Superdrag Reunion Tour Coming To NYC

When I was 11 years old, my brother went off to college to attend the University of Tennessee. Not long into his Knoxville, TN residence, Chris indulged himself in the local music scene, where he’d go on to play drums for popular pop-punk goofballs The State Champs. Knoxville’s rock scene has never gotten much attention, and The State Champs and loads of other good bands never quite made it, but in 1996 the best band in the scene broke out to mainstream success with a MTV and radio hit called “Sucked Out.”

That band, whose name you can’t quite remember, is not Nada Surf: It’s Superdrag. “Sucked Out” wasn’t a monster hit, but it was one of those songs that was played once an hour on rock radio and MTV for part of that year. While Regretfully Yours was a great album as a whole, and contained songs far superior to their unexpected hit, none was as infectious. A year later the band released Head Trip in Every Key, which saw the band expanding in every direction, very successfully. While it was well-received by the critics, the record company saw it as not having a strong enough single, and without steady radio play, it was a huge failure in terms of sales.

Since then the music industry has changed greatly and radio and MTV have less of an influence over the success of an album, and good reviews from critics can be much more influential.

After recording their third album, In The Valley of Dying Stars, bassist Tom Papas and guitarist Brandon Fisher both left the band due to the rigors of touring. Close friend Sam Powers, from local band Who Hit John, would go on to join singer/guitarist John Davis and drummer Don Coffey Jr. as the band’s new bass player. Superdrag continued to tour and their devout following continued to support them.

The trio would later be joined by another friend, Mic Harrison, for their 2002 release Last Call for Vitriol, and by the end of 2003, the members went their own ways.

Now in 2007, Superdrag has brought back their original lineup (John Davis, Tom Papas, Brandon Fisher, Don Coffey Jr.) for a short eight-date tour that features one night at New York’s Fillmore. With huge artists such as The Police, Genesis, Led Zeppelin and The Jesus & Mary Chain all reuniting this year, Superdrag’s own reunion will surely go overlooked. But unlike most of those bands, Superdrag isn’t doing it for the money. They really enjoy playing music together, and there was never any bloodshed or even a real break up.

Davis and I met recently so I asked him: How does a band go from being on hiatus to having its’ original lineup back together 8 years after they last played together? “It was inevitable,” Davis said. “We always left the door open. We never made any fuss about disbanding. We never had a farewell tour, and had no idea that the last show we played would be our last.”

Davis continued to tell me of the offers he’s received over the years, since they went on hiatus. The offer always seemed to be there, but it never felt like the right time. “I always felt that if we were going to go through with it, we needed to be 100 percent into it, had to be with the original lineup, and for the right reasons,” he explained. Imagine how many fewer reunion tours there would be if every band acted like that.

It was relieving to hear Davis speak about going into the reunion for the right reasons, with his greatest focus being on the fans. And what better way to please the fans than by playing exactly what they want? The band recently ran a poll on their [website] to give fans an opportunity to vote on what songs would make it into the set list. While not every song played each night will be decided by the fans (that would be repetitive and less exciting for the band), fans should expect something really special. For those fearing that Davis will want to play his new material, he told me that he does not want fans “subjected to his solo work against their will.” John’s new album Arigato! is quite good, but it should be—and will be—a Superdrag show. Fans can expect to hear plenty of the early songs, as well as the beautiful ballad “Unprepared,” which Davis said he was excited to play after never really playing it live before.

Fans can even expect to hear the band’s only major hit, “Sucked Out,” which was at one point rarely heard live. Although the band almost never played the song live anymore, back in 2002 a couple fans who had traveled all the way from Japan convinced the band to play the song live at NYC’s Village Underground. “Better give them what they want,” Davis said in response to that decision.

A new record is not currently scheduled, but Davis says that the entire band “would be into it as long as it’s fun and means something to more than just us.” Davis went on to admit that many of the songs he has written lately sound like they could be Superdrag songs. With the type of fans so devoted that they’d travel to all eight tour dates, it’s going to be hard for Davis and crew to hold back from recording again, so keep your fingers crossed.

Asking John Davis about his favorite New York venues brought back memories of some that may now be forgotten: Brownies, Acme Underground, Coney Island High and, of course, CBGB. Davis struggled to choose a favorite, mentioning that he should probably say Irving Plaza, since that’s where they’ll be playing, leaving me to remind him that it’s no longer Irving Plaza—it’s The Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza.

While another Superdrag album may not be a sure thing, Davis continues to record, and his second solo album, Arigato!, the follow up to his self-titled debut, is a return to rock and is the hardest album Davis has ever written, displaying Husker Dü’s influence. Oddly, Davis’ debut was the softest thing he’d ever written. “I need to rock,” Davis said, proclaiming that “It’s the kind of record I’d like to have made when I was 18.”

Opening for nearly all of the tour are two long-time Knoxville acts Stewart Pack and Mic Harrison & The High Score. Big Superdrag fans will definitely recognize the name Mic Harrison from his short stint with the band during the Last Call for Vitriol days. While there’s no plan for Harrison to join Superdrag on stage, Davis told me that the band would be totally cool with Harrison leading his rig set up, and randomly joining them on stage during their set.

Most people outside of Knoxville are probably unfamiliar with Stewart Pack, but he’s been around the scene for a long time “dominating the world with his rock.” Davis says that Pack, who’s also responsible for designing Superdrag’s Last Call For Vitriol CD package as well as both of Davis’ albums, is his favorite musician to emerge from the Knoxville scene, and that he has been a fan of Pack since 11th or 12th grade. 

Having seen Superdrag live four or five times now over the years, I can tell you that you can expect to see one hell of a rock show. There will be no gimmicks, just a large handful of great catchy rock songs, played with solid energy and full of passion. It won’t be a short set, as you can expect the band to put in everything they’ve got and play until they’ve completely run themselves out of energy.

It seemed that every Superdrag show I ever saw them play, there was one guy in the audience who would yell “Don’t stop the rocking!” at every break. They may have taken a break, but don’t ever expect Davis and crew to ever stop rocking, even if it may be their last ever NYC show.

Fri. Nov. 2, The Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza, 17 Irving Pl. (at 15th St.), 212-777-6800, 8pm, $20a/$23d.