Waits also picks great musicians for his bands without fail. On his one official concert movie, Big Time for example, the band was led by the great guitarist Marc Ribot (and if anyone knows how to get a DVD copy of that show, please e-mail me post haste — I promise I'll make it worth your while).
So anytime Tom Waits puts out a live recording, it's a rare treat and the new double-disc Glitter And Doom Live is no exception. My only complaint here is that I wish there was a DVD version available, as Waits' concerts tend to be as much a great visual experience as a musical one.
As always, Waits has assembled a great band here, which is a seven piece ensemble this time around. It's highlighted by another great guitarist (Omar Torez), upright bassist Seth Ford-Young, and keyboardist Patrick Warren (who tackles everything from reed organ and vibes to mellotron).
As for the music — recorded during stops on Waits' 2008 sold-out tours of America and Europe — this is some dark, swampy sounding shit, that's as thick and murky as a spicy Louisiana Gumbo. There are elements of everything from the torchy lounge-jazz you might hear round' closing time at some dive bar, to thick sounding Missisippi Delta Blues (the Harp driven "Get Behind The Mule").
In between, Waits touches on everything from the boozy sea shanty of "Singapore," to the Swamp-rock of "Goin' Out West" (think Bayou Country-era John Fogerty), to even a funeral dirge on "Dirt In The Ground." As always, the songs are also populated by seedy characters like the guy who begins his journey in the "sewers of Paris" on "Singapore," to the opium dealer "William The Pleaser" (on the album opening "Lucinda/Aint' Goin' Down").
On the second disc, you get nearly forty minutes of "Tom's Tales," which are the quirky (and quite humorous) stories Waits tells from behind the piano at most of his shows. I won't spoil any of those here, except of course to say that Tom's apparently discovered e-bay. Don't miss it.
Tom Waits' Glitter And Doom Live comes out this Tuesday, November 24.
Article comments
1 - Mark Saleski
nice review, sir. i'm really excited about this release.
and what you say about Waits the live performer. i've only seen him once around the time of Mule Variations. it was easily one of the best shows i've ever been to. Waits started the show standing on a wooden box that was a couple of feet tall....but he had left his mic stand at normal height so he hand to bend quite a ways over to sing. there was apparently a pile of talcum powder on the top of the box because as the song went on, and as Waits stomped his foot, he was slowly engulfed in a white cloud. typing it makes it sound kind of cheesy but it was quite amazing. very theatrical.
2 - Glen Boyd
Thanks Mark. Yeah Waits does similar stuff on the Big Time DVD (which I wish I could find), using props like glowsticks or whatever else he can find. Theatrical is definitely the right word to describe it. Anyway, thanks for commenting.
-Glen