Only a few showbiz personas are so strong they seem totally immersed in worlds the rest of us merely glimpse in old movies and well-thumbed books. From Nick Cave's gothic through Kraftwerk's retro robotic to Chas and Dave's Ealing comedy boozer, they appear to have stepped out of another age.

Possessing more than a convenient back story – a Seasick Steve train or Bon Iver hut - such characters become so synonymous with their selected imagery that we suspend disbelief, never questioning how they find their way to the recording studio let alone go shopping or surfing the net.

Not many are capable of persuading us once – very few then reinvent themselves just as convincingly. But Tom Waits did manage such a transformation more than twenty five years ago, abandoning a successful career as a barroom bum / maudlin balladeer to establish himself as the razorblade gargling chief barker and lead percussionist of his own barmy carnival troupe. Sadly, despite being ringmaster of a macabre circus designed to slip into town in the night and haunt your dreams, Waits seems reluctant to visit too many places these days. While a DVD would be superb if anything close to the quality of the 1988 video Big Time, for now the Glitter and Doom Live double CD will have to satisfy those of us inhabiting parts last year's tour failed to reach.

On the first disc, vocal gravel, pounding thuds and unearthly guitar and wind section flourishes suggest a glorious blues jam between Louis Armstrong and a brassed-up Birthday Party orchestrated by Kurt Weill and The Devil. But it's disc two, Tom's Tales, that really stands out. In anyone else's hands this collection of between song patter and anecdotes could be self-indulgent, but with Waits, it becomes stand up – even sit down at the piano – comedy of the highest order.

He now has his own official website www.tomwaits.com from where you can download a complete transcript of his observations "in case you missed a few sentences". So Tom Waits does live in the modern world after all, at least in cyberspace.
Simon Charterton