The night before Halloween, when it seemed the rest of Toronto’s adult population were celebrating All Hallows Eve 24 hours too early, the super-charged quartet from North Carolina, Superchunk were making their return to Lee’s Palace after almost a five year absence. Touring in support of their latest album, Come Pick Me Up, Superchunk have made Toronto a staple tour stop after the release of almost every album over the past decade.

Superchunk

As with the other five Superchunk, this reporter has attended since 1992, The Chunk put on a red-hot energetic show that left their crowds satisfied but screaming for more. Led by the vocalist/guitarist Mac McCaughan, the quartet ran through a blistering set consisting of material from their whole career, with a heavy dose of newer material. As if Mac was leading a course entitled: Superchunk Song Titles 101, whenever he introduced a song, it was from the new album(except of "Nu Bruises" from 1997's Indoor Living). Come Pick Me Up has an increased emphasis on the mellower, it might have been expected that the Chunk’s presentation of the songs like "Honey Bee" and "Hello Hawk" may be mellow but Superchunk’s mellow is louder and faster than any song by Dead Can Dance. McCaughan’s vocals ground its way into the audience, leading the band through renditions of "Smarter Hearts", "So Convinced" and "Pulled Muscle" (all from Come Pick Me Up), as well as, older material from every one of non-compilation albums. Included in the band’s live set this night were "Hyper Enough" and "Imaginary Airplanes Over Germany" from 1995’s Here’s Where The Strings Come In; "Driveway Drive" and "Water Wings" from 1994’s Foolish and Precision Auto from 1993’s On The Mouth and "Seed Toss" from 1991’s No Pocky For Kitty.

Superchunk

Superchunk was more animated than they have been in the past. Several quotable ’Chunk quotes include guitarist Jim Wilber’s statement comparing the audience in Cleveland and Toronto. "You guys are a lot more polite, Wilbur concedes. "You are a credit to your government...Sort of a backhanded compliment, if ever I’ve heard one! Later bassist Laura Ballance worried about a Halloween costume for the next night. The usual suggestion suspects came flying out of the crowd. Mac commented on the idea of Laura dressing up as a dominatrix by querying "Shouldn’t she be something she isn’t normally?!" The highlight of the show may well have been the singing of Happy Birthday to drummer Jon Wurster after midnight by the band and a still hesitant , polite crowd.

Superchunk

After returning to the stage for an encore, Superchunk presented a cover of David Bowie’s "Scary Monsters" (in honour of Halloween) and being pulled back on stage for a second encore playing their ’90s anthem Slack Motherfucker. Like almost all of their previous shows, Superchunk show that they have a consistent live show that pushes every button in the right way.

Superchunk