Tom Waits kicked off his 2008 “Glitter and Doom” tour with a two-night stay in Phoenix on the 17th.

Waits’ next stop was at the Plaza Theatre in El Paso, where he received an unexpected on-stage guest: a uniformed officer.

“I paid all those tickets,” Waits quipped when he saw the officer. “She was dead when I got there.”

Susan Boyd, an El Paso councilwoman, followed shortly after and awarded Waits with an official key to the city.

A press release noted that Waits was touched and said, “This is a first for me, a real first.”

Never one to leave a moment entirely sentimental, he added: “Apparently this fits every lock in El Paso. If you find me in your living room in my underwear, we have an understanding.”

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