I’ll eventually get around to writing a proper review of what will almost inevitably end up as My Favourite Gig of 2008. Yes, I know it’s only August and I shouldn’t be writing the rest of my year off already, but this was a Tom Waits concert, Goddamn it! It’d take something pretty spectacular to knock it off pole position. I suppose a surprise birthday festival in my living room might do the trick, but only so long as the organisers manage to get Jimi, Janis, Kurt & Elvis as the headliners. Even then I’d probably be late in writing a review.

Anyhow, what follows is a setlist for Tom Waits’ 24th July gig at Le Grand Rex in Paris courtesy of the fansite The Eyeball Kid. What follows that is my first attempt at online gig reconstruction. Various public-spirited people have uploaded bits of the gig to YouTube, so I thought it might be fairly public-spirited of me to present it all in some kind of sequential order. I don’t know if I’m the only person to think of doing this, but if I’m not then maybe some other public-spirited person can put all the various efforts into some kind of a sequential order, too.

I could only find a dozen songs from the night, and resisted the temptation to splice in material from other ‘Glitter and Doom’ tour dates. If other tracks turn up then I’ll add them as and when. The songs in bold on the playlist are the ones that have been captured by cameraphone. Unsuprisingly, the sound and picture quality can vary quite dramatically, but I suppose that’s kind of apt. It really was one of those you had to be there nights.

Lucinda/Ain’t Going Down To The Well
Raindogs / Russian Dance
Falling Down
All The World Is Green
I’ll Shoot The Moon
Cemetery Polka
Cold Cold Ground
Eyeball Kid
Way Down In The Hole
The Briar And The Rose
You Can Never Hold Back Spring
Lucky Day (aborted)
Tom Traubert’s Blues
Innocent When You Dream
Lie To Me
Hoist That Rag
Bottom Of The World
November
Hang Down Your Head
Get Behind The Mule
Dirt In The Ground
Make It Rain

Chocolate Jesus
Trampled Rose
Come On Up To The House

Lucinda/Ain’t Going Down To The Well from videodharma:


Raindogs & Russian Dance from Stunneddotorg:


Falling Down from videodharma:


All The World Is Green from Ragged Words:

Eyeball Kid (featuring the mirror-encrusted Glitterball Hat!) from Mr Percy:

The Briar and the Rose from lorusinaqua:

You Can Never Hold Back Spring from Rockerparis:

Tom Traubert’s Blues from Stunneddotorg:

Lie To Me from Rockerparis:

Hoist That Rag from lorusinaqua:


Make It Rain & Trampled Rose from Rockerparis:

Trampled Rose from Rockerparis:

Thanks to the various Raindogs who contributed clips. Maybe next time he plays I’ll have a decent cameraphone.