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Good Morning America
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Good Morning America
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During the final half hour of Good Morning America on Friday morning, September 3, 1999, Tori performed live on the program in Central Park in New York, and did a small interview. I noticed a few people in the audience who I recognized! (Hi Lana!) She played the following on the air
Crucify
Bliss
Cornflake Girl
The people watching the show on Good Morning America only saw about the first 30 seconds of Cornflake Girl. The crowd in Central park was lucky because in addition to seeing the complete Cornflake Girl, they got to see Concertina as well after that!
The performances were quite good considering the fact it was so early in the morning. They apparently put at least the first two performances on the big TV in Times Square as well. Look below for several screen shots from the show.
At the start of the program they showed Tori giving out bagels to the people waiting in the crowd. It looks like some of them were there all night.
Before the performance they showed Tori tinkering on the piano and she looked into the camera and said, "Hi, this is Tori Amos. You're watching Good Morning America, and if you're wondering where your kids are, they might be here."
When the hosts referred to Tori as a singer, songwriter and survivor, someone in the audience shouted "and goddess." Tori made a "Oh please" face and did a little settle down like wave to the crowd which was cute.
I don't have a complete transcript of what she said, but they mentioned her song "Me and A Gun" and asked her if anything was too personal to write about. She said there were some things that she keeps private, but then said she did not want to censor as a writer. They asked if she was surprised that so many people connect to her music. "Well, I think I've gotten so many amazing letters from people, everybody has their own story. And I think people would be surprised how many people have had to survive some pretty harrowing things... at such a young age too a lot of them."
They mentioned that she had gone from homecoming queen to songwriter and showed a photo of Tori as homecoming queen (which can be seen in her official biography.) Tori said something like, "Why did you have to bring that up?" They said it was pretty remarkable transition. Tori said, "Some of my favorite writers have been Sylvia Plath, Ann Sexton, and I think, um, Alice Walker, and you, you're inspired by, I think, those who have inspired you. And those women tackled some pretty serious subjects. And you can do it and sometimes there's a sense of humor; sometimes there not. But I think that, um, I don't know, I've always loved chasing the dark. Chasing it, eating it, dancing with it."
Reports from some of the people there said the atmosphere was quite intimate and the music was not really too loud. When Tori arrived she asked people in the crowd if they had been given anything to eat. When she heard they had not, she arranged for goodies to be brought in! They passed out quite a few items to the crowd, including pastries and bagels. Sounds like a fun time to me!
Look below the photos for accounts from a Toriphile who was there and more comments from people who saw it on TV.
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Click on thumbnail to see a larger image.
Dor sent me some BEAUTIFUL photos she took at the show and you can see them in my Ears With Feet Photo Album.
Pat sent me some photos he took at the show and you can see them below. Click on any one to see larger.
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Jennifer LoPinto sent me some photos she took at the show and you can see them below. Click on any one to see larger.
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From Landj9697
Well, my wife and I have returned from the concert in Central Park. The show was incredible! We had driven all night and were exhausted, but getting to the show and just being part of the atmosphere was more than enough to rejuvenate us! It was a great show, in large part due to the fact that it seemed very intimate, like you were part of this special group who had made to this secret performance. Tori was very talkative to the crowd (we she could be --- damn TV people) and it brought back feelings of the old tour concerts in the small auditoriums. The best part was getting to see the things that normally happen long before the audience arrives. At one point they announced that Tori was going to come out but they we needed to stay quiet because she was going to be rehearsing with the band for a sound check. They ran through "Cornflake Girl" twice. Once, Tori was just kind of fiddling with the piano and out came the beginning of "Leather". But, this was network TV so we really didn't think that that was going to fly for the performance. "Crucify" was great, (Tori and the band have definitely been working out some new arrangements since the Plugged tour). It was pretty damn funny when the song was over and the guy stated that Tori had just played a song from the new album. The audience laughed pretty hard, and he just kind of got this confused, stupid look on his face. During the interview portion, everyone was getting kind of upset, because they had an audience monitor for what the hosts were saying, but every time Tori would talk, you heard nothing, They fixed that eventually, and everybody settled down. "Bliss" was incredible. There's nothing like watching Jon get that noise to come out of that bass! "Cornflake Girl" was much better than the TV showed, Tori was very playful that day and was really having fun with the piano solo. Then GMA was done, but we had one more surprise --- "Concertina"!!!! All I had previously heard of this song is a 30 second, low quality sample from the net. Nothing could do justice to hearing this song played out in the open in the morning air, it was incredible!! Anyway, Tori left the stage and everyone dispersed. For a short time, a crowd had gathered near where Tori had walked offstage to go to the vans, but it turned out to be nothing. Eventually, the security (dicks) were chasing everyone out of the area. This was my first time in New York, and I thought it would suck, but I really had a good time. The drive back home to Cincy was long (Pennsylvania is a BIG state) but it was more than worth the trip. I blew a 25 exposure roll of film and as soon as I get it developed, I'll send the best your way. Thanks for having this event posted on your site, it was an opportunity that both my wife and I were glad to have experienced!!
From Victoria
Woah! It was a long day or night (whatever you would call it) in Central
Park from when I went yesterday. It was crazy but absolutely an
unforgettable experience. Myself and 2 friends went down to Central Park and
made it there at around 2:45 AM. There were quite a few people when we
arrived...maybe around 25. Then more people started to show up and the line
got out of hand. Myself and this other girl Patrice (hello!) made sure
nobody took other people's spots. We organzied the lines by the times people
had got there and that worked till around 5 AM. Of course people managed to
push themselves up there but all the people who came at around the time my
group came and the ones before got a good spot (at least I hope!).
Then show time came. There was a contest to win Tori tickets and plus Steve
Madden was there handing out flyers on how when you buy the Tori Amos shoe
you get a promotional Bliss single. The camera crews came around and asked
us "to show how much we love Tori" by screaming into the cameras. Most of us
were not up for it. They also interviewed a few people and allowed people
with signs and gifts for Tori to go up to the front. My friend Michelle made
it up there with her signs!!! We were all anxoius to get in and I met some
absolutely fabulous people there (hello to Tim, Scott, Encia, Dustin and
Sophia) which really reved me up and made my time on the line amazing! I
managed to get a spot a little to the left of Tori and it was so fabulous.
She practiced Crucify twice and stopped it the first time and redid the
second verse. She also commented on a boys hair that was blue and green.
She walked out with a huge smile regardless of the time and a beautiful
quilted black maxi coat with a pale lime green waist shirt with brown leather
cuffs and the sweetest pair of dark demin flared pants with these super shoes
that were black with a clearish wedhed heel that made noise every time Tori
tapped her feet to the music. Well, anyway back to the rehersal she spoke to
the audience and asked if they had fed us and of course we all commented no.
Being the person she is, she said that they would get some muffins from the
tour bus. A few minutes later she came out with bagels and butter, cream
cheese, danishes and handed them out to everyone. The right side all got but
the left side was left stranded. Having the mouth I did I screamed out in a
funny way, "Tori where are our bagels" and she smiled and said "Here you go
sweetie" and handed me her water bottle she was drinking.
Her performace of Cruscify was amazing and of course that Charles Gibson guy
announced Tori would be singing two of her newest songs...Crucify and Bliss.
Boy did he feel stpud when hundreds of Tori fans said, "What the hell are you
talking about" to him. Anyway, the performace was great and they then
interviewed her. We couldn't really hear what she was saying because the
sound wasn't up. I was trying to read her lips but it wasn't working. She
then sang "Bliss" and it was fabulous. She was very into the music
regardless what time it was. Then came Cornflake Girl and Tori really felt
the energy from the audience. She started getting out of her seat and was
just fabulous. Then Concertina came JUST FOR US. I wish they would have had
that on regular TV because I would have loved to have a recording of it.
Tori apparently stopped Times Square with her performance on the big screen.
The interview was fabulous and as they were talking about her being
homecoming queen someone shouted "Maryland" and Tori gave him a look of "oh
no you didn't say that" in the sweetest way possible...she wasn't angry...you
could tell she was loving it. I am trying to remember all these small
details. I think this is it...if anyone has some extra points please throw
them in!
From Scott Lupatsky
I just got back from Tori's free concert in Central Park. It was quite
an evening! We left from Pennsylvania last night at 11:00pm and arrived
around 2am. There were about 20 other people there and everyone was
pretty much just camped out and walking around, but then around 3am,
more people started showing up and then two girls tried to get everyone
to line up in order of when they arrived (and they did a fine job at it
too).
There were some people there from Steve Madden passing out entry forms
to win tickets to an upcoming show. We were told that the drawing was
exclusive to the people who showed up in Central Park. (I'm keeping my
fingers crossed!)
After standing in line for hours and hours, they finally let us in, in
groups of 12 I think, and I got up pretty close with my two friends
Timmy and Jenny. We had a really great view, which I was very happy
about because the tickets we had for the DC and Camden shows were pretty
far away.
They did sound check for about 45 minutes. I don't really remember, I
was sooo tired! Tori finally came out and said hello. She did Crucify
a few times for her sound check and she also played Leather for about 15
seconds, but stopped to go get her make-up done at the side of the
stage. She also played Bliss and Cornflake Girl on the air...and as a
special treat, we got to hear Concertina (the second time for me).
It was a great show. Everyone was really nice, and by 9am, really
tired! As I think was mentioned earlier, the volume was really low and
they seemed to be having a lot of problems with the mics. I recorded
the show and watched it when I got home. It sounded a lot better on tv,
only because you could hear the piano and Tori's voice a lot clearer.
Tori was in a really friendly mood and I'm glad that I got to see her
one last time on this tour. This trip to NYC was a very spur of the
moment thing, and well worth it!
From Matt
I got up this morning at 5:30am to catch a cab to 72nd so I could run over and see Tori's Free Concert in the park. Anyway, I got there and the line was HUGE already. People had been there since like 2:30am (Crazy!) Anyway after like 2 hours of waiting (the line was now 2 times the size of what it was when I had first gotten there!) they slowly started to move people into possition down by the fountain, Which looked beautiful. Anyway. The Stage had been set up to face the bridge, not the water. We were hearded in to the large plaza around the fountain. after another hour or so, the band came one and everyone yelled. finally at like 8:10 Tori came on and we all yelled some more. She was really cute and when she wasn't being totally overworked by the whole set up of the show, she would turn to us and be like, "So, how long have you all been here?" and the people up front were like, "2:30!!" and she was like, "well have they given you any goodies!?" and we were all, "NO!" and she said, "Ok, well when I have a chance I will sneak off and get you some muffins from the Band's room!" Totally Tori Cute. She then broke into "Crucify" to warm herself up and test the sound, etc. She stopped and talked to us all and then the sound people then she said she had to run through it again for a time Check. So she went through it again. At one point through the song she said, "Fuck!" under her breathe but we all heard it. it was like, "why do we crucify ourselves.. Fuck!... Everyday I crucify myself." Really cute. Finally the idiot people from Goodmorning America got there and made some stupid jokes. It was really funny the Guy from GMA was wearing so much make-up! Then She played "Crucify" for the show (This being the Third time we had heard the same song in a row.) the two from GMA continued to talk to Tori and then finally they were back on the air. And the Guy was like "Now Tori will sing another song from her new album, "To Venus and Back" and we were all like what the hell is he talking about "Crucify" is not from "tVaB"? Anyway, he goes on to announce "Bliss". She sang it and then she Did "Cornflake Girl", and Finally she Ended with a new song from tVaB which I had not heard yet, "Concertina" Hope this helps to make a "Dent in the Tori Amos Net Universe"
When Tori first Came out she was wearing this huge long Coat over the cute Green Shirt you all saw on TV. The Coat was awesome and she wore it the first time she practiced "Crucify" However Then The Sun had risen above the Trees and it hot a little muggy out (but the morning was still Beautiful!) So she took it off. Maybe some of the Ears w/ Feet that were There with a camera (Duh I forgot to bring one because I am such a dork!) could give you a pic of her with the Jacket. Very Cool.
From Beth Coulter
I just watched the *full half-hour* with Tori on GMA. The full band was
there, and it was broadcast on the jumboscreen at the new GMA studios in
Times Square. Tori sang 3 (that's right, 3!) songs (Crucify, Bliss,
Cornflake Girl [only the first verse behind the credits]. Charlie Gibson
said that when Tori was playing, all the traffic in Times Square came to a
dead halt and everyone was listening to Tori.
The interview was good, I'll leave it to someone else to transcribe what
she said. Charlie did goof and say Crucify was from "Venus and Back" and
couldn't understand the commotion he created as the 500+ fans screamed out
"LITTLE EARTHQUAKES!!!!!".
During Bliss, Jon does this wicked thing with the Bass by loosing the
string by an incredible amount to make this wonderful, thundery, wavery
noise. This version is so different from the album version, and even a tad
different than what I saw in Camden.
And because I know how important it is to some people: Tori looked
beautiful with a pale green, waist-tied sweatshirt, black pants and wearing
that wonderful hair weave that makes her hair so beautifully long. :) I
didn't notice her shoes, sorry.
The camera crew caught a shot of Tori personally handing out bagles to the
masses who had been there since 10PM last night, and seemed to think it was
the greatest thing they had ever witnessed. hmm, come to think about it,
that it pretty special, isn't it. ;)
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