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Concert Review: Sugar, J. Robbins, October 8, Masonic Jack White Theatre (Detroit)

Posted on
12 Oct 2026
by
Paul

Scanning the crowd at Sugar’s show at Detroit’s Masonic Jack White Theatre, it occurred to me that one could have designed a pretty effective bingo card for people-watching. Middle-aged? Check. Bald heads, greying beards, flannel shirts and band tees? Check, check, check and check. Mostly dudes? Another check. The lineup for the ladies’ room was practically nonexistent.

But I’m not here to profile Sugar’s fans. No, I’m here to write about the show.

Reuniting three decades after their heyday, the trio of Bob Mould, David Barbe, and Malcolm Travis has hit the road once again to bring some classic ’90s alt-rock to the masses. The band’s stop at the Masonic on Thursday saw them delivering a career-spanning set that mixed beloved staples like “Hoover Dam,” “Gee Angel” and “Your Favorite Thing” with newly released tracks “House of Dead Memories” and “Long Live Love.” And the band sounded great. Really great. Sugar’s secret weapon has always been its ability to make a racket while keeping things tuneful. The songs may hit hard sonically, but when it really comes down to it, it’s all about the melodies. And three decades on, those songs haven’t lost any of their punch.

Opening the evening was J. Robbins, who delivered a solid solo set armed with nothing more than his guitar and his songs. Robbins, best known for his work with Jawbox, offered a stripped-down version of the band’s signature tune “Savory,” transforming the angular, propulsive original into something a touch more intimate. Other highlights of Robbins’ set included “Exquisite Corpse” and “Dear Leader,” a song he wrote after learning that he shared a birthday with a certain authoritarian American politician. I’ll give you one guess who that might be …

Robbins mentioned during his set how great it’s been to be out on tour with Sugar, noting that the old adage about not meeting your heroes doesn’t always hold true. Some people, he suggested, just need to get cooler heroes.

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