I noticed I never really dedicated a post to the band accompanying Mr. Waits on the Glitter and Doom path. So, here goes;
Patrick Warren - keyboards
Omar Torrez - guitars
Vincent Henry - horns
Casey Waits - drums and percussion
Seth Ford-Young - bass
Sullivan Waits - congas and clarinet (and selling t-shirts and books after the shows...)
In Atlanta (and Birmingham?) Larry Taylor played guitar on several songs.
22 comments:
Omar Torrez was astonishing in Birmingham ... as I'm sure he has been throughout the tour. He brought something really special to each song.
Of course, the whole show was amazing.
What sort of tshirts are on sale?
Robb, they had t-shirts with printed images of some of the oil stains he has photographed. I bought two diff. ones, but didn't realize until after I was back at the hotel that they gave me one in the wrong size. If anyone wants to trade a large for an x-lrg, let me know.
Changing the subject completely, anyone noticed that the Tom Waits Library link ain't working - and hasn't been for a while?
Tom Waits interviews himself:
http://weblogs.variety.com/thesetlist/2008/05/tom-waits-inter.html
Larry Taylor only played in Atlanta.
dr pod, yeah, and with the worst possible timing.. I'm kinda surprised it's not being talked about more. Whatever the issue is, I hope the owner gets things resolved soon, his site is truly irreplaceable.
I thought I read somewhere Larry Taylor played in Birmingham as well...?
Firstly, thank you eyeball kid for this excellent resource. It's heightened expectations for the forthcoming European shows... On which note, could we have a new thread for suggestions for watering-holes pre and post shows? Thanks once again.
Thanks for all of the good work, Eyeball. Also, Vincent Henry was awesome on the horns in Dallas.
No, Larry Taylor was not in Birmingham (or if he was, he was well hidden and Tom made no mention of it).
Omar Torrez pales in comparison with Duke Robillard. And Vincent Henry is amazing.
I have to respectfully disagree with Rubiao regarding Omar and Duke. I felt Duke did well for the last tour, a more stripped down, blues show. But I felt Omar was the perfect choice for this particular tour, being more versatile and spontaneous, and the Latin influenced playing always seems to work well with Wait's tunes. But that's just one man's opinion.
I saw the Chicago Orphans Tour and it was the first time I saw Tom Waits, so I loved it but deep in the back of my mind I thought...it didn't meet my expectations. Then I saw Columbus and Atlanta on this tour and it was everything I thought a Waits concert would be and that is for 2 reasons....
Horns...and Omar Torrez
Duke is great no doubt but for a waits guitarist you need to do more than just blues.
The only guitarist I would rather see play with Waits after seeing Torrez is Ribot
I'm sure Marc would have done it, but he probably already had everything booked for the summer by the time Tom got around to making his plans.
so here's hoping that in the future Tom Waits schedules his tour around Marc Ribot rather than his kids' summer vacation ;-)
of course, from Tom's point of view, taking his kids around the world is much more worthwhile, as it should be, than pleasing every fan with his lineup.
All I can say is that the band is outstanding, also when you consider that together they have only been playing together two months (including rehearsals) and had to learn 70 songs or so that they have never played before!
For those following the audience recordings coming out of the tour, see how quickly the band gels and progresses from the Pheonix shows, to
El Paso just a couple days later. I saw them in Jacksonville, and was blown away from the very back of the upper balcony.
I had no idea what was in store for me a few days later in Atlanta!
And for an example of where the band is now (and some great lead by Omar Torrez) on 'Make It Rain',
see this clip someone posted from the Atlanta show: http://youtube.com/watch?v=_yYdh3L5xco
Quick comments on the band since the genious of Tom is readily apparent to all in the know! =D
Omar Torrez: Dare I dub this the start of the "ToMar" phase of Tom's guitar sound going forward?
Anyone who is a fan of Tom knows his penchant for exploring rhythms (ie Swordfishtrombone).
Tom is about to discover what an amazing copilot he has found in Omar for further exploration rhythmically
(see the development of "Hoist That Rag" throughout the tour!). As Tom lets the band step out more and more,
expect to be blown away by Omar, and any comparisons to Tom's previous guitarists to fall by the wayside as his playing stands on its own!
Vincent Henry: Wow. This cat is amazing. I was hooked from the moment I heard his various horns, to the AMAZING harmonica playing and sound he gets with it. I look forward to tracking down his work previous to this (love his work on the Amy Winehouse 'Back In Black' album).
Seth Ford-Young: While having recorded in the studio with Tom in the past, he was brought
in as a last minute replacement for Larry Taylor, the long time Tom bassist who was originally
slated and announced for this tour. Seth has one less week of rehearsals than any other member, and he is anchoring things VERY nicely!
Patric Warren: Probably the most understated and "in the background" player on this tour since he is not only playing keys, but also providing the samples and sounds at various times (ie the "whip" sound on 'Get Behind The Mule'). Check out his discography on cduniverse.com to see how many big-name artists know about this "well kept secret"... =D
Casey Waits: 22 years old, and showing the maturity and chops of someone much older and wiser. He is anchoring down the sound with the most primal and necessary rhythms possible, instead of trying to sound like a Neil Peart wannabe and overplaying which most cats his age do. That is no dis on Neil Peart BTW, just a nod to Casey that any musicians will appreciate.
Sullivan Waits: 15 years old and playing great sounding Clarinet alongside Vincent's sax on a few songs, as well as conga on another. Sounds great, and it'll be interesting to see how he progresses as a musician!
Europe (and perhaps possibly Tom as well?!!!) have no idea what they are in store for with this band!
PS, thanks Eyeball Kid for this blog! It has been a fabulous companion to my roadtrip to see those shows that I was lucky enough to see!
See my post about the Jacksonville show for details but in a nutshell, the show this time around was an unforgettable live experience.The band clicked on all cylinders, and it seemed like Tom really let them fly on the songs that were played previously on the Orphans 2006 tour, which gave them a totally different feel and sound(FOR THE BETTER!!)With such a great backing band, Tom Waits hurled himself into the music fearlessly and we all benefitted from it!!I can only imagine what lies in store for Europe, and especially Ireland.As a wise man once said,"There are three kinds of concerts, good ones, great ones, and Tom Waits concerts, which are in a class all their own." We're fans for life,Cheers to all from Florida-Mike and Janet:)
refering to the dr pod comment about tomwaitslibrary: does anyone know if there is something similar to the sites lyrics section in the form of a book or another site. that is tom waits lyrics annotated to make them more comprehensible. it was/is such a great site and it is a shame its down.
Hey folks! Im probably not posting this in the right section, but ticketmaster.ie has tickets available for all 3 shows in Dublin!! I just checked for the hell of it and bagged me Block A Row S!! for the last date of the tour, not bad eh? Paris, Edinburgh, Dublin here I come!!!
Thanks eyeballkid,love this site.
Thanks a million for the heads up on the Ratcellar Tickets Rainpuppy - I'm in the same row, same night!
The band on this tour is SICK, SICK, SICK! As such, I have just started and dedicated a blog to them at http://www.hoistthatrag.com/
Feel free to stop by and walk the plank.
See you all in Edinburgh and Dublin.... Assuming the tickets arrive in time.
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