Last night, I saw Jonathan Coulton (with Paul and Storm) for the third time. As expected, it was a great show.
In general, I prefer the music of Coulton to Paul and Storm (though I like both quite a lot), but in the live shows, Paul and Storm are absolutely hilarious in their between-song banter. Most of the stuff they had played in their previous shows, but that included favourites like “Nun Fight”, “Live”, and “The Captain’s Wife’s Lament” so it was much appreciated. They also played a couple of songs I hadn’t heard before, and I very much enjoyed “Frogger! The Frogger Musical”. By the end of the opening act, my jaw was aching from laughing so much.
Coulton took the stage after a short break, and basically played all of my favourite songs of his. He also did a few I was less familiar with, although “Sunny Blue Day”, which I first heard at his last show in Toronto, is rapidly becoming another favourite. An excellent set indeed.
About the only thing I’m unsure of was the venue. Previous shows were at the Lula Lounge, which didn’t have assigned seating, but had a friendly and comfortable atmosphere, and felt like a more intimate space. In contrast, the Enwave Theatre was a bit bigger and a proper theatre, with a stage, balconies, and the like, but it felt… stodgier. The staff enforced no food/drink/photography rules, when a quick search of YouTube will demonstrate that Coulton is not shy about letting fans record his shows. And while everyone had a good view thanks to how the seating was arranged, the openness of the theatre space made it feel sort of empty.
(However, that may be an issue unique to me. My seat was on the balcony nearest the stage—great view, but no one in front of or behind us. So I didn’t get that feeling of being in a crowd at concert. During the chorus to “Re: Your Brains” when the audience joins in, I wasn’t surrounded by a horde of singing zombies as I was at the Lula Lounge. But even down below, the crowd seemed tamer than previous year’s shows.)
Anyway, an excellent show all around. If you ever get the chance to see either Coulton or Paul and Storm, take it.