You can now see the set list and reviews for the Minneapolis, MN concert. Tori's set included Carbon (solo), Let It Be (solo), Sister Janet (solo), Virginia, Professional Widow and Purple Rain. 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 Minneapolis, MN on Saturday, August 9, 2003 at Northrop Auditorium. Tori's special guest was Ben Folds and the show started at 7:00PM.

Set List

Special thanks to Matt Page for calling me with the set list after the show!


Wampum Prayer
a sorta fairytale
Little Earthquakes
Father Lucifer
God
Rattlesnakes
Cornflake Girl
Black-Dove (January)
Wednesday

Band Leaves

Carbon
Let It Be
Sister Janet

Band returns

Putting The Damage On
Concertina
Virginia
Tombigbee
Professional Widow
I Can't See New York
Precious Things

1st Encore

Bliss
Liquid Diamonds

2nd Encore

Sweet Sangria
Mary
Purple Rain

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 Matt Page:

Tori was really exceptional tonight. Her voice was in top shape, and she was really nailing the high notes, especially during Purple Rain at the very end of the show. (Tori began Purple Rain solo, but the band joined with her later.)

Tori told a story before God, saying something about it being freezing cold during a previous visit to Minneapolis and about going somewhere for coffee, and it being the best coffee she ever had.

The show was really spectacular with a lot of "Mary" songs in the set list.


From Bryan Bick:

Just wanted to let you know a little bit more about the improv Tori sang at tonight's show.

She was saying that she loves coming to Minneapolis because, once when she was here, she got into an argument with her "future husband" and decided the only thing to do was to leave where they were and go for a walk...but it was freezing cold, so she walked down the street. And that was how she discovered her favorite coffee, Dunn Brothers'. Dunn Brothers is a chain of coffee shops local to the Twin Cities.


From DesendingGrace:

She mentioned it being a fight with her future husband, so she went on a walk, it was very cold, someone told her there's a coffee place down the street and she ended the song/story saying she loved Dunn Brothers (the coffee shop) and it was the best coffee she'd ever had. Hope that helped!


From Noah:

the minneapolis show was super super tight. and tori was in an amazing mood.

she spent almost forty minutes at the meet and greet ... and was so happy to see everyone. she did not take many requests for the show (saying shed play things people asked for in chicago instead) ... because neil would be there tonight and that it would be a very "neil themed show" as well as a "diamond themed show" as in "carbon diamonds ... how diamonds are made." interestingly enough she only played one neil song (carbon.)

i requested "purple rain" at the meet and greet (ive been asking for it since the first leg) and she said "interesting" but seemed pretty non committal about it. she also gave all the lyrics for "tombigbee" and said that "snow cherries" would definitely be on the greatest hits record.

at the show she did an improv about being in the twin cities with her friend (her soon to be husband) and it being really cold and her getting some dunn brothers coffee (a local coffee) that she said is her favorite.

she followed the set exactly.

at the end of "purple rain" she gave the microphone a huge kiss and walked off stage.


From Jennifer:

hello mike. just got home from the best show I've seen. the story was, Tori likes it in Minneapolis because years ago Tori did a show here and had a fond memory. she was staying at the Whitney Hotel & had a fight with her future husband and added ("love you" to reassure him) so she wanted to go for a walk somewhere so she asked the bellman where she could go because it was so fucking cold outside. he said should walk two and a half blocks to get coffee . It was her favorite coffee house" Dunn Bros". (She is right it is great there.) I sat in row 3 on the floor.


From Kayla:

ah I dont remember if it was before or after they did God, I think it was right after. but Tori did an improv that I appropriatly called "the coffee song" she basically said "I love this city...I have a story to tell." and she sang this story then she sang "I like coffee, yummy yummy coffee, my favourite coffee is dun bros coffee."

so yeah I call it the coffee song.


From Ralph & Candy Larro:

The show began with Ben Folds. I had never heard his music so it was a treat to hear another piano player that night. He had a really great personality. He talked about mullets for a bit and also involved the audience by asking them to sing to his song. It looked like he was having a really great time.

The change over didnt take long at all compared to the last concert she gave at Northrup. The set was really cool. They had her piano on a little platform and kinda whealed it out to the front.

The show started with wampum prayer which gets everyone pumped knowing that she will be comin out soon.

A sorta fairytale- was amazing! I love this song to death!

Little Earthquakes- I was suprised that she did this one. I had heard that she just debuted it the conert before so it was great to hear such a classic!

Father Lucifer- This was a stellar version! She played it on the Wulizer and would swich to the other keyboards!

God- Before this she told a story about how much she likes coming to the Twin cities and she had a memory of being here before. She said that she had a fight with her future husband and went for a walk to her favorite coffee place. Dunn Brothers
She really belted out this song

Rattlesnakes- This isnt one of my favorites but it was still great to hear it.

Cornflake girl- A TORI CLASSIC with the little BRRRR

Black Dove- I love how she switches from keyboard to keyboard!

Wednesday- She really had fun with this one by swinging her feet around and stuff.

Carbon- She seemed to get choked up a bit and had to collect herself

LET IT BE!- WOW, I was sooooo happy she did this. IT was a beautiful version that she put togethor

Sister Janet- It was the first time I had ever heard this one! GORGEOUS PEICE

Putting the Damage on- Was beautiful. It was put togethor with a little bit of drum throughout it!

Professional Widow- REALLY BROUGHT DOWN THE HOUSE.....she made lots of gestures!

I cant see new york- She seemed to be very emotional....it almost looked like she was going to cry!

PRECIOUS THINGS!- was a great way to end the conert before the encores! She really could belt the notes

Purple Rain was my favorite!

SOME THINGS I NOTICED :

*in between songs she would put lip gloss on and put somthing in her mouth.

*she gargled with water a bit

*Someone shouted "I love you" she wispered "love you back" it was cute

*Her outfit was kindof a snakeskin shiny, white and silver thing with jean capris and black strappy shoes

*she made lots of facial expressions to the audience!

*she seemed to be SOOOOOO happy and blew us lots of kisses and held the hands of her fans

*She kissed the mike after purple rain!

*she had some sort of paper with key signitures on top of her piano. I could see the reflection and had binoculars to see it really well.!!!!

OVER ALL, IT WAS An AWESOME SHOW!!!!!!!!!!


From ally klutenkamper:

the minneapolis show was just plain great. one in my top five for this tour. i don't go to meet and greets anymore, but whoever requested "purple rain" should be commended -- it was fabulous. she did a little improv after introducing the band that went something about walking in the cold city after a fight with her "future husband" and now she loves dunn brothers coffee. it was really cute. i personally thought the highlight of the show was "virginia" -- she seemed just so alive. during "father lucifer" she flipped the audience off during "girls that eat pizza and never gain weight" as she has before, but seemed to hold it longer this time (i think).

i had great seats and was able to see every bead of sweat, every spit and drool. during some songs on the keyboards, she seemed to be making faces to someone off stage. i don't know, it was a pretty good audience, although they didn't do any bag checks and i was annoyed with all the cameras going off. the sound was great, she hit the high notes perfectly. it was a nearly flawless show.


From Karen Hutchinson:

The improv was a nice little piano ditty.....went something like, "got into a fight...with my future husband ....(here she whispered, 'but i love him' with a little glance towards him)...so i went for a walk....at the whitney (?)...." and then something about it being "so ...fucking ...cold!" and she spoke to a doorman and he told her she could go down the street for a coffee. Then she ended the song by saying that she discovered her favorite coffee is Dunns.

The show was amazing. Her energy was high and the songs were so powerful. I was a bit dissappointed in the sound at the beginning because the bass was really loud and drowned out some of the high end of the songs. Couldn't hear the Rhodes on Rattlesnakes, but they seemed to have it fixed after the Roadside Cafe. I noticed the Mary theme and was completely shaken by "Let it Be". Her playing Putting the Damage on right after Sister Janet really brought it home for me. Tombigbee and Professional Widow were so much tighter and rockin than they were when I first heard them in April in Grand Forks. And Purple Rain was the most perfect ending, absolutely gorgeous (especially with the purple light behind her), full of attitude and she sounded like an angel at the end of it. I felt like she had given us an extra special gift. She seemed to really be enjoying herself which made it a lot of fun to watch. The three of them really rocked the house and I was left satisfied (for now).

I just thought I'd clear something up that was posted about the Minneapolis show. She was not smoking a cigarette (it woulda been a huge stoagie if thats what it really was!) It was sage, she brought it out when she came back for the second encore and set it down beside her. There's just no way she could end of the night the way she did (she really belted out the ending of Purple Rain) if she was a smoker!!


From Jamie Hauan:

Heya mikewhy, I'm a big fan of The Dent and I've never posted a review of any of the shows I've been to yet (and I just went to my sixth Tori show on Saturday at Northrup Auditorium in Minneapolis) but I was so completely blown away by this last one that I had to write something.

What I experienced in the Northrup on Saturday night was anything beyond what I could have imagined. I had been to five shows before that, starting with her Plugged tour in 98 in Ames, Iowa, and of course the first Tori experience anyone has is hard to beat because you have no idea of the religious experience you're about to go through. I saw her in Minneapolis three times now, caught a show in Duluth, and another in Seattle during her solo tour. Saturday was the best by far. I was blown away. She started with the standard Wampum Prayer/ Sorta Fairytale intro, and from then on, she threw curveball after curveball. I heard music that I didn't think I'd get to hear her do live. I had never heard her perform Virginia or Tombigbee, so that was a pleasantly refreshing jump into something I didn't know. The thing I've always loved about Tori is that, even being the rabid fan that I am, she has music out here that I've never experienced, which is why I never get sick of her. The beautiful complexity of her lyrics resonate even moreso on stage than in my apartment on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

The biggest highlights for me where Professional Widow, of course her solo performances which always pull at harder tug at my heart (especially her Let it Be cover...since I'm also a raving Beatles fan...I mean come on, who isn't?), and her fantastic conclusion with a cover of Minneapolis' own Prince. Everyone literally freaked out when she started in with Purple Rain, and the way she hit those high notes towards the very end....and she didn't just hit them, she NAILED them....with perfect clarity and spine tingling resonance. I literally spent most of the show with my jaw dropped. The vibe of the crowd was amazing from beginning to end. I hope Tori knows that she should not only hold a place in her heart for our local Dunn Bros coffee, but for our undivided attention and midwest hospitality that the audience clearly put forth from first note to last. Every show I've been to, she has brought me to tears, she's put goosebumps on my body, and she's made me grin from ear to ear. I've been to tons of shows but Tori has always been the one that I insist on seeing every time she hits town. The next day I'm still dumbfounded by what I had the opportunity to experience the night before....I like to call it Tori Hangover. :-)

On an additional note, "Cheers" to Ben Folds, you were the best opener for her shows by far. You put the lotta in Lottapianos. You fucking rock.

Tori's compilation of songs was exciting, the emotion from the crowd combined with her mood was amazing, and as always, the bass and drum was second to none. (By the way Matt....I've seen you play in your Critters Buggin days.....and realized that there was greatness before me that some people at Bumbershoot really couldn't comprehend). Bravo to the band, bravo to the sound and light crew for flawless artistry (her Bosendorfer wasn't resonating quite as much as in the November show...thank you thank you thank you) and bravo to The Dent for posting the set list seconds after the show was over. And a big kiss to Tori. Thank you for being a part of me.


From Amy Burr:

I was at the show last night, which was amazing, of course! I wanted to say that Bliss ended up being one of my favorite songs of the night, there was so much energy in it, and the audience were finally on their feet. It was the perfect way to start the encores. And Purple Rain was really beautiful, as mentioned, she really nailed the high notes, and it was obviously a fitting cover for a Minneapolis show.

Also, Tori gave the finger during the "girls who eat pizza" line of Father Lucifer, as she has before.


From tori4446:

I loved the show, but could also do without the reverberations on Tori's voice. It seemed too choreographed and the cheese meter spiked. She is her best without any fancy additions.


From Ottie Mosley:

I went to the minneapolis show this weekend and it was wonderful. I know you went to the MPLS show in November and probably remember that there were many sound problems with the show. The sound was pretty good this show. I think the highlights for the show was "sister janet" "tombigbee" and "purple rain". I was 7th row and Tori WAS NOT smoking a cigarette. She had a tied bunch of sage (probably some that had been burning since the start of her set). Also her improv started out with her saying something like "I love it here. I have this fantasy about minnesota, all in my head...." and started her improv.

Security kept people from rushing to the front during the standing encores. I personally agreed with this because if you snooze you lose and you get a poor seat. All in all this tour (4 shows) has been amazing. Tori never fails to take my breath away and she gave us a treat on saturday.

From Bryan B.:

This was my thirteenth time seeing Tori, and by far these were the best seats I had ever had...eleventh row center.

Ben Folds was a great opening act, and I'm sure a good deal of the audience was there specifically to see Ben, not Tori. He was very energetic and basically beat the piano within an inch of its life. He was very dynamic, and it was nice to hear what one person and a piano can do, since during most of Tori's shows with the band, her piano (and too often, vocal) seems to take a back seat to the bass and drums. He told a lot of great stories, including one about being insulted by the lead singer of Korn in Spin magazine, and he sang a song in response to it...something about "Rockin' in the Suburbs/like Michael Jackson did/We're rockin' in the suburbs/except he was talented." He also included some audience participation, at one point dividing the audience into three parts depending on the range of their voices and having them harmonize to his song. In the Northrup, hearing thousands of people sing, it was actually quite beautiful. He closed with this song, and at the end he jumped up ON TOP of the piano and just conducted the audience like a choir. Very impressive.

I was really excited about this show because, since Tori began the Lottapianos tour, I hadn't been cheating and reading each night's set list on The Dent. So I had no idea if it was going to be similar in format or completely different. One difference was that the curtain was up while they changed the sets, and you could see the Bosendorfer on the right and the Rhodes and Wurlitzer on the left. The backdrop was a huge drawing on black cloth...it was a circle with dots connecting the left, right, top, and bottom, intersecting in the middle...it looked Native American in influence, like a depiction of the Four Winds or something, with little smaller symbols all around the outside of the circle.

Anyway, the lights dimmed and, like in the previous shows I've seen in the last year, the sound of Tori singing "Wampum Prayer" a capella washed over the auditorium. During this short song, Jon and Matt came out and took their places. Then they started playing and I immediately recognized it as "A Sorta Fairytale." So it was confirmed that the general layout of the show would be the same.

I love ASF, but I'm always too busy wondering what's coming next to appreciate it a lot. As usual, the bass was REALLY loud and drowned out Tori's voice. It was nice to be sitting so close, though, because I could see her facial expressions and watch her gestures and the looks she exchanged with her bandmates.

This show turned out to be a real rock'n'roll show...the energy never really lapsed. After ASF, she launched into "Little Earthquakes," which I had yet to hear on this tour. It was great because I had just been talking about LE with my friends and fellow concert-goers earlier in the evening. Little Earthquakes was the only album that Mike had (he asked me which one had the pictures of the very phallic mushrooms on the back), so I'm glad she started with a song he was familiar with. This was a very emotional performance, and it always takes my breath away to hear her sing, "Give me life/give me pain/give me myself again." It's a visceral song that I think everyone can relate to in some way.

Next came a pair of somewhat-thematically related songs: "Father Lucifer" and "God." Once again, she flipped off the audience on the "girls that eat pizza and never gain weight" line. I still don't understand what that means, exactly. "God" was a nice treat; I'd only heard it once before during the 9 1/2 Weeks tour and was glad to hear it again.

Between "Father Lucifer" and "God," she sang a little improv about how she loves coming to Minneapolis because, several years ago, she was here in the hotel and she had a fight with her future husband and she just had to leave and go for a walk. But it was SO FUCKING COLD that she asked the doorman where she could go, and he sent her down the street, whereupon she discovered that Dunn Brothers is her favorite coffee! So now I know that the coffeeshop in my building is the official favorite coffee of Tori!

"Rattlesnakes" was next...it's my favorite song from Strange Little Girls, and the only time in three shows that I heard her do anything from that album. "It's so hard to love when love was your great disappointment..." Beautiful as always. The cover songs were actually the highlight of tonight's show.

During "Rattlesnakes," I was thinking how nice it would be if she did a show without "Cornflake Girl." Not that I don't like the song, but I've heard it SO many times now. Of course, it was the next song. Still, it was nice to hear the audience cheer and really get into it, and of course this is one of the songs where she really showcases her skills as a pianist. I do wish she'd improv on it a little bit...at this point, I know note for note what it's going to sound like.

"Black Dove" was a nice surprise, since it's one of those songs that I've somehow never heard despite all the shows I've been to. It was another rocker. It led right into "Wednesday," which is always exciting because it means that the solo set is coming up. Also, I liked tonight's version a lot...she really slowed down the choruses a lot, and held on to the "America" forever.

The Roadside Cafe began with a rumbling, atmospheric intro on the low end of the piano, leading into "Carbon." I had heard this one in Duluth, so it was a little disappointing to hear it again. However, Neil Gaiman was in the audience, so I knew that there would be at least one "Neil" song in the show. I would have preferred "Space Dog," but...oh well.

Then came the real surprise, and definitely one of the most touching moments of any Tori show...as soon as she began playing I knew what was coming. "When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me..." And we were treated to a jaw-droppingly beautiful version of "Let It Be." It's always fun to watch Tori sing the music that influenced her when she was young...you could just see the serenity wash over her, and it projected out over the whole audience.

The last solo song was "Sister Janet," which is a beautiful song but not one of my favorites. I would have loved to hear something like "Baker Baker."

Then the band came back and played "Putting the Damage On." This was a really nice soft transition from the solo set back to the band, and they sounded great. With the muted percussion and the upright bass, it sounded very classy, like a jazz combo. And it's always a very emotional song...one of Tori's best ballads and one of my favorites from Boys For Pele.

"Concertina" is always fun with the jam between Jon and Matt, and next came one of the Scarlet songs that I had been wanting to hear..."Virginia." I hadn't paid that much attention to the lyrics before, but live they came through loud and clear: "so hundreds of years go by/she's a girl out working her trade/and she loses a little each day/to ghetto pimps and presidents..." It was very poignant and really brought home the message of Scarlet's Walk. Especially followed as it was by "TomBigBee." I'm going to have to go online and download this song while I still can. It was another rocker! In fact, I thought it might have been the last song before "I Can't See New York," but then...

"Professional Widow!" This is another one that I had only heard once before, on the 5 1/2 Weeks Tour, so it was great to hear it again...and to see her face that close as she sang it! This is one of those crazy, completely over-the-top songs that are just so fun. She was singing with such passion that her head was shaking from side to side...she looked completely possessed! And I loved it when she sang "family...heeee..heeee.heeeee...." and stroked the microphone and bobbed her head forward and back like she was giving it head! I can only imagine what the Ben Folds fans were thinking at that point. And of course the climax of the song was incredible..."Give me peace, love, and a hard COCK." Words to live by if ever there were...and she SCREAMED "cock..." Just belted it out and held the note forever.

Then of course came "I Can't See New York," which brought the mood down a notch. This one is getting a little tired to me, unfortunately. Then I was expecting "iieee," but was surprised to hear "Precious Things." I'm glad she ended with this one...it was dead-on and worked better as a closer than in the middle of the set as she's done on the other legs of the tour. As always, I loved her "grrrrrrrrrrrrrl," complete with a very enthusiastic crotch grab.

For the first encore, Matt and Jon started jamming and it just kept getting louder and more fervent...the audience was completely in awe...finally Tori came out holding aloft a burning stick of sage (some people thought she was smoking...it would have been a huge stogie if that's what it was) and they went right into "Bliss," just continuing the string of high-energy songs for the night. I was surprised to hear "Liquid Diamonds" next...in my opinion, this was not a great encore song. I was hoping to hear something more upbeat like "Taxi Ride."

She left the stage again, and they all came back out relatively quickly this time. The first encore song was "Sweet Sangria," which is always nice to hear. The second song was "Mary," which is always a nice uplifting song. I had been hoping for a more powerful song (in other words, one of my own personal favorites) to end the show on, so I was a little bummed because she usually only does two songs per encore and two encores. I was thrilled when the lights went down after "Mary" and she didn't go away...the lights dimmed and she started out solo on the piano. I was hoping for another solo ballad, but what we got instead was even better...as soon as she started singing I knew that the Minneapolis crowd was getting a special treat. It was "Purple Rain..." I think a lot of people feel compelled to do a Prince song when they come to Minneapolis. Nevertheless, THANK YOU to whomever requested it. It was excellent with the band, and you could tell Tori was having a blast with it and the audience was soaking it up. And the high notes at the end...she NAILED them and her voice has never sounded more gorgeous. Finally, it was over, she gave the microphone a big kiss, and they headed off. What a great way to end the show.

Overall, I think this show was better than the one in Minneapolis last November, but the Duluth show was my favorite of the three. I do have one complaint about this show, and the tour in general. I wish she would relate to the audience and reach out to them a little more. It seemed like she was definitely in Tori's world, and only those hardcore fans like me who own all the albums, and would pay anything or go anywhere to see her, truly had the ticket to go along for the ride. Often, her lyrics are cryptic enough, but with the bass and drums, it can be nearly impossible to figure out what she's saying. I was worried that the friends I was with were bored, because after awhile, the bass and drums can get so mesmerizing and...a little repetitive. I wish she'd spent more time talking to the crowd, introducing some of the songs, and putting her personality on display along with the songs. When she did that...during the improv that she sang, or during the amazing cover of "Let It Be"...the whole audience was completely captivated.

However, we did get treated to a few unique songs, the audience was great, and Tori's voice was absolutely incredible on this show. I can't believe she's about to turn 40 and still has this much energy. It sounds like it will be a few years before I'll have the chance to see her again, but I feel assured that she'll be making great music on putting on amazing live shows for many years to come.