marijuana,” and the closer, “Born With a Tail.”
Of course it wouldn’t have been a Supersuckers show without some humor, but when Spaghetti told the crowd he was going to convert them to Church of Awesomeology, it was no joke because the show was flat-out awesome. The amped-up energy of the band combined with the extensive set list made the show a fitting celebration of a group that never got its proper due back in the heyday of grunge.
Speaking of grunge, Green River, the recently reunited band that includes members of Pearl Jam and Mudhoney, was on hand to wish the Supersuckers a happy birthday. The band played its third show since calling it quits 20 years ago, causing singer Mark Arm to joke the group was celebrating 20 years of not being a band. Zeke, another local institution of rock, opened the show by playing a 30-minute set of punk at breakneck speeds that would have made “Kill ‘Em All”-era Metallica blush.
The two bands were icing on the Supersuckers’ rock ‘n’ roll birthday cake. When they capped things off with a two-hour-and-15-minute set, they proved the Supersuckers are ready for 20 more years of doing what they do best — converting the masses to the Church of Awesomeology.
