Golden Delicious

We actually went out, not to the movies for once, and saw Mike Doughty perform last night. He used to head up the band Soul Coughing (their big hit was "Circles"), and went out on his own after the band broke up. His first full-length album, Haughty Melodic, was brilliant, and accompanied us on our honeymoon back in August 2005. Even today, when I hear any of the tracks on that album, I can see the roads we traveled through the Middle of Nowhere, Maine. I envision Niagara Falls and the stunningly pretty day we saw them. I remember the prairies of South Dakota, the mountains of Wyoming and Montana, and the weirdness of Yellowstone. It is good road music, is what I'm saying, and it remains evocative to this day.

His new album is just released, Golden Delicious. I haven't had the hard listening time with it yet, but so far, I like it almost as much as Haughty Melodic. Bruce managed to find out about a free show he was going to play, at Criminal Records in Little Five Points. He played an awesome 45 minute set, acoustic, taking requests from the audience. He was quite the stickler about people not interrupting his performance, which I appreciated. It was great- I was almost directly in front of him, up on a ramp and a few feet away, and though there was a comic book rack in the way, necessitating that I stand on tiptoes, I had a great view, otherwise unobstructed.

Driving away, trying to decide what else we would rather do, I happened to visit Mike Doughty's website, and noticed that he was playing a full set at the Variety Playhouse, also in Little Five Points, later that night. We turned right around and went back, found parking and got tickets. We had Indian food for dinner, and walked into the club about 10 minutes before his band took the stage. It was a great crowd and a great show- everyone was very enthusiastic, it was crowded enough to feel full but not so crowded that I couldn't see or had personal space issues. The band was fantastic; they played a smattering of the great old stuff, and a bunch of great new stuff too. They had a great sense of humor too- Mike announced at one point that it was a "critical juncture in the show." It was the song before the Fake Last Song. During the next song, he announced, they would do the big rock-n-roll finish, introduce every band member in a counterclockwise direction using their entire Christian names, and then they would all face the back of the stage while we clapped (or not), and then they would turn around for the Encore. They decided that facing the back of the stage was easier than walking off and coming back.

And that's exactly how it all played out. I thought it was quite entertaining that they announced it all in advance.

Anyway, it was a great show, great energy, lots of fun. Check out Haughty Melodic and Golden Delicious when you have a hankering for some great songwriting and catchy alt rock with some experimental bits.