The Jonathan Coulton concert last night was a blast! I’ve seen a fair bit of music in PDX, but it’s hard to remember when I’ve had more fun than at a JC show. The man has a talent for writing heartbreakingly sweet, poignant love songs that just happen to involve…
   a computer programmer and the receptionist at his work
   two fetuses who can see each other through glass wombs
   a married man and his financially independent girlfriend
   an evil scientist and the girl he has kidnapped and taken to his lair
   a squid from the ocean depths and the boats that sail on the surface
   a man and his new aluminum PowerBook
   the former planet Pluto and its moon, Charon
(Though not all in the same song.)

And then in between, he does paeans to Benoît Mandlebrot, mocks suburban living and does the best cover of “Baby Got Back” in existence.

Big, big fun! And I was gratified to see his following is growing. His previous show in Stumptown was at the White Eagle Saloon, and even with a SRO crowd, I would be surprised if that was 50 people. This time he was in the Mission Theater and the growd was closer to 300.