Tom Waits:
Glitter and Doom Live

Tom Waits

Label: Anti-








Tom Waits has developed into a national treasure, the type of musician that can do no wrong and whose devoted cult waits tremulously for every new release. Though quite prolific in the '70s and the '80s, Waits now likes to take his time between each record. In fact, he has not released a disc of all-new material since 2004's Real Gone, (unless you count the sprawling odds and sods Orphans which came out in 2006). But no matter how much time elapses between a Waits record, he tends to tour even less. The only time I saw the man in concert was in 2006 and I had to drive from Maryland to Louisville. At even more of an extreme, people in line for the sold-out show had flown in from New York.

In 2008, Waits embarked on the Glitter and Doom tour, a journey that eschewed major markets for the likes of Knoxville and Columbus, Ohio. Though fans from all over certainly helped contribute to the carbon footprint by flocking south that summer to catch one of these instantly sold-out performances, Glitter and Doom Live will help ease the pain for the many of us who could not make the trip to Tulsa to catch this elusive eccentric at work. Just Waits' second live album since 1988's Big Time (not counting Nighthawks at the Diner), Glitter and Doom Live focuses mainly on material Waits put out in the last two decades.

There is something disingenuous about most live albums as their tracks tend to be pulled from different nights, formed into one set list. When compared to a bootlegged performance, where a night is captured warts and all, something about these doctored live discs take away from the immediacy and veracity of the performance. For anyone who has seen Tom Waits in concert, his between-song banter that focuses on ephemera, strange tales and jokes are just as essential to the performance as his songs. While Glitter and Doom Live does come with a bonus disc of Waits repartee (affectionately titled "Tom Tales"), most fans would probably prefer the organic experience of hearing these stories in their proper place: interwoven into the actual performance. Instead, the people behind this album leave only one tale, a story about eBay, right before the final track "Lucky Day," leaving the rest of the 15 tracks streamlined without any interaction.

Waits is one of our most adventurous musicians and Glitter and Doom Live demonstrates his willingness to push his songs into stranger territory in the live setting. First track "Lucinda/Ain't Goin' Down" transforms into a guttural dirge in this live version while "Such a Scream" changes from a minimalist shriek into a swinging cry of victory. As Waits leads his crack band (including son Casey's pounding, essential percussion) through a slinky "Dirt in the Ground," a dynamic "Singapore" and a swinging "Metropolitan Glide," it is really amazing how things can go from sinister to care-free to tender with such deft ease.

But, while Waits rarely produces a bad song, the track choices on Glitter and Doom Live do not represent his strongest material from the past 20 years. Sure, "Goin' Out West" and "Make it Rain" are classics, but I'd be happy to trade in Real Gone's "Trampled Rose" for "Don't Go Into That Barn" or Mule Variations' "Get Behind the Mule" for basically anything else on that record. However, any music at all from Waits is a gift, so set list quibbles are somewhat inconsequential and this collection is the next best thing to a high quality bootleg (stories intact) for those looking to share an evening with the elusive Tom Waits.

by David Harris