Room I
CHICAGO
December 12, 2026
$500 per guest
From the piano
TOM WAITS
Three nights. Small rooms.
- Chicago·DECEMBER 12
- Los Angeles·DECEMBER 19
- New York·DECEMBER 27
30 of you in the room·$500 per guest
Come in out of the weather.
I kept the room small so I can see you.
Three cities. Three nights.
Thirty of you, and then I close the door.
Attendance: $500 per guest.
The chair is yours when the money lands. When the room is full, I lock it.
The night
Tom Waits
A voice like gravel. A room like a bar after last call.
- Born
- 1949
- Debut
- Closing Time
- A record
- Rain Dogs
I was born in Pomona in 1949. I learned the songs in rooms where the lights had already been turned down. Pianos, rain, cheap hotels, and people who missed the last train.
The early records are last-call ballads. Then the songs got loud and crooked, and the voice got older than I was. The ones below are what the room still asks for.
These three nights are a small room and the wood of the piano. No cameras. If you came to be seen, you came to the wrong door.
The records
These are the ones I still stand behind.
1973
Closing Time
Debut
The first one. I was young and the songs were shy. Ol' 55, Martha, and I Hope That I Don't Fall in Love with You. People still ask for those first.
1976
Small Change
The early peak
The barroom years, sharp as they got. Tom Traubert's Blues and The Piano Has Been Drinking. Those two can still shut a room up.
1983
Swordfishtrombones
The turn
I walked out of the lounge and didn't go back. This is where the noise became mine.
1985
Rain Dogs
The one most often called his best
New York, and the one they call the best. Downtown Train, Jockey Full of Bourbon, and Time. If you only know one, know this.
1992
Bone Machine
Grammy, Best Alternative Music Album
Dry as a bone, and they gave it a prize for sounding the least like one. Goin' Out West and I Don't Wanna Grow Up.
1999
Mule Variations
Grammy, Best Contemporary Folk Album
Later, and more of you heard it. Hold On and Come On Up to the House. The gravel, back in a room you can sit down in.
The three rooms
Room II
LOS ANGELES
December 19, 2026
$500 per guest
Room III
NEW YORK
December 27, 2026
$500 per guest
How you get in
01
Reserve
Pick a city. I'll hold the chair.
02
Pay the night
You've got 60 minutes. After that the chair goes back in the stack.
03
You're in
When the payment lands, the seat is yours.
04
The door
You'll get the paper that gets you in, and where to stand.