Back in the 1970s, I had the great good fortune of seeing Tom Waits -- this was, I think, on the "Small Change" tour -- in a 2,000-seat venue, a university's Fine Arts Center. Just before the start of the show, a kid from the group that promoted concerts at the college came out to the front of the stage to make a couple of announcements. He listed some upcoming shows, reminded us all that there was absolutely no smoking in the Fine Arts Center, and then asked us to give a warm welcome to Tom Waits.
Waits shuffles out, steps up to the microphone, fires up a cigarette, and asks (in his inimitable voice), "What's that the kid said about smoking?"
He and his band are brilliant, playing for maybe 90 minutes. The crowd is enthralled. When they step off, the same kid comes back to inform us that Mr. Waits and his band will be back for a second set after a short break. After a few minutes, Waits comes back out, by himself, to inform us that there's been a misunderstanding, that the set we'd heard was all they'd planned for that particular evening. But since we'd been promised more and were all sittin' there waiting for more, he and the band would come back out and play us a few more songs. "Just give us a couple of minutes and we'll be back."
Obviously, the crowd was thrilled, but not as much as at the end of the second set, which lasted a good hour. Thirty-five years later, I still remember this as one of the best shows I've attended.
Waits shuffles out, steps up to the microphone, fires up a cigarette, and asks (in his inimitable voice), "What's that the kid said about smoking?"
He and his band are brilliant, playing for maybe 90 minutes. The crowd is enthralled. When they step off, the same kid comes back to inform us that Mr. Waits and his band will be back for a second set after a short break. After a few minutes, Waits comes back out, by himself, to inform us that there's been a misunderstanding, that the set we'd heard was all they'd planned for that particular evening. But since we'd been promised more and were all sittin' there waiting for more, he and the band would come back out and play us a few more songs. "Just give us a couple of minutes and we'll be back."
Obviously, the crowd was thrilled, but not as much as at the end of the second set, which lasted a good hour. Thirty-five years later, I still remember this as one of the best shows I've attended.