Tonight is the first night of a fantastic double headline tour featuring the maximum rock n roll of Tucson’s Supersuckers and the country rock nobility of Nashville’s Warner E Hodges. 

The last time Supersuckers played Reading was way back in 2000 when they had an early slot on the main stage of the Reading  Festival and they were one of the best bands all weekend. Warner has played the Facebar a couple of times with his old friend Dan Baird (with Homemade Sin) but this was the first time that he was bringing his own band to the venue. Would the good people of Reading be up for a night of punk, country and metal infused rock?

There’s a smallish crowd for sleaze rockers The Suicide Notes partially due to the early start but this has grown considerably by the end of their suitably chaotic set. Tonight is an acoustic set with the band reduced to the seated guitars of Alex and Danny whilst Billy Tee reaffirms his position as debauched lounge lizard hanging from his mike stand. Songs such as ‘Take A Bullet’ and ‘Momma Sang the Blues’ work well as acoustic numbers. Having broken his mike stand early on, Billy spends much of the set sat louchely on the stage in the shadow of his band, but is suitably entertaining all the same. Finishing with their version of ‘Dead Flowers’, the band depart with a few more fans in tow. The Suicide Notes - Oct 23 Supersuckers are up next and despite the 8pm start, the main area is full of eager waiting punters filled with anticipation. The unmistakable figure of Eddie Spaghetti takes the stage looking irresistible in his familiar all black get up, shades and cowboy hat. Joining him are denim clad Marty Chandler on guitar and the impeccably cool Christopher von Streicher on drums. Supersuckers - Oct 23 Opening with the riff heavy ‘All of the Time’, the band come on like the bastard country sons of Motorhead and the Ramones with a magnificent aural assault. Heavy bass lines, pounding drums and fast thrashy guitar matched with Eddie’s distinctive growl are the order of the night. ‘Rock n Roll Records (Ain’t Selling This Year)’ is closely followed by ‘The Evil Powers of Rock n Roll’ and the crowd are lapping it up. Supersuckers - Oct 23 Throughout the set Marty prowls the stage letting rip with his solos and truck stop guitar posturing mixed in with some nifty fretwork behind his head. He’s not bad on vocals either taking charge for a couple of tunes. With a full 75 minute set of over twenty songs from all eras of the band’s existence (including a debut of a song from the next album), this was a fan pleasing performance. Given it’s been over twenty years since the band last played Reading this has been a huge success and the band are welcome back anytime. Supersuckers - Oct 23 Warner E Hodges first broke onto the scene in the early eighties as guitarist with country rock legends Jason & the Scorchers, a band that effortlessly mixed country with hard rock and punk’s anarchic sense of purpose. With Dan Baird’s retirement from the live scene and the end of Homemade Sin as a touring unit, Warner has spent a number of years honing his own material and this tour celebrates the launch of his latest album ‘Soul Shaker’. Featuring UK musicians Ben Marsden on guitar and Jason Knight on bass and recorded in Nashville, it is the first time that the core of the current band has been able to get together in the studio and it’s another fine slice of hard rocking americana. The Warner E Hodges Band - Oct 23 Starting with the thumping ‘That Rock n Roll’ from the new album, the band show that they can match the aural power of Supersuckers. ‘Where Did you Go’ and ‘Preachin’ to the Choir’ keep up the ante with Ben showing why he’s in so much demand whilst Warner demonstrates why he is so respected as a player in Nashville. Meanwhile Jason continues to test the ceiling heights of venues worldwide with his frequent joyous leaps into the air (he is not exactly short in stature) whilst providing solid bass lines throughout. New boy Shane Dixon on drums has slotted effortlessly into the band. The Warner E Hodges Band - Oct 23 Having played some of his rockier songs, the ever charming Warner asks if it is okay to play a few country tracks. No problems with that here - ‘Company Man’ and ‘The Magician’ suitably fit the bill. As there’s a new album out, we also get ‘Great Unknown’ along with the bluegrass infused ‘Shine’.

Like many of his country contemporaries, Warner is not afraid of a cover version and scatters a number across the set. Cheap Trick’s ‘I Want You to Want Me’ and Neil Young’s ‘Rockin’ in the Free World’ fit nicely alongside Warner’s own ‘Right Back Where I Started’.

It wouldn’t be a Warner show without a rendition of John Denver’s ‘Country Roads’ and it goes down a storm. The band are joined by Marty from Supersuckers for the Pistols’ ‘Holidays in the Sun’ interspersed with the Big Bopper’s ‘White Lightning’ before the band conclude with a raucous version of AC/DC’s ‘Let There Be Rock’. The Warner E Hodges Band - Oct 23 It was always going to be hard following a band as good as Supersuckers and the audience had spread out by the end, but The Warner E Hodges Band were unfazed and produced another highly enjoyable and mixed set.

So tonight saw three very different but very engaging bands – it’s always a privilege to be present at gigs like these.

The Warner E Hodges Band - Oct 23