Tonight the big surprise was Riot Poof! Tori also did God, Girl and Landslide (solo). If you were at the Syracuse show, please email me with your reviews and/or set list or post your review or comments in the Dent's Concert Reviews forum. (You can post under any name without registering, so it is quick.)

More Details

Tori performed in Syracuse, NY on Saturday, March 1, 2003 at the Landmark Theatre. The opening act was Jeffrey Gaines.

Set List

Many thanks to John who phone me with the set list after the show.

Wampum Prayer
a sorta fairytale
God
Concertina
Cornflake Girl
Virginia
Pancake
Crucify
Wednesday

Band Leaves

Leather
Landslide
Baker Baker

Band returns

Honey
Sweet Sangria
Girl
Take To The Sky
I Can't See New York
Iieee

1st Encore

Taxi Ride
Liquid Diamonds

2nd Encore

Riot Poof
Playboy Mommy

Reviews

The latest reviews are at the bottom of this page. For more reviews, please check out the Dent's Tour Reviews Forum. Please post your own review if you were at this show!


From John:

Early in the show Tori did an improv where she kept singing the name Claire. She also told the audience that everyone backstage, including Tash, was sick. Tori's voice tonight sounded a little off according to John, who said the show in general seemed rather low energy and a little generic. However, John raved about Riot Poof and said her performance of that song was incredible and that alone made the show worth seeing.



From carrie:

not sure if you got this already and my watch was broken so i couldn't record the times she played but here is the setlist for March 2, 2003 Syracuse, NY Landmark Theatre:

wampum prayer/a sorta fairytale/god/concertina/cornflake girl/virginia/pancake/crucify/wednesday/roadside cafe: leather, improv/landslide, baker baker/ honey/sweet sangria/girl/take to the sky/i can't see new york/iieee/encore 1: taxi ride, liquid diamonds/encore 2: riot poof, playboy mommy

Great show. good energy. Crowd was semi-annoying... people kept getting up... acting like idiots... Tori conversed once said something about a tshirt for Syracuse University she saw and bought. Shirt said something like 'womens place is in the ___' didn't hear the last word correctly.



From Darcy Henderson:

What she said was "A woman's place is in the Dome" - as in the Carrier Dome. She mentioned the SU/Georgetown game and said, "I don't think my shirt will be too popular in Georgetown." THat was the ONLY time she talked to us which was a little sad. Always a treat though. HAve a great day -



From Heather Van Inwegen:

The improv people are talking about was referring to the Ghost of the Landmark Theater. Legend has it as a worker†at the theater (Clara)†who always wanted to be an actress still resides†in the building waiting for her chance. Bruce†Coville (childrens author) wrote†the book "The Ghost in the Third Row" about her.

The show was great. I met my fiancee the last time Tori was at the Landmark Theater (10 years ago??) and I was hoping to meet her to tell her what a special place she has in our hearts but showed up to late for the meet and greet (we were picking up our wedding rings). Maybe next time.

A worker at the theater who always wanted to be an actress still resides in this building waiting for her chance.



Read a review from the Syracuse Post-Standard


From Beth:

This was my third time seeing her at the Landmark and she always manages to out do herself. I thoroughly enjoyed this show. It had the feeling of a studio session for an audience. On stage with her, the bassist and the drummer made it feel very intimate. I was thrilled she did Riot Poof and I had heard that she sang Landslide in previous stops and was happy she sang it last night - much better than the Dixie Chicks' current rendition. I especially enjoyed God, Concertina (which isn't one of my favorite songs but it sounded excellent last night), and Take to the Sky. It was great to see her at the Landmark again - I've been to many concerts there over the years and they've all been great.


From Tera Drew:

I really hope that someone got a recording of the ghost improv before landslide..It was one of the most beautiful things I have ever heard.I started crying .It was so incredibly touching.



From Andy:

i had seats right next to the sound board, so i glanced over at the set list. she changed the show a little from it.

it was as follows:

wampum prayer
a sorta faerie tale
god
concertina
cornflake girl
virginia
pancake
crucify
wednesday

china
famous blue raincoat
baker baker
honey

sweet sangria
girl
spring haze
take to the sky
i can't see new york
i i e e e

taxi ride
liquid diamonds

riot poof
playboy mommy



From Laura:

I drove from London Ontario (about 6 hours) to see Tori's Syracuse concert and was absolutely blown away! I missed the meet & greet (by 5 mins, doh) but by an incredible stroke of luck, was absolutely blessed with front-row center tickets (the very row, in the orchestra pit; seats beyond my wildest dreams!).

The show was simply fantastic. It was my first Tori show and was giddy with anticipation; she surpassed every expectation. From my vantage point I could see her every expression and was amazed at how connected she was with the audience. I could also see her funny hand gestures (like she bowed her head and count the beats during the pauses in Leather), the twinkle in her eyes, and her smiles to Jon & Matt, people off-stage, and the audience.

She pranced onto the stage to the bass and drums starting ASF and playfully bowed to the audience. The show was definitely rocked; Concertina, Girl, i i e e e and Riot Poof were a complete rush. Honey was excellent, Wednesday and Take To The Sky were a lot of fun, and Virginia, ICSNY and Playboy Mommy were quite moving.

At the end of the show, the audience stood and the people in the front rows (myself included!) were against the stage; wow. At the end of the first (or start of the second?) encore, Tori came to the front of the stage and touched hands with several people; wow. I'm still reeling from the show and I'm still sort of stunned by the experience of seeing Tori perform so close. Wow!!!


From Lorraine Eakin:

I†just got back from a long trip from Baltimore to Syracuse - long but well worth it! My friends and I drove up from Baltimore to see the Landmark show with my old college roomates. When we arrived around 2, there was only a handful of people waiting at the meet and greet. They were a really good group, I see why people enjoy meet and greets so much, even if you don't meet Tori! You meet so many nice folks - I got to talk to Mike and Jenn, among others. There were seven of us in my group and we were all there with the sole purpose of requesting Baker Baker.††My friend Penny had never seen it and it's her all time favorite, so we all†wanted her to get to see it. Tori came out around 4 (I think) and was in a very good mood†- she chatted with everyone and took her time going through the crowd. When she got to me I noticed Baker was already written on her hand -†yay! †I told her that my best friend Penny and I had taken a road trip across the country last summer and that it was amazing and that Penny and I really REALLY wanted to hear Baker Baker. She said, "Well, she's already on my hand, so we'll see what happens." The girl Jenn we had met requested Honey - same situation - she's seen Tori eight or nine times and never seen her favorite song. I†felt incredibly lucky to have spoken to Tori at my†first meet and greet. Wow!

As for the show, Jeffrey Gaines was all right, but I enjoyed Howie Day a LOT more. Jeffrey's lyrics are a little cliched, and I tend to agree with a previous comment someone made about him being a poor man's Willy Porter ;-).

The show overall†had a very mellow vibe. There were a few exceptions, but generally she seemed to do songs that she's very familiar and comfortable with†(Landslide, Playboy Mommy) as well as most of the standards for this tour (Sweet Sangria, Concertina, Take to the Sky, etc). She was in a good mood but her voice seemed a little strained, perhaps she is feeling a bit ill (that would explain the unadventurous setlist). The first set before the Roadside Cafe I found a little lackluster, perhaps since we had already seen every song but God at the Fairfax and Camden shows. God was rocking, I was surprised to find that she played it solely on the piano, I expected her to incorporate the Whurly. Cornflake Girl was better than the last time I saw it,†and Pancake and Wednesday I†always enjoy. I was not†thrilled about†Virginia, since I wanted to see some other SW songs I hadn't seen yet (Mrs. Jesus, Strange, Crazy, etc.). †I was excited about Crucify because my roommates hadn't seen her yet so they hadn't heard the re-vamped version. As I expected, they were blown away!

As for the Roadside Cafe, we had surprisingly never seen Leather before, considering how many shows we have to our credit, so we were all happy to finally get to see it (even though every other Tori fan seems to be pretty tired of it by now!). Her improv about the ghost in the theatre was (no pun intended) haunting and intriguing. I had never heard the story of the ghost, but it didn't surprise me, as central†and upstate New York are extremely haunted places. Of course I can't remember the words verbatim, but the gist of it was "I heard about you about an hour ago/ I wonder if you're still here/ I suppose you are/ the ghost in the show/ about an hour ago," etc. She also mentioned her name (Clara) several times in the improv. After this I had expected something like Marianne or Josephine, so I was a little disappointed with Landslide. But my disappointment was short-lived - after she played the first note of the next song,†I knew it was Baker Baker. It was a beautiful version, pretty standard of course, but there was something about the way she sang the last lines of the song that I found so poignant and moving - the seven hour trip was well worth it after that!

The show turned up for me after that - she performed Honey, which must have made Jenn very happy, and made me happy as well, since I had never seen it with the band. Sweet Sangria is a standard, but I was happy to see Girl, I really like this tour's version of that song. I like the way she plays the last outro part of the song on the piano now instead of the Rhodes. I Can't See New York was as moving as ever†- it doesn't seem to have morphed much over the course of the tour, but that's fine, I think it's effective as is. There's nothing wrong with ending the show with iieee, but Spring Haze complemented New York both stylistically and in its lyrical content SO well, it seemed to be the perfect way to end the main set. iiieee I love, but I have to say I miss the piano bits she played on the Plugged Tour - she seems to play it now almost exclusively on the synth, which is fine, but I miss the piano breakdown in the middle. I understand why she doesn't sing the long, emotional outro she did on the Plugged Tour - as powerful as it was, I would†assume that her emotions surrounding her miscarriage, although still strong,†wouldn't be so raw now, especially after becoming a mother. Still, it's a great song and it deserves to get played every night.

The encores were wonderful. Taxi Ride is energetic and quite a crowd pleaser. Liquid Diamonds is the kind of Tori song I love - dark and complex, an "underground" (underwater?) song. At the second encore, I thought it was Riot Poof that the boys were playing, but I knew she hadn't done it yet, so I thought I was mistaken. She played it on the Rhodes and it rocked. The "It will all find its way in time" bits between verses were a little awkward (she sang them an octave lower and with a slightly different arrangement).†But all in all this version is awesome, I was so happy to see one of my favorites from Venus. Playboy Mommy was lovely and a moving way to end the show.

Without meeting her and hearing a song we had been waiting to hear for years, the show wouldn't have been nearly†as special, but we were all happy and satisfied with our evening. Even her "mellow" (someone else said generic) shows are well worth seeing! This will probably†be my last for the tour, but the shows†I saw†were all wonderful.


From Tracey Bradley:

I was at The March first concert at the Landmark.. she was AWSOME!I was surprise that the first THREE songs were from older c/d's and that I knew the first three songs I had my head in my hand and actally cried! I LOVE Torie and wrote a little post in OUR local on line website Inside oswego.com. I hung around for 2 hours outside near her bus HOPEING to get a glimps or maybe even a "high Five" I wanted so much to tell her "AWESOME JOB Torie!!! But they wouldnt let us any closer . I never did get to see her come out .But Never the less It was the most AMAZEING night of my life and I look forward to seeing her again!!WAY TO GO TORIE!! I LOVE YOU!


Read a review of this concert from The Daily Orange.