You can now see the set list and reviews for the first London, U.K. concert at Carling Apollo Hammersmith. Tori set list included Blood Roses, Barons Of Suburbia, Sister Janet, Amber Waves and the covers Hoover Factory (Elvis Costello) and Millworker (James Taylor) during Tori's Piano Bar segment of the show. If you were at this concert and want to send The Dent a review, please email Mikewhy at mikewhy@iglou.com with your review or comments. You can also post your review of the show on The Dent's Original Sinsuality Tour Forum. Thanks for sharing your reviews with The Dent!

More Details

Tori performed in London, U.K. on Friday, June 3, 2005 at Carling Apollo Hammersmith. Tori's special guest was Tom McRae and the show started at 7:30PM.

Set List

Special thanks to Matt Page and Richard G. for calling me with the set list after the show! Thanks also to Victoria for emailing me the set list.

Original Sinsuality
Blood Roses
Leather
Sweet The Sting
Cloud On My Tongue
Jamaica Inn
Cool On Your Island

Hoover Factory (Elvis Costello cover)
Millworker (James Taylor cover)

Barons Of Suburbia
Sister Janet
Marianne
Spring Haze
The Beekeeper

1st Encore

The Power Of Orange Knickers
Putting The Damage On

2nd Encore

Amber Waves
Silent All These Years

Reviews

The latest reviews are at the bottom of this page. 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 Original Sinsuality Concert Review Forum and post about your experiences as well, or read additional reviews.


From Matt Page and Richard G.:

Matt said that Blood Roses got a huge positive reaction from the crowd tonight. Matt also really enjoyed the covers because they were so unexpected and he was not familiar with them. Spring Haze was also very beautiful. Tori followed her written set list exactly this evening.

Before she sang the Elvis Costello cover, Tori said he was one of her favorite songwriters and that she was privileged to be singing his song. Then for the following cover by James Taylor, Tori said she was going to do a song by someone from over the sea, a singer/songwriter from North Carolina.

Richard added that Tori was wearing a nice peach dress and that he especially enjoyed Cool On Your Island, Sister Janet and Marianne.


From Daniel:

Tori was in an amazing, playfulmood and you could tell that she was giving it 100%.She thanked everyone for coming and said she knew that it was hard for everyone to get there. (There were flash thunderstorms a few hours before the show that swept across London). She said her friend called her on her cell phoneto say "Fuck, I am late" Tori said "no kidding!". "Fuck, I am late, when are you going on?" Tori said "Now". Then the friend said "I had a leak in my roof." Tori said, "I have a leak in my roof too...it is called the Hammersmith Apollo". Then she said the English should have no problems getting there since they are rowers, she knows that....she watches the olympics!

That being said it was a bit of a rough set list, as there were no songs from Choirgirl Hotel, one from Scarlet's Walk...as Tori songs go a lot of obscure tracks and a lot of tracks from the Beekeeper -- even the covers were unknown songs.(She said, "I got your requests and...they did not suck.")Tori's energy kept the show going though....it was beautiful just to watch her in her flowing orange/yellow dress with I Dream of Jeannie pants underneath, high heals and LONG hair extensions down her back. Blood Roses did indeed have a great reception, as did Leather... The Beekeeper was hauntingly beautiful on an organ. Tori really kicked it up a notch with the encores which had everyone going insane. The Power of Orange Knickers and Putting the Damage on were mindblowing....as was Amber Waves and one of the best Silent all These Years I have ever heard (and it literally moved me to tears). It felt like it was just taking off as it ended, and, as always, Tori left us wanting more....

Thank God there is tomorrow night and Brussels....!!

P.S. ...I spotted Jude Law going into the gig.....


From John:

First of all can i say how annoying the two girls that sat two rows in front of me and through the first two songs they just talked HOW RUDE! thankfully someone asked them to stop talking..just do notunderstand people!!?? Anyway went to bed last nite still singing the songs in my head!!! I took with me too the concert a friend who has never seen tori live or heard most of the songs..He was in total amazement of her talent!! She graced the stage and seemed to bless us ...bless u back !! she looked lovely in peach dress!Original sinsuality set the evening off she was perfect and sounded like an angel... the best songs for me were Blood roses which on the organ sounded mmmm yum yum !! Cool on your island was out standing and my friends favorite ! The beekeeper was out of this world, the whole place was dead silent , sent chills down my spine!! didn't get the two covers i think because i didn't know them (shame) When she played Marianne i was captivated she became like a mermaid trying to tempt the ships into the rocks to seal there fate! magic..All of the encores were great but for me and my friend Silent all these years was a great song to finish of a memorable night,,,,and quickly the lighting was done very well to... thanks for a goodnite tori!


From Mike:

This was about my 12th or 13th Tori show, and I must say, I really liked it. To me, the gig did have all kinds of emotions going. She started off very energetic and emotionally charged. The setlist, especially in the piano bar section, I found sophisticated and adequate to be played in London. The songs perfectly fit with the notions I currently have about work life and society.

Tori's voice was brilliant, and the accoustics at the Apollo were perfect. I agree that it took them about 2 songs until they had figured out the right sound mix. Then, for much of the time I closed my eyes and just had the music and the voice touch my soul and give me shivers. When she ended with probably the most beautiful SATY I have ever heard, I felt salvaged once again. Thank you, Tori.


From DC:

I enjoyed the concert on Friday though the edge was taken off a great performance by the poor sound. It was too loud and very harsh which removed the warmth from Tori's voice which was very disappointing. I also thought it a shame that she didn't have her band with her- I've just watched the dvd from 'Tales of a Librarian' and the songs sound amazing with drums and bass- and I think that she should really have advertised the tour as being solo so that we would have known in advance. Other than that, it was a powerful and emotive performance, as you would expect from one of the most gifted musicians around.


From Erin:

Friday afternoon, we met some really great EWF at the Meet&Greet and there seemed to be a really nice atmosphere going on. Hi again to Marco from America whom I met in Dublin and Victoria and Ally who made the wait so enjoyable, as well as the Portugese EWF. There were a few false starts where we thought that something might be happening, but can I just say how enormously disappointed I am with the people outside Hammersmith on Friday about their behaviour when Tori finally came out? Having had such wonderful experiences with the EWF I met on Monday and Tuesday in Dublin, and how smoothly those Meet&Greets went, where everyone had automatically moved out of the front row and to the back of the crowd or to the side of the barrier once they had had their time with Tori, being considerate of others. Phew - this convinces me that us lot in Ireland really are generally nicer people than the English. I know that this may sound harsh, especially me having lived and worked in London and gotten used to Londoners (by God, I dated one for three years!), but Tori came out and was in no rush whatsoever on Friday. On Tuesday, Tori had had NO time and we were limited to one picture or signature each, yet still every single one of us got to meet/hug/talk to her. On Friday THERE WERE LESS PEOPLE THERE than on Tuesday and only a handful of us got to speak with Tori or even get close enough to take her picture. I know people who had been queuing all day and got pushed to the back and got nowhere near her. Because Tori didn't come round the barrier, only the people in the front row could reach her and the f**kers in the front row DIDN'T MOVE BACK! They just stood there, like the greedy people they are and prevented people who had queued for longer than they (because of the way the bouncers had erected the barriers) getting so much as a glimpse of Tori. One of the buggers even turned round and asked if anyone wanted something passed up to the front for Tori to sign, and what name did they want on it - unbelievable! As if that took less effort than simply MOVING OUT OF THE WAY! Luckily, the nice American in the sparkly red cape understood about moving out of the front row and let me into her space once she'd chatted with Tori and I got to meet Tori again and had a lovely chat with her. I made a request, reminded her about the Elvis Costello cover for Dor's birthday, got two hugs, held her hand, gave her a little gift and got a photo of us hugging. When I had finished, I moved back to give other fans (I can hardly refer to them as EWF, they were that meanspirited) their chance, but no-one else did the same. A guy with blonde hair down to his shoulders stood in front of Tori listening to all her conversations with other people the entire time. And two Americans who arrived literally five minutes before Tori came out (some of us had queued for two hours) stood to Tori's right side in the front row and didn't budge an inch. There were countless others whom I won't bore you by describing, but they know who they are. I'm so sorry for the people who ended up at the back, despite being there earlier than the others; the way the barriers were put up, and didn't get to see Tori. Tori didn't say anything (I suspect because there was a girl in a wheelchair in the front row and she needed to be respectful of that), but I would like to have it stated for the record just how inconsiderate the fans in London were. Same goes for all the people already mentioned who walked about, used their phones, talked and ruined everyone's else's enjoyment of both c concerts.

Wow, I mean, I had appreciated at the time just how legendary the two Dublin shows were, but now I have to hold them up as my gold-standard of Tori shows. I didn't realize the extent to which everything would be a disappointment after them. But it needn't have been that way. It always seems to be crap in London. The audience just doesn't care. This happens every time I've seen her in the Hammersmith Apollo - Tori gives it her best, but the people around you ruin it. The venue really is awful. When she has so many wonderful concert halls to choose from in London (Union Chapel, Royal Festival Hall - both of which she has played before), I have to wonder why on earth she keeps coming back to this venue at all. Perhaps she has a deal with Carling? Whatever it is, the venue does her no favours. It might just be me, but I can't help thinking that this affects Tori's performance. I have to say that I didn't get the 'feel' of the London shows the way I had done with those in Dublin. I just have to accept it - nothing will ever come close to those two unforgettable nights. Friday in London WAS pretty amazing, had I not just come from the Dublin nights. I loved the covers and she looked stunning in her salmon pink outfit and white silk bloomers under her skirt: same shoes and jewellery as Monday in Dublin, but a white belt instead of brown leather. Not as much talking, but isn't that always the way in London?

It was incredible to hear Leather, an all-time favourite of mine, and when she played the opening notes of Sister Janet, I went wild. In the photos of her at the Meet&Greet I can see now that she has Janet written on the back of her left hand, so someone must have requested it: thank you, whoever you are. That was something spectacular. Cloud on My Tongue was also a high point for me. Cool On Your Island was, in fact, a better performance than in Dublin (Tori was being ultra-sexy, pulling her skirt up her thighs!), but it kind of ruined the memory of Dublin by hearing it again so soon afterward. The same goes for the rest of the set list. I kept waiting to hear something that she hadn't already played earlier in the week and kept feelin disappointed at the first bars of all the songs that were repeats from Dublin, and it has to be said - just not as good in London due to the atmosphere. Does anyone else feel the same?

To hear The Power of Orange Knickers solo when three days before I'd seen Damien Rice join her onstage for it was (I can't pretend otherwise) a bit lackluster in comparison. I was so pleased that she played Putting the Damage on though, since she'd been supposed to play it on Tuesday, but had changed it to Jupiter and Damage is one of my all-time favourites. But even my highlights of the show were ruined (God, this really sounds like a rant, and I'm sorry for writing it this way, but it's how I remember it) because I got to centre stage, front row, for the encores, knowing in advance that The Beekeeper would be the last song before them from Dublin. I was so thrilled to be right in front of her again leaning on the stage, and it turned out that the person beside me was Jon, who I'd become friends with at the Dubliin shows, so it couldn't have been better. We were clapping, waiting for her to return to the stage, our hearts galloping in our chests, when a nasty-pasty bouncer appeared and ordered us all back to our seats! Has he never been to a Tori show before? Did we look as if we were doing any harm? It's tradition, goddamnit, to rush the stage at the encores so that Tori can shake hands and stuff: we know that she expects it, so we don't feel like we're doing anything wrong. So here's this horror of a bouncer - can't have been more than 18 and all spotty and ginger with bumfluff on his chin - and he starts pushing us and causes an enormous argument! Then he calls in backup and they completely ruin Tori's encores by talking over her, trying to get us all to move! He pushed me backward (come on, I'm a size 8, 23-year-old girl: do I really look that threatening?) and stood in my space talking into his walky-talky trying not to look us in the eye as we all begged him to move, or at least bend down so that he wasn't completely blocking everybody's view of Tori (we asked very nicely, promise!). Anyway, he didn't move, and he upset us all and buggered the atmosphere.

Thank God for Steve! During Amber Waves the guy behind me started crying, so I turned round and gave him a hug. When Tori launched into Silent All These Years, we held each other and swayed through the whole song. That one sparkle of human emotion, a ray in an otherwise thoroughly soul-destroying day of a barrage of nasty people (who listen to Tori??? How can that be???) absolutely made my night. Silent All These Years was astonishing. Tori played it with real feeling, and there was silence (apart from Steve's sniffling as we hugged) and all seemed right with the world again. Thanks Steve. Let's all forget about that bouncer now, love, Erin.


From Ingeborg Karen:

Just home from London and wanted to write you a few lines about Tori's June 3 show. Since I'm a Danish girl this was only my second Tori Amos concert. She played the Roskilde festival in 1998, the first time she was here. Me and my friend bought the London tickets before we heard about the Copenhagen show, but it will be really nice seeing her again here in Denmark, considering its been 7 years!

It's always nice visiting friends in London and combining it with a Tori concert is even better. We didn't have the best of seats though. And I was very surprised to see people leaving their seats all the time, walking in and out. They sure don't do that at concerts in Denmark. Maybe it's just me, but I thought that was really disrespectfull. I really loved the way the show started, but I agree that the sound wasn't the best at first. "Leather" was fantastic. But what really did it for me were "Cool on your island" and "Sister Janet" and also the songs from SW. The fact that Tori was alone on stage made the concert really intense. I'm really looking forward to the Copenhagen show and hope she will perform more of our favourites; we were hoping for "cooling" and "Josephine". I know, that I'm not an expert on Tori Shows and that I only can compare this one to a 7-years-old gig, that I hardly can remember, but I really thought this performance was something truly special. For a Scandinavian like me, it's so nice to take part in such a magical evening. I would only wish she would visit us up north more often.