By Paul Robicheau

Reunited after 30 years, Bob Mould, David Barbe and Malcolm Travis deliver a triumphant Roadrunner set that balances melodic hooks with cathartic fury.

Bob Mould of Sugar at Roadrunner. Photo: Paul Robicheau

Bob Mould finds magic in trios. Seasoned alt-punk fans primarily recognize the guitarist/vocalist for his stellar steering of Husker Du, the influential 1980s Minneapolis band that intermingled pop and psychedelia through a hardcore roar. Mould’s subsequent solo endeavors also favor robust three-piece lineups.

Yet perhaps his best trio — at least the most commercially successful — was Sugar, formed in the early ’90s with bassist David Barbe and Boston drummer Malcolm Travis. They forged an indie blockbuster in their locally recorded debut Copper Blue, song-for-song the most perfect album from a Mould-led band. Sugar burned fast and bright, though, lasting only a few records over a few years before dissolving.

So, the word that Mould was reuniting Sugar after 30 years (for two new songs and a growing string of live dates) sparked fervent anticipation among fans whose expectations were exceeded at Saturday’s triumphant Boston stop at Roadrunner.

Historically, Mould sounds better on record than onstage, given his penchant for raising sonic squalls to punishing volume. But this show wasn’t as loud in the cavernous room, allowing listeners to revel in the sculpted economy of Sugar, which emerged from the grunge era with a layered, bristly sound that still comes off relatively clean, particularly in contrast to Husker Du’s dense, chaotic clamor.

With the band’s name writ large behind them, Sugar tore into Copper Blue’s first three tracks. Mould (who’d turned 66 the day before in New York) went from barking “The Act We Act” into the mic to spinning across the stage, staking out turf near his two guitar amps and throwing in Pete Townshend–style windmills during “A Good Idea” and “Changes.”

Sugar at Roadrunner. Photo: Paul Robicheau

Travis, who played in the Zulus (whom Mould once produced) and Human Sexual Response, focused on his snare drum and cymbals to hammer tempos with no-frills precision. Barbe’s bass filled gaps under Mould’s slashing chordal buzz while providing an occasional singer/songwriter foil with a sweeter-edged tone in lead vocals for “Company Book” and (two songs later) the driving “In the Eyes of My Friends.” After that initial stretch, Mould declared the proceedings part of “a punk rock weekend” before the trio settled into the slower flourishes of “Hoover Dam.”

From there, Sugar threaded thematic pairings through its 85-minute, 22-song set, returning to File Under: Easy Listening for a double shot. Travis built opening track “Gift” with thumping toms as Mould’s power chords rang beneath his howl, “I’ll give this gift to you.” Mould then shifted to chiming guitar trills for the accessible “Your Favorite Thing,” setting up another sharp turn into “Clownmaster,” a churning, cymbal-crashing instrumental torrent.

David Barbe of Sugar at Roadrunner. Photo: Paul Robicheau

The new songs “House of Dead Memories” and “Long Live Love,” delivered back-to-back, effectively fit in with older songs. The abrasive heartache in the latter bled into a slow but simmering “Explode and Make Up,” where Mould cried “I hate you” in the course of emotions that were also poured into his guitarwork. His hand quivered over the strings between his pulled chords and skittering solo bursts.

That song provided the set’s emotional peak until Sugar bit into a trifecta from Beaster, the mini-album home to darker outtakes from the Copper Blue sessions. Mould and Barbe traded strummed chords and vocals in the dreamy ballast of “Come Around” before Travis led the charge into “Tilted,” Mould rolling his words into scat with a spray of spit. Then Sugar unleashed the night’s cathartic climax in “JC Auto.” Barbe added sharp call-and-response accents to Mould’s self-loathing demon shaking, culminating in raw shouts of “Jesus Christ, I know, I know!”

Malcolm Travis of Sugar at Roadrunner.  Photo: Paul Robicheau

The band paused to soak in the crowd’s ovation in an onstage encore break, Travis stepping away from the drums while he and Barbe each had a drink before Mould led them back to the hit-happy side of Sugar to round out the night with the catchy, melodic hooks of “Helpless,” “Gee Angel” and “If I Can’t Change Your Mind.”

Anyone who’d wandered into Roadrunner for “Saturday night rock ‘n’ roll” (as Mould had put it earlier) and hadn’t been converted by then was unlikely to embrace the bitter sweetness of Sugar. And that was before the final bows, when Mould graciously steered the applause toward Travis, giving the hometown hero his due

Paul Robicheau served more than 20 years as contributing editor for music at the Improper Bostonian, in addition to writing and photography for The Boston Globe, Rolling Stone, and many other publications. He was also the founding arts editor of Boston Metro.