LATE 1970s BROADCAST RECORDING FROM SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA
This recording, captured at the State Theatre, Sydney, Australia in March 1979, features a captivating performance by Tom Waits from atime when the maverick crooner was on the cusp of a major change in the style and substance of his recorded output and his live shows.
The material performed here comes largely from what were his most recent three albums at the time, with classics like ‘Tom Traubert’sBlues’ and ‘Jitterbug Boy’ rubbing shoulders with newer cuts like ‘Red Shoes By The Drugstore.’
A number of covers, including Gerswin’s ‘Summertime,’ a delightful ‘Do The Hokey Pokey,’ and a haunting ‘Since I Fell For You’ - albeitone replete with a typical amusing Waits narrative inserted - make for a nice diversion from the records, but the show hangs togetherperfectly as only a Tom Waits performance can, with the songs and chat part of a silky smooth delivery (Waits even jokes “and I’m PerryComo” during band introductions) all at once making for much more than a mere “gig.”
1. Romeo Is Bleeding 06:392. Annie's Back In Town 03:023. Jitterbug Boy/Better Off Without A Wife 07:014. I Wish I Was In New Orleans 05:425. Since I Fell For You 02:346. Red Shoes 04:227. Silent Night/Xmas Card From A Hooker In Minneapolis 06:128. Do The Hokey Pokey/Pasties And A G-String 05:239. Summertime/Burma Shave 12:3410. Closing Credits (Encore) 03:5811. Tom Traubert's Blues 07:3512. Small Change/Big Spender 10:09
