Seeing Sugar live just a month after their debut album, Copper Blue, was released in 1992 still sticks out in my mind as a whirlwind of a show. As I recall, Bob Mould and co-conspirators David Barbe and Malcolm Travis came out and blasted through the first three songs from the record, then only stopped for a brief “hello” and “thanks” before diving into another three songs. The rest of the performance proceeded similarly, leaving me out of breath just from watching it.

The trio recently reunited, hitting the road and even releasing a couple of new songs, and their show in Boston immediately recalled the one I witnessed more than 30 years. Following a solo acoustic set from former Jawbox frontman J. Robbins, Sugar hit the stage and immediately tore into those same first three songs from Copper Blue: “The Act We Act,” “A Good Idea,” and “Changes.” It was the sonic equivalent of throwing down the gauntlet, a challenge to themselves to deliver the goods that they proved up to. But this time they had their entire songbook available to them, and they dug deep into it, not only playing tracks from their only other studio releases, the full-length, File Under Easy Listening, and the Beaster EP, but cuts like“After All the Roads Have Led to Nowhere,” which they never recorded in the studio.

Barbe had his turn on the mic for “in the Eyes of My Friends” and “Where Diamonds Are Halos,” a couple of B-sides, and the band even busted out speedy instrumental “Clownmaster,” another flipside that allowed Mould to twirl around his side of the stage as he delivered the song’s licks. “House of Dead Memories” and “Long Live Love” didn’t stick out as “the new songs,” instead melding into the rest of the set of obscurities as slightly less familiar material. But it was still the big songs like “Hoover Dam” and “Your Favorite Thing” that evoked the biggest reactions from the crowd, the big pop hooks seeming to hang in the air long after they finished. Seemingly wrapping up as they started, with a trio of cuts from Beaster, including highlight “JC Auto,” they took several minutes to soak in the applause instead of leaving the stage and returning for an encore. The moment of appreciation reflected both the band’s joy in being back together and the audience’s happiness at having them back.

Afterwards, the sweat-soaked trio returned to their spots and finished up with another three of their best: “Helpless,” “Gee Angel,” and “If I Can’t Change Your Mind,” again reminding us how deep their catalog is and how great this band truly was and is.