Photo | John Vettese

You were the only answer.

The question jar was overflowing at the beginning of the night, but Mike Doughty got through damn near the entire thing. The stalwart alt-rock songwriter’s latest tour isn’t just an impressive, two-and-a-half hour revue of his oeuvre, covering his Soul Coughing days all the way to the forthcoming Golden Delicious…it also functions as an interactive interview. Fans submitted questions - about songwriting, politics and vices - into an onstage wine bucket before Doughty’s set began. In between songs, his cello / dobro accompanist Andrew “Scrap” Livingston plucked three or four slips of paper at a time and read them in a hysterical deadpan monotone. Think of it as the concert equivalent of DVD commentary, with “no question too taboo.” Well, almost none. Of the 70 questions Doughty answered, crumpled into a ball and tossed to the stage, there was one single slip of paper he shoved into his jacket pocket as quickly as possible. He explained he wouldn’t read it during the show, but if any interested parties really wanted to know, they could come talk to him afterwards. As far as we saw, nobody took him up on the offer. Highlights and photos after the jump. Q. Can you explain the significance of the chocodile in [the Soul Coughing song] “Disseminated?” A. The honest answer is I cannot. Guess what? I was high. Big surprise. Q. What song is most meaningful to you, and why? A. I’d say it’s probably “True Dreams of Wichita.” But really, that’s the same old story. Girl dumps me, I’m really sad. Q. Do you ever wish that you were a robot? A. Can’t say that I do. But my second favorite graffiti in New York City goes like this: first, it says “‘Robot’ is a Czech word. It means ‘worker.’” Below that, somebody wrote “Did you learn that at NYU?” And below that, in this really shaky script, it said “No. Larry told me.” Q. Can you play a monkey song? A. In what key? [Decides on the key of F, strums a progression] “MONKEYMONKEYMONKEYMONKEYMONKEY! I AM MONKEY!” Q. What’s your favorite sexual position? A. Well, there’s a few of them. But I’m very vanilla, that’s the thing. I’m very fuckin’ vanilla. Either I’m on top, or she’s on top, it’s a 50/50 split. I don’t like looking at the back of a woman’s head when we’re doin’ it. It seems so impersonal. Q. How many aliases do you write under – ie. Jimmy Snack Bar – and where can we find this material? A. You’re an internet person, aren’t you? I actually retired Jimmy Snack Bar. I do have a few fake DJ names, and I’m sure you could find them on the internet if you looked. But that’s the thing, they’re secret. I could get in trouble if I told you. Q. Who is your biggest influence? A. A poet named Alan Dugan, who died three or four years ago. I’m actually surprised so few people have noticed, since I’ve ripped him off shamelessly.

Photo | John Vettese

Photo | John Vettese

Photo | John Vettese

Photo | John Vettese

Photo | John Vettese

Photo | John Vettese

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 20th, 2007 at 3:36 pm and is filed under Last Night, Show, Music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.