Tom Waits Big Time on Amazon Prime

Tom Waits Big Time is currently available for streaming on Amazon Prime. Haven't seen this since I rented the VHS a long time ago. While not a perfect concert film, it's pretty damn wonderful.

 

It's playing in Canada on Crave, I think. I saw that tour and it was awesome. As for the movie, great when he's onstage and a waste of time when he isn't.

 

I had that Big Time version of "Shore Leave" on my mind and went looking to see if it had made it to any official audio releases yet. Apparently not, but while looking into it I read that Big Time was on Prime. Nice surprise, so enjoyable. I've had an old DVD bootleg of it for 20 years, but it was so much more effective for me NOW.

The key feature of the Prime version, besides good video quality, is the optional subtitles. For me, subtitles are brilliant for music performances. I can't stand them for movie dialogue but for music it gives the lyrics a stronger dimension, especially with Tom Waits performances. His words can be hard to decipher, maybe due the expressive performances that command most of my attention.

 

How was this shot? On film or on video? Is there any reason there couldn't be a nice new transfer for a blu-ray release?

 

Watched this today and really liked it. It's a bit frustrating that there are so many segments that are just snippets of songs, but it was nice to hear a few numbers not on the CD. And I appreciate Tom's stage show style. Hope there's a good blu-ray release some time.

 

Is this US only? Can't find it on Prime in UK.

 

I can't find it in Germany neither. Bummer. I was really excited by this news.