JOLLY DAYS

Tom Waits on Conan

Tom Waits should be bottled as an antidote for something or other — Pop Culture Fizzy-Brain Syndrome maybe. Waits was on Conan last night. His performance, a bluesy rock, folk/jazz amalgam, had a shamanistic excitement; any other performer doing what Waits does would come across as posturing. But Waits drags reality around in an old bag, without even trying — Waits comes through unabated.

Tom Waits is the real deal.