A press review of Tori's September 6, 2005 show in West Valley City, UT appeared in the September 7, 2005 edition of The Salt Lake Tribune newspaper.
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You can read this review at sltrib.com or below:
Review: Smoldering Amos delivers a red-hot show at Usana
By Sam Vicchrilli
What was the substance of Tuesday night at the Usana Amphitheatre?
The Summer of Sin Tour with Tori Amos, daughter of a minister, mother of modern piano cool, singing about God, love and what it means to be human.
What was the stage?
A piano, a couple of organs and a keyboard. The instruments were often played simultaneously.
The backdrop was a mock cartoon Eden complete with bitten apple and bespectacled snake - an illustration of wisdom. Her first song, "Original Sinsuality," states "Original sin? No, I don't think so."
Does Amos exude sensuality?
Yes. There's her voice - capable of being rough and silky smooth - and the times she straddled and bounced on her bench, rhythmically tapping the piano with the palm of her hand. Had there been butter on stage, it would have melted.
Older material included "Cloud on My Tongue," "Space Dog," "Little Earthquakes" and "Winter" - the best of the night. Her voice was like an icicle in a deep comforting frost. "Winter" was the only "big hit" from Amos' rich, confessional musical history.
The audience gave new songs a mixed reception; only a few people sang along. Live, the new tunes are somber and calculated; brightness and spontaneity come intermittently. Fair-weather fans would have liked a few more easily recognized hits. Die-hards, though, must have loved the set.
Cover songs included "Hyper-ballad" by the equally cool and unique female star Bjork and "Time" by Tom Waits. A luckier audience a couple of nights ago got Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill" and Radiohead's "Karma Police." Covers are nothing new to the red-headed star, she released a whole album of them - including the Waits tune - a few of years ago.
Midway through her two-hour set, Amos mentioned that earlier in the day she had met some of her cousins who live in Utah. "That saying 'go forth and multiply' must have happened with my family," she quipped.
Like her persona, the merchandise of Amos was deliciously off kilter. One T-shirt read "The Power of Orange Knickers" - with illustration.
With her lyrics, Amos has created some of the more bizarre and interesting verbal adventures in the English language. Some of the night's highlights included the smile-evoking "We laughed in the face of kings," the bold "She is risen" and the tender "When you gonna love you as much as I do."
The show ended with the hypnotic rhythm of "The Beekeeper" - a metaphor for Amos herself and the many gardens of which she is steward.
Tori Amos
WHERE: Usana Amphitheatre, West Valley City
WHEN: Tuesday
THE BOTTOM LINE: From the tender "Winter" to the confessional "The Beekeeper," Tori Amos is sensual, irreverent and massively entertaining.
