Anyone who thought Supersuckers frontman Eddie Spaghetti was down and out for the count was proven very, very wrong, and then some, at Volcanic Theatre Pub on Tuesday night.

The howling bassist made a triumphant return to the venue with his self-proclaimed “Greatest Rock-N-Roll Band in the World” following successful throat cancer surgery in June (which took place mere weeks after The Supersuckers’ last VTP performance). The band was in country-rockin’ mode in support of last year’s “Holdin’ the Bag,” the spiritual follow-up to 1997’s “Must’ve Been High” and Spaghetti’s solo records, and over the course of 70 minutes touched on all of that, throwing a few countrified ’Suckers snarlers into the mix for good measure.

To be sure, there was some evidence of Spaghetti’s recent troubles — his vocals felt low in the mix all night, often overpowered by guitarist “Metal” Marty Chandler’s high harmonies on choruses. But what he may have lost in volume, he more than made up for in character and quality, delivering the material in a smoky, rasping croon perfectly suited to the whiskey-soaked Southern bashers his band served up.

The band kicked things off just before 10:30 p.m. with the opening trio of songs from “Holdin’ the Bag,” including the contemplative title track (which is hard to listen to without thinking of Spaghetti’s cancer woes, though the song was written and recorded long before). But it wasn’t until the curse-filled “Let’s Bounce” and the always uplifting “Must’ve Been High,” which pushed Spaghetti’s voice to its limit, that the band really hit high gear — and then refused to shift down the rest of the night.

Spaghetti swapped out his bass for an acoustic all night, leaving low end duties to Adam Kowalski — again, a wise choice. With drummer Chris Von Streicher rounding out the rhythm section, the band created a chugging, honky-tonkin’ freight train of sound that provided an excellent foil for Chandler’s tasteful playing.

And his leads were nothing but tasty. Song after song he delivered exactly what needed to be played, nothing more, nothing less. It’s hard to pick individual performances, but his snarling solo on a slowed-down “Sleepy Vampire” late in the set was a definite highlight. He followed this immediately with his melody-copping solo on the Spaghetti Western-esque “Man on a Mission,” putting “keep it simple, stupid” into glorious action.

Other highlights included the tear-in-your-beer ballads “Empty” and “Waste of Time,” a pair of songs from Spaghetti’s fourth solo album “The Value of Nothing.” On “Creepy Jackalope Eye,” the band tempered the punk screech of the original, digging into an extended jam highlighted once again by Chandler’s playing.

Throughout, Spaghetti was his usual, smart-ass self, riffing on everything from finding drugs in Bend to Kowalski’s mom’s favorite Supersuckers song (that story in particular is best left to audience memory). It’s safe to say Spaghetti’s back — though we have yet to see how he’ll hold up when The Supersuckers make the inevitable flip from country back to being the world’s greatest rock band.

With all that, it’s easy to forget the terrific opening set from Denver’s The Yawpers, though you’d be criminally negligent to do so. Armed for most of the set with just a couple acoustic guitars and a drum kit, the trio served up an hour steeped in Sun Records-style rockabilly, with some Who thrown in for good measure.

— Reporter: 541-617-7814, bmcelhiney@bendbulletin.com