For the first time in 25 years, The genreless path-pavers Soul Coughing are hitting the road. Their first North American tour in a quarter of a century kicked off last night (September 10) at the Belly Up Tavern in Solana Beach, California, for their first of two nights in the venue. The trek across North America is in celebration of their debut LP, Ruby Vroom, which will celebrate its 30th birthday on September 27 while the band is in Pittsburgh. According to Soul Coughing’s website, “Each exclusive performance will feature songs from their legendary catalog– El Oso, Irresistible Bliss, and their genre-defining debut album Ruby Vroom.” It’s a bold promise, but not one a veteran band like Soul Coughing can’t fulfill with flying colors.
For their first stop on their reunion tour, Soul Coughing, in a word, delivered. The 21-song setlist digs deep into the band’s short-lived yet fruitful career as they fearlessly bounced between their three releases, touching on hits and B-sides alike. They started with “Is Chicago, Is Not Chicago” from Ruby Vroom, an album that took up most of last night’s setlist. Other songs from the album that were performed include “Blue Eyed Devil,” “Screenwriters Blues,” and “Sugar Free Jazz.” The rest of their time on stage had Soul Coughing digging through their other two LPs, pulling out songs like “Lazybones” from Irresistible Bliss and “Rolling” from El Oso. The band wrapped up the night with a two-song encore featuring “Circles” and “Super Bon Bon.”
With one night in Solana Beach down and one more to go, Soul Coughing’s reunion tour is officially off to the races. The band will head to Los Angeles and then up to San Fransico before crossing into Portland and Seattle. Soul Coughing will also make stops in Pittsburgh, Boston, and Philadelphia before wrapping up the tour with three New York City shows in early October. You can check out the full setlist, tour dates, and footage from last night’s performance below.
