Tom Waits at the Opera House in Detroit

[Leo]

My head didn't explode after all; it was just immersed in the sweetest, swinginest sounds I've heard in a long, long time. The 27 year wait since the last time I saw him was rewarded with an incredible 2 hour show.

 

Highlights included Christmas Card From A Hooker In Minneapolis (first performance on this tour) and the first encore of Murder In The Red Barn, Get Behind The Mule, and a sing-a-long It Rains On Me. Murder In The Red Barn was just all base, dirty blues. When he broke into Get Behind The Mule, the crowd began a supportive, rythmic clap that Waits interrupted saying, "You probably have better timing than me ... it's just displaced enthusiasm ... maybe you could just groove silently to yourselves," and continued with an amazing rendition. We were then invited to participate in the chorus on It Rains On Me.

 

The unofficiol setlist:

 

Make It Rain

God's Away On Business

Shore Leave

Way Down In The Hole

Dead And Lovely

Falling Down

Christmas Card From A Hooker In Minneapolis

Invitation To The Blues

House Where Nobody Lives

Eyeball Kid

Who's Been Talken / 'Till The Money Runs Out

Circus

Trampled Rose

Lost At The Bottom Of The World

Sins Of The Father

Shake It

 

Murder In The Red Barn

Get Behind The Mule

It Rains On Me

 

Day After Tomorrow

Goin' Out West

 

The plain and honest anti-war sentiments of Day After Tomorrow was continually interrupted by concurring applause and cheers. It was one of many emotional moments.

 

Wendy, Adam, Chris, Michael and I, having a pre-show bite to eat at a sidewalk table across the street, were entertained by the dichotomy provided by Waits pork-pie-hat-wearing crowd competing for the evening's grace with football jersey-wearing Detroit Lions fans. Hilarious! A once-in-a-lifetime people watching opportunity before what hopefully does not prove to be another once-in-27 years Waits show.

 

(Erin: no birthday tributes, but happy birthday anyway!)

[paul137]

an absolutly amazing show. i could not stop smiling the entire show and it was amazing how you could hear a pin drop. day after tomorrow was the definite highlight for me.

[JeffTweedysFatStomach]

I, too, was at the Detroit show. Was also there for Tom in Chicago. I'm a Chicago native but I have to say the Detroit crowd was much better and I think Waits took note as well. He was much more talkative and his entire band seemed like they were having a lot more fun. The show, overall, was far superior (although my seats were far inferior - fifth row center in Chicago, balcony front row in Detroit [still not a bad seat at all]) and I loved the singalong on Rains on Me. I can't wait for the Orphans boxed set and I hope that I get a chance to see Tom again some day.

[dazzler]

Cross-Eyed,

 

ignore my PM. I'm a little bit drunk and I see your setlist now. And I wish I had all the money we spent on dope. I'd by me a used car lot, and I think i'd never sell any of em. I'd just drive me a new car every day of the week dependending on how I feel. Now I'm just gonna put on that album by Little Anthony and the Imperials and pop my gum and arch my back. HA

[Leo]

Cross-Eyed,

 

ignore my PM. I'm a little bit drunk and I see your setlist now. And I wish I had all the money we spent on dope. I'd by me a used car lot, and I think i'd never sell any of em. I'd just drive me a new car every day of the week dependending on how I feel. Now I'm just gonna put on that album by Little Anthony and the Imperials and pop my gum and arch my back. HA

 

Hey Dazzler, for chrissakes

do you want to know the truth of it?

.....

 

Christmas Card so sets me up then knocks me down -- Thanks. You'd of loved the show. Akron and Cleveland tonight .... Dude -- GO!

[dazzler]

Hey Dazzler, for chrissakes

do you want to know the truth of it?

.....

 

Christmas Card so sets me up then knocks me down -- Thanks. You'd of loved the show. Akron and Cleveland tonight .... Dude -- GO!

 

I popped that Aussie show from 79 in as a sad second best and Christmas Card was so good I didn't mind not going. Then I see he played it and it was a little kick in the nuts, but that's life.

[tupeloattheBottleneck]

I, too, was at the Detroit show. Was also there for Tom in Chicago. I'm a Chicago native but I have to say the Detroit crowd was much better and I think Waits took note as well. He was much more talkative and his entire band seemed like they were having a lot more fun. The show, overall, was far superior (although my seats were far inferior - fifth row center in Chicago, balcony front row in Detroit [still not a bad seat at all]) and I loved the singalong on Rains on Me. I can't wait for the Orphans boxed set and I hope that I get a chance to see Tom again some day.

 

 

 

interesting me thinks the Chicago crowd was really really great. But I'll take your word for it.

 

 

 

Cutting off beer sales at 8-830 may have mellowed some of us older folks a bit but other than that

 

 

 

the crowd was near perfect.

[JeffTweedysFatStomach]

interesting me thinks the Chicago crowd was really really great. But I'll take your word for it.

 

 

 

Cutting off beer sales at 8-830 may have mellowed some of us older folks a bit but other than that

 

 

 

the crowd was near perfect.

 

 

Well where I sat - floor row EE - I was surrounded by people who were having conversations through many of his songs and did very little - if any - clapping. A couple next to me were constantly checking their watches through the encores. It was, from my experience, the worst crowd I've seen at a concert (with the exception of the annoying insanity of some punk bands I saw in my younger years).

[Wendy]

The Detroit audience in the lower balcony was excellent, and I could not have been happier about that.

 

I just looooooved this show. It was like nothing I have ever seen, nor likely will see again unless I get lucky enough to see him perform again. He is definitely a genre all his own.

 

I am a late convert to Tom Waits. I had always avoided him because of the weird voice, and I was just never interested in devoting any time to getting into him. But my Detroit buddies are such huge fans that I felt really compelled to see this show, because he doesn't tour much, you know, better see him now, and particularly since I would have the benefit of seeing him with great fans. And the rush for tickets was .

 

First off, my friend, Adam, made me a mix CD, a sort of introduction to Tom Waits, which we listened to during the late night post-London-Ontario-Wilco-concert drive back to Detroit. Now, I'm a really good captive audience in the car at night, and with Adam's help I finally got past the scratchy voice, and really REALLY listened, and he included all the right songs for me to finally "get it." Now I love the scratchy voice. And then Leo made me a mix CD of the common tour tunes, and that also did the trick just before the show. Thanks, guys, for the expert help.

 

There was one song that just moved me so much, triggered a "moment" for me - House Where Nobody Lives " from Mule Variations, just got to me. And then of course, he performed it at the show and it was just outstanding, so emotional. Not too many artists do that for me (JT can on occasion, "How to Fight Loneliness" in particular) and it is profound when it happens.

 

Now I'm joining the ranks of the Waits fans waiting in line to buy the new 3-disc set. What a great experience. I love falling in love with new artists.

 

Next up ... Dylan!

[tupeloattheBottleneck]

"Well where I sat - floor row EE - I was surrounded by people who were having conversations through many of his songs and did very little - if any - clapping. A couple next to me were constantly checking their watches through the encores. It was, from my experience, the worst crowd I've seen at a concert (with the exception of the annoying insanity of some punk bands I saw in my younger years).

 

 

 

 

 

sorry to hear that. Having read and experienced to the contrary I would have to say that you had some really bad luck... The Auditorium hold close to 4k and it sold out in about 5 minutes. I thought the crowd and night was filled with the kind of electricity you'd expect for such a special occasion. That said, I'm sorry you had a bad experience don't let it reflect on our fair city as a whole.