Tom Waits, Church Pews

I guess it is fitting that the seats at the Ryman are church pews. It is the church of country music (hell, of American music), and my favorite guest pastor was holding forth on the stage. Tom Waits is and always has been one of my favorite artists, but his rare forays onto the concert stage had me thinking that I would never see him live. Needless to say, this night was a dream come true.

Our seats were seven rows back in the balcony on the dead center aisle, so our view of the stage was excellent. The staging was very minimalist, with backlit scrims that subtly changed color adding the only 'show' to the show. Tom was accompanied by his son Casey on drums, a guitarist, keyboardist/percussionist, and the excellent Larry Taylor on bass. The setlist focused on relatively recent releases such as Real Gone and Mule Variations, but Tom did dip into his back catalogue for a lovely rendition of Tom Traubet's Blues and a raucous finale of Heart Attack and Vine. He was manic on stage, often careening around the mic stand or playing his guitar. He only played piano on a couple of numbers, accompanied only by Larry Taylor on the upright. His voice is a thing of wonder. Because of his recent singing style, many think his voice is shot. They couldn't be more wrong. On this night, he showed off all aspects from the hoarse whisper to the shrieky falsetto and all were excellent.

The biggest surprise of the night for me was the fact that he didn't talk a whole lot. He is well known for his lengthy ancedotal song set-ups, and he kept these to a minimum. When he did, he was hilarious. He claimed he hadn't played in Nashville in 17 years because his manager told him not to 'oversaturate the market'.

I'm not sure why he made this short tour (Lousville, Chicago, Ashville, Nashville, Cleveland, Memphis, St. Louis) as he has no new product out. Still, I'm thrilled to be able to say that I've seen him live. An incredible show.

Setlist:
Make It Rain, Hoist That Rag, Shore Leave, God's Away On Business, All The World Is Green, Blue Valentine, Down In The Hole, Cemetery Polka, Tom Traubert's Blues, House Where Nobody Lives, Cause Of It All, 'Til The Money Runs Out, Murder In The Red Barn, Shake It,What's He Building In There, Trampled Rose, Get Behind The Mule, Don't Go Into That Barn, It Rains On Me, Sins Of The Father, Going Out West, Day After Tommorrow, Heartattack And Vine

From youtube, a performance of Tom Traubert's Blues, shot from approximately where were sitting (this was the same basic view I had, except for where you can't see Tom's head!):

http://youtube.com/watch?v=SUJCXMinOII