Oy Loyk Oyrland

By JoCo October 25, 2008

I’m currently in a hotel in Glasgow counting CDs and half-listening to the television. I can’t tell if it’s the jet lag or all the Irn Bru I drank during my set at Oran Mor tonight, but I’m not so sleepy even though it’s past midnight. It doesn’t help that there’s some kind of wedding in this hotel and a bunch of kids in suits are running up and down the halls randomly banging on doors (not as relaxing as it sounds).

Both shows have been amazing – the crowd in Dublin sang everything all the way through very loudly, which was great. I played Danny Boy, which is such a beautiful song I couldn’t resist even though I knew it was going to make the audience groan. And groan they did, but they sang anyway. I wish I could have spent more time in Dublin – I was staying with friends of friends who are actual Irish people, and they were very nice and fun.

Today I had a frenetic day of traveling and a second great show here in Glasgow. The crowd was less sing-y to be sure, but no less kind and enthusiastic. Also there was steak pie and Irn Bru and Tablet. I had no set list because the only pen I had in the green room was broken (I wish I made this excuse up but it’s true), so I kind of made it up as I went along, took a few requests, played some songs I probably should have practiced before playing in public.

Manchester on Wednesday!

Comments

Colton David says

That's the U.K for you.

Jack says

Wahey! I contributed to that singeyness in no small way. I just wish I had had time to say hi to you and get a picture or something. Come back soon ya hear!

Gillies says

I was at the gig tonight, it was amazing. so good to see joco live! i tried the singing but theres a reason im a scientist... again fantastic gig!

Lex says

Glad to know you now know the awesomeness of Irn Bru.

Jamie says

I was at the Glasgow Gig! Your short rendition of Free bird was great! Also it was a pleasure to get to talk to you and shake your hand! (Also, our mutual friend Brad was right, you are a good guy!)

lynn says

Come back to Ireland; we'll practise our bad american accents so that you can understand us!

Annie says

Irn-Bru! I remember those from my Scotland-obsessed phase. I don't know if they make these anymore, but Irn-Bru chew bars are spectacular. And by "spectacular," I mean "the chew candy equivalent to crack."

Pat says

IRN-BRU! Scotland's second favorite national drink! The best drink ever!

*Neither a significant source of iron or brew.

Al K says

I was singing! I think it was just because it was a sit-down gig, everyone felt a little more reserved. There was certainly lots of audience participation...!

Absolutely awesome gig. I was grinning and singing all the way home.

Matt says

Hey awesome gig last night!!! The audience was a good laugh from what i can remember. Penis reduction anyone?

TheFifthSister says

Come on London gig! I'm all excited! You're drinking Irn Bru, man that is my drink, after Mountain Dew that is the best soda you can get!

Mad Tavvy says

actual Irish people

... as opposed to bogus Irish people, of which there are many...

We be lookin' for'ard to seein' ye at Manchester next week. We only wish we'd seen ye in Dublin as well.

The Pirates of the Cutty Shark.

Doug says

Dublin was most excellent fun. We're looking forward to your return, though you will need to get a venue in the west next time. Make the Dubs travel for a change!

Matt (2) says

Fantastic concert last night, you need to get that guitar tuned better or the Manchester lot *will* stab you. And remember:
'Code Monkey like Fritos
Code Monkey like Tab and Irn Bru'

lewis says

it sounds like you were in the same hotel as me p.s loved the scottish flag look!

Joe says

Glasgow gig was awesome! I agree with Al K about it being a sit down, less crowd energy / singing along. Still a very fun night :) Come back soon!

Loura says

been a devoted fan for absolutely ages!
Can't wait to see you in Manchester :D

Pyromanic says

That was definitely, a brilliant show was my first concert but i got a photo with You, and a signed ticket what more can i ask for? :P I couldn't stop whistling all the way home!

blackic says

*is looking forward to Wednesday*

Ross says

Great show!
Wish I could've stayed for a bit, maybe tried to get something signed.
Can't wait to see Joe's video (the guy that went on stage for the robot voice)

Joe Covenant says

Hi !
Remember me? The annoying guy who gave the "code monkey likes tab and Irn Bru" line, and The Penis Reduction line, and the suggestion you did "When You Go" (Sorry!) And then had the audacity to come up on stage with you ! ;' ) Great Show, Jonathan. What you should realise is, in a general type of audience people DO 'want' to sing along... But they also want to be respectful to 'you' and let you be sung without butting in. Personally, I didn't sing cos I was filming, but, as you rightly pointed out, on stage I was belting out the Harmony to Chiron Beta Prime !! ;' ) Haste Ye Back!

Maureen says

Show in Glasgow was awesome.
I was singing my wee heart out, but quietly..felt the crowd weren't really into that. Told the t-shirt guys I'd be up moshing. Mega hungover from partying with Feeder the night before. Wonder if i'd started if anyone would have joined in??
Liked the fact there was no set list..so Big Bad World got played. Wayhey!! As I told you, really missed Flickr..but everything else I wanted got covered.
Oh, and really wanted a t-shirt, but felt they were a wee bit bland??
So many great lyrics that would look awesome on a t-shirt!!

That's all. :)

CallieSkye says

Your Glasgow gig was awesome! It was tough not to sing along, but I wanted to hear you and not encourage the off-key bloke behind me to sing any louder than he already was. I wanted to hear YOU!! :) As an American in the audience I was thrilled to finally have someone back me up: Irn Bru does taste like bubble gum! I also found it highly amusing that you sang Over there.

Come back soon!!

KBKarma says

The Irish gig was pure awesome. Shame you couldn't have hung around: there were at least forty people who would've bought you beer all night.

Next time you come back, I'm pretty sure more people will ask you to sign their coconut.

Mark Frazer says

Was asked to the gig in Whelans in Dublin on Friday night by my geeky son, a lookalike for Jonathon and am so glad he bought tickets with my credit card . What a gig, amazing talent and can't wait for the next. Really enjoyed Danny Boy, maybe next time try some Thin Lizzy. Only one downer was the fact that my daughter couldn't go as she is 16 and under age.

Martin says

Hey Jonathon and all users, it;s Martin from Ready-up, thanks so much for the interview, such a nice man. My post will be up on http://ready-up.net/ on Monday lunchtime, check it out I think it's awesome,but then I wrote it so....BTW hope you liked the Irn Bru and the flag

Bec says

Am horribly excited about Wednesday! Keep telling people about it and giggling in a slightly worrying way!

Mark Toner says

Jonathan, the Glasgow gig was wonderful. Glad you learned about Irn Bru and tablet. The sugar buzz must have been awesome. Apologies for the wedding party - were they the same ones that had the reception in the Oran Mor tower?

I have to say, I've never seen so many computer scientists in one room at the same time - even when I used to work at the University. What a great demographic for an Internet musician! Must find a way to break into that. :)

Anyway my son and I both enjoyed the show and we hope you'll come back to Scotland soon.

Awrrabest,

Mark (bassplayer - not computer scientist)

Dave B says

The Dublin gig was fantastic, even if the audience did get Rick Rolled!

Sparuuto says

Enjoyed the Glasgow gig! An infinite number of thanks to you.

Please come again, we're all missing you already :)

M_pony says

Dude, did you seriously play When You Go?? Why am I on -this- side of the ocean?? :) Even unpracticed, those guys were lucky over there.

Angelastic says

I've heard a recording of the Glasgow gig, but not of the Dublin one. From this I conclude that whenever people are not singing, it's because they're recording.

Can't wait till Wednesday. I won't be singing. ;)

And I hope they have Irn Bru in England too, because you've got me curious.

Sarah says

Come back to Ireland soon! I missed the gig because I had to deliver my mam to the airport and do some other things for her. And you *will* be bought many-much beers when next you come.

Vaticon are using your quote on their flyers now, which rocks, and the signed Code Monkeys got....oh, some obscene amount, I can't remember, at the Gaelcon Charity Auction last night. If it wasn't €1000 it was damned close.

(Vaticon and Gaelcon are gaming conventions. Irish Gaming Convention Charity Auctions won the Diana Jones award for Excellence in Gaming)

Kathy says

Dublin was just amazing, the Monkeys in the audience were pure genius, they did a dance routine during Robotnik's first songs that was just awesome, and even got to dance along to that amazing version of Pat the Baker... well done guy and girl!
As for JoCo himself, well, what can I say. Just the best. And so nice to find myself in a room with so many other people who not only knew the songs as well as me but some far dwarfed my feeble knowledge of Coultonicity... Other rock singers get ladies underwear thrown at them. JoCo gets coconuts, monkeys, and a selection of pens to sign them with. At other concerts, fights break out over one look at another guy's girl. At JoCo concerts, fights start over the accuracy - or lack of - of the math in Mandlebrot Set. Never will I forget that moment when from behind me came the sinister warcry: "your math is wrong!" :D

Angelastic, I have a couple of videos of the Dublin gig, probably a little shaky because of the singing and laughing, but still... If JoCo doesn't mind I'll put them up on YouTube...

Kerrin says

The Glasgow show should be named 'JoCo Jukebox' it was great fun.

Angelastic says

Coconuts?!

Put them on YouTube, link to them on the forums and/or the wiki... if JoCo minded, he'd be living comfortably off the profits of suing us all and he wouldn't be doing any more concerts, which is just as well because we wouldn't be able to afford to go, having had our arses sued off and therefore having nothing to sit on while coding for money.

Angelastic says

Kerrin: JoKoBox?

Eimear says

The Dublin gig was AWESOME, had an absolute blast. There must have been at least fifty JoCo t-shirts at Gaelcon the past few days, so hopefully sales went well. Aer Lingus are kind of insane in terms of excess baggage, yes. For a while I was doing periodic work over in Germany that required fifteen pounds worth of kit on a twenty-pound luggage allowance, and at one point I had to pay €150 between the extra bags and the weight. Thankfully it's all chargeable, but it was a bit ridiculous! Hope they're treating you well over beyond, and let me add my voice to the chorus: Come back! We love you! :D

Kathy says

Yes Coconuts! Well, just the one coconut technically. It was a fairly crazy night, but tremendous fun! I'll join in the "come back soon" chorus... We loike yeww too. A lot.

PG says

I have great respect for those you can truly write in dialect. Shows that you listen carefully. Mark Twain had something nice to say on this subject.

Gianni says

Hey Jonathan, Gianni here (The quiet guy who was with Martin (Ready-up)). Was really really nice to meet you the other night. You are a totally awesome guy and were so helpful on the interview Martin done with you. Hopefully i will get an add to your Xbox Live list and we can have a bash at something. Good luck with the rest of your shows and hopefully talk to you soon dude! :)

Dan says

Looking forward to the Nottingham gig on Friday! It's a shame gamecity are trying to upstage you with bloody guitar hero though.

Stephen Cosgrove says

After the Dublin show, I was less eloquent than I really intended to be, but I will reiterate what I said, so you hopefully don't forget:

Record your version of the Londonderry Air! It's so damn rare to find someone who plays that song with even an ounce of feeling in it, normally it's really droning and funereal; I used to really dislike the song, but you made me see why you like it so much.

Hope the rest of the tour went/is going/goes well!

Beth says

The Glasgow gig was very much worth, well, setting foot in Glasgow for. As an Edinburgh-er that's saying something.

Denis says

Glad to hear you liked Ireland! We were in Dublin just a day to late to attend (but we saw you at PAX 08 anyway). Next time you come over, do a bit of a tour, and come to Cork! You have a heck of a lot of fans down here in the real capital!

Davee says

Glad you learned of the utter sugary awesomeness that is tablet.
Seriously cannot wait for the gig tonight!!!

Helen says

Hi! I've only started listening to your music (after watching the Spiffworld WoW music videos for them on youtube :P) and I have to say, you are one of the most creative and genuine musicians I have ever listened to in my short 20 years of life. It's very very different from the music I generally listen to (Garbage, Rammstein, and AC/DC) but it's SOO CATCHY and QUIRKY in so many good ways. I just wanted to say thank you for inducing my one song playlist of "My Monkey" and sometimes to switch it up, "The Future Soon" (and also causing my roommate to forcibly shut down my laptop after the 50th repetition of said playlist).

You're the best! When are you touring the US?

xoxo
Helen

Martin says

Hi all, me again just a few things to let you know about. First, my interview with Jonathan can be found at http://ready-up.net/2008/10/27/feature-jonathon-coulton-singer-songwriter-internet-superstar/, please read it and leave comments. Secondly and thirdly on the same website we will have a video interview up for the weekend possibly and lastly we will also be doing a competition soon to win two t-shirts signed specially for us by Jonathan. Keep watching the site for more. Cheers.

BuggyBY says

The Manchester gig was awesome, though I wish you'd played "I Feel Fantastic" too ... I guess I'll have to get a t-shirt with the song title now.

Steve says

Looking forward to the London show. Can anyone give a rough idea of how long the set lasted in the last few gigs? Trying to make travel arrangements and want to allow enough time for maximum JoCo.

Matt says

Set list was approx 1-1:30

nice spread of songs at the manchester gig too.

I was an honour to help run the merch stall last nice and super nice to meet Amber, Jonathan, Paul, Storm and all the rest of the backstage crew at manchester!

Here's hoping you don't wait too long for another UK tour!

Jon says

Just to say, was incredably awesome on you to drop in on the Neil Gaiman talk Jonathan! I was torn between which one to go to, unfortunately my girlfriend held the casting vote, but it made my day (or week, month, year, I suppose) that I got to see the three of you as well as Neil! You should make a habit of it. Better still, if you tour here again, the other half has promised she'll be dragged along to see you, after loving Skullcrusher Mountain, even with he dodgy acoustics in that hall.

Thanks again!

Rachel says

You and Paul & Storm dropping in and opening for Neil was wonderfully strange and amazing. I love Skullcrusher Mountain, it's so quirky and fun! You've got me and my flatmate singing along to it, and we've ordered the boxset cause we can't wait to hear more. :)

Marjorie says

Just to say I was at Neil's reading in Manchester and it was wonderful to see the three of you - (I was one of the woment sitting in the front row and signing along to Skullcrusher Mountain.....) Nest time you tour in the UK you come to Bristol, OK?

owen says

top gig in manchester, loved it

what was that iphone program?

and pleeeeeeeeease record neil gaiman doing that spoken word thing sometime, its like 'thriller' for the noughties!

sarah says

Saw the London gig last night and it was awesome! If I closed my eyes it was just like listening to my ipod ;)

Seriously though, big THANKS for coming over to the UK. I still can't quite believe it, it's like a crazy ninja monkey zombie dream thing. Very very cool. Had a fantastic time!

Tom says

Just got back to Norfolk after the London gig, absolutely amazing!

I'd love a download of the remixed Fancy Pants, it had me in awe and stitches simultaneously.

Come back soon! (Dejected arr...)

Jake says

Glaslow is a great city. I envy you Jonathan Coulton. :)

Chris says

Saw you at the manchester gig on wednesday, seriously one of the best gigs ive ever been to, seriously you were amazing, come back soon please please please

Laura says

I'd completely forgotten about the comedy remix of Fancy Pants! I am now giggling to myself, bouncing around and occasionally going "fancy pants!". It is a good thing the boyfriend knows what I'm talking about or the men in white coats would be on their way already...

Any chance you guys can come to Cambridge next time? It took me three hours to get home on Thursday night, which is odd as the train OUGHT to take only 45 mins. *shrug*

Gig at Shepherd's Bush was fantastic, and I have been humming various songs to myself ever since. Come back soon! Fantastic stuff :o)

Laura says

Incidentally, is it just me who gets a mental image of frilly French knickers from "Mr Fancy Pants"? (I suspect this must be at least partially due to the fact that for English people, pants are underwear rather than trousers, and thus fancy pants must be of the lacy lingerie variety)

Jamie says

Hey JoCo! I tried to make it down to Dublin but in a terrible combination of short notice and lack of money/transportation I couldn't go. :(
Any plans for Belfast, Northern Ireland?

Plenty of code monkeys and zombies here! Promise. :D

Erik says

Since I seem to be the only one voting on Eventful for JoCo to come to Sweden, I had to fly to Dublin to see him. It was however, as I expected, totally worth it. I got to experience the complete disregard for the stage-audience boundaries that the Irish host, which made the gig more of a choir-event and a conversation between artist and fans than pure performance. Don't get me wrong-this was in no way negative. Instead, I believe I have been part of something kind of unique. Also, Mr Coulton graciously accepted the IKEA-tshirt I brought him, but to my horror he hadn't included the song in the playlist...so the joke kind of sunk. Finally, one of the highlights of my life will always be the beef between the two mathgeeks.