Tom Waits growls his way through Italy like a hungover carnival barker with a broken heart.
Television concert documentary from the San Remo Festival (Club Tenco), Teatro Ariston. San Remo/ Italy. November 22, 1986. With Greg Cohen on upright bass. Aired on Italian television by RAI DUE. Rebroadcast in 1988.
Acting
Waits' physical theater—every grunt and stagger is performance.
Sound
That voice, that bass, that cavernous Italian silence between songs.
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Premio Tenco was Italy's most prestigious singer-songwriter award—Waits was the first American honored, a bizarre choice that made perfect sense.
RAI DUE aired this at 11pm with zero edits; Italian audiences called in confused and mesmerized. The 1988 rebroadcast added subtitles that mistranslated 'warm beer' as 'hot bear.'
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