At the centre of Sugar's universe remains their debut-album Copper Blue. Issued in the UK in 1992 on the already-established Creation Records label, CB is ten supercharged anthems inspired by Nirvana's multi-platinum Nevermind (Mould has as much admitted its influences) and was seen as something as a 'life-saver' for frustrated young adults and receptors of the ongoing grunge. And it still sounds like little else 30+ years after its inception.
Before that though we were treated to a relentlessly bouyant combination of early songs and later trailblazers, all of which created something of a cacophonic wall of sound as time went on. Not quite resembling the full throttle days of Land Speed Record by Mould's former Husker Du, but impressive nonetheless. Mould can still jive around the stage like he genuinely has a love for the music, Barbe croons sweetly on his song choices (especially the cracking Company Book) and Travis deftly rolls those drums like a doughmaster mixing his 00 grade to perfection.
For the first 40 minutes or so, Sugar sounded sweet until there came a point where everything started to blur into a treble-high squall. The problem wasn't the band, probably wasn't the mixing desk so much - it had to be the venue. You see, the Forum has former issues. At stage or ground level, artists sound fine, if a little distorted. At balcony level, absolutely unlistenable after a while. By the end of the admittedly terrific Your Favorite Thing, I was thinking it was 'just me' and maybe it was the heat. But as soon as more songs unravelled, so did the venue's acoustics.
The Forum is already irritating, and that's before you get past the border guards on the door and the seemingly endless rules about chewing gum, water and bags, plus the lack of ventilation. Things have certainly changed from my last visit in 2019 and it's perhaps a little harsh to compare it with my previous gig, The Prodigy at the OVO in Glasgow (again, we were up in the gods). At least the loos have been improved.
Anyway, to return to the night itself. The audience were appreciative, if not exactly whooping with joy at the blazing A Good Idea and Hoover Dam, although cheers got steadily louder as the night went on.
It's great to have them back over here but please, not at the Forum again.
The Band: ★★★★★★★★☆☆
Venue: ★★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆
Beer: Don't bother. The nearby Caps and Taps (Tufnell Park tube 1 min, 10 minutes walk max from venue) or The Southampton Arms (Gospel Oak overground 3 mins, 11mins walk) are far better on many levels.