Mouldy Beaster

My ears are still ringing from seeing Sugar perform live at Lakota in Bristol on Wednesday 16th December 1992. The loudest gig I've ever been to, and unlikely to be beaten.

It was my college friends, in particular my relatively new girlfriend that talked me into going. I was aware of Bob Mould and Hüsker Dü, but more from their regular appearances and interviews in the music press, more than through familiarity with their music.

I'm not sure that my gig buddies had even that level of awareness of Bob & co's pre-Sugar activity; Sugar were fresh, exciting and loud, and had released their debut album Copper Blue a few months previously, and that's all that mattered.

Sugar arrived at just the right time for me, as there was a Pixies-sized hole in my life and they were a perfect fit. So, there was a certain expectation going in, as Pixies were a phenomenal live act.

I was a regular at Lakota, but for it's club nights. I think this was the first - and possoibly last - time that I'd been there for a live music gig. A good location, on the edge of St. Pauls, but maybe unprepared for the decibels that were about to be unleashed inside.

As the ticket (found online, mine lost a long time ago, possibly on the night) shows, there was a support band. It's likely we turned up too late; it was a college day, I had to get home, get changed, pick up my girlfriend and friends (I was the only one with a car at this time) and then zoom along the M32 to the outskirts of the city centre, park up and get in.

If we did make it in time, then I have absolutely no memory of who played and for how long.

When Sugar appeared, they got straight down to business with the opening three songs of Copper Blue, everything dialled up, energy exploding from the stage and bones shaking with the sonic assault.

If that was all to lull the audience into a false sense of security, then it worked. Half of the songs in the set hadn't been released, in some cases, were never recorded in the studio. Ever couple of songs, a Copper Blue track would drop in - Hoover Dam, the (soon-to-be) hit single If I Can't Change Your Mind, Slick - but the majority of songs were completely new to us.

Towards the end, we were treated to a preview of the opening two songs of the upcoming Beaster mini-album, Come Around and Tilted. I was blown away. It was like a transformative experience, lifting me out of my body (although that might have been the sound vibrations). I might have been the designated driver that night, but who needed drink and drugs when the sounds created by Bob Mould, David Barbe and Malcolm Travis were enough to take your mind on a trip?

I don't remember the encore, or indeed if there was one or they just simply kept playing on. There's no setlist online for the Bristol show but, looking at the sets for Leeds and Norwich earlier in the week, it's likely that they played covers of Armenia City In The Sky (The Who) and That's When I Reach For My Revolver (MIssion of Burma). I've found an audience video of the latter, performed in Norwich on 13th December 1992.

The set is likely to have closed - as does Copper Blue - with Man On The Moon, which feels timely, given all of the excitement surrounding the Artemis II mission currently underway, diverting some attention away from the lunacy of SCROTUS, sorry, POTUS on Earth.

Beaster was released on 6th April 1993, ahead of the Easter holiday the following weekend. It's my favourite Sugar record, but Copper Blue is an outstanding debut and it's been good to revisit these three decades later, for Easter 2026.

Despite my tinnitus getting a kick start on that December night in 1992, it's remained relatively mild and I couldn't resist turning the volume up when I played this Dubhed selection back for the first time.

Sugar has reunited and will be playing in Bristol again on 30th May. Tempted though I was, I decided to pass. Nothing could come close to the impact - and volume - of that gig way back when.

1) The Act We Act (Album Version) (1992)

2) A Good Idea (Album Version) (1992)

3) Changes (Album Version) (1992)

4) Running Out Of Time (Live @ Cabaret Metro, Chicago, 22 July 1992)

5) Where Diamonds Are Halos (Live @ Cabaret Metro, Chicago, 22 July 1992)

6) Hoover Dam (Album Version) (1992)

7) The Beer Commercial (Live @ Cabaret Metro, Chicago, 22 July 1992)

8) After All The Roads Have Led To Nowhere (Live @ First Avenue, Minneapolis, 2nd November 1994)

9) If I Can't Change Your Mind (Album Version) (1992)

10) Frustration (Single Version) (1992)

11) Slick (Album Version) (1992)

12) Anyone (Live @ Cabaret Metro, Chicago, 22 July 1992)

13) Clownmaster (Single Version) (1993)

14) Come Around (Single Version) (1993)

15) Tilted (Single Version) (1993)

16) Armenia City In The Sky (Cover of The Who) (Live @ Cabaret Metro, Chicago, 22 July 1992)

17) Man On The Moon (Album Version) (1992)

1992: Copper Blue: 1, 2, 3, 6, 9, 11, 17

1992: A Good Idea EP: 5, 16

1993: Beaster: 14, 15

1993: If I Can't Change Your Mind EP: 12, 13

1994: Your Favorite Thing EP: 10

1995: After All The Roads Have Led To Nowhere / Explode And Make Up EP: 8

2012: Copper Blue / Live At The Cabaret Metro, Chicago, Illinois, 22nd July 1992 (Deluxe Edition): 4, 7

This One Goes To 17 (1:11:03) (GD) (M)