On a day that was 110 degrees, Tom Waits opened his world tour Tuesday in Phoenix at the 1,364-seat Orpheum Theater with an excellent two-hour set. It has been, apparently, 30 years since he played Arizona's largest city; it's his first full-scale tour in eight years.
Perhaps not surprising, the best represented album in the set was "Mule Variations," the 1999 album that was supported by something of a comeback tour. (He also toured in 2006). On June 17, the first of two nights in Phoenix, Waits and his band, which featured his son Casey and jazz saxophonist Vincent Henry, played:

Lucinda / Hoist That Rag / Come On Up to the House / Jesus Gonna Be Here / November / Black Market Baby / Rain Dogs / Trampled Rose / Goin Out West / Murder in the Red Barn / Anywhere I Lay My Head / Cemetery Polka / Get Behind the Mule / The Eyeball Kid / Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis / Picture in a Frame / Invitation to the Blues / Innocent When You Dream / Lie to Me / Chocolate Jesus / Down in the Hole / God's Away on Business / Time

He goes over important movies and songs, the problems of the world, irony and sounds he likes, such as headlights being hit by a shotgun and he might even be pulling his own leg with regards to some new song title. Back in the '70s, though, one of Waits' great spoken word interludes involved taking himself out on a date; he's a master of self-amusement.
Oddly enough, his list of influences seems rather obvious: Kerouac, Dylan, Bukowski, Rod Serling, Don Van Vliet, Cantinflas, James Brown, Harry Belafonte, Ma Rainey, Big Mama Thorton, Howlin Wolf, Lead Belly, Lord Buckley, Mabel Mercer, Lee Marvin, Thelonious Monk, John Ford, Fellini, Weegee, Jagger, Richards, Willie Dixion, John McCormick, Johnny Cash, Hank Williams, Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, Robert Johnson, Hoagy Carmichael, Enrico Caruso.
Full interview after the jump

Anticipation of the upcoming Waits tour takes me back to October 1977. Beacon Theater. New York City. The show that got me completely hooked on Tom Waits after seeing him at a benefit in Philadelphia and at the Bottom Line the year before.
Not sure exactly what Waits played that night at the Beacon - he did open with the Dean Martin classic "Standing on the Corner " - but at My Father's Place on Long Island on Oct. 10, 1977, he played:
Standing On the Corner Watching / I Never Talk to Strangers / Pasties & a G-string / Invitation to the Blues>Eggs & Sausage / Depot Depot / Jitterbug Boy / Step Right Up / I I Wish I was in New Orleans / Small Change / The Piano Has Been Drinking / Emotional Weather Report / Muriel / Jack & Neal / Tom Traubert's Blues

Since Tom Waits announced his tour with a "press conference," a few details have emerged.
Longtime bassist Larry Taylor is on board along with Omar Torrez (guitar), Patrick Warren (keyboards) and son Casey Waits (drums and percussion). A reed player will be hired.
Waits' website will soon have all tour info, including a detailed explanation of the ticket policy. U.S. booking agent and longtime tour director Stuart Ross is working on a plan to cut down on ticket scalpers' access.
Waits did offer a comment on why hit really warm cities in the summer. “We’re going to the deep south where they still love a man who wears red pants and they make him feel welcome.”

Tom Waits is using the constellation Hydra to guide his U.S. tour and a collection of stars that might only exist in his mind to plot a Spain to Dublin European trek, which translates to no gigs west of Phoenix or north of Atlanta along the East Coast. 
His "press conference" spells out details below. Tour dates:
June
17/18  Orpheum, Phoenix
20  Plaza Theater, El Paso, Tex.
22  Jones Hall, Houston
23  Palladium, Dallas
25  Brady Theater Tulsa, Okla.
26  Fox Theater, St Louis
28 Ohio Theater, Columbus, Ohio
29 Civic Theater, Knoxville, Tenn.
July
1 Moran Theater, Jacksonville, Fla.
2 Saenger Theater, Mobile, Ala.
3 Alabama Theater, Birmingham
5 Fox Theater, Atlanta

...will be announced before the sun rises in the U.S. on Monday. Or so we are led to believe. Tour is being called "Glitter and Doom." His "under construction"website will apparently launch with the announcement around 6 a.m. on the East Coast.
Not sure where the "doom" comes in, but in the song "Fannin Street," Waits sings:
"Once I held you in my arms, I was sure
But I took that silent stare through the guilded door
The desire to have much more, all the glitter and the roar,
I know this is where the sidewalk ends."

Metallica, Jerry Lee Lewis, Tom Waits, John Mayer and Regina Spektor have all signed on for Neil Young's annual Bridge School Benefit on Oct. 27 and 28.
Tickets  go on sale Sunday through www.livenation.com.

Tompkins Square has already issued two gorgeous collections of instrumental guitar music - volumes 1 and 2 of "Imaginational Anthem - which only adds to the anticipation for the company's 3-CD Box Set “PEOPLE TAKE WARNING! Murder Ballads & Songs of Disaster 1913-1938.”
Disc will be released on Sept. 25, perfect timing for it to become this year's "Lost Sounds: Blacks And The Birth Of The Recording Industry 1891-1922." That album won the Grammy for historical album; Sept. 25 is the last Tuesday before the Grammy eligibility deadline.
"People Take Warning" features 70 recordings from the likes of Charley Patton, Ernest Stoneman, Furry Lewis, Charlie Poole and Uncle Dave Macon, plus a forward by Tom Waits.
Set is produced by Christopher King, who won a Grammy for the beyond brilliant "Screamin' And Hollerin' the Blues - The Worlds Of Charley Patton," and Henry “Hank” Sapoznik.
Some of the music has already been posted on the official Website.