Supergrass performs St. Petersburg on Laundromatinee.com

Supergrass was one of those bands I worried about way too much before they came to visit The Pop Machine studio. Would they be divas? Would they get in and out before we could even really get to know them? Would they have fun? Maybe too much? The word "mischief" has always been associated with the band, but they've been around, in the public eye, for over ten years now, so legends grow and grow in a time period like that. What we got was a relaxed group of Englishmen, happy to take their time with us, both musically and socially. Guys who obviously really enjoyed each others company, had a clear leader and director in Gaz Coombes, and were as easy to work with as we could ever hope a band would be. While they've always been a big deal in their native England, it has taken the band a long time to make serious inroads here in America. They seem to come and go in short bursts here - a quick impact with an equally quick fade out. Their powerful, dancable garage-glam-rock-Brit-pop swoops in, gathers up some loyal fans and then splits. This latest US tour had them opening for mega heavyweights The Foo Fighters and putting them in front of larger American crowds than they've ever played to here in the US. You also might think they would be feeling a lot of pressure, on a tour like that, but this band is just as relaxed playing in front of 60,000 as they probably are in front of 60. They seem happy with their status, almost completely unaffected. And regardless of the crowds, Supergrass just keeps making music...Consistantly good music at that. It's changed over the years. Maybe it's not quite as dirty and reckless as it used to be. Some have accused them of playing it safe even, but these guys aren't really kids anymore, and the new stuff is still loads of fun with just enough grit. They seemed to be the perfect fit for their tourmates, The Foo Fighters, who seem to be in a similar place in their rock 'n roll lives. We all have to grow up sometime. It's unavoidable. They great thing about Supergrass is, even as they age, they maintain that youthful energy. They haven't lost touch with that feeling. The band played us two selections from their latest album, Diamond Hoo Ha, and then stripped things down for an excellent rendition of St. Petersburg, from their Road To Rouen album. Do to the major label nature of this session, we cannot offer mp3 downloads of it at this time. I know, bummer.