Performances: 1986 - 1990

1986

Unidentified shows 1986:
Date unknown (November, 1986): Venue unknown. Hamburg/ Germany(aka "Seeking Shelter for My Lonely Heart")

1987

Start tour promoting Frank's Wild Years
October 1987 - December 1987
(album released: August, 1987)
Tom Waits: vocals, piano, bullhorn. Marc Ribot: guitars, banjos, trumpet. Willy Schwarz (from November 1, introduced as Willie 'the squeeze'): accordion, organ, keyboards. Ralph Carney: saxophones, clarinet, bass clarinet, marimba, violin, baritone horn, harmonica. Greg Cohen: upright/ electric bass, box electric (= basstarda). Michael Blair: drums, percussion.

Tom Waits (1987): "Kathleen and I put together the ideas for it. It was done up there at the Chi Chi Club ... in [San Francisco's] North Beach. Miss Keiko's Chi Chi Club right there on Broadway next to Big Al's. I worked with a girl named Val Diamond, who played a doll. She drew eyeballs on the outside of her eyelids and wore a Spanish dress and I unscrewed one of her legs and pulled a bottle out of it. It's got some entertainment value." (Source: "Morning Becomes Eclectic": KCRW-FM, Deirdre O' Donohue. August, 1987)

Hanna Theatre. Akron Cleveland/ USA.

Jim Jarmusch (1992): "What about the sax player Ralph Carney? Like me, he's from Akron, so we're like brothers. Tom Waits: Yeah, well, you'll always be bound together by Akron. Ralph's parents still live there, so when we played there... Jim Jarmusch: You played in (Akron)? Tom Waits: Yeah. It was a good night, it was a real good night. Next day Ralph wouldn't come to sound check and when he finally did show up, it was about 15 minutes before the show. And I said, "What happened, where you been?" And he said, "Well, I went home. I haven't been home in a couple of years." He said, "My dad had me rakin' leaves..." (laughs) He had to rake leaves all fucking day." (Source: "Tom Waits Meets Jim Jarmusch", Straight No Chaser magazine Vol. 1 Issue 20 (UK), by Jim Jarmusch. October, 1992);

End tour promoting Frank's Wild Years
October 1987 - December 1987

Unidentified shows 1987:
Date unknown (April/ May 1987): Academy Of Music, Northhampton/ USA

1988

Wiltern Theatre. Los Angeles/ USA (New Year's Eve). With: Ralph Carney, Greg Cohen, John Lurie, Michael Blair, Mitchell Froom and Marc Ribot.

"At the Wiltern on Saturday, Waits seemed in a generous and--for him--relaxed mood. To guarantee a festive atmosphere, Waits placed a huge red clock behind him on stage and led the crowd in a countdown as the midnight hour approached. He also supplemented his own songs with some classy covers, including Little Willie John's "Fever," Burke-Johnston's "Pennies From Heaven" and Leiber-Stoller's "Hound Dog." Waits, too, brought out saxophonist John Lurie (the actor-musician who once headed the Lounge Lizards) to sit in on a few tunes with Waits' classy five-piece band. Still, the lanky songwriter--who sings in a voice so charred it has been described as sounding like the bottom of a heavily used ash tray looks--was most effective when he set aside both the manic mannerisms and off-beat tales to concentrate on more haunting songs--songs he might call "conventional." Playing a guitar and barely moving, Waits closed the concert by singing about chasing elusive dreams with a careful, caressing vocal that seemed as gentle as the song itself ("Time")." (Source: Los Angeles Times. "Waits Backs Away From His Best", by Robert Hilburn. January 2, 1989)

Ralph Carney (2006): "Wendy and Lisa from Prince's band were rehearsing in the same place and I met them. They gave Tom a jar of home canned pickles... Lurie was just going to play Auld Lang Syne but he stayed on stage and played a bunch, actually it turned out great." (Source: email conversations Ralph Carney/ Floris Cooman, December 2006)

1989

Demon Wine previews at the Los Angeles Theater Center/ USA. Directed by Thomas Babe. Waits as "Curly"

1990

Further reading
Time Line 1986-1990
Pictures 1986-1990
For setlists, please refer to The Dutch Dogs Site