Yeah, I know... how did I not blog about this already? I intended to, honest. Better late than never, right?
And just to prove that good things do come to those who wait, NPR's All Songs Considered posted the whole concert. Yes, that's right. THE.WHOLE.FRICKIN.THING. All 2.5 amazing hours of it... every note... every whimsical story interlude... every cheer... every everything. It was also the last show of the US leg of his GLITTER AND DOOM tour and featured songs he's never performed live anywhere ever... not to mention that both of his sons accompanied him, which was very cool to witness, too.
Here's a quick wrap up of how we commemorated the occasion... the occasion of Tom Waits playing for our 6 month anniversary, that is. Yes, that's why he was here. Do not ruin my fantasy.
1. We got up early to start the day, trying not to be too decked out, because we didn't want to be one of those people, and because we were going to be trekking all around town on a humid July day.
2. Our first stop: the Midtown Art Cinema for a screening of THE ANIMATION SHOW. No sooner had I stepped out of the car, but a strap broke on my brand new heavy (not to be confused with the band) sandals that were reminiscent of the monsters that tried to kill me on my birthday, leaving me dragging one shoe as I walked.
3. Following the animated shorts, some of our plans had to be postponed while we went on a hunt for any kind of functional footwear at all... finding instead nothing but crap and chaos in the discount stores and then settling on an old pair of Chinese slip-ons that I've kept "in case of emergency" in my glove compartment for nearly 20 years -- thus justifying their existence at long last.
4. Next stop... well... it was raining and we were headed to a concert, so naturally we went to the cemetery. Historic Oakland Cemetery, of course, because P had never been. It was a dual purpose visit, serving as a quirky photo-op and as a voyeuristic excursion to see firsthand the destruction left by the freak tornado that ripped through downtown Atlanta back in March.
5. We left the cemetery and headed through downtown to make our way uptown to Ikea at Atlantic Station. There isn't any Tom Waits significance to an Ikea visit, unless Tom loves Swedish meatballs... let's just pretend he does. But on the way there, we were jarred awake by a car full of Armenians who wanted to make a left turn from several lanes too far over. They instead made a left turn into my van. It was still drivable and the police report went smoothly, but it did leave me pretty shaken for the rest of the day... and my poor passenger front door now makes a sound that... well, only Tom Waits can make, ironically.
6. And finally, on to the show. We had to wait an extra hour for Mr. Waits to take the stage, because apparently he was waiting for everyone to get there. No joke... it's what the announcer said. I ask you, who does that? I wonder if we'd been running late and called ahead, if he would've held the show for us. I'm going to imagine he would, because it's still my fantasy. Other than that, it was everything I imagined it would be and more... as many times as I've heard his voice in the 30 years that I've loved listening to him, I don't think it ever prepared me for the real thing live. It vibrates right down to your very core and you can feel every last gravely grumble in your skull. Go have a listen and try to imagine that, why don't ya.
