Ah, Tom Waits, my musical hero, my favorite artist. I had the distinct honor of seeing him live last year. Atlanta was the closest place he was playing, on a very rare tour of Southern cities. I took a day off work, got up early, and drove from Orlando to Atlanta nonstop – it took about nine hours total since I was afraid of getting pulled over for speeding. Got to the venue around 6:30 PM, although the show didn’t start until closer to 10. Still, there was already a crowd forming, and they let people in early because it was general admission and the tickets weren’t exactly cheap. I got a spot near the front center of the stage, only about three or four people back, and stood in it for hours, chatting with other Waits fans, many of whom had traveled even further than I. He took the stage eventually, after persuading the club to stop selling booze so people didn’t get drunk and stupid during his set (a great idea, if you ask me), and held us in the palm of his hand for about two hours. I wish he played more old material, but I understand he is harshly critical of his '70s and early '80s output. Still, it was the best concert I have ever been to, one of those near-religious experiences you hear about every so often. It was close to midnight in sketchy downtown Atlanta, but I was so jazzed that I drove straight home, posted the setlist on the Dope around 8 in the morning, took a nap, and went to work later that day. Amazing concertgoing experience, I must say.
Here is a picture of him that night in Atlanta last year, although I admit I didn’t take it: http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y215/bigbadvoodoolou/tomwaitsliveinatlantaon080106.jpg
As for my favorite Waits albums, I will always love the boozy, bluesy beatnik Waits from earlier in his career, and the pseudo-live album Nighthawks at the Diner encapsulates this era perfectly, complete with all the stories and jokes and inter-song banter he’s known for at live shows. Small Change is another great early Waits album. For mid-career markers, you can’t do much better than 1983’s Swordfishtrombones and 1985’s Rain Dogs. I think those two made him a legend more than anything else, filled with everything from jazz to spoken word poetry to beautiful ballads to scary pirate music. For his more recent period, I admit I’m not the hugest fan of the dissonance and chaotic noise of Bone Machine and parts of Real Gone, but I love the 2002 concept albums Alice and Blood Money. Orphans was wonderful too – not a cheap 3-disc set, but worth every penny.
Tom’s best acting is probably in the black and white Jim Jarmusch film Down By Law, an obscure movie worth finding on Criterion DVD. He pops up over the years in the most unlikely places – The Outsiders (in a very small role), The Fisher King (as a philosophical bum), Bram Stoker’s Dracula (as Renfield), and Mystery Men (as the weapon designer for the superheroes). It’s always a treat spotting him in movies, sometimes in the tiniest cameos. I wish he had a weekly TV show – I’d watch the hell out of it!