Review: Mike Doughty

Friend o' the blog and music aficionado Concert Chris went to the Beaumont Club on Wednesday to catch Mike Doughty. Here's his synopsis. Above: The lusciously funky "27 Jennifers."

With most musicians and bands, I usually remember the when and where of things: when I first heard them, where I first saw them. With Mike Doughty, former Soul Coughing frontman, I recall neither. That twist in my near autistic ways of remembering things fits in with his non sequitur stylings.

Doughty is a lyrics guy, the e.e. cummings of music. He follows the short, choppy style of cummings' twitchy poetry. Songs flow from a stream of consciousness. If you were in a crowded bar and walked through it, paused to write a sentence from each conversation you heard and then put it all together and added a hook, you’d be close to a Doughty song.

That may sound absurd, but I love it, and apparently at least 600 other folks do, too. The crowd gathered for 90-plus minutes at the Beaumont Club on Wednesday to hear Doughty and band perform in support of his new album, "Golden Delicious."

The album features my new favorite track of his with an elongated title, "I Just Want The Girl In The Blue Dress To Keep On Dancing." On the whole, "Golden Delicious" is a more funky, jammy version of Doughty’s normal self. This would be reflected tonight with a full backing band.

His last few trips through the area had Doughty (pronounced DOE-dee) on stage solo at the Bottleneck in Lawrence behind his acoustic six–string. Tonight, with a band, things felt a little jazzy. A few times it felt like I was standing in a field at a String Cheese Incident show. I had never seen this side of the artist.

Photo courtesy of Gloryglorycatchacory/MySpace

The night kicked off with “Blue Dress…”. It was a good version and a great way to jump into a show that would heavily feature songs from his new release. The live performance lacked the female backing vocals from the CD that really add an element when streaming it from i-Tunes, Nonetheless the story is thought-provoking. The song flows like a conversation between a couple guys who have just seen, and possibly fallen for, an attractive woman.

That  led into some older solo tracks: "Busting Up A Starbucks," "Grey Ghost" and "American Car" -- songs I’ve heard numerous times, but tonight with the more free-flowing sounds of a foursome who might have been listening to Phish on the way to the show.

As I said earlier, Doughty is a lyric guy. He does the choppy Brrm-bp-dp-dm-dm bit well too. Think of fa-la-la and read that sentence again. A Doughty show is showered with moments like that, but tonight they stretched too long. Scat-like and with a jammy band, this was a different show. I understand the need to mix things up; eight years of being a solo artist is a tough gig. Having some guys to help get you through the night is a much appreciated addition to any singer-songwriter.

"Unsingable Name" from 2005’s "Haughty Melodic" is a standout on that album, and yet tonight the jammy vibe went a different direction. He is slowly working back to wear Soul Coughing left off and that’s not a bad thing, just a different thing. In every article you’ll ever read about Doughty you’ll see a comma after his name and then the phrase "former Soul Coughing frontman," like I did above. He has now been a solo artist for just as long as he was with Soul Coughing. Maybe he can shed the commas and the clause soon and just be Mike Doughty.

The show ended with a three-song encore. The short "Firetruck" brought the band back out on stage. The song was written by a 4-year-old. In its entirety you sort of sing/shout "firetruck" five times and you’re done. Yet every show I’ve ever been to the crowd asks for this song. I told you it was a little absurd.

The show ended with "27 Jennifers" and "Looking At The World From The Bottom Of  A Well," two great tracks from "Haughty Melodic" that got the crowd singing before it headed to the exits.

I’d call the night a jammy success. To get 600 plus folks out on a cool Wednesday night for an artist that gets no love from the mainstream press is a good pull.  At this point in his career Doughty’s fans are hanging on regardless of what he’s putting out. Jammy or not jammy, a lot of this same 600 will be here next time Doughty is, me included.

| Concert Chris

Partial setlist: I Just Want the Girl in the Blue Dress to Keep on Dancing; Busting Up a Starbucks; Grey Ghost; American Car; More Bacon than the Pan Can Handle; Move On (Bloom Like the Sunlight In My Song); Circles; Put It Down; Lola /The Gambler. Encore: Firetruck; 27 Jennifers; Looking at the World From the Bottom of a Well.

Comments

[Pat]

Nice job. I haven't kept up with Mike Doughty.

My first thought of Soul Coughing (along with probably 95% of the general public) is their big alt song from the mid-nineties, "Screenwriter's Blues". The title isn't mentioned in the song, but I'm sure many will recall the repeating lyrics:

"it is 5 am
and you are listening
to Los Angeles"

"you are going to Reseda
to make love to a model
from Ohio whose real name
you don't know"

and
"Gone savage for teenagers with
automatic weapons and boundless love
gone savage for teenagers who are
aesthetically pleasing in other words
fly"

Make that crowd 601 for the next show.