The crowd jumped, the drums shook and multicolored lights flashed from the stage. British favorite Supergrass played a set of good old-fashioned rock 'n' roll at the 9:30 club Wednesday. Detractors assumed anglophiles would instead go to see Morrissey at DAR Constitutional Hall, but the capacity crowd proved otherwise.
Supergrass is on tour promoting a greatest hits compilation that celebrates the band's existence. They played all of the hits, scattered throughout their discography, from a perfect debut, 1995's "I Should Coco," to 2002's sleeper, "Life on Other Planets," and everything in between.
While Oasis represented the plebian working-class in their quest to Beatledom and Blur had more opportunity growing up as A-students from the suburbs, Supergrass was neither. They just wanted to drink, smoke and rock, and in doing so, they inadvertently channeled the spirits of the Buzzcocks, the Jam and the Kinks.
The trio began with five of their more rocking songs to ignite the audience's passion. This included the recent single "Grace," an obvious crowd pleaser. Supergrass then played three excellent acoustic tracks, which slowed down the tempo but not the spirit.
The third act of the set introduced the band's new single, "Kiss of Life," a danceable number reminiscent of Prince's work. The band walked off with the crowd cheering, and soon returned for a two-song encore.
In contrast to Supergrass's rocking atmosphere, local band Phaser opened the night with moody shoegazer music. A lonely piano melody accompanied by gradual lighting changes introduced the band, who began with a slow, quiet number called "Sleeper."
Phaser was quite chill in between songs. At one point the lead singer even said, "Talk amongst yourselves." The band would soon close with the sonically intense "Sway," a dynamic piece that perfectly set up Supergrass's raucous, tension-releasing set.
Supergrass and Phaser both played with power and when the set was over and the lights went on the crowd walked out with smiles on their faces, proving Supergrass has no end in sight.
