In this digital age, a music fan often goes to a show already knowing what the set list will be, how many encores to expect, even what the singer wears.

Blogs and the like have taken some of the surprise out of live music, which is exactly why Mike Doughty’s Question Jar Tour is so damn fun.

Not only is the set list completely different each night (it’s all requests), but so is the onstage banter, which is driven by fielding fan questions from a jar.

Maybe I just had too much fun discovering music in the ’90s, which I’m — plug alert — reliving every Friday night by DJing Tubthump, L.A.’s only ’90s night, but to me Soul Coughing stand as one of music’s most exciting bands.

Since their split, I’ve followed Mike Doughty’s solo career closely and loved everything he’s done. His voice is the sound of honesty. His love-torn, pop-culture-filled lyrics are a blast to discover and then rediscover again and again. And damned if his tracks aren’t filled with the dopest white-boy beats since Beck.

He also puts on a great show, so the question and request themes only added to the fun.

Tuesday’s gig at the intimate Hotel Cafe seamlessly covered Doughty’s career, from Soul Coughing (”Circles,” “Soft Serve”) to his upcoming third full-length solo album, Golden Delicious (”Ft. Hood,” “Navigating by the Stars at Night”), with both hits and rarities sprinkled throughout.

He didn’t take on every request (”Hear the Bells,” “Never Gonna Come Back Down”) but he played most, often within seconds of when the title was screamed out.

Doughty played everything on an acoustic and was joined only by a cellist, which brought something different to every song, including an all-out jam during “27 Jennifers.”

As for the questions, they ranged from his sex life to the “Sopranos” finale to which “Golden Girl” he was most like (Bea Arthur, of course!). Oh, and then there was the question about the real name of the girl who inspired “Unsingable Name.” But never mind. I don’t want to spoil it!