Last night, Sugar, the alternative rock trio led by Bob Mould, played their first show in 31 years at a packed Webster Hall in New York City. Mould, bassist David Barbe and drummer Malcolm Travis took the stage running, quite literally, as Mould spent most of the night sprinting across it.

“Hi, we’re a band called Sugar,” Mould joked. “It’s been a little bit since our last show.” The reunion came together simply enough and warmly with Barbe ran into Bob in San Francisco, they hung out  for three hours. A nostalgic moment with Barbe, the Bassist,  reporting that the first time they played his kids were young but now they are all grown up and came to the show.  

According to Brokely Vegan, The band tore through 24 songs in roughly 90 minutes, covering material from their two albums, EP, and a handful of B-sides. They opened with Copper Blue’s first two tracks, “The Act We Act” and “A Good Idea,” and worked through classics like “Hoover Dam,” “Your Favorite Thing,” and “Fortune Teller.” They also debuted both songs from their new 7″, “House of Dead Memories” and “Long Live Love”, which landed well with the crowd. The set closed with their biggest hit, “If I Can’t Change Your Mind.”

They were loud as they are known for. You could feel it in your chest, though it never crossed into punishment. They were still selling the sugarbrand earphones to the crowd for the loudness. The crowd skewed older but was fully present, heads bobbing, people singing along, some thrashing in the pit, a retention of their audience despite the time gap. 

Sugar have two more Webster Hall shows this weekend before their full North American tour kicks off in the fall, with a stop at Brooklyn Steel on October 16, Mould’s birthday. Full coverage via Brooklyn Vegan.