WEIRD SHOW.
SET LIST
THE MOST OBNOXIOUS CROWD I'VE EVER EXPERIENCED AT A SHOW (HONESTLY!!), BAD VENUE, HE HAD THE A.C. TURNED OFF (WHICH, KNOWING THAT NOW I THINK ITS REALLY "COOL" BUT AT THE TIME I THOUGHT IT WAS JUST BROKEN AND WAS REALLY ANNOYED, IT NEEDED TO BE ABOUT 20 DB'S LOUDER/IT FELT LIKE WATERED-DOWN TOM WAITS-LITE, I WOULD HAVE PREFERED A DIRTIER/ROWDIER BAND.
OTHER THAN THAT A GREAT SHOW.
3 comments:
Must concur with original post in many ways.. I had waited 25 years for this night - the last 2 following an instance of being snubbed out of Atlanta in 2006 due to the anti-scalper/broker ticket policy. Broke my heart. Anyway, I finally made it to this Dallas show and it quickly occurred to me that I was standing in a bar full of apparently like-minded folk - Tom Waits fans - and strangely I wanted nothing to do with any of them. It grew uglier on the ballroom floor. I was front and center, 4 rows deep. Two fights nearly broke out in the shoving and prying as we stood in place for nearly two hours. The show started 40 minutes late. Zero seating. AC turned off as noted.. AND they pumped a steam bath onto the crowd to boot. Disgusting, crammed, agitated.
The music was not as loud as the curses in my head. The setlist was interesting, reaching back to Small Change and actually including the song Frank's Wild Years (which kinda amazed me - that was the song that hooked me at 15 years old). It seemed a good chunk of the songs I wanted to hear were set to amended rhythms and lost their original power (16 Shells, for one example, and Black Market Baby for another) and Tom's voice was weak, drowning in the music.
The best of the lot was Tom as Tom is - on the piano.
There was a cute sing-along to Innocent When You Dream, and I swear if I didn't grow to hate everyone within my 15-foot radius it may have been something of the spiritual experience I was hoping for. Not on this night, not in these conditions.
Maybe I'm too negative in general; maybe my expectations exceeded reality. Yet, for whatever reason, the music never captured me.
Maybe it was the bones of my heels beginning to puncture out thru the skin from standing in place for so many hours.. I guess I can now appreciate more of the pain of the waitress in Invitation To The Blues.
Last thing - the show was relatively short.. but I was not disappointed when the final notes of Time concluded and the house lights came on.
It was a dream of mine to attend a Tom Waits show. The woman in my life made it happen, and I thank her for that. But now, I can wait another 25 years to do it again, and by then, hopefully my expectations will have graduated to reasonable.
i agree with most everything said here. i'm almost to the point where i think it might be worth it to drive down to austin to see whoever comes through texas. for both the recent bob dylan concerts and this tom waits one, and jose gonzalez last year, i could barely hear some songs due to the annoying chit-chat. i don't understand how some people can afford to go to these high-priced concerts when they don't even care about the music or the performer. i thought tom waits' show several years back at south by southwest was far superior, but this one was fun and memorable, too.
Paulie-
That Dallas show had the best setlist I have ever seen. Looked unreal. I hope they put out a dvd of that, and I am really upset I didn't drive up for it. 9th and Hennepin! Chocolate Jesus! Franks Wild Years! You got most of the highlights from the Houston show plus a ton more. BASTARD!
And you got a free steam bath! You should have paid double.
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