The ticket was expensive, but I like his music, and I'd heard so much about how incredible his live performances were that I thought I would go along for a look.
Overall, it was pretty disappointing. After forking out so many clams to go, I expected better than being crammed into a roasting hot venue, surrounded by fawning, sweaty 50-something male fans screaming "We love you Tom!" and attempting to give him a standing ovation every time he moved. It was alot more like a Take That concert than I ever would have guessed. I suspect I might have been seated in fanman ground zero as I was sad enough to go online to buy tickets the second they were released. I was in the 6th row. It was a bit depressing to realise that I had something in common with these guys.
The man himself was pretty impressive, with his impossibly gravelly voice and his odd monologues, but I was less impressed with the band he had gathered around him. They were technically very good, but overly precise, with little of the broken-down sound that I like in his music. I especially didn't like the 80's advert/stadium rock drumming that was coming from Casey Waits.
I guess really, I was expecting to be in a small smoky jazz club somewhere sipping some bourbon and listening to some old dudes playing along with Tom and his broken piano, instead of sweltering in a packed, grotty, soulless theatre.