Bad Livers & Broken Hearts

A salute to the gravel-voiced troubadour

Although Tom Waits is sober and happily married now, he will always be remembered as the music world’s Charles Bukowski; a boozing, womanizing, ugly son-of-a-bitch from the wrong side of the tracks who had a way with making not-so-pretty things sound beautiful yet despicable. Sure, Waits’ cigarette-stained gravelly bark is not for everyone, but that won’t matter at Bad Livers and Broken Hearts, where more than fifteen (!) local acts, including Armitage Shanks, The Blue Healers, Miss Mamie Lavona’s White Boy Band, and burlesque dancer Go-Go Amy, will pay tribute to the eccentric lounge hawk on his 58th birthday. Due to the nature of Waits’ earlier songs, it’d be fair to predict literally staggering inebriation levels, so throw your dignity out the door, fork over the small change, and drink up. Who you bring home at the end of the night is all up to you.

Fri., Dec. 7, 2007