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I’m hoping that Tom Waits will release a video of the Glitter and Doom tour (I think most of the shows were recorded, so I assume there’s something in the pipeline). Meanwhile, here’s a clip of a performance on the David Letterman show in America last year. So energetic, expressive and, of course, quite unique. On the tour, the end of the song (also the end of the show) was greeted with a massive shower of glitter from above the stage.
I was impossibly excited about this concert, and one of the great things about it was how excited and delighted everybody was. I’ve never been to an event quite like it for the sense of shared delight, so many people feeling so privileged just to be there.
The Playhouse Theatre, Edinburgh
And with that level of anticipation, you could argue that we would all inevitably enjoy the show, however good, bad or mediocre it turned out to be. And you’d probably be right. But this was something very special indeed, and an experience that I wouldn’t have missed for the world. The reaction when I tell my friends and colleagues that “I’ve been to see Tom Waits” (and I must admit that I’ve probably talked rather too much about it since Monday night) is usually “Oh, that’s nice“, “Poor you“, or “Tom who?“, and never “Wow, you’re so lucky to have had the chance to see the world’s greatest performer“. But that’s how I feel – just very lucky.
It came to a head for me when, half way through the evening, the band went off for a break, and Tom took his seat at the piano. He chatted a bit, told a few stories, tinkled a few notes, and said “Now, what shall we play…“, before launching into “Tom Traubert’s Blues”, one of my all time favourite Tom tracks. It was an emotional moment, and one that I will never forget.
Nor will I forget seeing Tom the night before, after his first Edinburgh concert. We had decided to do the corny fan thing of waiting for him by the stage door, and, when the great man emerged into the small space between the exit and the car door, his face almost hidden by a grey hoodie, I shouted “Could I take a picture, Tom?” (“Tom“, you’ll notice, not “Mr Waits“, which I thought would be altogether too formal for one with whom I already felt such a strong rapport). At this point, he could have just got into the car, but instead he paused. (It would be an exaggeration to say that he posed, but he did pause, long enough for me to take a rushed picture, which turned out to be crap – see below – spoiled by the bright torch being shone at me by one of the security men.) “Thanks Tom“, I said. And then IT happened. He spoke to me. “Alright man“, he growled. It was unmistakeably his voice, and it was just as certainly directed at me, so I can safely say that Tom Waits has spoken to me. (And, given that a conversation can reasonably be defined as an exchange of spoken words, can I legitimately claim that I have had a conversation with him?!)
Anyway, before my memory of the encounter expands in my memory to become a deep and meaningful friendship, here’s the photo. That’s Tom on the right, in the hoody. I like to think that the security guy with the torch was trying to be helpful. And the one in the foreground looks especially sympathetic – I think he must have been a Beatles fan, because he kept saying “Get back“. The driver (on the left) was a nice bloke, and had been friendly to us earlier, but then led us to believe that Tom would be coming out of a different door. All very odd.
My new friend Tom
For more sensible, objective words about the show, see The Guardian, The Times, or The Independent. Strangely enough, they are all pretty much in agreement, that this was an extraordinary show from an extraordinary performer. Did I mention that I feel very lucky to have witnessed it?
Got an email from Ticketmaster this morning, reminding me of an event for which I’ve bought tickets. Well thank goodness for their efficiency! The Tom Waits concert, which I’ve been waiting 20 years for, for which I’ve paid an arm and a leg, and which I’ve woken every morning thinking about for the past 3 months, completely slipped my mind! Let’s just hope it lives up to my own hype.
OK, so I was disappointed to hear that Joan Armatrading and Valerie Singleton were never an item after all (see below), but, under the heading of “People I Admire Who I Would Like To Be In A Relationship Together”, I was delighted to learn today that Tom Waits used to be the boyfriend of Rickie Lee Jones, whose music I also love. And as if this wasn’t good enough news in its own right, it further transpires that Rickie herself features on the cover of “Blue Valentines”, Tom’s 1978 masterpiece. This is the album that contains “Kentucky Avenue”, one of my favourite Waits songs, and one the most moving pieces of music I know.
Thanks to BigRab for this information, which has made my day – his blog’s a very good read. All I need to be told now is that David Bowie is the lovechild of Frank Sinatra and Cilla Black, and I’ll die a happy man.
And talking of Valerie Singleton and good reads, I found a very entertaining piece on the Telegraph site, of all places, about Val, and her non-relationship with Joan. It’s an affectionate piece, and reckons that “Valerie’s star quality flowed from the mesmerising blend of foxiness and severity that continues, decades after her last Blue Peter appearance, to send baby-boomers into nostalgic rhapsodies of psycho-sexual longing.” Hmm, a bit strong, but, in a slightly uneasy way, I know what he means.
Is La Winehouse a genius? Or is she, perhaps, the most overrated, self-important self-publicist the music world has ever seen? The crowd at Glastonbury last night seemed happy enough, worshipping her every fragile warble, despite her telling them off for not being appreciative enough of her decidely mediocre covers of old Specials songs – not really cutting edge stuff, is it? Without the phenomenal band, backing singers, and the odd roadie to prop her up (literally, in the case of the roadie), she would have been in serious trouble.
Joan Armatrading – now there is a talent, and a very nice person too, by all accounts. I saw her perform several times in her hayday, and loved every understated moment. For a long time, I understood that she was the unlikely partner of Valerie Singleton, another very important figure in my younger days. I liked the idea of two people whom I admired looking after each other as they got old in their Putney love nest, making desk tidies out of jam jars covered with Fablon with Joan’s old hits playing in the background. But now I read that Valerie is not gay at all, and was shagging Peter Purves on the set of Blue Peter almost before the credits had finished rolling – so it seems that it was just another one of those urban myths. They’ll be telling us next that Bob Holness didn’t really play saxophone on “Baker Street”.
Tom Waits – there’s another one. Put him in front of a Glastonbury crowd and, whilst half would probably leave straight away, the rest would really see what talent looks like. His tour is now well under way in America, and is getting consistently rave reviews, both from the media and the punters. The set lists are surprisingly varied from one night to the next, and extremely diverse. People seem agreed that the best bits are when the band toddle off for some refreshment, leaving old Tom on his own at the piano to do some ballads, and I imagine that’ll be my favourite bit as well. Only four weeks to go till we see him in Edinburgh, and the excitement is really building – I just hope he manages to keep his ageing, over-indulged self going that long!
Let’s hope he does this one:
Tom Waits has quietly confirmed the dates for the European part of his summer tour. No performances in England, let alone Bristol, so we realised that we would have to travel if we wanted to see him. Edinburgh seemed the best bet, and tickets went on sale this morning at 10:00. This meant that I had to take time off work to try to get some (I couldn’t really justify sitting at my desk during work time, endlessly clicking the refresh button on the Ticket master website), so, come 9:50, there was I, sat at the computer, one hand on the keyboard, the other hand on the phone, with a mobile between my teeth for good measure. I soon gave up on the phone, the number being permanently engaged, but shortly after 10 a message popped up on the browser offering 2 seats in the second row of the dress circle – great news indeed. It only took a couple of hours for all the seats to be sold for all five Edinburgh and Dublin dates.
So we’re off to Scotland to see Tom. The last (and only other) time I saw him was in 1985, and I’ve been looking forward to seeing him perform again ever since. I can hardly wait – 61 days and counting!
Yay! Tom’s doing a gig in Birmingham! But hot diggedy dawg, that’ll be Birmingham, Alabama, and sadly not the one that’s an hour’s drive from Bristol. He’s announced his American tour dates (and they seem to be a rather odd collection of venues), but no European details yet. That said, he promises in his whacky press conference (see highlights below) that he will be coming to Europe, and mentions Spain and Dublin, so maybe he’ll stop off in merrie olde England en route. Here’s hoping!
Tom Waits has made an announcement about his 2008 tour of Europe! The announcement only says that a further announcement will be made, on Monday, and that this will confirm the concert dates. I am so excited!
Spent a very worthwhile couple of quid last night, and watched the Bristol City Under 18s play Leeds Utd in the FA Youth Cup. It wasn’t the greatest game of football, but City won it with virtually the last kick of normal time, and the crowd loved it. Nearly 2,000 had braved the cold, of which probably half were children, so there was a lively atmosphere, to say the least.
And here’s another bit of Tom Waits, having the piss taken out of him, along with Nick Cave, Leonard Cohen, and a bunch of blokes that I don’t recognise. Certainly gave me a chuckle.
I find that people are rarely neutral about Tom. I have friends who have to leave the room when he pops up on the iPod, and others (admittedly not many!) who think his music’s marvellous. I think he’s great, and if I could take only one artist’s music to my desert island, it would have to be his. I’m not sure whether this video would help to persuade the doubters of his weird genius, but here’s the link anyway.
As a huge fan of Tom Waits, and a huge fan of “ER”, I was delighted last night when the two came together, with “World Keeps Turning” on the soundtrack at the end of Abby and Kovac’s wedding. Fantastic stuff, and it reminded me of another inspired musical moment in ER, when Israel Kamakawiwo’ole’s version of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” accompanied the death of Mark Green a few years ago. I really miss Mark, and some of my other old friends from the series – the gorgeous Susan Lewis, “Tough Love” Benton, Rocket “watch out for that helicopter!” Romano to name just a few…
(Subject to revision, of course, but these are the ones that would get 6 stars on the iPod if they could, and always get me going…)
- Kentucky Avenue (from Blue Valentine) – “I’ll steal a hacksaw from my dad, and cut the braces off your legs, and we’ll bury them tonight in the cornfield” – so moving, it’s got to be no. 1.
- If I Have To Go (from Orphans) – the ultimate bawler.
- Tom Traubert’s Blues (from Small Change) – a lovely tune, beautiful lyrics, stunningly performed.
- I Hope That I Don’t Fall In Love With You (from Closing Time) – classic early Tom, a whole story in a few verses, so vividly told.
- Innocent When You Dream (from Frank’s Wild Years) – his voice at its finest, precarious full stretch.
Well, the Arts Trail weekend was followed by a week of events and activities, which was a really good expansion of the concept. It was thoroughly well organised, and highlighted the fact that Southville has got a wealth of great talent and really good venues. My own favourites were The Marys, who performed their country-rock stuff at the “Holy Mackerel” evening at the Holy Cross Club, and were excellent, and Sweet Loredo (I think) who were at the end-of-week party at the Tobacco Factory – the lead singer had a great voice which was really well received.
There was also a cabaret, at the Hen and Chicken. I think cabaret’s marvellous – you never know what you’re going to get, and at times this one was so bad it was great. I’ll never hear “Lili Marlene” again without smiling.
Star performance, though, was from the London Adventist Chorale, at the Methodist Church, who were stunning. Their harmonies and projection were incredible, and some of their spirituals were really moving, which brought home to me that music can be a very powerful thing. And it would be very convenient to attribute that power to a the influence of a spiritual being of some sort, so it was a very good marketing ploy by the church group which organised the event to schedule a long interval in which people were encouraged to mingle and talk to the performers – on a good night, I bet they get quite a few recruits “on board”. Trouble is, when you’re a Tom Waits fan, you know that it’s actually the music itself that moves you – try listening to “If I Have to Go” without bawling.
