Mike Doughty & Zox @ Tufts

It was an odd gig--students only, in a back room of a cafeteria--still I'm very glad I went; last time Mike Doughty came through he was opening for Dave Matthews in great big arenas, so the small venue was a treat. I still can't pin down why I like Mike Doughty's music so very much; I keep coming up with uninformative answers like "because it's good." It was nice to hear Soul Coughing gems like St Louise Is Listening in the stripped-down current format and alongside newer tracks from Haughty Melodic like Looking at the World from the Bottom of a Well.

The bassist/multi-instrumentalist of the evening, Scrap Livingston, was a treat as well. Dude was an interesting addition: classically geeky in aspect with the collared shirt and wire-rimmed glasses (which traveled further down his nose as each song went on), but rocking some seriously fluid fingerwork and the chillest stage presence I've ever seen. It was a good, good set.

I'd never heard of Zox before the show, and had to look them up afterwards: an unusual quartet featuring an electric-violinist, who played most of the time in a pose that looked strikingly like Quasimodo. They were loud, energetic, and engaging--a nice bonus after the much-anticipated main event.

tags: [Music], [mp3], [Live music], [Tufts], [Mike Doughty], [Zox]