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The Who, The Eagles and The Velvet Underground have all done it in recent years. Even the remaining Sex Pistols did it. The reunion, hitting the stage a few more times to relive memories, bury past grudges and generally have a good old-fashioned flashback. Now the same can be said for P.E.I.'s most successful punk band, Supercar. In front of a capacity audience and some confused-looking bouncers Saturday night at Mike's Bar in Charlottetown, Supercar delivered a set of their trademark high-speed, stop-on-a-dime hardcore. And it was good. After four years of playing in venues from Summerside to Toronto, Supercar disbanded in 1997 when guitarist and vocalist Andrew MacLaine moved to Ottawa to work as a youth counsellor. He and fellow bandmates Jonathon Holmes (drums), Brodie Read (guitar), and Peter MacDonald (bass) still had the passion to play and made a casual agreement to play reunion shows if possible. Being the only member to live off Island, MacLaine seems to miss the band more than anyone. "Yeah, I miss it a lot. I've been jamming with a few bands but it's hard to find such talent as I've left behind," he laughs. Supercar were one of the first Island punk bands, and most would-be-critics, as well as the band themselves, agree that their musical chemistry was unique. "The reason I think it's hard to jam with anyone else is because when we started off none of us knew how to play our instruments, except Brodie," Holmes explains. "And then as we matured as a band we matured as musicians so we knew exactly what each other was thinking. I can't understand other people and they can't understand me, but when we jam, even after a year when he (MacLaine) came home it was like we could-Boom!-pound out a song we haven't played in eight months. It's crazy." Experience goes a long way in developing and honing a band's performance, and despite only a four-year history, Supercar packed a lot of milestones into their career. Besides having a track on the Canadian independent Raw Energy compilation CD, On The Road Again, the band released an EP called Six, Right On, Rock Songs in 1997, notably produced by Phil MacLellan, son of songwriting legend Gene MacLellan. They performed with such Canadian acts as SNFU, The Doughboys, The Ripcordz and Problem Children. They have appeared in two East Coast Music Awards showcases, the Halifax On Music Festival, Canadian Music Week 1997 in Toronto, as well as the prestigious North By Northeast Music Festival in June of 1996, also held in Toronto. MacDonald says all the festivals they played were positive experiences for the band. "The East Coast Music Awards were good. It was our first time playing three shows in a row. It was a wicked time," adding the overall band experience was one of his most profound. "It opens your eyes and shows you what you can actually do. In four years, going from never playing an instrument to, you know, playing all over the place." The reunion show at Mike's was another milestone for Supercar. It was their longest set they have ever played. The band obviously fed off the energy of the audience, many of whom were devoted fans singing along with songs they haven't heard in years, like the Island punk anthem I'm Okay, which dates back to the summer of 1994. After almost two hours of jumping around, both the band and the audience were spent, although it was obvious another Supercar reunion would be a welcome event. MacLaine is back in Ottawa now, where reflection on being in the band comes easier. "I think P.E.I. kind of follows inspiration, and not to sound, you know, all talking tough about Supercar, but at the time we had drive and we had motivation and I think that's what kids like to see and like to come and watch." MacDonald sums up the Supercar experience with this final thought: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the only time, because I can't remember anything else."
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