Supergrass: How a Band REALLY Wins Fans

By Elizabeth

I remember being in middle school when I first heard about Supergrass. I always wondered if their name wasn’t just code for marijuana…and I still wonder that after having seen them in NYC at Webster Hall…but I mean that in the best of ways. The band, to be honest, gave me a whole lot more than I bargained for. I went into the show rather aimlessly with a friend and waited for them to start their set.

The crowd around me was buzzing, filled with twenty and thirty somethings; all thoroughly enthusiastic about the show. I sipped on my Corona and waited. Finally, the band boldly took their stage-hollow-body guitars in hand.

Automatically, I was taken back by their energy and their actual songs. Unlike so many other acts these days, they didn’t employ a crew of dancers or fancy lighting techs to help take the focus off of their songs. (Note: Why do so many bands do that these days? Wouldn’t it just be cheaper to work on the music than to hire an entourage of cover-up specialists? Just a thought.) They brought their songs to the table eagerly and the audience eagerly received them.

In fact, everyone in the audience seemed to know every single word of every song…everyone but me, that is! Nonetheless, it didn’t take me long to start shaking my hips and by the time the show let out, I was humming along to brand new choruses, newly fastened to my memory.

The best way for a band to win a person over, in my opinion, is the way that Supergrass won me over. Stealing a music-lover’s heart through a live performance is the most organic way to make fans, and yet it’s more and more infrequent these days. Kudos to Supergrass for sticking with their guns and not dumbing down their music.