Supercell bids “Adieu”

Supercell
Firewater Bar & Grill
12/17/05

    Supercell ended its lifespan in the dark this past Friday night, bathed only by dark blue lights, amplified feedback shrieking in the aftermath of the final song; nearly two hours earlier, departing vocalist Jason Wheelington announced, “this is not a time for sorrow, but a time for celebration.”  Imploring a packed Firewater Bar and Grill to “reach out and take my hand/ (I’ll lead you through this wonderland so come, back to where we started from)/ Come along and take my hand, into this wonderland/ (I’ll lead you through this wonderland)” (“Wonderland”), Wheelington and his cohorts redeemed the faithful one last time.
     Supercell’s brand of hard-bottomed, melodically glossed rock quickly brings to mind Stone Temple Pilots (or Velvet Revolver), though Wheelington doesn’t possess the pipes of Scott Wyland.  In fact he tends to go flat, even out of tune, often, resorting to screaming to grab any sort of emotion.  But, with his movie-star good looks (a cross between David Boreanaz and Nick Lachey), and boundless enthusiasm, Wheelington makes a visual impact.  Perhaps it is because he is leaving the band that compelled him to focus his entire attention on the audience, rarely interacting with his band mates.
    The musical heart of Supercell resides in double guitarists Mark Sims and Shannon Nedved who careen into, over, above, and under each other, with great aplomb.  The solid rhythm section of Nick Holmes on bass and the ever-loquacious Moonshine on drums, anchors the harmonic sheen of Sims and Nedved.  Yet for all its prowess, Supercell’s songs tend to become rather rote after awhile.  The band never seems to fully explore the feel it is capable of offering in such songs as “Swept Away.”
    Midway through the show, for some inexplicable reason, the band brought out original drummer Todd Hughes, who definitely lacked the kicking precision of Moonshine (and he probably doesn’t have a hot a wife as the latter either, she looks like Sarah Michelle Gellar plus ten), but he does have Fabio’s hair.  Although this move was probably meant to honor Supercell’s past, it seemed pointless and dragging.
    The band refused to end the night on a whimper, instead ending on a righteous bang.  The swirling, slamming audience sing-along “Lights Out” led into the darkened stage as the band ended with “Down.”  Supercell may be gone, but they won’t soon be forgotten.

-David Elliott
dallasmusic.com
staff writer