Tom Waits plays L.A. benefit, hints at tour

When Tom Waits emerges from his demented world of one-eyed midgets and skin-diseased chihuahuas to play live, people stand up and take notice. Even if it is just three songs...

As Brooklyn Vegan reports, Waits is playing a Los Angeles benefit show for the Bet Tzedek Legal Services-House of Justice on Jan. 22. The event will honor Waits' "longtime friend and ally," attorney Kevin Marks.

"He has pulled my goyim tuchas out of many a fire," said Waits, dropping some Yiddish for good measure.

Bet Tzedek ("House of Justice" in Hebrew) provides legal services for the poor, elderly and infirm in the Los Angeles area. Waits will only perform a few songs at the organization's benefit gala (and tickets are $400 a pop), but in traditional Waitsian fashion, the man hinted at a possible forthcoming tour.

"Somehow we return like the salmon to perform in important towns like Nimrod, Minnesota; Square Butt, Montana; Peculiar, Missouri; or Diagonal, Iowa," Waits said. "We just may be coming to a theatre near you."

Hey, I know some people in Peculiar. Good folks there, yessir. Stay tuned to see whether Waits makes good on his cryptic non-promise.

Elsewhere in the wide world of Waits, the Orphans compilation is up for a Grammy. Oh what an acceptance speech that could be. Do the right thing, NARAS.

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