In one of the loudest, if not best, nights of the past year in local music, Supagroup, Christpuncher and Hot Iron Skillet all damned trends, while bringing a night of rock and metal to Friends & Co. last Saturday.

Opening the show was Pana’s Hot Iron Skillet, who had played ECHOfest earlier in the night. If the band was tired, however, it didn’t show in the group’s all-too-short half-hour set.

Skillet singer John Hicks quickly proclaimed himself John the Baptist and began baptizing the uninitiated in the audience. While Hicks may not hold as prestigious a place in the books of Matthew or Luke as his namesake that night, his wide-eyed, manic delivery had as much fire as any Pentecostal revivalist. The rest of the band steamrolled through the set without showing any evidence of playing merely hours earlier.

Christpuncher followed by careening through a drum-tight set of speedmetal accented by staccato guitar solos and guttural vocals. The band rolled from one tune to the next, typically without stopping as the chugging power chords and double-bass drum kick bled together in a cacophony of loud guitar and pounding rhythms.

Friends & Co. may not be the optimum place to see metal that extreme, but Christpuncher pulled it off with tight arrangements and the musicianship of its members.

Headlining the show was New Orleans transplants Supagroup, who ripped through a set anchored by the group’s self-titled Foodchain Records release.

While the band is energetic but tight on record, the group’s live show is truly indicative of the fun Supagroup has on stage. With a sneer and a smile, singer/guitarist Chris Lee belted out self-explanatory tunes like “Rock And Roll Tried To Ruin My Life” and “One Better.” Likewise, Lee’s younger brother Benji is a freewheeling, modern adaptation of AC/DC’s Angus Young, complete with histrionic guitar solos and a well-crafted stage presence that belies his age.

If Benji Lee’s goal is to revive the concept of a guitar hero with equal parts bravado and chops, he’s well on his way to bringing a former musical staple back to rock.

To put it mildly, Supagroup is simple, straightforward rock. To some, such a statement might be tantamount to an insult, but it’s the highest compliment I can pay a band that simply plays undiluted rock and roll.

Tunes like “Woulda Been Nice,” “Rock And Roll Star” and “Down To The Letter” are all no-nonsense rockers, and the band pulled such songs off with an aplomb rarely seen by bands without major label record deals and too much money to be playing small, smokey bars in central Illinois.

Slower numbers like “I Need A Drink” and “Murder, Suicide, Death” were matched with a bluesier flare rather than bludgeoning Les Paul crunch. It is on these softer tunes – without the Lees’ bludgeoning guitar assault – that bassist Leif Swift and drummer Michael Bruggen shine, as the tunes become as much about rock-steady rhythm as a hook and a guitar riff.

Although this was Supagroup’s second appearance in Charleston this school year, I have a sneaking suspicion the band may be about to break beyond playing small, smokey bars. While most rising band’s make their living off touring and playing live, Supagroup and company accomplished a rare feat; they not only played, but actually put on a show.