Bob Mould’s reformed Sugar announces First Ave two-nighter

After putting his ’90s band Sugar back together for new recordings and a run of New York and London shows, Bob Mould now is planning to reunite with another old friend in September: First Avenue.

The ex-Minnesota rock legend booked a two-night stand Sept. 10 and 11 in the First Ave Mainroom as part of a large swath of newly announced Sugar tour dates. He and bandmates David Barbe and Malcolm Travis also issued a new Sugar single, “Long Live Love,” which will be issued as a 7-inch single with the previously released song, “House of Dead Memories.”

“We’re laser-focused on getting in shape for an exciting year of loud rock shows around the world,” Mould said in a news release announcing the new run of dates.

The First Ave shows will come early in a fall U.S. tour that continues off and on through late October. Tickets for the Minneapolis dates will go on sale Jan. 30 at 10 a.m. via axs.com and cost $71 after taxes and fees. Pre-sale options begin Jan. 27. Fellow ’90s noisemaker J. Robbins of Jawbox will open the gigs.

A mainstay at First Avenue in the 1980s when he co-helmed the influential Twin Cities punk trio Hüsker Dü, Mould has played the club many times over the past two decades with the Bob Mould Band, most recently in 2021. Sugar’s last gig there, however, was a lot longer ago: Nov. 2, 1994. That concert was caught on tape and turned into a live LP first packaged with a reissue of the band’s second album, “File Under: Easy Listening.” It has since been repackaged as the stand-alone concert collection, “The Joke Is Always on Us, Sometimes.”

Reaction to Sugar’s 2026 reunion news — Mould initially wondered to Rolling Stone “if people are still interested” — was no joke. The previously announced multi-night stands in New York and London in May sold out in minutes, and fans online were loudly calling for more shows.

With their breakout 1992 album “Copper Blue,” Sugar landed the moderate radio hits “If I Can’t Change Your Mind” and “Helpless” while riding the early ’90s alt-rock wave generated by Nirvana and other bands heavily inspired by Hüsker Dü. “Copper Blue” has since lived on as a desert island disc for many Gen X fans and a younger generation of indie-rock musicheads.

“Sugar was dormant for decades and sounds and styles are always changing. Nothing is certain and we had no idea there would be such a positive reaction to the first song. We were heartened to see the excitement for the NYC and London shows. It’s been wonderful to hear people talking so fondly about how much the band meant to them - the strength of the songs, the energy of the shows (and the decibel levels of them!). It was a super special time for all of us. Now that we’re back in business, we’re laser-focused on getting in shape for an exciting year of loud rock shows around the world!”