Tori debuted for the first time this tour Sweet Dreams (with the band!). The set list also included Rattlenakes, Girl, Vincent (Starry Starry Night) (solo), Carbon (solo), The Waitress and Glory Of The 80's. If you were at the Austin, TX 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 Austin, TX on Saturday, April 26, 2003 at The Backyard. 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
Rattlesnakes
Girl
Black-Dove (January)
Wednesday

Band Leaves

China
Vincent (Starry Starry Night)
Carbon

Band returns

Putting The Damage On
Cornflake Girl
Sweet Dreams (with band!)
The Waitress
Precious Things
I Can't See New York
Iieee

1st Encore

Taxi Ride
Spark

2nd Encore

Glory Of The 80's
Hey Jupiter

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:

While Matt enjoyed the first two Texas shows more than this one, he still said Austin was enjoyable. Sweet Dreams, which Tori debuted tonight for the tour, sounded rather similar in some ways to the original recorded version. The second half of the show seemed a little more enjoyable than the first half. Tori sounded really good tonight.

Before Sweet Dreams, Tori sang an improv with words that roughly went like this, "There was a girl from way back when, back in the 90's... what do you believe in..." and then she performed Sweet Dreams.


From Charity Fish:

i just wanna say what an awesome fucking show!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

tonight was so much more "on" than in San Antonio!

Wampum Prayer - Standard, sounded good though

A Sorta Fairytale - Standard, again very good

Sugar - Nice and loud.... this one rocked... the sound was incredible at the venue

Father Lucifer - A nice surprise, didn't recognize it at first

God - : )

Rattlesnakes - Thought is was a little boring but it was ok

Girl - Very nice and strong

Black-Dove (January) - Of course everyone cheered at the Texas part... it was cool cause we were literally in the middle of the woods... very fitting

Wednesday - Tori and Matt had a lot of fun with this one
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China - She did an improve about her good day and walking around with a guy with his shirt off (her husband) then she told him shame on you.. it was very cute, China was really nice

Vincent - OMG how beautiful is this song? I was very happy to hear it... we were under those big texas stars and it was so beautiful

Carbon - : ) I cried
Putting the Damage On - Breathtaking.... I cried even harder... the wind blew as she did the ghost passing through part... : )
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Cornflake Girl - A Rocking Classic

Sweet Dreams - I fucking freaked when she did this one! She was very playful during it and changed the lines to something like "The country is run by a constipated man" refering to Bush... she did an improve before it about a girl coming to her in 1990 and telling her to put her on the keyboard... said that she told her that somethings were coming that were not so sweet and she had better get ready

The Waitress - I liked this one, it was nice to hear her again

Precious Things - Much stronger than San Antonio with a nice long GRLLLLLLLLLLL

I Can't See New York - Was ok
Iieee - Audience rushed stage after this : ( Sit the hell down so she "might" play Golddust for god's sake
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Taxi Ride - : )
Spark - Beautiful and moving
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Glory of the 80's - She had a lot of fun with this one!
Hey Jupiter - I really like the dakota version....

Over all a wonderful show! MUCH better than San Antonio (and the audience behaved better too). The sound was amazing... Tori said everyone should come to Austin, she "loves loves loves it here"

On to Houston.....


From Kristin:

Hey there, just wanted to let you know I was at the Austin show tonight. How amazing! I actually went to the San Antonio show last night, but was more pleased with her performance and set list tonight. You could definitely tell she's a big fan of Austin. Her solo performance of China and then Starry Starry Night brought many people to tears, including myself. I was in awe with these songs. The crowd seemed to be more hostile than I would have expected from Austinites. There was a girl in the front center who would not sit down! She stood up and made a big scene and obstructed the view of a lot of people behind her; I thought it was very inappropriate and rude, and I don't think I'm alone there. But other than that, Tori was very chipper and pleasing and gave an all-around great performance. And thanks to her bodyguards who are getting me into the show tomorrow in Houston! Wowsa! Exciting, exciting.


From Rita Patton:

I was at the show in Austin tonight, and I have never seen Tori have such a genuinely good time on stage. The set list was perfect, the weather was beautiful, and she actually smiled more most of the show! She said something to the effect of "I love it! I love it! I love it here....You know how Celine Dion is making everyone go to Vegas? We were talking about making everyone come to Austin to see us!"


From stina jay:

Wow, what a show. The energy was comparable with the Austin show in '98, those who were there know what i mean. And although it was nice to see enjoying themselves so much, that drunk chick who kept dancing was kinda of obnoxious, and i think she even gota funny look from Tori and John. Tori added some real spice to this show, the numerous times she straddled the bench, full on grabbed herself at the GIRRLLLLL part in precious things, and flipping off the audience once, im not sure why she did it but it was cute. One thing that bothered me was the person screaming during hey jupiter, my god. i dont want to make ppl feel bad for enjoying themselves but come on. By the way, no one mentioned yet that Mark acutaly brought little Tash on stage b4 the show, it was soo cute, althoguh she doesnt really look like tori to me. Totaly awsome energy, sound, and of course tori was absolutely beautiful.


From Kevin:

Good show...semi-noisy people next to me again, but for the most part not too bad.

mostly just writing to say that she pretty much followed the setlist. The only exception was cornflake girl and Glory Of the 80's were swapped.


From Brandy Guthrie:

Thank you thank you Tori for closing the show with Hey Jupiter! I was crying like a baby during not only the whole song but also my whole walk out to the car. I'm glad she appreciates her fans love for her past work and doesn't just play her present album hits (which I love as well!). The concert in Austin was VERY VERY (not enough very's) great! I've always loved her appreciation for her Austin fans. Black Dove (like always) was a lot of fun--we always feel like she's playing that one for us. Another high point in the show for me was Girl, which I cried to like a baby as well. Please Tori, next time, play Northern Lad!!! I love you and can't wait to see you next time!


From Brian Morris:

I'm fresh from the Tori show last night here in my hometown of Austin. What a beautiful night it was, under the stars on a cool spring evening with Tori. She played beautifully, and you could tell she was enjoying herself. She seems to really like Austin, and that particular venue, according to her radio interview yesterday. It was a short but insightful broadcast, and she sang CRAZY and STRANGE. I had the distinct pleasure of meeting Miss Tori along with my two best Tori friends after the broadcast. It was impromptu, and almost didn't happen. She was already in the car, and we begged her bodyguard for a minute of her time. He kindly obliged, and we were able to say hello, present our gifts, get an autograph and a hug. It was a truly incredible experience for the three of us, whose friendship was formed back in college by our mutual love of Tori's music. You should see Allison's tatoo of Tori; it's based on a photograph circa UNDER THE PINK. It's beautiful, and Tori was seemingly overwhelmed by it when Allison showed it to her yesterday. Tori was very polite and accomodating during the brief meeting that only served to whet our appetite for the show, which was truly an outstanding performance! We were honored to hear rarities such as SWEET DREAMS and VINCENT (SSN). The band was in terific form, the bast I've ever sounded them hear. Overall, it was a beautiful experience, one I'll never forget, though I've been seeing her live for years now!


From Roel Ramos:

my best friend and i and a friend of said best friend arrived at the backyard about 7:00. the backyard is a cool place. last time i was there was right after tori's gig with alanis. my bf and i along with everyone else pretty much stood for the whole show cuz as you may or may not know, the only place to sit was on the ground. this time, seats were set up all over the place. and my friend and i had 3rd row, seats 11 and 12.

again, tons of people were still milling about and getting drinks and buying merchandise and general mingling about during rhett's set. not bad at all tonight.

after rhett's set, someone put a child on the stage and people began to speculate whether it was tash or not. i wasn't sure cuz i wondered, 'would she really allow that?!' so this guy has the child wave to the crowd and then carries her off. still not clear on that regard...

this time, after wampum prayer, there was no curtain to drop, so tori came dancing out from the wings to the beginings of fairytale and of course, rocked.

then she went into sugar after thunderous applause. sugar! a fave of mine and i got to hear it live! very cool!

father lucifer! another fave. very funky and groovy. tori danced a bit of course. i always wanted to hear the funked up groovy live version!

(i think around this point she spoke to us. i can't honestly remember when) she introduces the guys of course and says 'ya know, celine dione gets people to come to vegas to see her play. well, we're gonna get everybody to come here cuz we love it! we love it! we love it! we love it!' she was so cute! she had everyone laughing and cheering!

god! yet another fave! always nice to hear.

so far so good...

rattlesnakes! a very fave! good raspy live version. one of the only strangelittlegirls i heard this time around...

girl: strong and fun.

black dove (january), not too suprised again. texas baby!

and wednseday, again fun, funky, sorta outofplace number that had everyone dancing along.

her roadside cafe sign did not descend from the rafters but rather sat off to the side and just lit up from where it was...

her improve before china was great. she sang of men around today without shirts on. her husband was one of them and after all these years, she can still 'shame him...'? very funny, but in all seriousness, china was strong and beautiful.

after china, i believe, someone shouted something, i didn't really hear and tori replied 'ppppllllththhh'. ya know, she raspberried into the mike and everyone laughed!

vincent/starry starry night was cool. new to me and beautiful and sweet.

carbon. a so fave of mine on my wish list. just her and the piano and it was sublime. loved it!

putting the damage on with the band was a nice touch. i thought it was just going to be her but then the guys came in and it was nice.

cornflake girl. again, always a nice treat. always gets everyone going.

she began an improv about a girl that came to her in 1990 and said she wanted to be put on the keys(keyboard?) and then into sweet dreams. but i didn't know it at the time. i sat racking my brain trying for the life of me to figure it out. she even sang 'come along now' a few times and i still didn't get it. she then really got into it and i was like 'oh shite!' great great suprise. very rockin!

waitress, another tori staple that gets everyone going. very strong and loud and fierce and great!

precious things. tori did a few staples tonight, but that's ok. always a crowd pleaser...

and again, as in san antonio, she went from one extreme to another; from precious things to i can't see new york. she makes you soar, then smacks you right back down again. gotta love her. the smoke and gentle breeze added to the atmosphere of the song.

and again, as in san antonio, she followed with iieee. a nice powerhouse.

after tori and the guys left the stage, the usual stampede commenced. i moved a few seats down the aisle i was in already.

the guys came on and began to jam and at one point they got off and john began to laugh and they finally got back on and then tori came dancing out again and they went into taxi ride. it was very nice to hear and it was a great presentation.

then into spark. wow. an absolute fave of mine. finally heard her live and it was every bit as awesome as i thought it would be. very strong. very poignant. very somber.

glory of the 80's was a great suprise. very fun and funky and everyone was, a this point, dancing and groovin along. i know i was.

then she ended it with hey jupiter. wow. what more could you ask for? i so wanted to hear her dakota version hey jupiter live for a long time now and i was so not dissapointed. so fucking beautiful and amazing. i had tears in my eyes by the last chord. a nice close...

well tonight was a completely different show. goes to show of course you can never be to sure what to expect. a different setlist a different show makes. the audience tonight was pretty cool from where i sat. i was 3rd row, but from these seats, i couldn't see much of tori's playing and/or movements. i saw here beautiful face perfectly, but i missed alot of the gestures and movements and such. i could barely see matt at all, and only saw john's head swaying and bobbing. i'm not complaining, just stating, mind you! and because of the venue, alot of the lighting was left out, not able to be used. it would've been nice, but again, i'm not complaining.

tori did seem to be having alot more fun tonight than in san antone. whatever the case, i enjoyed both shows immensely. these were my only two shows the tour and i couldn't be more pleased. well, except for the fact that she was supposed to play liquid diamonds instead of hotel! :( but what're you gonna do?

it was an awesome ride and i'm already anticpating the next time. until then, take care all!


From Lorraine Eakin:

Hi Mikewhy, I just got home to Baltimore from Austin. It was a great show, soooo glad I decided to go! I met some super nice folks, too - Matt from Utah and Katie Stone took me to the show and helped me get a sweet deal on a hotel suite. (You guys are awesome!)

The venue was ideal. It was just getting dark, no clouds, beautiful starry sky, trees encircling the back of the stage, light breeze - we couldn't have asked for a better deal. There were no flyers for the stage, which meant no curtain. The Roadside Cafe sign also couldn't fly in or out, it just sat to the side and was lit at the appropriate time. The map cutout was behind the band and the trees behind that, so whenever the lights were programmed beyond the stage, they reflected off the trees, sometimes (as in Girl, ICSNY, and Damage) to an eerie, haunting effect.

I thought the concert was strong throughout. I was really impressed with Sugar, which I thought I was over seeing, but this version was so intense - they really threw themselves into this song, and it set the precedent for the rest of the evening. Many songs that I had seen often (and wasn't really interested in seeing again) were really powerful - Girl had a lot of strong piano work that set it apart from other times I'd seen it, and the ending to Cornflake Girl was FIERCE - from the first "rabbit" part to the end of the song was the best I had seen it so far on this tour. Black Dove, of course, being a Texas song, came out to play, and was better than the last time I'd seen it (particularly since we were right there in the woods and a plane flew overhead at the "other side of the galaxy" part.) She also did a neat and very-Tori kind of modern dance move at the line "snakes they are my kin" where she grabbed herself and then the piano - so cute! Waitress and Precious Things were powerhouses. I actually appreciate both songs better now in their edited, original forms - they both show off their muscle more.

There were also lots of songs I had never seen - Rattlesnakes is my favorite from SLG, I loved it live. Surprisingly, I have never seen Spark, and it was strong - I was a little dissappointed at the "how many fates" bridge, which is so powerful on the album, but was a little weak live. Otherwise I love this version, with the keyboard replacing the guitar part. Glory of the 80s is a great showoff number, it's a great groove and I love it way more live than on the album. I hadn't seen Father Lucifer yet on this tour, and it was wonderful - I love it on the Whurly and then the Bosey. I noticed her enunciation was really clear during this song, moreso than usual anyway :-).

But the best moments for me were the Roadside Cafe and the debut of Sweet Dreams. While China wasn't my favorite choice, the improv beforehand about "men with no shirts on/my husband was one of them/shame on you, boy" was very sexy and cool. Vincent (Starry Starry Night) had a beautifully dark and powerful intro. She gestured toward the sky as she sang "starry starry night," it was very moving. I am usually not into the covers she chooses (some exceptions being River and I'm on Fire) but this one was very sweet and perfectly suited to her. Carbon was what I was waiting for, though - it has been my favorite SW song for a while and it was very powerful solo. I teared up a little at the beauty of it. Sweet Dreams was lots of fun - the intro was great, something about "this girl came to see me/said put me on your keys...in the next century things won't be so sweet/ you need to know what you believe..." Tori had a huge grin during SD, kind of like "I know I'm kicking ass right now!" She didn't sing the word fire real long like she did on the solo tour, but she sang that part ("go on go on and dream your house is on fire") three times instead of once. It's interesting how relevent the song has once again become - it's a way for her to be political without attracting unwanted media attention, I guess.

Tori only spoke to us once, she said they "love it love it love it love it" there in Austin. She said "You know how Celine Dion has everybody going to Vegas? Well, we're toying with the idea of having everyone come here to Austin to see us!" It was cute.

I was so thrilled to be seeing her again, I thought I was through with this tour. I just felt blessed to be there, and I couldn't have asked for anything more. I met some nice folks through Matt and Katie (Eef (sp?), Shawn, Jenn, Alana, and others) and had a wonderful time. I'll just have to go to all the Texas shows next time ;-).


From Ruy Caro:

well....great show to say the least.†Friends and I had to drive all the way from Corpus Christi,†Tx ( south Texas) to San Antonio and†Austin....worth every mile!!!†Sweet dreams was a very nice surpirse. Tori seemed to be very happy at the show. i loved the show but i really cant say the same for the audience. This is only my 3rd tori show, but i was sitting by some major preppy yuppie chicks who would shut their mouths during the concert. During the encore i was lucky to get to the front†and "glory of the 80's" was fantastic. Minus the preppy kids that were there....the show was an amazing event, better than San Antonio( which also rocked though) This was the first Tori shows for me since Pele. :) I wished i could have heard cool on your island or mrs. jesus. Also great web site....keep up the great job.....Thank god for ears w/ feet.


From Jenn:

Hi Mike :) This is in response to Stina Jay's post about Tori flipping off the audience. It was during Father Lucifer, during the "girls who eat pizza and never gain weight..." As she sang that line, she gave the salute, lol...It was great and the whole audience cheered


From Gypsy the Raisin Grrrrrrl:

Never having seen a Tori show, let me tell you I am in awe. I have been a loyalist to her philosophies and teachings for years. I drove from my small town, Shamrock, in the Texas panhandle on a pilgrimmage with my raisin girl, Virginia. We were amazed.

The crowd was so well behaved. What a sharing. Some people chose to sing too loudly during some of the songs, but thankfully not too many of them. I didn't mind during Sweet Dreams, because she played with the band. That was soooooo awesome, who could help themselves?!?

The venue was great. All the trees were beautiful, especially the one behind the stage. You could tell that Tori really enjoyed it and loves Austin. It was my first time to Austin and I was having the time of my life, when she said she should make everyone come to Austin like Celine was making everyone go to Las Vegas, I laughed so hard tears came to my eyes!

Her solo songs were amazing. I felt as if I was floating above the crowd. Everyone was well behaved and rolled with the music. Beautiful.

I was glad to hear Taxi Ride as an encore, although I kinda thought it would be :) I was hoping she would play Spark, but hadn't since her April 6th concert in Boise, Idaho. My wishes were fulfilled! It was so beautiful that tears welled up in my eyes. That was the song I wanted to hear most of all!

I was able to dry my eyes during Glory of the 80's because it has such a hip beat. I was back to floating above the crowd again. Then she closed with Hey Jupiter. I held back but the tears came anyway. I know this sounds stupid, but it was if she was singing these songs for me. I know she's playing them for everyone, but I felt so personally connected with everyone there.

Whe it was all over, I hugged my new friend to the right of me (JillyBean I hope you read this!) and me and my raisin girl dried our tears on the way to the car. We just made it back to Shamrock and can't wait for the next show!!!

Peace!


From Rudy Ramirez:

This was the third time I got to see Tori and I must say it was the best show I have seen yet! There is nothing I would change about the show it was PERFECT!!! Tori's voice was angelic and the songs she chose to play were great! This show has renewed my love of Tori & her music....kinda gave me a Tori refill. She was truly amazing tonight and I hope to see her again very soon! LOVE YOU TORI!