I slipped into my spot just as the house lights faded and Soul Coughing kicked off with “I Miss the Girl.” A single emerald beam caught Mark de Gli Antoni’s flickering keyboard loops, and Sebastian Steinberg’s bass throbbed like a heartbeat under Mike Doughty’s cool, conversational croon. Right away, the crowd leaned in—arms folded, heads bobbing—caught between gleeful anticipation and pure sonic immersion.

By the time they dropped into “White Girl,” the stage was bathed in molten gold and violet strobes. Doughty prowled the front edge, mic stand in hand, as shards of distorted guitar and punchy brass samples collided behind him. Someone next to me raised a beer high, and for a moment our collective grin said it all: this was why we’d sold out ACL Live months ago.

Mid-set, “Misinformed” hit like a playful glitch. The slanted guitar riffs skidded across the stage like tumbleweeds, while de Gli Antoni’s off-kilter synth accents teased you right before the drop. I swear I caught a couple of people trading stunned high-fives during that warped breakdown—there’s nothing like hearing that song in a live room to remind you how thrilling a little musical chaos can feel.

Later, just as the smoke machines filled the stage with pearly haze, they launched into “Collapse.” Its slow-burning intro stretched time—each cymbal wash and plucked bass note hung in the air like a question—before the band dove into the epic outro. The audience erupted in a single wave of applause when the final chords dissolved, as if we’d all taken a collective, satisfied breath.

Of course, no Soul Coughing night would be complete without a killer encore, and “Super Bon Bon” was the perfect exclamation point. The opening drums landed like a call to arms, and soon the entire room was chanting along to “the mind is a terrible thing to taste.” When the last echo faded and the neon lights slowly bloomed back on, I stumbled out into the cool April air with my ears ringing and a huge grin—already plotting how to do it all over again next time.