more than two weeks later

Let me tell you about the Superdrag concert I flew across the country for.

Oh who can remember all the little details now? But I will say that I am indeed glad I went. They totally rocked. You'd never believe that these guys hadn't played together (or any of these songs) in years. Of course, being the last show of the tour probably helped that a bit, but seriously, it brought back the rock of my youth (somebody pinch me when I'm getting nostalgic at the tender age of 24! Especially after watching Baby Boomers debate the meaning and "corrosiveness" of nostalgia on a local PBS show called Life Part Two, of which I am probably the only member of the Echo of the Baby Boom to actually watch this show when it airs. Oh but that's another story. I clearly have an obsession with PBS and absorbing all kinds of information. Perhaps I've been derelict in writing in this here blog because I've been too busy absorbing information instead. Yeah, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.)

Okay, back to Superdrag. I was actually surprised not to see people (the guys, really: they were all male) from the old days. We'd never really talk, but we'd certainly recognize each other, the first dorks to arrive at the venue, which was usually the 9:30 Club, but a show or two in Baltimore and even a roadtrip to Philadelphia (if I remember correctly, back in the days when I couldn't even drive and my mom was such an enthusiastic supporter of her silly kids!). It was actually Allie who recognized a lot of people from her stint as a DJ at UMCP's radio station.

We got there when doors opened at 10:00 and claimed the best place in the venue: standing against the balcony at center. In other words, we had a completely unobstructed view of the stage directly over the sound board. Yes, perfect sight and sound! (And I lamented how I should have done this for Teenage Fanclub two years ago rather than pressing myself against the stage.)

The vast bulk of the set drew from Superdrag's first two LPs (which the original lineup, hence the reunion, created): Regretfully Yours and Headtrip in Every Key. There was also a track or two from their earlier EP and demo efforts, and "True Believer" from their third of four LPs (In The Valley of Dying Stars) which is not a tune from the original lineup, but voted the number one favorite by fans through an online poll. Now, I do indeed love this song and many others from their later releases, but I thought it was not in spirit with a reunion tour of the original band to vote for music they didn't all perform. I guess the bulk of voters didn't get that message. I wasn't actually surprised that it won. It's the only song I've actually seen covered by another band (The Plus Ones). In fact, I remember telling someone at the Plus Ones concert that they sound a lot like Superdrag just as they started to play "True Believer."

The first half of the set was dominated by Regretfully Yours, and while I love all Superdrag music--seriously, not one bad track--I still consider this my least favorite album. It's a bit too monotonous, which you can really feel standing at a late-night concert. But then they brought on the Headtrip In Every Key, which for the longest time was my favorite album of theirs. I still go back and forth between it and In the Valley of Dying Stars. Including the encore, I believe the total playing time was somewhere on order of an hour and forty-five or fifty minutes. Probably the best concert I've attended in years.

A special note, there was absolutely no booze on stage. Now, considering Superdrag disbanded on account of John Davis's Born-Again Christian sobriety, it's not really that surprising. But how many rock shows have you been to where no band member was throwing back beer or whiskey in between songs? There's no alcohol required to rock!

And if that cheesy line wasn't enough, here's an embarrassing plea. In August, waiting to gawk at the ever-youthful Paul Rudd at the Upright Citizen's Brigade Theater, I was blabbing about Superdrag to Anna when the guy in front of me turned around to tell me he is a big Superdrag fan. Well, man, if you have happened upon this in some sort of bizarre googling incident (or any other means), please email me, leave a comment, or something. I totally flupped up the follow through on that one. I'm willing to bet we've got more in common than a love for Superdrag and cool glasses.

Fin.