You can now see the set list and reviews for the Morrison (Denver), CO concert. Tori's set included an amazing cover of the U2 song Running To Stand Still. ( A song that Tori was thinking about putting on her Strange Little Girls album but did not.) The show also included Upside Down (with band), Siren, Professonal Widow and Caught A Lite Sneeze. If you were at this show and want to send The Dent a review, please email Mikewhy at mikewhy@iglou.com with your comments. You can also post about your concert experience at the Concert Reviews Forum. It would be nice to get as many different viewpoints about the show as possible.

More Details

Tori performed in Morrison (Denver), CO on Thursday, August 7, 2003 at Red Rocks Amphitheatre. Tori's special guest was Ben Folds and the show started at 7:30PM.

Set List

Special thanks to Matt Page for calling me with the set list after the show and to Ann who first let me know that Tori performed the U2 cover!


Wampum Prayer
a sorta fairytale
Bliss
Crucify
Cornflake Girl
Bells For Her
Upside Down (with band)
Hotel
Wednesday

Band Leaves

Cooling
Running to Stand Still (U2 cover)
China

Band returns

Past The Mission
God
Amber Waves
Siren
Professional Widow
I Can't See New York
Precious Things

1st Encore

Caught A Lite Sneeze
Rattlesnakes

2nd Encore

Sweet Sangria
Take To The Sky
Horses

Reviews

The latest reviews are at the bottom of this page, and I am adding reviews all the time. If you were at this show and want to send The Dent a review, please email Mikewhy at mikewhy@iglou.com with your review or comments.

You can also go to the Concert Reviews Forum and post about your experiences as well, or read additional reviews.


From Ann:

These are Ann's initial comments when she called me after the show. You can see her full review below.

Tori played the U2 cover "Running To Stand Still" during her Denver show. (It was her first time playing this live ever!) It was simply amazing. Tori told the crowd before playing it something like "I've never played this before, this is the first time on this dark little stage."

The show was incredibly beautiful. Red Rocks is a gorgeous venue, and to watch Tori's lights shining on the rocks was mesmerizing.

During Take To The Sky, Tori sang, "I feel the earth move all the way to the White House."

Tori did not talk too much, but early in the show told the audience how much she loved it there and that her little girl has been playing on the rocks all day. She said that Tash told her, "I don't want you to play the piano today."

In another interesting note, Ben Fold played Tiny Dancer during his opening set!


From Matt Page:

Matt said the show was excellent. It was a gorgeous night with perfect weather, and he kept watching the lights shine on the rocks that surround the stage. The venue is simply beautiful. Tori sounded great tonight.

The debut of 'Running To Stand Still' was really cool. She mentioned before playing it that it was the first time she had played it live, and that she was at one time planning to place this cover on her "Strange Little Hamsters" album. (Yes, Tori said hamsters! It was cute.)

Before Cornflake Girl, Tori told the audience that she loved it there and that Tash had asked her to "not play the piano" that night, I guess because Tash was having fun playing around there and did not want to stop.

Tori followed her written set list closely. She did have 'Yes, Anastasia' listed, but performed 'Cooling' instead.


From Ann

The Red Rocks show was so amazing! I got there (with my friend Kurt) around 7:40 pm. The venue is so beautiful. It's a park full of giant red stone rocks. There are huge slanted rocks on either side of the seats and the backdrop to the stage is a red stone wall. The seats are all flat rows and tiered. There is not a bad seat in the place. From a certain point, you can look past the stage and see Denver and beyond. During the concert, I could see lightening strikes way off in the distance. They lit up the night sky.

I don't know much about Ben Folds. He played the one song I knew, about a girl in high school getting an abortion. I hear it on the radio a lot. At the end, he said, "Someone asked me to play this. I get compared to this guy a lot, but I don't see it." He then played Tiny Dancer and did sound an awful lot like Elton John.

Tori started at 9:05 pm. She didn't talk much, but seemed very into the music. Having Tori at that incredible venue seemed to heighten the experience. I moved from my seat to the top of the seats, where Kurt and I were alone. I could see the lights of Denver and feel the wind through my hair. The acoustics at the top were really good. I loved hearing Tori with my friend and no one else.

When Tori played Running to Stand Still, my heart stopped. She said it was a song she'd never played before. About 30 seconds into it, I knew I'd heard it before. A little later, I knew this was a U2 song that I loved from the Joshua Tree and Kurt knew the name of the song.


The lyrics to Running to Stand Still:

And so she woke up
From where she was lying still
Said I got to do something about where we're going
Step on a steam train
Step out of the driving rain
Maybe run from the darkness in the night

Singing Ha La La La De Day
Ha La La La De Day
Ha La La La De Day

Sweet the sin
But bitter the taste in my mouth
I see seven towers
But I only see one way out
You got to cry without weeping
Talk without speaking
Scream without raising your voice, you know
I took the poison, from the poison stream,
Then I floated out of here

Singing Ha La La La De Day
Ha La La La De Day
Ha La La La De Day

She runs through the streets
With eyes painted red
Under black belly of cloud in the rain
In through a doorway she brings me
White gold and pearls stolen from the sea
She is raging
She is raging and the storm blows up in her eyes
She will suffer the needle chill
She is running to stand still

Tori said that this place was magical. And she was right. It was one of the best shows I've ever seen.


From Christine Cignoli:

I've been a big fan of The Dent for years but I don't think I've ever emailed you before. Last night's show was my most memorable so I thought I'd pass along the story.

I'd seen Tori 13 times before last night, 10 of those times with my best friend Erena. Every time we see her, Erena wants to hear China but Tori hasn't played it. On Wednesday, I answered a trivia question and won soundcheck and meet and greet passes from a radio station here in Boulder! I was so excited and could hardly sleep Wednesday night! Anyway, we went to Red Rocks at 4 yesterday and met up with 3 other winners and their guests (8 of us altogether). It had been raining a little and was really windy.

The weather had delayed the soundcheck so we ended up waiting around for awhile. We heard the soundcheck from outside--she was doing Past the Mission, Running to Stand Still, Yes, Anastasia, Bliss and a few others. During the last two songs, which she played completely, we all got to sit in the front row and watch. It was quite amazing to sit in the front row of Red Rocks with no one else there! Also amazing to watch Tori play so close to us wearing normal clothes. She played TomBigBee and afterwards said "We're not doing that one tonight." She also played 'Caught a Lite Sneeze' and did the ending twice and said there was a problem with it. She then said "That's what we do in soundcheck" and left. After we left, we heard her come back and play the last part of 'Caught a Lite Sneeze' again, without the band. We waited about another 10 minutes (Joel was sort of guiding us around this entire time) and lined up outside the dressing room. Tori came out and each pair of us could take one picture and each get one item signed. We were so nervous! I had such butterflies in my stomach. When it was our turn, Erena and I told her that we've been seeing her together since the beginning of our friendship and she said that meant a lot to her. Then I told her that Erena has wanted to see China every time but never has, and she said she would see what she could do. I told her that I thought I won the radio thing just so I could ask her to play China. We took the picture then and she signed my CD booklet from Scarlet's Walk. She mentioned China again--said "Wow, 10 times and you've never seen it, huh?" Erena told her this was the 11th show and that 11 is her lucky number. Tori said, "Well, I was going to play 'Yes, Anastasia' and I never play that." She said she would see what she had going on and we thanked her. I felt so lucky--we got to meet her but we also got to have a good conversation with her! It wasn't just a quick hello.

So--as you've seen already---she played China!!! It was overwhelming to look around at 10,000 other people and think that she was playing China because we asked her to. We saw the set list after the show and it had 'Yes, Anastasia', 'Cooling', 'Running to Stand Still', and 'China' (I am not sure if that was the exact order) listed for the solo part of the show and obviously 'Yes, Anastasia' got cut.

Anyway, this was definitely the most special, memorable evening I've had seeing Tori. Erena and I were just so thrilled and excited and emotional--I am exhausted today!


From Nancy:

This may be the last time I try to write a review. I'm running out of ways to describe how great Tori's shows are. I am amazed how every show just gets better than the last one I saw. The sound mix was perfect. Much better than the indoor venues I caught during Scarlet's walk. I loved Tori's solo songs, the U2 cover was incredible. Tori, Matt and John make the ultimate trio. Bliss was fantastic. If they had problems with Caught a Lite Sneeze earlier it was fixed by the encore cause it sounded great to me. Tori's peformance was so wonderful it made up for the news that she will be taking a year off from touring. If anyone deserves some time off it's Tori. God we were all lucky to have so many chances to see her this year.

Ben Fold was very entertaining. I liked him much better than Howie"Mr. sequencer" Day or Rhett "the muppet on crank" Miller.

As for the rest of the concert I will say that 95% of the people I encounter at a Tori concert are very cool. I've learned to ignore the 5% who are idiots. Now I need to learn to ignore people who whine in their reviews. It didn't seem to bother the handicap friend who sat with me in the fourth row if people were dancing. It wasn't crowded and we could see fine when we sat down. Plus I LIKE to dance to some of Tori's songs so I thought it was great that we could do both. I would also like to point out that rows 2 to 25 were general admission so you could move if you wanted.


From Matt:

I was sorta disappointed by this show. The first qualm was why she couldn't have created a "Lottapianos Tour" instead of the "Scarlet's Walk (yes, again, even though I've come to Colorado for now my third time for this tour) Tour." While I can't complain about a great performance of "Cooling" and having it be the first time I heard "Siren" live, I felt she was subdued, but not to the point of relaxed. It seemed like last night was more work than love, and she didn't seem to excited about her job last night.

I felt priveledged to hear "Running to Stand Still," she noted that she had just finished reworking the song backstage, because she was never satisfied with it during the recording of Strange Little Girls.

I was with a friend who had never seen her live, and for weeks we have been excited. While he agreed that it was a great show, he noted that it was dissapointing that she didn't really get into it too much, and that she didn't really talk to us.

Overall, I think I was most impressed with this tour when I saw it in Los Angeles, 12/17/02.

And for some clarification on the "Take to the Sky," toward the end she mixed in Carole King's "I Feel The Earth Move" and then mixed it back to "Take to the Sky." It was pretty interesting and at least I'd say one of the higher points.


From Kim Peterson:

First off.. the weather was great. It was overcast which helped keep the heat in check, and with only a few sprinkles here and there.

Soundcheck took a while. We were wondering why Tori did Tombigbee and Caught A Lite Sneeze twice, and then we came to find out the second time was for the radio contest winners. It was nice to hear it. With the acoustics we were able to hear it well while we were waiting on the ramp. One thing we found strange was Tori did Tombigbee in soundcheck and for the contest winners but it did not show up in the set list. I was looking forward to hearing it live, but the show was so great I can't complain.

Tori seemed to be having a great time. She was dancing all throughout the performance, in between songs, and on stage while returning for encores.

I'm suprised that no one has mentioned her bringing Tash out on stage. We were seated on the right side of the venue, probably about 6 or 7 rows up. So, we could see the flashlight as they were escourting her on stage. As soon as she came out while the backstage door was still open, she turned around and ran back in. Then she returned with Tash in her arms, with her face shielded. She walked to the right corner of the stage and then ran her back in. Later in the evening she said "thank you for saying goodnight to my little girl. She's been climbing on the rocks all day and it's made her kind of crabby or cranky (somethign like that)." and she said somethign to the effect that Tash didnt want her to come play the "pinano", and she said "I have to". It was really cute.

Right before Tori debuted "running to stand still" she said somethign like "I've never played this before. This was supposed to be on that album, oh you know, Strange Little Hamsters, but it didn't make it. She kind of found me backstage" . The song itself was very beautiful! Although none of the people I was with, including myself, could figure out what it was. I turned to my friend and mouthed the lyrics while Tori was singing them, and we all agreed we should know what it was but we couldn't figure it out.

I thought the way she changed up the songs was really nice. All of the group of people that I was there with all commented on the use of percussion. The songs sound more tribal and funky. It was very cool. I like the standards as much as anyone but it's nice to hear them renewed.

There was an incident towards the end of the show (in between encores I believe) where Joel and security rushed to the left side of the venue, and rushed out kind of restraining this girl, but we couldn't see what happened. When tori came back on she had more sage wth her that she was moving around and ended up setting it next to her while she was playing.

It would have been nice to hear more stories, and of course, wouldn't Red Rocks have been the perfect place to debut "Mountain?" But oerall it was a very good show. I definately left with a smile.

When Tori started to play "Cooling" she smiled at the sound booth on stage and shrugged her shoulders. I wonder if it meant there was something else in that spot on the set list.

p.s Ben Folds was really fun. I don't really know his music well, but he was funny and entertaining. It was interesting seeing how he used his piano as a percussion instrument. I guess the venue gave off a summer camp feeling, cause he had us singing rounds for two different songs. Oh, and for "rockin' the suburbs" he changed one of the lyrics to "rockin' the suburbs, just like Tori Amos does... but she is talented" Something like that. During his cover of "Tiny Dancer" he put on these huge sunglasses and was poking fun at Mr. John.

I hope this isn't too long winded. I always enjoy reading details in others reviews, and thought maybe others do too.


From Kim Barry:

I was just reading a few of the reviews for the Redrocks show, and thought I'd drop you a line to let you know what the whole holabaloo in the front row was about.

A girl was dancing rather "largely/exagerated" front row and center. They pulled her out because she was a "distraction", and moved her to the third row. Of course, she was rather upset and whatnot--and most of the people seated close enough to see what happened thought she was going to get to meet Tori or something--but that wasn't the case. I'm not sure who she was distracting, audience, or Tori herself. But she was removed, told to move back, and the second encore went without incident. :)


From Ivy K. Leaif:

I was at the Morrison CO Lottapiano’s show….WOW!

Tori wore a gown that insisted on dancing to her music on the breeze. A thunderstorm played across the long eastern sky as the sun set. As she continued to play the moon set behind the beautiful Colorado Red Rocks amphitheater. She played the best set I could have ever asked for. Cooling and Take to the Sky are two of my most favorites. Her music was lovely as ever; I am never disappointed by her musical performances. A first-timer I brought was rather saddened that she didn’t address the crowd more. Overall her show was a terrific experience. But if you have never been to Red Rocks or Colorado you may never quite understand why it is such a magical place. Since I have been going to Tori shows I have wanted to see her there and am so happy to say that I have now seen her play in the beautiful scenery of my hometown. I hope she plays there again!


From Lindsay "influenzi" Heath:

It was the second time that I have seen Tori on this tour. The fourth time I have seen her in concert. The third time was December 7th, in Salt Lake City Utah, where I live.

That day, was the best day of my entire life. As a result of a string of very strange events, I became friends with a local DJ for a radio station that promotes Tori's music. Of course I bore my love for Tori and her art to the DJ, before I even knew that he was a DJ.

The day before her concert, he emailed me, and told me to bring a friend to the radio station at noon the next day to meet Tori. I seriously went bizerk, in the happiest way possible!

So of course that night, I wrote her a letter, and the next day, my girlfriend and I arrived at the radio station studio an hour early.

Tori was more magic, sweet, and beautiful, then anyone could ever describe in words. There is seriously something so powerful in her. As she walked into the little room we waited in, this intense, goddess energy poured out of her, and filled the entire building. She said "hi everybody". Hearing her voice, not through a microphone, in person, is amazing.

My girlfriend Moey and I sat in this tiny room with about 7 or 8 other people. Tori played, and sang for us.

One of the most intense things about my day with Tori, was the way she looked into my eyes. As she played, and sang the words, she would lock eyes with me, and my girlfriend, and other people in the room. But the eye contact would last for at least 10-20 seconds at a time.

In such a small space, having Tori stair into my eyes, looking at me, SEEING me back, was the most intense feeling I have ever known.

During those vulnerable moments of staring into each other, I could have easily become intimidated. She was so serious, so convicted. But there in that moment, she was so loving, so compassionate.

A person of her talent, in such high demand. Taking precious time to have that moment with me... someone she had never met, someone unrelated. She must have the biggest heart ever created. She truly loves her fans.

After her songs, she signed things for us (a drawing I did of her), I knew I would go blank, and dumb upon meeting her, so I gave her the letter I wrote her, along with a CD with music I have written and performed. She held my hands and just stared into my eyes again, with the most beautiful understanding smile. I was totally stunned, and full of gratitude. I hope she felt my thanks.

She had Joel take our picture together. One with me, and one with my girlfriend Moey too.

After the picture, she held my hands again, and asked me if I was going to the show that night.

I stuttered, and had an argument with my tongue, before finally blabbering, "Yes! I wouldn't miss it for anything". She asked me "what do you play?" I told her that I am a drummer, she said "you know we have matty chamberlain playing with us tonight."

"I KNOW, I KNOW!, HE IS MY BIGGEST PERCUSSIVE INFLUENCE, I HAVE BEEN OBSESSED WITH HIS DRUMMING SINCE FIONA APPLE".

"Good" she said, with that smile.

There was a brief moment of happy silence, just staring at one another. I accidentally said "I think I might die now". She laughed, and said goodbye.

That night at her concert, Moey and I arrived expecting to sit in the 17th row, since those were the best tickets we were able to find. But, by yet another bizarre, and amazing turn of events, Moey and I ended up sitting in the front row, middle. About 5-8 feet away from Tori herself on stage. Definitely the best possible finale to meeting her earlier that day. I was so twitterpated, and buzzing with energy and love. (I would tell you the exciting story of how we ended up sitting so close, but I made a promise not to... Let's just say, it was Tori's request...)

...

The show was perfect. The air was so clean and cool. As Matt and John began the intro/jam to "fairytale", we could see Tori entering the stage through the sidelines, suddenly, she turned around and rushed back behind the curtain. It shocked me, I stood and watched nervously. After a few seconds Tori came running back towards the stage holding Natashya in her arms. She stopped just before entering the stage, in a hidden spot. When Tori finally graced the stage, Natashya was no longer in her arms.

The entire crowd stood, and danced throughout the first few songs. When Tori finally spoke, she said "Thank you for saying goodnight to my little girl, she has been playing on the rocks all day long, and now she's cranky, she told me "Mum, I don't want you to play the piano!" and cried, but I told her I have to". Tori also mentioned that she had never played at Red Rocks, she said something like "I have never done this, thank you for sharing this magic moment with me".

Every song was amazingly beautiful. I must say though, while I was totally impressed, and in love with each song, I had to think about the sacrifice Tori was making to be there with us. Having her little girl crying to her, begging her to stay, and having to pass her to someone else and spend 2 hours in a different world, it must break her heart. I felt so much gratitude to her, but my heart felt very overwhelmed about the emotional pain that Tori must endure between her family and her art. I hope that Tori will continue contributing her energies to both, but part of me knows that my own selfishness in yearning for Tori's music would not necessarily benefit Tori's overall happiness and well being. I know her little girl is everything to her. I can't believe how much dedicated work she has put into her music since the birth of Natashya.

I think, my favorite songs she played that evening were:

UM... all of them, but namely:
"Take To the Sky"
"Siren"
"Caught A Lite Sneeze"
"God"
and "Crucify".

Though, really, I want to just keep naming them off... It was a magnificent show, in a beautiful place. Well worth the 18+ hours my girlfriend and I drove there and back.