Bridge School Benefit performance
Waits performs a 50 minute set at the annual Bridge School Benefit, his first concert in over five years. His band includes Les Claypool on standup bass and David Hidalgo on guitar and accordion. Midway through the set, Waits explains his presence.
I volunteered to come here. Long story. Back in the 1970s I borrowed a lot of money from Neil. For me, it was the days of long hair and short money. He loaned it to me so I could start a restaurant. I lost a lot of money on that restaurant. Let me rephrase that, I lost a lot of Neil’s money. And you don’t wanna see Neil mad. Anyway, it was a small, little restaurant, sort of a specialized place. We were gonna have eel and donuts and fish scales, just fish scales, sauteed and all gluten free. But it went under, so Neil said, ‘Listen, you owe me a lot of money, so I have three ideas for you: Jail time or you can come work in my yard, or you can do the Bridge School.
Little Red Rooster performance
Waits joins The Rolling Stones at the Oracle Arena in Oakland and sings Little Red Rooster with Mick Jagger.
Raised Right Men performance
Waits performs his single Raised Right Men from the album Bad as Me.
Chicago performance
Waits performs his single Chicago from the album Bad as Me. It is his first live performance from this album.
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Waits plays the devil, Mr. Nick, in Terry Gilliam’s The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, a role that Gilliam says he was “born to play.” Doctor Parnassus and his sideshow troupe promise their audience a trip to “The Imaginarium,” where dreams come true. He pledges to give his daughter Valentina to the devil on her 16th birthday, in return for loving a mortal woman. The time is near and they work to save her from her fate. Co-starring Christopher Plummer, Lily Cole, Heath Ledger, Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell.
Gilliam and I met on Fisher King. He is a giant among men and I am in awe of his films. [The Adventures of Baron] Munchausen I’ve seen a hundred times. Brazil is a crowning achievement. Brothers Grimm was my favorite film last year. I had most of my scenes with Christopher Plummer (He’s Dr. Parnassus). Plummer is one of the greatest actors on earth! Mostly I watch and learn. He’s a real movie star and a gentleman. Gilliam is an impresario, captain, magician, a dictator (a nice one), a genius, and a man you’d want in the boat with you at the end of the world.
Domino
Waits plays the Wanderer in Tony Scott’s Domino. The movie is based on the true-life story of Domino Harvey, daughter of actor Laurence Harvey, a Ford model who gives up modeling and becomes a bounty hunter. Co-starring Keira Knightley and Mickey Rourke. On why he took the part:
They won me in a poker game.
Bram Stoker’s Dracula
Waits plays Renfield, Count Dracula’s bug-eating minion, in this Francis Ford Coppola adaptation of Bram Stoker’s novel, Dracula. Count Dracula comes to Victorian England seeking his reincarnated love, now engaged to Jonathan Harker. Co-starring Gary Oldman, Keanu Reeves, Winona Ryder, and Anthony Hopkins.
I did not actually eat the bugs. And I’ll say that because I’ve lied to other people and told them I did eat the bugs. I didn’t want anybody to think I didn’t have the courage to eat insects. What I really did was put ’em in my mouth and give them kind of a funhouse ride. Uhhh – move them around, let them walk along the jagged cliff of my teeth. And then I brought them back out again. A lot of them wanted to buy a ticket and go right back in for another ride. It was only mealworms – but there were a lot of spiders. I was working with insects. I’ve been in show business for 25 years, and I’m working with insects.
