Big Time

I feel like Big Time might be the kind of film that's unwatchable to those who aren't fans of Tom Waits, but at the same time, everyone owes it to themselves to at least try Tom Waits at some point in their lives. So, for the unitiated, take in a few of his 1970s or '80s albums, and if you mostly like what you hear, put Big Time right at the top of your watchlist.

That all being said, I'll admit I still do not fully get Tom Waits, I don't love every song of his, and I have to be in a certain mood to listen to him. But when that mood comes around, his style is unlike anything else and is endlessly fascinating. You notice the gruff voice before anything else (which is his style, even though I know his earlier stuff has more conventional vocals), as well as the often weird instrumentation, but then there are also affecting and evocative lyrics and some surprisingly strong melodies buried beneath all the chaos.

Big Time feels a little more humorous than most Waits albums, as those can tend to make me feel more melancholic than anything else. Tom Waits doesn't turn everything into broad comedy though; there's a slyness and understated nature to the humor (which is also bombastic at times) that feels unique and distinctly Tom Waits-ey.

I dug it. It's probably not for everyone, but it's an experiment worth checking out for anyone curious.

Big Time is magnificent,A live tour-de-force by one of America's greatest performers.It is a concert film of his Frank's Wild Years Tour circa 1987,but I am not certain it was filmed live in concert.Some performances,if not all,have a staged studio feel to them,but I'm probably wrong,and it does not matter anyway,as all the performances are truly excellent representations of his songs.There are little vignettes between each number,which are strange and entertaining.A gunshot sound is heard when it cuts from one thing to another,like in Masculine Feminine,Tom Waits appears in nearly all of the between songs vignettes.In one he is seen sitting on the floor of the theater's washrooms snapping playing cards into a hat on the floor several feet away from him,saying"She loves me,she loves me not" and "ooh!Got one-lost one"when a card falls off the hat onto the floor.Symbolizing the fall of the Italian socialist-communist regime.He is seen addressing the "audience" at times in his wonderful winning style of between-song-banter,which will either make you laugh out loud or at least smile real big.In one he is the usher,telling the viewer that you are late.And then wants to sell you a watch from his catalog displayed on his forearm.In another he is working the ticket booth (presumably taking over for the mysterious Oriental lady who was seen doing it earlier in the film,and who appears a few more times)fast asleep until the phone rings and he says blearily "I'm here!" and then starts buying and selling stocks and bonds.Please do not let any of this scare you off from seeing this film,I'm just a terrible reviewer.Instead of concentrating on this little stuff,I should be describing the important stuff,which is of course the music.I would like to list the songs performed,but I don't feel like searching through my clutter for the information.But I can tell you they are all culled from Swordfishtrombones,Rain Dogs and Frank's Wild Years,w/1 or 2 exceptions.It is a shame that it is so difficult to obtain a copy of this film.There are a lot of Waits fans out there doing without.I was extremely lucky to get my VHS copy.I ordered it from Blockbuster and 3 years later they called and said it was there.40 miles away.It was well worth it.If you are a fan of Waits,you owe it to yourself to obtain a copy somewhere,somehow of Big Time.It cries out to be released on DVD,just listen...be vewy vewy quiet..."release me"...hear that?

There is a brilliance in the seemingly unintentional fluidity of the music is Waits' power. It is theatrically awful, in the sense that it includes music that is interesting in its ferocity and its failures but also exists as a remodeling of what is tangible about consciously produced sound. It is music, undeniably, it is watching MTV in the mid eighties through a dirty window in a smoke filled room with an obese man dancing and singing along. It is an event, a living process and a benevolent cultural tumor. See it. Allow it. Learn.

I grew aware of a certain truth that is unrelated to reality. The truth of a person. Tom Waits is an instrument of himself. He has fashioned a persona that is so real, and simultaneously so fantastical that it cannot be fraudulent. His presence is haunting, human entirely aware and yet still skewed. His music is that of perspectives. Each note, of each strange instrument carries its own voice. The collective whole does not then become an singly integrated piece but a turbulent chorus of voices and desires. It's as though the instruments are arguing about which direction they are going and in their argument become the songs, the melodies, as though they had no intention of doing so but happened to. There is no good excuse that his music has not prevented trifling, logical and in-specific pop music. I blame myself.

A must for any Tom Waits fan...but..."not for everyone." Waits is; strange, funny and a talented song writer, musician and actor. He sings, plays piano, and guitar over his all original material is this wild live show, with added video...I first heard him in 1979 on a college radio station, he's not top 40 material. I think he is great...read the lyrics to his song "Cold Cold Ground" and maybe you'll see what I mean. Most people can't get beyond his gravel-like voice, but those who can will know what a great poet/artist he is...usually musicians. It's a shame this is not been made available in DVD. It is out of print on VHS. I bought a used VHS of this concert/movie on ebay for around $30. I suggest buying a Waits CD like "Rain Dogs", or "Franks Wild Years"...or watching him act in "Down By Law, or "Iron Weed" before viewing this. You'll like him, or you won't. I believe Tom Waits is an American original...one of a kind.

Great footage of Waits and his band. Carney on reeds and Ribot on guitars are well worth the listening, if you can find the video. Waits outrageous on stage.

Ribot stayed with Waits throughout the '90s, as well as recording on his own and with others; Carney one of the hot jazzers of the late '90s with his group Oranj Symphonette.

Songs are from the Swordfishtrombones/Frank's Wild Years/Rain Dogs era. You'll never hear them the same way after seeing the film.