The set list tonight included Songbird (solo), Black Swan (solo), Yes, Anastasia (solo), Etienne (solo), TomBigBee, Sugar and Rattlesnakes. If you were at the Sacramento, CA 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 Sacramento, CA on Sunday, April 13, 2003 at Sacramento Memorial Auditorium. The opening act was Rhett Miller.

Set List

Many thanks to Matt Page who phoned me with the set list after the show.

Wampum Prayer
a sorta fairytale
Sugar
Father Lucifer
God
Horses
Caught A Lite Sneeze
Black-Dove (January)
Wednesday

Band Leaves

Black Swan
Yes, Anastasia
Etienne

Band returns

Josephine
Virginia
TomBigBee
Rattlesnakes
Precious Things
I Can't See New York
Iieee

1st Encore

Taxi Ride
Past The Mission

2nd Encore

Songbird (solo)
Tear In Your Hand
Putting The Damage On

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 Matt Page and Richard Galbraith:

This was the best of the three shows in the bay area. Tori followed her written set list exactly, but added "Songbird" at the start of the second encore. The set list was amazing, and it was good to see Sugar again, which has not been performed in some time on this tour. This was the best version of "Black Swan" Matt has heard. She did the entire song and did not leave out any verses.


From Toriphile Steph (OneFaerieGirl)†:

One word....awesome.

I had a great time at the concert this time around. It was nice for it to be where I lived, too. Last time I saw her was in San Francisco at her last concert of the last US leg of this tour. I was having a good time, but I was due with my son in two weeks, so I was very very uncomfortable. We had a babysitter for our guy tonight and we came to the concert and had much more fun...especially sitting closer to the stage than ever in the third row.

Anyway, the set list was great. I was happy to hear both Yes, Anastasia and Etienne, which I had never heard live before. Precious Things gets me every time. Tonight was not exception. She also sang Black Swan in her solo set, which was very beautiful. There were a few songs I wouldn't have minded hearing, but it was still great nonetheless. Very happy to hear Past the Mission, since I heard it five years ago. She had a very cute improv about Sacramento and doing "naughty things" last time they were in town for a concert, which was for her plugged tour in 1998 out at Arco. When she introduced the band, she got to Matt and commented that they had one hell of a party on the bus last night. Anyway, beautiful set, beautiful woman, can't wait for the next round of fun.

Catch ya on the flip side.


From Stefanie Shea (stefaknee):

I got in there and started feeling REALLY sick...I got really sick at my first show in oakland, 2001, and it ruined the show for me. But, by the middle I started feeling better and was able to enjoy it...how can you not when tori is right in front of you ;-)

We had great seats all the way on the side of the balcony..we were so close it was amazing. The set list seemed to have a lot of pele, pink...early stuff. I love tori post-choirgirl. It seemed like she played very few scarlet songs. She played Virginia though, and that's all I could have asked for.

Some things I noticed: she has so much control over everything that happens on stage. I'm so amazed by this because I'm a solo female artist as well. I love how before the first encore she just strutted around the stage and hung onto her rhodes for like 5 minutes. Just complete control over the music, the audience, the ambience....She gave the audience the finger on father lucifer's "never gain weight..." so great :-)

Out of the three shows I've been to (Oakland #2 2001, and the last SF show)...this was my fav so far. She was very talkative with everyone.

She talked about how her mother called her about something she read that tori said and tori joked that she had to deny it...and she had us all wondering what "naughty" things she was doing last time in Sacramento.

As always, gorgeous, beautiful, voice was amazing, matt and jon are amazing musicians.

She forever continues to inspire me and push me to be a solo girl with a keyboard...she gives me hope that people out there want to listen to us ;-)

Stefanie Shea (stefaknee)
http://stefanieshea.iuma.com


From Ursula Kirkland:

We drove out of the Bay Area and into California's Central Valley for the Sacramento show. The rolling hills and fields were green; the puffy clouds seemed to move across the sky as quickly as we flew down the road.

The Memorial Auditorium was directly across from city hall where there was displayed a huge American flag and sign emblazoned with "support our troops". I took a walk before the show and saw the capitol building for the first time. The trees in the Capitol Park were huge and beautiful. The moon was rising over the left side of the capitol.

I have never really appreciated Josephine, but the day's perspective and current times provided a new understanding of the song. Josephine was graceful and appropriate for Sacramento.

Though we heard God (it was, after all, Palm Sunday), I am happy we did not hear Cornflake Girl again. I do like the Father Lucifer/God duo.

Tori did a great job with Yes, Anastasia even though this was the third show in a row; this was the best version of Anastasia I have seen. She had sung an improv about feeling under the weather and it referred to vampires.

Tombigbee comes alive wonderfully; I would love to hear it live every night. Songbird was beautiful and it had more meaning for me than it did in Phoenix on the last leg.


Read a review of this concert from the Sacramento Bee.


From Tammy Love:

Im not a following Tori Fan. If she comes near my town at least 3 hours away I will see her. I have only been to 2 shows before last night and the seats were never good. I had brought a gift to Tori of photos I had taken of local indian tribes during a pow wow, single moms, and of other various meaningful subjects in my life. All in a 8 by 10 portfolio ready to flip through quickly.. Other fans said Joel could help me.

I saw Joel outside the venue, and I belived that maby he would get this portfolio to her. I showed him the photos and told him the story's behind them. He loved the photos and told me he would get them to Tori and asked me who I was with. I told him my 14 year old son Joe and my girlfriend . He then gave me 3 front row tickets. I was shocked. I gave away the tickets I had bought 14 rows back to a few glad fans, and then we went in. During the show I started to notice that Tori sang many of her songs right to my son Joe. We were all shocked..I wondered how she could see him. Then I noticed that everyone in the front row was in dark clothing, however Joe had on a baby blue shirt, his hair is white, and he is just a child. That must be a different sight to see in the front row for Tori.When she grabbed her crotch during perecious things, I coverd his eyes.

After the show Joel took the portfolio back, and I thanked him again for the gift.

My family and I walked outside and I saw a homless man. I chatted with him for some time while Joe took off to the buses without asking me. He stood on the side walk across from the buses with about 15 other fans. A blond lady came out of Tori's bus walked across the street and handed my son the set list. He was a little taken back and didnt know what to say. The lady said, "you should say thank you." Joe then popped out of his amazed stage and said thanks. It was a very fun night.

Thanks to the Tori fans that were so kind, (Brittney Spears Girl and your friend)

Thanks Joel for those amazing tickets. And Tori I hope those photos blessed you.


From Arielle (MusicWomyn):

I hope this is detailed enough. So much happened that I want to remember.I didn't plan on going to the meet and greet, but it was hard to resist. I arrived at around 11:45am and waited. Hours pass by, and at 3:30p the security guards began preparing us to move to the meet and greet zone. We braced ourselves because it was a short walk, but we didn't want people cutting ahead. We made it to the barricades and it was a tight squeeze, but I was pretty close. I wasn't close enough to take a picture with her, or even talk to her, I thought, because I was further back than I had been the time before. I had my camera ready and the stuff I wanted her to sign. I was on the side of the barricades and there were tons of people hanging out on the grass to the side just for a glimpse of her. We waited and waited, and finally, she came out. She was beautiful. People started asking her for requests for songs and she began writing down only those songs from people whose concert this was their last. I though about getting a request in for Butterfly and tried, but she didn't hear me. She talked briefly with the folks who were on the grass and not in the massive group of people in the barricades (me). Then she leaned across the sides and started talking to the person behind me. This person told her it was her birthday a few days ago and wanted to request a song. I held my Boys for Pele lyric insert (from the cd) waiting for her to turn to me. Oh my Goddess!!! She turned to me and smiled and said "And, how are you doing today?" It was my moment to say anything I wanted. I began to cry and said "You helped me through my depression." She took one of my hands in hers and held it. I began to cry more. I said "I just wanted to tell you that." She reached for my other hand, so I had to put somethings under my arms that I was holding. She wanted to hold both my hands! She looked at me with sympathy and love. As we held each others arms, I told her "You mean so much me." She was so sweet and beautiful and sympathetic and semi-crying with me. It was my moment with Tori. I never thought I would ever have the chance or the courage to say the things I wanted to say. I concluded with asking her to sign the page with Marianne lyrics on it. I kind of giggled because it was so emotional and I was asking her for an autograph. She giggled too as if she knew what I was thinking. She took the lyric book insert with page with Marianne on it and looked at the picture. This was the picture with her suckling the pig. She looked at it, laughed, and said "What was I thinking?" It was so cute and funny. She asked me what my name was and how to spell it. She wrote for a little bit and then handed it back to me. I didn't read it yet because it was so emotional and I wanted to see her other interactions. I finally opened it up and it read (reads): To Arielle and your inner mermaiD (with the "D" capitolized), then a heart and then....the signature...Tori Amos! ::sigh:: This item will be framed and cherished FOREVER. So, I was in a daze after that and didn't really catch much else of what happened. The meet and greet ended and we all wandered off for several hours until the concert would begin. I should mention that although I was in a daze, I was still aware of the fact that my tickets were located in the THIRD row from the stage!!! How I managed that, I'll never know.

We got a bunch of pictures during the meet and greet. After the meet and greet, several of the people who were on the grass area came up to me and told me they had gotten the best picture of me with Tori and I holding each others arms and crying. So, if those pics come out, I may have a beautiful and personal photo with Tori!!!

The concert began with Rhett Miller. He was ok. I recognized one of the songs from I don't know where. He didn't play very long. Then, we all waiting in our seats for the lights to go out and the goddess to appear. The anticipation built up every time a song playing over the speakers ended. Then it happened. We were so close. I could see every facial expression, hand movement, and even the reflection of her piano of her hands playing the keys. Stunning! The concert was amazing, and I won't go into too much detail. I really felt like she was with us, unlike the Universal Ampitheatre concert where she seemed a little detached. She played well and was full of emotion. Most of the songs I had heard her play live before and they were great, though not as exciting as some. First off, I loved the fact that she did a few Choirgirl and Pele songs. She played Black Dove, which I never tire of hearing. She played Horses..again beautiful. She played Black Swan (OMG)..hadn't heard that one live yet. She played an encore, but before that happened, a mad rush of people stormed the pit. I could still see and my seat was fine, so I didn't mind standing. Then, the second encore came. This was the final encore. Tori played...Song Bird (Fleetwood Mac). I can't say how emotional this was for me. I have never heard or heard of Tori playing this before. It was so beautiful. It was the highlight of the evening. I was in tears.Then, she plated Tear in your Hand, and finally, Putting the Damage on (Thank you Tori). The logic of these three songs being put at the end of concert blows my mind. I love you, maybe it's time to say goodbye, and you're so pretty when you're putting the damage on. Wow! what a statement. And it was so personal.


From Charlene M. Seattle:

I wanted to share my Tori story, bare with me as I tend to get scattered.

I am a 35 y/o recently reluctant retired paramedic/flight medic. This all ties into my Tori story. I have been a fan of Tori for well over 10 years now having attended my first show in '92. I have never been one to go to meet and greets as my career didnt allow for such time off. I did manage however to attend a ton of shows over 10 years. I have always just flown under the radar. A fan who goes to a ton of shows, never really looking to meet Tori. But as my life changed dramatically last Oct. I wanted to share the tribute I made to my friends with her.

I have lost 7 friends and co-workers over the years in the line of duty. A crew with a patient on Thanksgiving years ago and a cop friend who was shot and killed in the line of duty. I had the grim task of caring for him in the back of my rig. Last year I lost 2 more for a total of 9 to separate, unrelated suicides.

The summer of '98 I was flying in severe weather without a patient. We were attempting to land. Every day that year I prayed that we would slam into the mountain killing only myself. I almost got my wish while attempting to land. As we aborted our attempt just feet from the ground I had Tori playing on my headphones as I was scared to death. iieee was streaming thru...."we're dying and there's no sign of a parachute." God shot if you ask me.

I placed 2 tattoo's of Tori on me as a tribute to my co-workers and to the flight that made me want to live again. This sept after being plagued with survivor guilt, suicidal ideation's and other not so friendly behavior I had an intervention that saved my life. I placed the portrait of Tori on my arm to always remember my brothers and sister that died. And, for all of the haun ting things I have seen over the years. It is both a tribute to them and, to Tori whose music helped me cope in seemingly haunting and tragic circumstances. Today I am happy and healthy.

I have never been to a meet and greet. Something pulled me there Sunday. When Tori saw the tattoo she came right up to me. I gave her a very short version of my above story. 7 buddies killed in the line of duty. She appeared so genuine and moved. She asked what song I'd like to hear. I requested Gold Dust. She told me how hard it was because of her daughter....I said I understood. She asked again if there was something I had not yet heard and would like to hear. My answer was Yes, Anastasia. She played it as you well know by now. THANK YOU TORI.

She signed the tattoo and I was lucky enough to get a photo with her. Albeit not the greatest, but hey!

Joel topped my night off with a ticket in the front row. THANK YOU JOEL. I didn't expect that at all. T he show was amazing as was Yes, Anastasia.

I just wanted to share my good fortune. THANK YOU TORI FOR ALL OF YOUR GIFTS. I will continue to fly under the radar again so that other fans can hopefully be as blessed as I.

Thank you mike for all that you do. I wish I had something to give in return.


From Heather Basile:

This show was my third Tori concert. The first was on tour with Alanis and I daresay not even close to a "true" Tori show. †I loved her angel-wing like caped top and jeans under a pink ballerina's dress. Very 80s. She received standing ovations and during the 2nd encore I stood the entire time singing along and "dancing" in my seat. I especially liked how I Can't See New York had a serious Led-Zeppelin-No-Quarter quality to it, as well as Iieee. It is always a treat when my favorite artist shows her influences like that. The special song of the night for me was Rattlesnakes- having earned a degree in women's studies I appreciate the female spin Tori threw on her cover tune album Strange Little Girl. †"...she reads Simone deBeaviour, in her American circumstance..." What an honor to see the goddess in the flesh once more! †And of course, who could not adore and love the hand gestures, fondling the mic., flipping off the audience, tapping and gripping certain key spots on her Bosey... I can not finish my review without mention of how solid Tori's back-up guys are, Jon Evans and Matt Chamberlain; not only are they stellar musicians, they flow and mesh with her beautifully- I love that Tori trio!


From dalejen:

It was so wonderful; to go to a show in my hometown, the whole day was fantastic. Although the acoustics at the Memorial aren?t very good, Tori came across beautifully. Being in the 5th row center was the closest I?ve been in all the shows I?ve been to. I couldn?t help but watch her hands work the magic. The first set was like one long collage of why I love her writing. What impressed me the most this time was that she played songs requested at the meet and greet. ?Black Swan, Yes, Anastasia, Etienne and Seaside? all solo.


From Kimberly Graciano:

Second Leg of the Tour: April 13, 2003 Sacramento,CA Tori looked beautiful in her Meet n Greet, and I was able to give her, through passing a copy of a portrait I did a couple years ago. Two-three feet in a Meet N' Greet is so much space in 'Toriphile Sandwichland'!! :) Happily, The original is in the hands of another special Toriphile friend. I signed this copy in red, symbolic I guess...and I really hope she likes it. I saw her smile upon receiving it, and I think she did. I wanted her to feel the emotion from the art that I try so hard to portray, so she can see the passion her music gives me, and I try to pass it back to her through my art. Each piece I did while listening to her songs, so they would sort of assimilate with the art, metaphorically. I gave a theater person in Seattle an original black & White portrait drawing and a disquette to give to Tori, and that person had a pile of other gifts for her as well, yet had feared she never saw it, since in San Diego when I met Tori in person, she hadn't yet seen it. Well, in San Francisco her body guard Joel in December gave her a copy of that original right after the show, just in case she never got the other, but think I forgot to sign it in pen again. Duh! This time in Sacraento, only 11-14 miles from my own house I got to go three times to check on her Meet n Greet or go to the show. first I knocked on her tour bus window, asking for tori. lol Some long haired ponytail man in his late 40s or early 50s came out with pizzas and told me she would be back at 4 pm. I returned at 3:30, and waited along with other dedicated friendly Toriphiles, some of which had waited a long time. I was so close, yet so far. I asked Tori to make a video of Landslide, because I thought her version was better than the new one!(I like the others too, but Tori's is still my favorite!) Anyway, , and that is how each one affects me. It's like this Bliss that comes over me, and persists a very long time! I think it's because her music is so cleansingly refreshing! Even tough I was at x26, I still loved the show! I'm glad I went, even though things are tough right now. I have felt more relaxed than I have in a long time,so I had to go. Tori's show gave us several surprises! She was well received in her pretty peachy colored dress with a fur-ish looking collar! Very elegant! The background effects were very nice, and I loved it when In I Can't See New York, there were clouds, and then at the climax of the song, they moved around and it produced th emotions of the song. It was wonderful! The lights changed for different songs, or parts of them, and in some of the songs, it would be a close-ip light on Tori. It always is cool when they do that! This tour has had more special effects though. I got to hear Virginia, ooooohhhh I love the piano beginning and Tori's chorus to that! I study Anthropology and Native American History, and it invokes feelings from a movie that Kevin Cosner did to enlighten America about Native American History, and I can see this sweet Native Taino woman, or Mohawk woman, riding sofly in a canoe, gliding along, paddling each way, left, then right side, along the awampy rivers near Roanaoke Virginia, and then meeting a man, and stranger, and a lighter skinned European man, who talks her into changing her whole life for him, and losing herself, her identity, and as Tori says, "she will wait for his savior" (since she has been mandatorially converted, or else!) Yes, that song IS very powerful, yet lovely in my opinion! I finally got to hear Tombigbee live, which is totally awesome and again Matt Chamberlain kicked ass with the drums, and well, I've been having things leave me sad lately, (before the show mostly) and I've been very hung up on the song Tear In Your Hand, and she sang it for me/I mean us! lol I was absolutely thrilled with the setlist, but yes, I had heard some of them already on this tour, but who cares! Her intensity with Sugar and Tear In Your Hand was unmatched on any of the shows I went to this tour! She also sings songs that are special for us as well as for herself I am sure! I still cried with special songs like I Can't See New York, and her version of Father Lucifer was very cool! I swayed to it, and felt the music pass through me wonderfully, almost was afraid to make her leave if I waved, since it was second to the last song, but I had to wave anyway to Tear In Your Hand!!! I had to, gosh darn it!! Don't question me! lol AAaah...and ...Yes Anastasia...I'm almost totally speechless to describe how I felt about that one! I think of the real Anastasia of the Romanov family, and the ordeal that Russian Royal family endured until each were murdered, and hopefully Anastasia survived! Okay, yes I have been following this stoy, even if Tori meant another Anastasia. I do not know. It was also as if Tori had read my mind in playing that song right then! She played that song exactly when I was wishing for it! I had such tears of joy, and yes I sang along to that and to lovely Etienne! I so wish Tori would re-release her YKTR album! I paid a 'nifty' $19.99 for that album at a local record store, as an import, and none of us knew it was a fake. I can't help it though! I love that album and won't give it up!!! Tori...make it be re-released please! Okay, so if I got the info right Tori said her mom gets into the internet or technical stuff, looking things up? I'm not sure what she meant by it,because her mic seemed to fade out, or I just didn't hear well, but um...if you are reading this Mrs. Amos, please tell Tori to re-release that album because On the Boundary, and Floating City, Cool On Your Island are also absolutely wonderful! I love ALL of Tori's albums, and Tori played some of each, which made me very happy! Rattlesnakes was another happy surprise! Well, if I can think of more, I will post more, add it on here. I hope this invoked memories of your experiences!!


From Brian K Tanaka:

Rating: First-category: "Oh my fucking god"

In hindsight, this is actually an hors-category, but my gut reaction on the night of the show was first-category, so I'm sticking with that. I think part of the problem was that I was just slightly out of tune enough with the show that I missed some interesting undercurrents. Or maybe it was just a case of me being dense.

Either way, I didn't seem to grok the overall show with the same degree of insight as others did, but I enjoyed it very much all the same.

The Roadside Cafe was an embarassment of riches: Black Swan; Yes, Anastasia; Etienne; and Josephine. I count myself lucky indeed to get two Etienne's within such a short span of days. Black Swan was astounding and just plain beautiful. Likewise, the second encore set was also an embarassment of riches: Songbird, Tear In Your Hand, and Putting the Damage On.

"Demon Tori" made an appearance but, surprisingly, not during Precious Things but rather during TomBigBee. I wasn't expecting that, personally, but it was great nonetheless.

The Meet & Greet was particularly nice in Sacramento. I have snapshots I'll have to scan and share at some point.