I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: October 3, 2024] Soul Coughing

I was so excited when Soul Coughing announced a return after decades away.  I had never seen them, of course, so it was a great opportunity to see this weird band.

And it was going to be at Union Transfer–a perfect venue that even if you arrive late, you get great sightlines.

And it sold out in a minute.

And then it was moved to Franklin Music Hall.  A venue that I like but which I have had many very bad experiences at.  So that sucked.

And then Nada Surf announced that they were going to play a show at Underground Arts the same night.  It was a surprisingly tough decision–I’ve seen Nada Surf three times and have never seen Soul Coughing.  So what’s the decision.  Well, the closer the show came to actual time, the more the buzz grew.  And the more I realized I probably wouldn’t enjoy the show.

So I made the decision: I’m going to Soul Coughing and if I hate it, I’m leaving and going to the Nada Surf show.

I arrived at what I thought was a good time and walked in to find the place absolutely packed. And in Franklin Music Hall, when it’s packed, there is nowhere to go.  I couldn’t get past the big clump and then had to head over to the side by the bar (ughh).  I had no sight lines and it was 100% clear to me that many people were there just to be there and didn’t care about the band or the music.  And the others were there to prove that they knew Soul Coughing better than anyone by screaming all of the words.

It was very cool to see (sort of) the band and to hear Bus to Beelzebub (I’m glad they opened with a song I knew so well).  They followed it with another song from Ruby Vroom (the album I know best).  And then they moved on to Soft Serve, a song I didn’t know was well.  And that was it for me.

If they had played some of the songs I knew better, I might have stayed.  But I wasn’t enjoying myself and while the music sounded great, there wasn’t anything mind blowing about the set (and since I knew that the songs I really wanted to hear weren’t until the encores), I (literally) pushed my way out of the place and hoofed it to Underground Arts (which is only a few blocks away).

If they come back I’d consider going again, hopefully at a smaller venue.

SETLIST

1. Bus to Beelzebub ®
2. Down to This ®
3. Soft Serve ‰
4. White Girl ‰
5. Moon Sammy ®
6. True Dreams of Wichita ®
7. I Miss the Girl Ø
8. Collapse ‰
9. Disseminated ‰
10. St. Louise Is Listening Ø
11. Casiotone Nation ®
12. The Idiot Kings ‰
13. Lazybones ‰
14. Misinformed Ø
15. Sugar Free Jazz ®
16. Blue Eyed Devil ®
17. Rolling Ø
18. Circles Ø
19. Screenwriter’s Blues ®

    Encore:

20. Is Chicago, Is Not Chicago ®
21. Super Bon Bon ‰

® Ruby Vroom (1994)
‰ Irresistible Bliss (1996)
Ø El Oso (1998)