Tom Waits without cigarettes is like Tom Selleck without a ‘stache. Waits’ voice is so gravely that it sounds as though he’s singing with a smoke lodged in his larynx. Which brings us to Seattle’s smoking ban. Mostly, it’s a beautiful thing, saving countless dollars in dry-cleaning bills after nights spent in nicotine-clogged pubs. But at a Tom Waits tribute show on Tom Waits’ birthday, a clear exception should be made, where patrons and performers should be allowed—perhaps required—to smoke. Fittingly, tonight’s show is a fund-raiser for the victims of the Cafe Racer shootings, as the artsy U-District outpost is the sort of establishment Waits would frequent himself. With The Bad Things, The Puddle Stompers, Carrie Clark & the Lonesome Lovers, The Love Markets, Miss Mamie Lavona the Exotic Mulatta & her White Boy Band, Bakelite 78, Dan Yost, Sam Russell, Erin McNamee, The Foghorns, Clayton Ballard, Chris Kendziorski, Norman Baker, The Mongrel Jews, Ben Fisher. MIKE SEELY

Fri., Dec. 7, 8 p.m., 2012