The Medusa Fora

DzM wrote:

philipchevron wrote:Tom's wilfulness aside, his agents clearly have decided to Test The Water here a little, to gain some indication of how Waits will sell in "major centres". All nonsense of course. The world is finally ready for Tom, though he Waited for no one.

Then his agents are clearly morons. Tom has had a devoted following for at least two decades and will fill any reasonably sized venue with only minor promotion.

Oh Tom - Please to come somewhere I can be ...

Yes well, all agents....................

All the same, the unprecedented response to Waits tickets in the UK last year set a new standard. It was clear that he had moved from major artist to Stratospheric Box Office star. The speed at which the low-key US dates sell will indicate whether he is likely to repeat this response back home which will, in turn, affect the pricing and venue capacity of his next "proper" US tour. As Waits dislikes large venues, it is more likely to affect the former than the latter.

The music industry (all hail The Man!!) has never really understood why, for some acts (The Pogues would be another) conspicuous record sales and significant box office seem comparatively unconnected. It's not a sum their computers can do

O'Blivion wrote:Tom's shows TRANSPORT you. In 1999 he had this kind of sepia lighting, and floorboards he stomped on as a percussion instrument with dust flying up around his feet. It was like we were in 1912.

here are some pics -

http://www.spearedpeanut.com/tomwaits/

all the shows sold out in record time. looking forward to the orphans set from tom. have a blast folks, whoever was lucky enough to get them!

Tom Waits' 20 most cherished albums:
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/omm/stor ... 72,00.html

#8: Rum Sodomy and the Lash

Esther wrote:Tom Waits' 20 most cherished albums:
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/omm/stor ... 72,00.html

#8: Rum Sodomy and the Lash

Been watching alot of Tom on youtube. This Version off Tom Traubert's Blues (waltzing Matilda) is the rare old stuff. pure emotion. Wow. Just wow.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XW9ecuVm ... %20matilda

Today is the Feast of St. Christopher.



Hang On St. Christopher


Hang on st. christopher through the smoke and the oil
Buckle down the rumble seat
let the radiator boil
got an overhead downshift
and a two dollar grill
got an 85 cabin
on an 85 hill
Hang on st. christopher on the passenger side
open it up tonight the devil can ride

hang on st. christopher with a barrel house dog
kick me up mt. baldy
throw me out in the fog
tear a hole in the jack pot
drive a stake through his heart
do a hundred on the grapevine
do a jump on the start
hang on st. christopher now don't let me go
get me to reno and bring it in low, oh yeah

hang on st. christopher with the hammer to the floor
put a hi ball in the crank case
nail a crow to the door
get a bottle for the jockey
gimme a 294
there's a 750 norton bustin down january's door
hang on st. christopher on the passenger side
open it up tonight the devil can ride

hang on st. christopher now don't let me go
get to me reno got to bring it in low
put my baby on the flat car
got to burn down the caboose
get 'em all jacked up on whiskey
then we'll turn the mad dog loose
hang on st. christopher on the passenger side
open it up tonight the devil can ride

my personal fave of waits' has to be "Kentucky Avenue" from blue valentine

how about this one for a sentimental tom waits song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XewO1DB9 ... 20waits%20

only heard tom singing this for the 1st time a few months ago before that it was just crystal gayle singing it i had heard.....i'd like to hear mr. macgowan sing ths!

Tom certainly deserves to do better here in the states. He will, of course, have to contend with other "essential" artists such as the Simpson girls and whatever "American Idol" also-rans are out and about on the road.

This country is great for recognizing talent. Why, the Ramones are bigger now then ever before. Just count the 13 year olds sporting classic tees (Joey, Johnny, Dee Dee and TOMMY) that they picked up on mom's credit card at Hot Topic. Too bad three of the band members had to pass on for it to be so.

Here's hoping Mr. Waits will be alive to see his propers, though I'm sure he really probably doesn't give a shit, thank Christ.

"Pretend that you owe me nothing
And all the world is green
We can bring back the old days again
And all the world is green"

O'Blivion wrote: Tom's shows TRANSPORT you...He's one of THOSE GUYS. Like Mark Twain or Leadbelly, or a cross between them. The real thing.

I am filled with joyful anticipation of the Chicago show Wednesday evening! By all accounts his prior Orphan Tour shows have been amazing. If you don't hear from me again, it will be because I will have died and gone to heaven...

Esther wrote:

O'Blivion wrote: Tom's shows TRANSPORT you...He's one of THOSE GUYS. Like Mark Twain or Leadbelly, or a cross between them. The real thing.

I am filled with joyful anticipation of the Chicago show Wednesday evening! By all accounts his prior Orphan Tour shows have been amazing. If you don't hear from me again, it will be because I will have died and gone to heaven...

Please don't die...and give us a complete report of the show! I envy you.

The eggs chase the bacon round the frying pan..............

philipchevron wrote:The eggs chase the bacon round the frying pan..............

you got to meet me by the nuckles of the skinnybone tree!

At long last, the 'Wait' is over, sorta

Tunes & Tix column by Tim Shellberg

BY TIM SHELLBERG
Times Correspondent

(from the Northwest Indiana Times)


It's no surprise that Tom Waits' Wednesday performance at Chicago's Auditorium Theatre sold out in a matter of minutes; his show here is his first since he hit the road seven years ago in support of "Mule Variations," his first album to sell a million copies, and only one of a brief nine-gig jaunt. Heck. Waits could line up nine dates in Chicago alone and they would all easily be filled to capacity.

Waits' genius fusion of skid row-meets Salvador Dali -- and that's a description that merely grazes the surface without getting scholarly -- hasn't aged at all; his first three albums, 1975's "Nighthawks at the Diner" particularly, would be manna to music fans today if they were brand new and simultaneously confounded the unadventurous ear.

More than two decades after the fact, his one-two punch of 1983's "Swordfishtrombones" and 1985's "Rain Dogs" remain high points in that decade's musical offerings. The masses, to a degree, may have caught up with Waits with his "Variations," yet his most recent album, 2004's "Real Gone," is arguably on par with "Trombones" and "Dogs," which places Waits in the rare league with the likes of Neil Young and Bob Dylan as artists who remain vital decades past their heyday.

This is certainly timeless stuff that generations of enlightened music fans will hitch their wagons to, and music that deserves to be handed down by those in the know; instead of "High School Musical," my girlfriend's 7-year-old son, for example, has been put on a steady diet of Waits, with "Nighthawks" at the starting point. Even better, he listened to nearly all of the two-album set. Here's hoping, though, that he's not 14 or 15 years old the next time Waits decides to hit the road.

Tom Waits | 8 p.m. Wednesday, Auditorium Theatre, 50 E. Congress Pkwy., Chicago (sold out)

http://nwitimes.com/articles/2006/08/09 ... 79e723.txt

@ the cleveland house of blues....goes on sale @ 12pm TODAY EST!!! HURRY!!! GOOD LUCK!

http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/05003 ... norcatid=1