I look at my blog page, and I notice it is roughly every 2 months that I write on it. It scares me to think that the last time I wrote was June, what scares me is I remember writing the post like it was only last week. None the less, I have been a busy bunny, writing up my research. In this time I have also done some pretty cool things; it was not all work.
My highlight of the 2 months since I last posted up, was my Tom Waits voyage of discovery. Prior to July 14th, a time known as BT (Before Tom), i was a fair weathered fan. I had the typical amazon.com best seller Tom Waits albums, the must haves. Any fair weathered fan will tell you these are Closing time, Rain dogs, and possibly swordfishtrombones. I did not care for the last two much, but appreciated Closing Time. So my girlfriend was a big TW fan, and was unable to go to the Dublin gigs, as she was away. We planned a trip to Barcelona as we had wanted to see the city anyway, and got some tickets for his show there. This takes us to AT (After Tom).
So the gig was spectacular. Recognised maybe 10 of the 25 songs, but loved the 15 I did not know. The ten songs I recognised sounded better up on that stage than on the CDs. I was converted and stuck the cds on as soon as I got back to Dublin. I hunted down the set list, and went about getting the missing albums. My collection now boasts a further 7 albums, and the collection is still growing.
Fast forward two weeks, to the Dublin gigs in the Rat Cellar Theatre in the Phoenix Park. I am working the bar for the Wednesday and Friday gig, leaving me free on the Thursday. I managed to get one of the resale tickets and was set to see him a second time. In the meantime, I also managed to hear the majority of the set from Wednesday. I really wish I had a seat to experience it properly. The thursday night comes along and I find my seat is amazing, right in front of the stage dead centre. Once again an amazing experience. Needless to say I also experienced the Friday show from the wings and heard the majority of it.
There is no doubt but I am a convert. I did not realise the depth to his lyrics or the power of the songs, the band he had with him were really on form. Now I do take on board the critics view that his voice is shot, that the sound in Dublin was poor at times, that he did not play Martha or what ever song you first made out to, but it truly was an experience that will be tough to match.
If I may come back to the Barcelona trip, I can safely say it is my favorite city. The weather, the night life, the sights, the tastes, everything about the place is a dream. The place is so good, stay tuned for a full blog dedicated to it and the experience. I hope this will appear within the next few days.
Signing off for now.
I enclose a photo of my trip above
