They said it would never happen

June 20, 2024 3:32 PM

Soul Coughing plays the songs of Soul Coughing: Seventeen shows coming this fall. Artist presale begins Monday, June 24, with public sales starting Friday, June 28. More: Soul Coughing Underground is back online, leading off with some words on this reunion tour came to be.

To say the guys were shocked might be a bit of an understatement. But it was also a kind of much-needed salvation. “When he first reached out it was such a relief,” says Steinberg. “We all have our part to play in any dysfunctional relationship. But it was an immediate relief. I could just say, ‘Hey, man, we did something wonderful. And I'm sorry, too. That was cool.’” Gabay had a similar reaction: “I respect the music. I love what I did there. I love what the guys are doing — we were a good band.”

*Ruby Vroom* was a big part of my personal soundtrack when I lived in New York in the mid-90s. Friends around the country kept yelling “play ‘Wichita’ for slowdog!” (my first-ever internet handle, back then) at shows. I’ll be up early on Monday for tickets to the Crystal Ballroom show here in Portland.

posted by bixfrankonis (43 comments total)

super bon bon, super bon bon
posted by HearHere at 3:49 PM on June 20 [10 favorites]

They were walking around in circles for years, but they're rolling now.
posted by Rhaomi at 3:51 PM on June 20 [6 favorites]

I have so little nostalgia for the '90s, unlike most '70s kids I know; it was a desperate and unpleasant time for me, with financial hardship and personal drama severely diminishing what should have been an enjoyable youth (I wish I were young now!). So it is absolutely without any haze of nostalgia whatsoever that I declare this a truly great band we do not deserve to have back among us.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 4:14 PM on June 20 [6 favorites]

Well, this 1970 baby is happy to hear this. The '90s were fabulous. Got to see Soul Coughing once. I even got to see Morphine in a small venue before they got big. Not sure I'll go to these shows, but cheers anyway!
posted by SoberHighland at 4:26 PM on June 20 [4 favorites]

You get the ankles and I’ll get the wrists, you’ll come down to this-ah
posted by fedward at 4:41 PM on June 20 [8 favorites]

I’ve seen Mike Doughty solo many (5?) times, but never the whole band. Super (Bon Bon) excited for this announcement! See you at the Filmore!
posted by sacrifix at 4:49 PM on June 20 [2 favorites]

Oh man, Screenwriter's Blues is permanently in the rotation at Chez Ant. I saw Soul Couging a couple of times in the 90s (I'm pretty sure they played Lollapalooza, and I also saw them at some fest in the Florida panhandle.) Thanks for the heads up.
posted by workerant at 4:56 PM on June 20 [3 favorites]

To my sometimes faulty memory, I’ve seen them twice: once at Washington Park Rose Garden, but also, crucially, their homecoming show at Tramps in 1995.
posted by bixfrankonis at 4:58 PM on June 20

got to see Morphine in a small venue
knew someone who said this was an actual place & they were there
posted by HearHere at 5:02 PM on June 20 [1 favorite]

Screenwriter's Blues is permanently in the rotation
You spin like the Cadillac was overturning down a cliff on television
posted by HearHere at 5:07 PM on June 20 [1 favorite]

Their first stop is my town, but I'm not totally nostalgic for the 90s and it's on a Wednesday and I get up at 5am (to listen to Los Angeles).

Disappointed they couldn't find a spot to play in Reseda, but maybe that's their last show.
posted by LionIndex at 5:12 PM on June 20 [4 favorites]

THANK YOU! presale registered.
posted by j_curiouser at 5:36 PM on June 20

I am flabbergasted they'd get back together. Mike Doughty wrote a whole book about how terrible and evil his bandmates were. Mostly it's about how he fucked up his own life with drugs at the time but also he was real, real angry at everyone else and spent many pages telling us about it. Amazed everyone could move past that.

I saw Soul Coughing in Albuquerque around 1995 or so and damn it was a good show. (Low opened for them which sadly was a low energy buzz kill, Doughty scolded the crowd half way through their set telling us assholes to fucking shut up and fucking listen to them.) I also saw Doughty solo in 1994 at XOXO, or rather playing with a great string player. It was good but also weird to hear him playing the music without the whole band.
posted by Nelson at 5:40 PM on June 20 [9 favorites]

You get the egg rolls and I'll get the rice.
posted by Foosnark at 5:45 PM on June 20

(2014. XOXO was 2014.)
posted by Nelson at 6:33 PM on June 20 [1 favorite]

We are all, in one way or another, going to Reseda (to die).
posted by Mid at 6:44 PM on June 20 [7 favorites]

Paint!

Soul Coughing was one of my favorite bands. I remember first hearing "Is Chicago, Is Not Chicago" in the intermission music between sets during a free outdoor show (I believe Save Ferris had just left the stage? It was a free show), and needing to know what band played that song. Fortunately one of the friends I was with recognized it as Soul Coughing, and shortly thereafter I got myself copies of Ruby Vroom and Irresistible Bliss. I unfortunately missed every opportunity to see them live, except at some horrible college show where they had a very short set before Everclear, if memory serves. They didn't play a great set. And I didn't particularly want to see Everclear. I saw Doughty solo a few times in the early 00s, but I never really clicked with his solo work. Looking forward to (hopefully) seeing them!
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 6:45 PM on June 20 [1 favorite]

I already signed up to pre-order a ticket. I can't wait!

I never got a chance to see the band, but I saw Mike Doughty's solo shows several times, most recently a few years ago when he played all of Ruby Vroom for (I think) the album's 25th anniversary.
posted by mike3k at 7:03 PM on June 20

Anybody going to the Bellweather show? See ya there, assuming I can get the tickets when they go on sale!
posted by sheax0r at 8:17 PM on June 20

I’m hoping the nearly 25 year separation really did let them forgive and forget, especially Mike. Soul Coughing was always one of my favorites, and hearing how awful the band was to him was shocking. It also explained why he was so reluctant to play SC songs at his own shows. I hope 25 years let them grow…

I also realize Blue Eyed Devil is the reason that i want my number to be 33 for anything that requires a number.
posted by gc at 8:30 PM on June 20

Somehow, the act of looking into them while deciding whether to buy tickets caused me to realize I actually saw them in ~2004 in Cambridge, MA. Very Mike Doughty behavior
posted by feloniousmonk at 10:08 PM on June 20

Mike Doughty has, hands down, the sexiest voice of the past 40 ears. I said what I said.
posted by tristeza at 11:34 PM on June 20 [2 favorites]

No European shows! Bummer!
posted by St. Oops at 12:31 AM on June 21

Even though I work in distribution (regional vice president) I'm going to risk a collapse and fly to whatever show I can.

I've seen soul coughing at a small joint in Cleveland and doughty like 10 times. Glad the egos finally got put away.
posted by chasles at 2:07 AM on June 21

For no reason at all I was singing/reciting 'Super Bon Bon' out loud to myself last night in the kitchen ... If I stole somebody else's wave to fly up. If I rose up with the avenue behind me...

I saw him solo in Austin several some odd years ago. Moon Hooch opened (they are awesome). If I can I'll catch them on this tour.
posted by The Vice Admiral of the Narrow Seas at 5:12 AM on June 21

I was touring a data center earlier this year. Nice place. They labeled the floors starting with the first available floor where companies can rent space. The floor below that, full of technical equipment, they called "the mezzanine."

The guy giving the tour was a very South Side guy who played a little fast and loose with grammar.

As we finished the tour on floor one, they mentioned they were painting the stairs and we couldn't get back to the lobby that way.

I saw my chance.

"So how do we get back to security?"

And friends, he replied:
"You gotta take the elevator to the mezzanine ."

SUPER BON BON

I laughed about it for days but quickly found that basically no one at my work was in the right age/taste bracket to know who Soul Coughing is, so no one at all got this.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 5:57 AM on June 21 [10 favorites]

The sun has charred the other side of the earth and come back to paint the smog above our heads an imperial violet.

I plan to be at the First Ave show in Mpls
posted by mcstayinskool at 6:03 AM on June 21 [2 favorites]

Mike Doughty has, hands down, the sexiest voice of the past 40 ears. I said what I said.

My wife hates his voice, but she apparently has no taste.

So, back in 1994, I was all alone in the lighting shop of the blackbox theater at Stephens College in Columbia Missouri, listing to KCOU, when this weird jazzy spoken-word beat-poetry thing about making a movie came on. I stopped what I was doing and listened. The voice sounded to me like Dan Ackroyd doing his Elwood Blues voice, which made it even more absurd, but this was the very super early days of the internet where you couldn't rely on being able to just search for whatever partly-remembered thing you heard. I can't remember if I actually called the station, or just heard it again and they actually said who it was by, but that's when I learned it was Screenwriter's Blues by Soul Coughing, and I went right out and bought Ruby Vroom.

Screenwriter's Blues is one of the few songs that I reliably know every word and inflection and could do an awesome version of at karaoke if they actually had the song available and wasn't worried I'd get something thrown at me. Every time I re-up my 'MP3 Mix CD' for my car which still plays them, it's always on there.

They actually came to Fargo with the Vans Warped tour in 97 but I had a young kid and no money so didn't make it; they broke up the next year. It'd be awesome if I could make it to First Avenue, but not sure it fits into my schedule.

Also, in Circles there's a verse where there's a lot of words and when it gets to the refrain Doughty takes a deep breath mid-sentence, and I absolutely love that they didn't edit that out. When singing along I also take the breath. I have a bootleg El Oso tshirt I bought several years ago, which is literally the only band shirt I own.
posted by AzraelBrown at 6:51 AM on June 21 [2 favorites]

(Low opened for them which sadly was a low energy buzz kill, Doughty scolded the crowd half way through their set telling us assholes to fucking shut up and fucking listen to them.)

Two bands that I love but would never have put on the same bill together.

From this unholy combo sprung Low's indelible cover of "Blue-Eyed Devil", though, so can't complain too much.
posted by carrienation at 6:56 AM on June 21 [3 favorites]

Mike Doughty has, hands down, the sexiest voice of the past 40 ears. I said what I said.

He's dead sexy, alright, but the title belongs to Scott McCloud of Girls Against Boys.
posted by whuppy at 7:17 AM on June 21

I fatfingered the name as Girls Against Bots and now I have to start a band.
posted by whuppy at 7:17 AM on June 21 [6 favorites]

The song I go deep on is Blame. Soul Coughing was (is?) a band, not just The Songwriter M Doughty And A Coupla Guys Backing Him Up.

Also, I think I saw them somewhere on Landsdowne St. in the late 90s.
posted by whuppy at 7:23 AM on June 21 [1 favorite]

The 5% Nation of Soul Coughing fans.
posted by OHenryPacey at 7:34 AM on June 21 [6 favorites]

Shoulda gone in Peoria when they opened for TMBG. They played UConn in 1995, the year before I moved there. I have seen Doughty solo/with Scrap three times.

Now I have to decide if my over-50, anxious driver claustrophobic self is up to an SRO concert in Boston. (Probably not. But I can dream.)
posted by dlugoczaj at 8:08 AM on June 21

(also my first cat was named Moon Sammy)
posted by dlugoczaj at 8:34 AM on June 21 [1 favorite]

Now I have to decide if my over-50, anxious driver claustrophobic self is up to…

This over-50 autistic with sensory processing disorder set up Seated autobuy for the Portland show. Just have to make sure I fully chill for a week beforehand, and assume recovery days afterward.
posted by bixfrankonis at 8:45 AM on June 21 [2 favorites]

Late 90's Pensacola. I'm in my early 20's. I walk into Sluggo's for the first time and peruse the jukebox and Soul Coughing was in it! Score! When the F#@K does this happen? So I immediately threw a dollar in and loaded up a few SC songs. Riding high, I sit down at the bar and order a drink and after a sec True Dreams starts playing. The entire bar goes quiet. I mean pin drop. In a moment everyone is looking at me and I'm looking around like W.T.F. mate?

Oh, not everyone is looking at me, there's this one dude facepalming. Oh. Damn. That's Mike Doughty. He lives here and this is his bar. (Didn't own it, was just friends with the owners and hung out there a lot)

The bartender came back and I apologized, and it was quickly swept aside and things went back to normal.

I also ended up being friends with the owner and we worked together back home in New Orleans years later.

Good times.
posted by garbhoch at 9:42 AM on June 21 [6 favorites]

Late 90's Pensacola.

Like waves in which you drown me shouting?
posted by credulous at 10:15 AM on June 21 [1 favorite]

Huh. I didn't know about the (closed in 2016) Sluggo's and PNS nexus. Seems he did play quite a few shows down here. Looks like he's based in Memphis now.
posted by credulous at 10:21 AM on June 21

Like waves in which you drown me shouting?

Yes!

And yes it was thing.
posted by garbhoch at 10:33 AM on June 21

Got selected in Seated’s autobuy. I’ll be at the show in Portland.
posted by bixfrankonis at 9:38 AM on June 24 [1 favorite]

Alright -- I've got my tickets for Crystal Ballroom.
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 11:04 AM on June 24

I'll be at the Seattle show. Showbox is a great venue for this kind of show.
posted by OHenryPacey at 11:41 AM on June 24