Glitter And Doom: Tom Waits In Concert Hear A Stunning Performance, Recorded At Atlanta's Fox Theater By Robin Hilton
NPR.org, July 28, 2008 - A trip through the world of Tom Waits can be disorienting. His ramshackle story-songs, with their creaky instrumentation and dusty poetry, usually leave listeners with more questions than answers, and his persona outside of his music revolves around a playful but guarded mix of fiction and reality.
Even Waits needs to celebrate Independence Day... and with the generous offer of a stellar pair of Raindogs Tom and Sherry, we celebrated the holiday halfway between Birmingham and Atlanta, in a town called Oxford, AL. It was one of the best 4th of Julys I've ever had!
So after a wake-up in our rented motor lodge, we were once again on the road to Atlanta.
It's very clear that Tom cares about his fans. Even the ones that are still outside waiting to enter, as it became very evident this show wasn't going to start on time. No matter—none of these shows started at 8:00 PM. I'm cool and the gang with that. But for the punctual, I think there were some slight grumblings that he didn't start at the scheduled time.
For the show to be a tour closer, I was halfway expecting a slightly different show, but looking back, it was not much of a departure from previous stops along the way. But, it's still Tom, and sharing the room with such a commanding presence is reason enough to drive 6 hours.
I would be remiss in failing to mention the sax player Vincent Henry, who quite literally "doubled on sax" as he skillfully played two at a time during several points of the night. He was also behind the harp and could certainly give a Mr. Musselwhite a run for his money when it comes to playing harmonica.
Casey Waits has certainly matured as a drummer in the last two years. He was, in fact, the only returning member of this incarnation of the band. Waits' rhythm and tempo changes are frequent and can often change at abrupt moments during any given song, and Casey followed along near flawlessly as his father played the role of conductor, often giving very slight body movements as visual clues to the musicians.
All in all, this band played very very well together. Though I have never witnessed a searing Marc Ribot guitar solo, I find myself very content with the musicians Tom picked for his touring ensemble. It's the mark of a good band leader to surround himself with good musicians, and I applaud his choices.
Oh, one other thing... the version of "Eyeball Kid" played in Atlanta featured a brilliant mime of Tom plucking his own eyeball from its socket and tossing it up in the air. The band, who certainly had rehearsed this—they were spot on—provided sound effects to the playful tossing, juggling, and yo-yo-ing of the imaginary eyeball. At someone's shouting: "Go DEEP!" Tom did indeed throw the eyeball wayyy into the audience, and just as a yo-y0 would behave, pulled back on an imaginary string to retrieve the thing. It was brilliant, and brought a lot of laughs.
[edit: Here's a great video of Tom doing this bit in Paris.]
And while the tour has been over for me for a number of days... I still find myself thinking back to this final night, when all was seemingly right with the world. From the anticipation leading up to the show, to meeting 'dogs from all over the world, there was certainly no place I would have rather been on this night.
Sadly the road called me home, and quite possibly with the divine help of a tiny, bonafide St. Christopher, (courtesy of Dorene — It's still riding with me, too!) I chased storms all the way back to North Carolina.
Till next time...
Atlanta Setlist:
Lucinda / Down to the Well Down in the Hole Falling Down Chocolate Jesus All the World is Green Cemetery Polka Cause of it All / 'til the Money Runs Out Such a Scream November Hold On Black Market Baby 9th and Hennepin Lie to Me
(at piano)
Lucky Day On the Nickel Lost in the Harbour Innocent When you Dream
(off piano)
Hoist that Rag Make it Rain Dirt in the Ground Get Behind the Mule Hang Down Your Head Jesus Gonna Be Here Singapore
(encore)
Eyeball Kid (w/ mime) Anywhere I Lay My Head
Once again... this set is courtesy of the inimitable Raindog-of-the-Year in my book, Shane C. via The Eyeball Kid.
Once again, the road beckons. Tom Waits, having wound his way through the constellation Hydra, was now in the deep South for the final two nights of the North American tour. Me and my good buddy Jason, a long-time fan (I take credit for his conversion) converged upon the city of Birmingham, he from Florida, me from North Carolina.
Once we were settled in our rented room, and with growing anticipation, we left our hotel and had a spirited walk through downtown Birmingham, cutting through Lion Park on our way to 3rd street. The Alabama Theatre is a gorgeous original grand theatre of yesteryear, and it's very evident why Tom chose such a venue for this stop in Birmingham.
Waits and his band were in full stride from the first song, and as he stomped his way through the raucous, but predictable "Lucinda / Down to the Well" medley, each boot stomp raised a dust cloud from the platform and hung in the spotlight like smoke.
The divinely inspired flamenco intro on "All the World is Green" by Latin guitarist Omar Torrez didn't immediately register, but nonetheless, the flurry of notes melded beautifully into the familiar, slow progression of the song from 2000's Blood Money. It was a beautiful addition, and I think even Tom bowed in his direction and barked: "Omar Torrez" just in case we didn't know who was playing such beautiful guitar.
Waits performed over two hours again on this stop, allowing us to ride with him as he took us on an imaginary trip, complete with off-beat characters, such as the never-before-performed "Poor Edward", and the somewhat of a rarity: "Frank's Wild Years" (performed 3 times on this tour of 13 dates.)
Birmingham Setlist:
Lucinda / Down to the Well Down in the Hole Falling Down Hold On Chocolate Jesus Cemetery Polka Poor Edward Lie to Me Hang Down Your Head All the World is Green Black Market Baby Frank's Wild Years Misery is the River of the World
(at piano)
Tango 'til They're Sore On the Nickel Always Keep a Diamond in Your Mind Innocent When You Dream
(off piano)
Jockey Full of Bourbon Make it Rain / band intros Jesus Gonna Be Here Cold, Cold Ground November Hoist That Rag
(encore)
Singapore Dirt in the Ground Come on Up to the House
setlist provided by Shane and The Eyeball Kid to be cont'd...
The anticipation for Waits had plenty long to stew. For some, the wait had been a lifetime of listening, for others a couple of years, and for a lucky few, a matter of days. Be that as it may, the crowd in Knoxville was nearly overflowing with eager fans even when the hour of 8 PM came and went, and our idol didn't show.
"The anticipation will all disappear" I said, "once he takes the stage."
Knoxville was richly rewarded for their collective patience on Sunday night. All at once, the theatre grew very dim. There was movement on the stage... musicians taking their respective places... and then, the unmistakable chapeau, the scarecrow movements, the contorted fingers... and there he was.
What followed for close to 2 1/2 hours was nothing short of a carnival of sorts. Waits preached to us his own sort of gospel: "Way Down in the Hole", "Jesus Gonna Be Here", and "God's Away on Business." Stamping his feet on the raised platform, kicking up dust like a depression-era traveling evangelist, he took us through an inebriated travelouge that was at times very poignant "On the Nickel" (!) "Come on Up to the House" (please note: I want that song played at my funeral), and "Lucky Day".
Much like a cobra charmer, Waits has that rare capacity to completely captivate his audience, and he did just that in Knoxville. Though the set list relied heavy on "Doom", "Glitter" certainly did make an appearance. During "Eyeball Kid" Waits replaced his bowler with a mirrored Stetson hat and, with spot lights on cue, cast a disco-ball lighting effect upon us all. And true to the song "Make it Rain" he summoned a shower of silver confetti that covered the stage.
"Fannin Street", was a beautiful encore, followed by an equally beautiful rendition of "Come on Up to the House." Once the lights came up... the spell had lost some of its hold, as we were released into the Knoxville night, but the Raindog post-show gathering allowed us to relish the event we all were privilidged to see.
See you in Birmingham!
Lucinda/Ain't Goin Down to the Well Way Down in the Hole Falling Down Hang Down Your Head Chocolate Jesus God's Away on Business Get Behind the Mule Metropolitan Glide Trampled Rose Cold Cold Ground The Part You Throw Away Black Market Baby Rain Dogs/Russian Dance On the Nickel Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis You Can Never Hold Back Spring Lucky Day Innocent When You Dream 9th and Hennepin Lie to Me Jesus Gonna Be Here House Where Nobody Lives Eyeball Kid Make It Rain
I didn't even know they did this type of thing anymore, but apparently Tom Waits can now come and go as he pleases in the city of El Paso, TX.
From online accounts, as Tom was sitting down to tickle the ivories in a fashion that is all his own, a peace officer came out on stage to "serve him". Tom then started ad-libbing alibis for himself, when a woman came out and presented Tom the above plaque with the key to the city.
If you like the music, please support the artists by getting out and catching a show, buying a hip t-shirt, or purchasing the CD. If you really want to impress, buy the vinyl.
