Jonathan Coulton: Geeking Out at the Gladstone
For those of you who might not know Jonathan Coulton, get ready to become an instant fan – because that’s exactly what happened to me.
He’s been sitting in my iTunes for a while, but I’ve been distracted by my Great Lake Swimmers lately. Then, when my husband informed me he’d gotten tickets to see Coulton at the Gladstone Theatre, I figured I’d better brush up on him.
Now, I’m wondering why I didn’t catch onto this guy sooner. He’s remarkable. A craftsman of catchy tunes, Jonathan Coulton is the kind of humourist songwriter that gets under your skin (and into your ears, often on repeat). His musical prowess is obvious – he’s definitely got chops both vocally and on guitar. But what impresses me most about Jonathan is his writing. It’s hilarious, hip, nerdy, and thoughtful, all at the same time. Needless to say, after listening to his stuff for nearly a month now, I was pretty fired up to see him in action.
Coulton first rose to Internet superstardom a few years ago when he quit his full time job as a software engineer to pursue music. His challenge? Write and record a song a week for a whole year, and release it all for free online, and maybe, just maybe, people would listen. Well, listen they did, and soon, the geek world was struck with a bad, bad case of Coulton-mania.
Coulton is a self-described geek, and that’s reflected in his songs. Topics range from life as a computer programmer (Code Monkey), to Zombies (Re: Your Brains) to the crushing weight of celebrity (Tom Cruise Crazy) to pants (Mr. Fancy Pants). His geek-chic tunes have made him an Internet sensation and the Ottawa Geek Set was out in full force at the Gladstone Theatre Friday night to see their musical hero in action.
Opening the show were two guys I’d never heard of, Paul and Storm. I’m sad and disheartened that I did not know of them before last night. Geez. You could have contacted me on Twitter or something boys, and let me know how good you are. Way to market yourselves, guys. 
Without pigeonholing them too much (but totally pigeonholing them anyway), the recipe for Paul and Storm consists of a dash of Moxy Fruvous, a pinch of The Arrogant Worms, and just a smidgen of Barenaked Ladies…to that they add their own big, gorgeous voices, impeccable harmonies, kick-ass songwriting and gut-splitting lyrics.
The boys took the stage and sang, by far, the most appropriate opening band song I’ve ever heard, called “Opening Band”. Check it out below.
Needless to say, I’m an instant fan. They carried their opening set incredibly well, with big, crazy energy. It was hard to believe there was only two of them. Their huge personalities and great music filled the room and fired up the crowd. It may be the first time I’ve ever seen an opening act get a standing ovation (and well deserved it was!). They left us all wanting more.
Coulton took the stage after a short intermission and proceeded to wildly entertain everyone with some of his most popular hits. With songs like “Ikea”, about, well, Ikea, “The Future Soon”, about the futuristic dreams of an awkward teenager, “Skullcrusher Mountain”, about a lonely mad scientist, and the song you’ll hear below, “Better” – a look at how the people you love sometimes change into things you don’t want them to – like cyborgs.
Lucky for us, Jonathan also brought Paul and Storm back out to sing a few with him, including Code Monkey. Check it out below.
All in all, it was a marvelous evening, one of the best live shows I’ve seen in a while.
Now, your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to go and check out their music for yourself. Buy it, download it, get some t-shirts! You won’t be disappointed.
Tags: geeks, gladstonetheatre, jonathancoulton, paulandstorm
