Revisiting ‘Rain Dogs’

The “Rain Dogs Revisited” tour will feature a group of singers and musicians putting their spin on Waits’ 19-track ninth studio album. 

A post on Waits’ official website describes Rain Dogs as “a very personal evocation of the New York slums … borrowing from cabaret, polka, jazz, rock and even spoken poetry.”

Multi-instrumentalist David Coulter, who worked with Waits on his 1993 album The Black Rider, has been named the musical director for a band brought together for “Rain Dogs Revisited.” The group will showcase a “similar, although not quite identical, array of the rich instrumental variety intended by Waits.”

A Facebook event page set up for the event notes that Coulter will play the musical saw and guitar. Additional musicians include Leo Abrahams, Terry Edwards, Mike Smith, Steve Nieve, Thomas Bloch, Tom Herbert and Seb Rochford.

The project will also feature performances from Arthur H, Tiger Lillies, Camille O’Sullivan, Stef Kamil Carlens, St. Vincent and Erika Stucky. Although Waits has given the tour his stamp of approval, the singer-songwriter will not be performing.

“Rain Dogs Revisited” features five dates in Europe booked for July and November. The tour begins July 10 with a set at Nuits de Fourviere in Lyon, France at Grand Theatre Romain. Additional summer shows include a July 11 set at Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland at Miles Davis Hall, followed by a July 13 performance at Barbican Centre in London.

The fall shows include a Nov. 20 performance in Eindhoven, Netherlands, at Frits Philips Musiccentre as well as a Nov. 22 gig at Paris’ Salle Pleyel.

Waits last performed in 2008. The “Glitter and Doom Tour” featured dates across the U.S. and Europe.

For more information, click here for Tom Waits’ website.