Is Tom Waits on the "Stuff White People Like" list?
Along the U.S. Gulf Coast, many people were served lattes or sold books and records by perfectly ordinary employees yesterday. Every porkpie hat wearing, vest/weird tie/beat up suit jacket sporting hipster male within at least a 200 mile radius, along with all their female counterparts of various plumage, descended on the Saenger Theatre in Mobile, Alabama to see Tom Waits, their King.
Mobile can probably be compared to Bakersfield, for west coasters, and somewhere in New Jersey for folks from the east. It's the kind of place where you can establish common friends or relatives within two degrees. So the news that Tom Waits scheduled a concert here was surprising, to say the least.
Being of the pushing 40, hipster bent (though it pains me to admit it), and a really big fan, I maxed out a credit card and bought tickets. But only two, cause that's all that was allowed. And you have to show ID to pick them up, as you're on your way in to the venue. And the other person you bought the ticket for has to be with you. And you don't get to pick your seat, because Ticketbastard is the worst thing to ever happen to concerts in America. Did I kill myself trying to get an orchestra ticket the minute they went on sale, only to end up way back on the left, in row T? Yes. Did some stupid girl come up to us after the concert and say "I was in the 2nd row, and I bought my ticket 4 days ago"? Yes. The hate is strong, but I digress.
After looking forward to this show for two months, it seemed to be over in an instant, although he played two hours straight with an encore. The set was simple, but the lighting transformed it for almost every song. Tom preened and softshoed and twiddled his hat like a sideshow barker on the outer levels of Hades, performing atop a giant drum that poofed smoke when he stomped out the beat. Looking at the videos available on YouTube, it seems like a pretty set performance from city to city (I think he even recycles some of the banter).
The fact that I could go downtown and walk in to see one of my favorite artists, as opposed to my youth, when any concert you wanted to see was a 1-6 hour drive away, made up for the weirdness of buying the ticket. Seeing all those people converge on my little downtown was I don't know...amusing? Bizarre? Extra entertainment value, at any rate.
Before and after the show, I saw lots of old friends and acquaintances, people I haven't seen in ages or only talk to on the internet. I stayed out until 2 a.m. drinking with k_navit and some other people who may or may not have ljs. I felt like I was in my 20's again, except that we were talking about our kids and businesses instead of whatever we used to talk about then. (What did we talk about then? Bands? Other people? I really don't remember). From last night, I do remember part of a conversation that related to the movie "Coffee and Cigarettes," so KdG, this is for you.
Mobile can probably be compared to Bakersfield, for west coasters, and somewhere in New Jersey for folks from the east. It's the kind of place where you can establish common friends or relatives within two degrees. So the news that Tom Waits scheduled a concert here was surprising, to say the least.
Being of the pushing 40, hipster bent (though it pains me to admit it), and a really big fan, I maxed out a credit card and bought tickets. But only two, cause that's all that was allowed. And you have to show ID to pick them up, as you're on your way in to the venue. And the other person you bought the ticket for has to be with you. And you don't get to pick your seat, because Ticketbastard is the worst thing to ever happen to concerts in America. Did I kill myself trying to get an orchestra ticket the minute they went on sale, only to end up way back on the left, in row T? Yes. Did some stupid girl come up to us after the concert and say "I was in the 2nd row, and I bought my ticket 4 days ago"? Yes. The hate is strong, but I digress.
After looking forward to this show for two months, it seemed to be over in an instant, although he played two hours straight with an encore. The set was simple, but the lighting transformed it for almost every song. Tom preened and softshoed and twiddled his hat like a sideshow barker on the outer levels of Hades, performing atop a giant drum that poofed smoke when he stomped out the beat. Looking at the videos available on YouTube, it seems like a pretty set performance from city to city (I think he even recycles some of the banter).
The fact that I could go downtown and walk in to see one of my favorite artists, as opposed to my youth, when any concert you wanted to see was a 1-6 hour drive away, made up for the weirdness of buying the ticket. Seeing all those people converge on my little downtown was I don't know...amusing? Bizarre? Extra entertainment value, at any rate.
Before and after the show, I saw lots of old friends and acquaintances, people I haven't seen in ages or only talk to on the internet. I stayed out until 2 a.m. drinking with k_navit and some other people who may or may not have ljs. I felt like I was in my 20's again, except that we were talking about our kids and businesses instead of whatever we used to talk about then. (What did we talk about then? Bands? Other people? I really don't remember). From last night, I do remember part of a conversation that related to the movie "Coffee and Cigarettes," so KdG, this is for you.
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