Mike Doughty "27 Jennifers" from Rockity Roll Live at High Noon Saloon Madison, WI May 4, 2006

And just like that, Doughty's back in Madison. Just about seven months after his last Madison, Doughty returned with just his bass player, "Scrap" Livingston, along. It was another one of those packed High Noon shows with a line extended across half the parking lot and a bunch of talky townie hipsters yammering away during the opening act. By the time I got inside, opener Mark Mallman had only two songs left -- no big loss, though, as I saw him in Milwaukee a couple years ago and wasn't impressed.

Doughty's set had only two guitars and an upright bass to tune, but they took 40 minutes to come out anyway. When they did they started strong, playing this excellent tune early in the set. "27 Jennifers" is supposedly the song that prompted Dave Matthews to offer Doughty a deal on his label, and you can hear why. It's extremely catchy, and it would've been a real crime if it had stayed under the radar on the self-released Rockity Roll EP.