Superchunk plays deep cuts, classics at the Cradle

Photos by Kevin Norris

Thursday night brought hometown heroes Superchunk back to their home court, the Cat's Cradle. As the band had been teasing on Twitter leading up to the show, they pulled out some deep, deep cuts for the set.

They dug deep right out the gate, opening with the 1993 b-side "Home at Dawn." Other rarities included "Ribbon," "The Majestic" and "Cool," all of which sounded fantastic.

The band played with the intensity and energy that their shows are known for. Mac McCaughan bounded around the stage and Laura Ballance pogoed through much of the set. The energy was especially high during recent set mainstays like "Crossed Wires," "Cast Iron" and "Digging for Something," as well as the band's new single, "This Summer."

After closing the set with the barn burners "Hyper Enough" and "Skips Steps 1 & 3," the band returned and celebrated Mac's birthday. What sounded like a trombone played "Happy Birthday" from the back of the room and Mac blew out the candles on a plate of brownies. Then the even more rare songs began.

The encore started with a cover of the Frogs' "I've Got Drugs (Out of the Mist)," which was followed by "Cadmium" release in 1992. After the recent classic "Learned to Surf," the band pulled out another cover, Sebadoh's "Brand New Love," which the crowd was warned in advance sounded rough during sound check. Ballance dropped in and out as she tried to remember the song, but it was all in good fun and things locked in by the end of the song. "Slack Motherfucker" closed out the first encore and the amped up crowd wanted more.

The band returned once again and pulled out what they called their fastest song ever, "On the Mouth." Even though they warned the crowd it might sound rough beforehand, the song sounded great. They closed with two early classics "Throwing Things" and "Precision Auto." It was a killer end to a great show.

I've seen Superchunk quite a few times over the years and it's always fantastic because no two shows are the same. This one broke the mold more than usual and it was great to hear them shake things up for the hometown crowd.

Carrboro band Gross Ghost opened the show with their own brand of lo-fi pop. The band have played songs from their debut album Brer Rabbit as well as some new songs. The band has grown a lot in the last year and sounded incredibly tight Thursday night.

Superchunk set list
Home at Dawn
Why Do You Have to Put a Date on Everything
Crossed Wires
Ribbon
Cast Iron
Rosemarie
The Majestic
This Summer
My Gap Feels Weird
Cool
Rainy Streets
Her Royal Fisticuffs
Driveway to Driveway
Digging for Something
Hyper Enough
Skip Steps 1 & 3
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I've Got Drugs (Out of the Mist) (Frogs cover)
Cadmium
Learned to Surf
Brand New Love (Sebadoh cover)
Slack Motherfucker
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On the Mouth
Throwing Things
Precision Auto

Superchunk


Gross Ghost