"Do You Like Robots?"

So, I doubt, many'll read this, if anyone at all, since it's so incredibly long... but, if you like novels, read on.

The word best describing Wednesday night's Mike Doughty performance, would hafta be: surprises. (...or maybe "longwinded" perhaps, as you'll find out, if you make an honest attempt at reading the following. Hey, a lot happened that night. I had to document it.) Surprises took place from the very start of the evening, really. First off, the opener, I actually, thoroughly enjoyed... So, I'll be needing to buy a Regina Spektor (A strangely cute, anti-folk lady, orginally from Moscow) album, online, since I didn't have a chance last night. Getting to Mike... he picked up an electric guitar, instead of the Baby Taylor acoustic, he's been famous for using at his shows. Being right against the stage as I was, and before Regina went on, I was seeing this electric guitar against the wall, yet an electric piano being at the centre, and additionally a crate with a drum stick atop it... well, it got me confused, since I was sure that Regina had to be a solo thing, but, hey, maybe not, or maybe it is, and she plays more than piano. Well, she did play more than piano; she did some human beatbox, which totally surprised everyone in the audience, and also made good use of that drumstick, beating it on that crate for one number, with her right hand, while her left hand played the piano. Oh, and she impressively did one song at the end, acapella stylee. So... what this electric guitar all about, I'm thinking... since, Regina's performance is now over. Does the axe belong to a Maxwell employee? We move aside for Mike to make his way to the stage. He walks towards the wall, when on stage, and picks up the electric guitar. Wow, it is for his performance. I can't wait to see how this is gonna go. Just when you think the surprises are finished with. He opens with True Dreams of Wichita, instead of how I'm used to him opening with Lazybones. True Dreams of Wichita is usually his climax song, but Lazybones didn't even see last night. He did his otherwise obnoxious rapping part of the song, rather calmly:

"Punch it
I got, uh, fed
I got, uh, too much things on bounce, uh, my head
I got to burn 'em up
I got to burn 'em up now
I got to go uptown, uptown
I got a thing
I got a little bit pushed
got to stand on the corner and bellow for mush
I got a bomb
I got a baby bomb bomb
got to stand on the corner and bellow for my friend Whan*
I got a thing, I got to thing it
I got to thing--team
I got to run my side
true dreams"

*(instead of "Tom," he said "Whan"... the name he always replaces with something different every time for live performances. Always entertaining.)

Mike expressed to the audience his awareness of a stage-side picture-taker. He funnily said: "Yeh, so, I look on this side of me, and this guy right here who has a camera, quickly tries to hide his camera. I don't care man, it's fine with me. You can take pictures, as long as you pretend you don't have a camera." Too funny.

I think a portion of the audience was already requesting for Firetruck to be played. (Firetruck is a song that was written by 4 year old, that Mike plays at his shows.)
But, I do also believe, that while this good portion of the audience was requesting the critically acclaimed Firetruck diddy, the dude standing to my left, yelled: "Freebird." So, he kindly had to be reminded that every time you intend "Freebird," you hafta yell "It's Raining Men," at which time I felt need to yell: "Amen!"

I would hafta say the biggest surprise of the evening, came early... like within the first half of Mike's performance -- early. Which I didn't mind at all. Mike goes... "So, I finally figured out how to do this one." The crowd grew ultra-quiet, due to their anxiousness. Mike breaks out:

"bring the sound to the people in a white truck
bumping on the road bumps
run into a tree stump
tweeter out the back door
slam into a dirt lot, stopped
with the cable running out the back side
disco necked"

Yes, yes! It was the Gone in 60 Seconds song! Never Gonna Come Back Down! Suddenly, everyone joins in:

"and if you had the chance
you wouldn't even stop denying
go talk to anna hand
go start the multiplying

red

green is like a boom to the what's dis non
diddy on dawn to the don don diggy dawn

doubt'll be the fire of your delight
and she's never gonna come back
down to halve the pop song on the 5
and she's never gonna come back
down to grab the t-shirt off the line
and she's never gonna come back down
i think she's murderously sly
and she's never gonna come back down
and she's never gonna come back down"

After the...
"doom slinger
the dope beat stinger
sucker dj's they get stopped by a single finger"
refrain... someone in the audience saw fit to do some of the miscellanous ad-libs found on the studio version:

"he's gonna bubble it up now
he likes to bubble it up
he likes to bubble it up
mr. bt! mr. bt! mr. bt!
please bring it up bring it up bring it up
could you bring it up
could bring it up just a little more than that?"

...and after another chorus, the same punk interrupted with:
"Charisse!"

...while in mid-sing-song, Mike was forced to answer back and say: "I'm gonna get to that part."

I was excited... Is he really gonna do all of that ad-libbing at the end of the song... ("...you understand
you know what i'm saying
right on to the people up front
right to the people in back
right on to the bartender
right on to the waitresses
right on to the djaaaaaaaaay
right on
right on to the lady with the beer over there in
the pink skirt
right on to them, mmm
english girls named charisse...")

...Well, turns out he didn't do all of that... but, he did at least say: "CHARISS-uh!" ...which was entertaining enough, I must say. Plus, what do you want? I mean, the man played Never Gonna Come Back Down! ...solo-ly! Ah! Great times! When he finished the song, I yelled a booming: ?Right on!? along with my thundering applause.

Oh, but, no, wait. Scratch that. The biggest surprise of the evening probably came a little later on, when he told us about how he just recently made two new albums. One being a solo EP with him and a drum machine, and the other being a full-length album with a full band.

Mike also announced during the course of the evening that his "people" found some copies of the limited release "Smofe + Smang: Live in Minnesota" CD laying around, so after the show, he'll be selling 'em, and that he also has "Skittish" with him. Being that I already had "Smofe + Smang" and "Skittish," I yelled: "Do you have 'Do you like Robots?' t-shirts??" I've heard about Mike recently selling such t-shirts, and knew that they weren't available from his online store, and really wanted one bad. He apologetically replied: "Oooh. No, I don't." Then I showed my disappointment: "Hrmmm."

Throughout the performance, he blessed us with many-a-new-song. Ones I've heard, but never heard live, and ones I've heard of, but never heard at all... neither live, nor at all. From the Bottom of a Well (a song about a Cuban girl, whom he apparently once longed for) is one I've heard, but never live... so this was a sure treat, hearing him play it Wednesday. One I knew of, but never heard before at all, since it's one of his newest, was a song entitled White Lexus. Another one was Unsingable Name. So, I'm really glad he played those three.

I was really looking forward to hearing Lisa Ling and Lucy Liu, but he unfortunately didn't play it. But, it's okay, since all the other things he did play, was a sure treat. You can't have the same playlist for every performance. You need to change things around now and then. Which is exactly what he did. His playlist was a lot different from other times I've seen him. He did do the expected covers though... Real Love / It's Only Life (A Mary J. Blige / Feelies medley), Firetruck (A song by a 4 year old, that seems like it's the only song that anyone cares for him to play, and don't care what else he plays, as long as he does Firetruck. It's super hilarious.), and a song by an old New York band called Drink Me. He threw in a real surprise, by playing a song by one of my friend's favorite bands. He played The Book of Love by Magnetic Fields. I'm glad she was there to hear him play it, because otherwise I'd hafta tell her about it later, and get her bummed out that she missed it.

As always, for his final number, he played Janine, and for the chorus part he suggested that we all sing like big loud jerks. I thoroughly enjoy it every time. It never gets old. And, I don't think I've ever sung louder in my whole entire life, than for this time. I didn't go deaf for the whole night, until the first chorus of Janine, since everyone in the room, bellowed amazingly! I, almost hurt myself, singing so loud!

Finished with Janine, Mike expressed his thanks to Hoboken, Weehawkin, and other parts in New Jersey that will go un-named. And, to locate my pals, I felt it best to exit the place and wait outside for them. But, after 3 minutes, grew tired, so after placing messages on their mobiles, I re-entered Maxwell's, feeling it'd be easier to locate them now, since most had exited. So, I found 'em, and after chatting for a bit (including, asking them if they've seen Pat from November... "...Oh, yeh, we saw him, he was here." I answered: ?Oh. Coo. Yeh, I don?t know, him.), we decided to make conversation with Mike, while simultaneously, trying to shoo away a drunk that was requesting hugs from everyone. My resolve was pointing the drunk guy towards the direction of Mike's roadie, and surprisingly it worked. The drunk climbed on stage and got 2 or 3 hugs from Mike's roadie. Yes, amusing. So, yeh, after chatting a bit with Mike, we got our pictures with him, which was tremendously nice of him, to let us do so... what a coo guy.

I asked him if the "Do You Like Robots" t-shirts will again be seeing the light of day, and he reassuringly answered that they will be reposting the item to the online store. ("Do you like robots?" is an excellent pickup line for getting a girl interested in you, apparently.)

After trying to figure out how to get my car out from a tricky garage, that had since closed up for the night, I followed one of my pals up to getting on Route 3 West, then got on the Parkway, and blasted The Soul Coughing Greatest Hits CD, for some more loud singing:

"When all the limbs are numb and clean,
and you're in transit, dream to dream,
I'll drift there to meet you, lazybones.

When all the world has lain and sank,
and money sleeps inside the banks,
I'll drift there to meet you, lazybones.

Cameraman sways to remember how the eye dances..."

Moral of the story, those who missed, missed a bunch!

Do I like Mike Doughty's music?? You should only know.