You may remember the band Soul Coughing from the 90s; they had hits like “Super Bon Bon” and “Circles.” Lead singer Mike Doughty left the band in 2000 and has released 5 albums since. This fall he hit the road with His Band Fantastic in support of his 5th album; Yes and Also Yes, released this past summer. The first album not on Dave Matthew’s label ATO Records.
The band led by Doughty on guitar and vocals also features Andrew “Scrap” Livingston on electric bass, “Cashmere” Dan Chen on electric piano, and drummer “Indiana” Pete Wilhoit. They performed a completely upbeat and enjoyable set that held the audience's attention fully. It was a pleasant change to see Doughty rocking with a band at the Paradise Rock Club, rather than as a duo as he's done in past shows. Starting off the night with the great guitar driven intro of “I Keep On (Rising Up)” from the 2009 effort Sad Man Happy Man. This song set a positive tone for the night. They performed a mixture of songs from his albums. Highlights included “Rational Man,” that the fans on Mike Doughty's Facebook page voted as a new song to be played on the tour, the slow ballad of “American Car,” and the fun “Busting up a Starbucks,” and piano instrumental by Chen who also seemed to master the art of talking gibberish that adds to Doughty’s sometimes weird, erratic behavior. Doughty also had a rant about how he couldn’t imagine where he’d be today back when he was 13-years-old and first learning how to play guitar. He then ended the main set with an early single from his collection “Looking at the World from the Bottom of a Well,” that can be found on his ATO Records debut, Haughty Melodic.
The only drawback to the set was that Soul Coughing and early solo material were completely absent. Notable songs like “Grey Ghost,” “Madeline and Nine” and “Janine” were missing. Ideally Doughty could have come out to do at least one of the songs by himself, like his famous live album from Minneapolis. Despite that, the songs chosen for this tour were very solid, they sounded great, and flowed together well, which unfortunately made the set seem shorter than it actually was. Doughty still remains to be witty and continues to have an awesome stage presence. Many if not all Soul Coughing fans would appreciate Doughty's new singer songwriter direction in his art as there were a few fans in the crowd that were wearing Soul Coughing t-shirts.
By the end of the encore of “I Hear the Bells,” “Put It Down” into “Pleasure on Credit,” part of the crowd stuck around wanting more but will have to be patient until the next time Mike Doughty graces Boston with his presence whether solo, duo, or band.
Playing first was drum and horn trio Moon Hooch, who were discovered by Doughty while they were busking in the New York subway. Similar to Boston's Morphine, ditching guitars and only having saxaphones. They put on an impressive show featuring a Contrabass clarinet, good for floor shaking and whale calling, and a cardboard tube used for extra noise. Intrigued yet? Check them out as well the next time they are in town.
For more photos from the show click here.
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