REVIEW: Super 400 Remains Timeless After 30 Years

Mar 6

02/28 @ Cohoes Music Hall

“This was the kind of synchronicity that the band has touted since their formation and it was on full display in the music hall.”

As timeless as the genres they play, Super 400 continues to defy all expectations. Celebrating thirty years of being a band and best friends, they filled Cohoes Music Hall with raw rock & roll grit. With Kenny Hohman belting out notes alongside his wailing guitar riffs, Lori Friday’s thunderous bass and drummer Joe Daley, the band might be seasoned by the years but they’re far from worn by them. They were joined by Saratoga-based duo, Drank The Gold who opened the show with exactly the kind of set that Super 400 seeks out. As Friday had told me during the build up to the anniversary: “We like to have bands on the bill that don’t sound anything like us,” and they fit that bill perfectly.

Composed of fiddle player Oona Grady and guitar and banjo player James Gascoyne, the duo played through a host of traditional Irish tunes — originals and covers alike. With both musicians using a simple setup of a single condenser mic to pick up every sound from their vocals and instruments to their stomping feet, it was a really cool vibe; especially in an old, historic theatre. Starting out with a handful of guitar-driven tunes, Gascoyne then swapped the guitar for his banjo and what was lost in fullness of the sound was gained in energy — especially since Grady had a chance to open things up with a jig while Gascoyne tuned the banjo (those things can be real finicky). Their set was well received by the crowd and rightfully so, because they were impeccable from presentation to execution. When their set ended, that only meant one thing. Super 400’s highly anticipated set was quickly approaching.

Introduced by super fan and friend of the band for over twenty years, Jim Meaney, who Friday told me drove in from Geneva for the occasion and “knows more about Super 400 than we do.” Meaney gave a tremendous speech off the cuff that really brought a sentimental feeling to the show, and set the mood before a wonderful video package presented on the projector screen that was put together by Mirth Films. Meaney then introduced the band one by one, and the band wasted little time getting into it. They played through their entire new release, The Spirit In The Sound with some banter in between. Upon completion, one might think a set break would occur. It did not. Instead, the band announced they would be taking us back in time.

There’s something to be said about a band giving you just enough in the beginning of a set without giving up the whole game. While the full album performance would likely be the peak for other bands, Super 400 was merely warming up. With a rousing rendition of “Blast The Message,” things kicked into overdrive, initiated by Hohman, hitting a flow state on guitar that was contagious and immediately indulged by Friday and Daley.

This was the kind of synchronicity that the band has touted since their formation and it was on full display in the music hall. As they weaved in and out songs with their flavor of jamming, they might’ve had a general idea of where in the song they are coming from and where they need to get to, but the journey is where the magic happens. Improvisation in a rock & roll format doesn’t happen often, but it’s a hallmark of what makes Super 400’s live shows so special. While the setlists might contain some of the same songs from one show to the next, you’ll never see the same show twice.

Their set concluded with the band exiting the stage after two hours, with the raucous crowd screaming for more. The band obliged and delivered one more song, an encore performance of “Day Bye Day,” that Hohman introduced by revealing that the instruments he and Friday would play on were the very ones they used on their first record. It is a deep cut for the band and Friday informed me, “That song is a time machine for me. We play it very rarely, and once we hit the chorus, I am transported way back.” It was fast, loose, and tight all at once and punctuated what was an incredible night of rock & roll. They then took their time thanking the crowd, taking bows, and walking off stage, not only having further cemented their status as rock icons, but as a band that still has a hell of a lot left in the tank.

Photos by Kiki Vassilakis: