You can now see the set list and reviews for the second London, U.K. concert at Carling Apollo Hammersmith. The show was amazing because Tori had a 6 piece gospel choir singing on 4 songs tonight, which were Witness, Hoochie Woman, Sweet The Sting and Mother Revolution! The show also included the covers Father Figure (George Michael) and Like A Prayer (Madonna) 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 Saturday, June 4, 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!

Original Sinsuality
Father Lucifer
Icicle
Mother Revolution (with Gospel Choir)
Take To The Sky
Yes Anastasia
Bells for Her

Father Figure (George Michael cover)
Like A Prayer (Madonna Cover)

Winter
Cooling
Jamaica Inn
Witness (with Gospel Choir)
The Beekeeper

1st Encore

Sweet The Sting (with Gospel Choir)
Rattlesnakes

2nd Encore

Hoochie Woman (with Gospel Choir)
Hey Jupiter

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.:

This show was really amazing and brilliant, and definitely a hightlight for the current tour! Tori had a 6 piece Gospel Choir from London onstage to sing on 4 songs, including Witness and Hoochie Woman! They consisted of 4 females and 2 males and they were fantastic. Their presence really made the show unbelievable! Tori told the audience she chose to do this in London tonight because that city is close to her heart and she used to live there. It sounds like it was an amazing evening.


From WalAttwood:

Hi there, I can't remember exactly what order the songs were but I hope I'm helpful. Overall the gig was good but unspectacular (despite 2 tour debuts). Tori came on wearing a green ensemble between 8.25 - 30. No surprises for what she opened with; yep, Original Sinsualty (which I love the more I hear it) and she ended the main set with Beekeeper. Not very talkative - mentioned something about there being a leak in the roof last night. Plus she went on to jokingly berate one of her closest friends for arriving late to last night's gig. I wonder did Johnathan Ross take her up on her offer to come to tonight's show?

Tori had a six-strong London gospel choir with her tonight & they sang all four Beekeeper tracks that feature backing vocals (Mother Revolution, Sweet the Sting, Witness & Hoochie Woman) The first three were all very powerful but Hoochie Woman is just a poor track (no matter what audio dressing you put on it) in my opinion.

For Tori's Piano Bar she gave us Father Figure by George Michael (saying that it was one of her favourites) & Madonna's Like A Prayer. They were fabulous!

Aside from Witness & Mother Revolution being tour premieres Tori kind of did a combo of the songs she played during the 2 Vicar St. shows ; Icicle, Bells For Her, Yes Anastacia, Father Lucifer (very strong), Hey Jupiter, Cooling (the best I've heard it on this tour), Rattlesnakes (unfortunately), Jamaica Inn (gorgeous!) & Winter (yay!)

All throughout the show people who didn't get seating tickets but had to stand at the back kept trying to sneak up along the side & watch the gig closer but an over-zealous security guard kept shoo-ing them back. But then after deciding to take a stand they all rushed the stage when she came out for her 1st encore. Everyone then were on their feet for both encores - it was great (white liberal rebellion at it's finest) but felt very strange to be standing for her - kinda like a bad version of Dead Poet's Society!!!!


From William:

First of all, and to get it over with i could never understand all these people who go to a show and get up all the time to go to either the bathroom or even take a break in between songs or worse during... You wouldn't do that during a movie so why do you do it during a concert?? Or maybe I didn't have the best seats... but still...

Other than that the show was fantastic and I had been listening to Radio 2 in the morning where Tori announced that the Gospel Choir would be onstage to perform the 4 songs from the Beekeeper on which they collaborated! I was a little doubtful but still very hopeful and Tori did not disappoint us!! All Sweet the Sting, Mother Revolution, Witness and Hoochie Woman were there!!! Which means that all of the Beekeeper has been performed now!

Not only these songs were there but the Choir brought them to another level and Witness was absolutely stunning!! I was really unconvinced about it being played solo but Tori nailed it!

The rest of the show was as gorgeous with a very intense Icicle, a spooky Beekeeper (god, the organ does bring such a religious atmosphere!), an excellent Rattlesnakes and Hey Jupiter on the organ which was so good to hear!!

The Piano Bar was no big surprises with Father Figure and Like a Prayer and they were performed flawlessly even if part of me was expecting for the Choir to come onstage for Like a Prayer to make it sound like the original but they didn't come...

Tori was in a great mood and told us a couple of stories about her friends showing up late a the show the night before, about the sort of ladies men liked, before Hoochie Woman and she said (again)that some of the requests were great and some sucked!

Note: in the hall there were posters saying that cameras would be filming tonight for the video of Sweet the Sting so expect a live video for that single! She actually fucked up the beginning of the song and had to start again!

I really had a great time tonight and the audience was overall so respectful of the show and the songs (noone screaming mid-song or singing along loudly to Winter) and it brought such an intense atmosphere!

I loved it!! Thank you Tori for yet another fantastic moment with you!!


From Chris:

I have to agree with some of the previous people who have posted in that the show was, well, unspectacular. Although I very much enjoyed it, it seemed much of the rest of the audience didn't. Let me explain ...

There seemed to be quite a distinct difference in the set list on Friday and Saturday. Friday seemed to be the night for the fans who have never been to one of her shows before. All the recognisable hits were in the show, but on Saturday there seemed to be a heavy influence of songs from The Beekeeper mixed in with some of the slower songs and some - to the casual fan - obscure b-sides. The result? Dozens of people who don't know her music going to the toilet.

Really, I've never seen anything like it at one of her gigs, and I've been to a fair few over the years. I remember seeing her for the first time at the Colston Hall in Bristol circa 1993, and not a single person moved because they were so absorbed by her. Twelve years on, and even a guy in the middle aisle seats in the front row decided he needed a piss during Yes Anastasia.

It was a shame, because musically I can't fault the show. The gospel choir was inspired, Mother Revolution and Witness were excellent. Bells for Her and Winter were highlights for me, and the piano bar section had two very well picked and performed covers.

Something, though, was wrong. Restless crowd, quiet Tori. Somehow the show didn't engage with some of the fans there. It WAS a good show, but was increasingly frustrating because of some sections of the crowd.


From Daniel:

Well, if Tori gave it 100% with a rough set list on Friday night, on Saturday night she gave it 200% and an amazing set list -- Tori turned London out. She came out in a beautiful emerald green, flowing silk dress with hot pink high heels....she looked stunning. Tori talked again about the leaks in the roof, and how before Friday's show they were up patching the roof and with buckets on the stage to make sure that they could go on...and she said something like "See, you did not know what was going on before you came to yesterday's show." She also again called out her best friend for being late to yesterday's show, but said that all her friends were in the crowd tonight. Before she brought out the choir she talked about how she used to live in London and how special it was to her, how her friends were here and that's why she chose it to bring the choir and to record the video.

The set list was fantastic, with a mixture of songs from across her albums....the gospel choir really added amazing depth and power to the four songs that they sang on. (Mother Revolution, Sweet the Sting, Witness & Hoochie Woman). Before Hoochi Woman Tori said in a very sexy and flirty voice over an improv piano intro: "Girls, you know what kind of girl you want to be. Boys, you know what kind of girl you like...... Boys, you know what kind ofgirl you want to be." It was fantastic.

Every song Tori gave it her all, from an amazing Winter, Icicle and Cooling to a hauntingly beautiful Beekeeper....with the organ it really gives you the chills. I had requested Like a Prayer for London, so I was thrilled to hear it performed live. Before Tori played the Piano Bar she said, "this is normally my favorite part of the show when the choir is not here....I got your requests, some of them were good...some of them suck...." ..and then she giggled. I am glad Tori did not think mine sucked and played it! Father Figure was also a highlight of the show...it was cool to hear Tori play two 80's icons together....

It was a really special night and show....I wish I could just keep following the tour across Europe...


From Gwynne:

Just a quick mail to share my experience of the concert last night at Hammersmith.

I was really lucky this time, and managed to bag two 2nd-row seats - the view was incredible - Tori looked absolutely stunning in a gorgeous green chiffon dress and red spike heeled shoes. Her hair looked incredible - very long and the red contrasted beautifully against the backdrop of her dress.

It was amazing, but seemed over very quickly. We didn't get much chat - just a quick intro before Mother Revolution about the heavy downpour last nite.

Tori's voice sounded absolutely spot on - however, was a bit processed - which I think spoiled things a little. I still enjoyed it, but I would not say it was the best Tori concert I've been to - even though it was by far the closest seats I've ever managed!

I felt a little that she rushed through the set and couldn't wait to get off at the end - also, it was disapointing not to have more of the Beekeeper material - Toast, Sleeps with Butterflies, Ireland and Orange Knickers would have been nice.

I hate to sound critical - cos its always a great thing to hear her play - but I guess I should have got tickets for Friday as well....


From Mark:

My wife presented me with 2 tickets for my birthday to see Tori at the Hammersmith Apollo on June 3rd. I was so excited! I went with a fellow Tori fan, Damon. Even though we had the very back row, centre on the circle, Tori sounded wonderful. I hadn't heard The Beekeeper album at the time I saw her, but promptly put my order in to Play.com for it the next day. Its such a different sound. Tori certainly entertained well, and even though I didn't know many of the songs, I hung onto every last word. I'm not sure if I like the organ sound, although Blood Roses was superb and ending on Silent all these years was magnificent. My only criticism was the bad positioning of a really irritating blue flood light behind Tori. On 4 of songs, this light shone all through the number so that you couldn't actually see her at all - although her voice made up for it! Come on guys - we want to be able to see her as well as hear her!


from Kris Claerhout:

I start with this line:
"This was a show to remember and those that were there were very lucky"

Well, it was not the best show ever I saw, but it was a very special evening that won't happen again in this format. At the door there was an announcement the show would be recorded for "Sweet The Sting", so we all were warned! I am not going to comment on all the songs but I must say that Tori performed some very special versions of her songs tonight, and especially those she performed with (she announced them as) "The Gospel Singers". Mother Revolution was just so different... I listened to it with open mouth. Suddenly I saw 6 people standing on the right side of the stage while Tori started Mother Revolution. The added cream on top! But... Witness was just 'magnifique'! What a great song to play live. I don't think she played it before this show...

Tonight some of my favorites were on her setlist: Winter (goose bumps!!), Icicle, Hey Jupiter. Tori really was in great shape, was not really in a talking mood but performed at her best. She wore the green dress she wore in Amsterdam when she signed the album in The Bee Hive (De Bijenkorf).

Just one remark: next time the should arrest all those people walking around during the show and going to the toilet every 15 minutes. And a funny remark: there was guy sitting row S that looked like Edward Scissorhands, the girl sitting behind him was very frustrated... please next time, do not put your hair straight up next time!!!


From Sean Brady:

Resplendant in green Tori enchanted the expectant crowd with what I think was her greatest set list in a while. After last nights disappointing choice of songs - I guess you can't please all the people all of the time - this was a major improvement in our eyes (and ears)

Starting off with the title track of the tour Tori then launched into Father Lucifer before catching her breath to talk to the crowd.

She once again alluded toher friends tardiness from yesterday and revealed that the roof of the Hammersmith Apollo was as leaky as theirs! Kudos to the people who averted what could have been a wash-out.

As Tori had mentioned on the Jonathon Ross show she had a gospel choir in tow and they perfectly complimented "Mother Revolution", and later on in the show "Witness", "Hoochie Woman" and the live taped "Sweet The Sting", although we were left baffled as to why they weren't used d"uring "Like A Prayer".

"Take To The Sky" had the crowd's foot tapping and hands clapping, that was followed by a hush forthe magnificent "Yes, Anastacia". It was then onto the harpsicord for the eerie "Bells For Her".

Tori's choice of cover versions at the Piano Bar was well received,"I'm usually doing something that's requested, after all I got gazillions of requests...which have been mostly fantastic, some sucked!",and she started with Father Figure (George Michael)and I can say being a big fan of Madonna, her rendition of Like A Prayer was goosebump inducing! Thanks to Daniel and Lisa who voted for it on toriamos.com

This was followed by an old favourite, "Winter", and the beautiful "Cooling" and back to the harpsicord for "Jamaica Inn", after a false start!

As it was a live taping, or maybe for security reasons, the crowds from the 7th row back were prevented from rushing forward post "The Beekeeper" and pre-encore, where they were then treated the live taping mentioned earlier and then to the third cover version of the night, "Rattlesnakes" (Stranglers)for the first encore then "Hoochie Woman"and finally"Hey Jupiter" for the second encore.

All in all a great night where the majority of the crowd respectedTori's wishes not to use cameras that were ever-present on Friday, or maybe it was the ever-present security that deterred them!


From John Everett:

Like all of you on here, I'm a big Tori fan. I'm really surprised therefore by some of the comments. I've been to about 20 Tori concerts in the UK and this one is definitely in the top three. Certainly it was the best of this tour to date. I've

been lucky enough to have really good seats so far (row B in Wolverhampton, B in London Friday and C for this one) and I got up to the stage for the encores which was awesome. I think it's kinda funny that she plays in high heels :-)

It was great that she played some of my favourite tracks - Anastasia, Take to the Sky, Cooling, Rattlesnakes - and thanks

Tori for playing a lot of different tracks each night for those of us going to more than one concert.

One other thing - during Father Lucifer, Tori very deliberately gave "the finger". I'm sure it was due to an interpretation of the lyrics, but I don't get why. Anyone know?


From Steve T:

This was my first Tori show and I was of course excited. Firstly the seats were a lot better than I thought they were gonna' be and the stage was not so far away after all. The support act; Tom McRae was pleasing; his singing was very emotional.

Tori came on in some ghastly green dress and started the show off rather predictably with Original Sinsuality. It had a great intro and her piano playing was really on form as was it the entire night.

Father Lucifer was great but I didn't quite get why Tori stuck her middle finger up. Perhaps she foresaw people getting up from their seats through out the whole show running to the toilet'

Icicle was really amazing and by far my favourite of the show. The piano playing was intense and really reminded me why I love Tori's music so much.

Mother Revolution was good but I don't think the choir added much apart from novelty.

Take To The Sky was weak and came across to me at least as a bit forced.

Yes Anastasia was just ok but I didn't like the different order of verses.

Bells for her really drew you in but I think it would have sounded better on piano.

Father Figure was really good and I'm not a fan of George Michael. I wasn't sure what it was at first but the intro was cool. Tori really got into it.

Like A Prayer was ok but I've heard a better version she did online.

Winter felt like she was just going through the motions, though a casual fan I know said that was one of his highlights.

Cooling was a slight improvement and didn't drag like Winter.

Jamaica Inn has a nice melody on the piano and the organ would have been ok in the intro, but she used it on the verses too and it really sucked!

Witness was pretty true to the album version and was a good show piece with the choir and all.

The Beekeeper was ok but by then I just wanted to shoot the organ.

Sweet The Sting was plain annoying.

Rattlesnakes was nice and it felt like Tori was comfortable with it but the Rhodes didn't sound half as good as it does on the album.

Hoochie Woman was ok but it's just one of those songs which can get on your nerves after too long.

Hey Jupiter was yet another song ruined by the Organ.

Ok what the hell was up with people walking about the whole time and security guards moving around behind!' Towards the end God knows I needed to go but damn it I held on! Probably not her most engaging show but people could have shown the lady a little more respect.

So not what I thought was a great track listing and the organ took away more than it gave to the performances.

It's like Tori says on the Little Earthquakes video, she gives back what the audience gives her because she works like a mirror (something like that!), and a lot of the audience weren't giving too much. I think there were just a lot of 'casual' fans and the track listing wasn't suited to that like someone else said.

I will see Tori again coz' I know she is a great live performer, maybe next time it will just be a better show.


From K.:

In response to John Everett's comments on the London 4th June show:

She gave the finger to the line about girls who can eat pizza and not put on weight.


From redella:

"girls who eat pizza and never gain, never gain weight"

these are the people tori was giving the finger to during father lucifer!

as for the show, i agree with a lot of the comment above, great set list.. icicle brought tears to my eyes, yes anastasia spookily atmospheric, rattlesnakes a nice suprise and cooling the one i had been waiting for.

marred by the constant processions of people who were up and down throughout, including the security guys!

i don't think it was because they didn't know the songs, my partner was being introduced to tori at this gig and was entranced all the way through (the love affair begins!), i dunno what is happening with people these days, maybe they have urgent calls to make or too much beer, or accompanying their friends/lovers/brothers to a gig they are not into. it's a shame...

but tori, there is no-one like her she gives so much to each performance and her audience. saturday was a show for the fans and i was not disapointed.


Read a review of this show from The Guardian newspaper


From Erin:

After Friday, I was really looking forward to Saturday and maybe hearing some new stuff from The Beekeeper, like Cars and Guitars, or Martha's Foolish Ginger, Goodbye Pisces, Garlands or especially Sleeps With Butterflies, since it was the single. I thought that she'd maybe crack out some good ol' classics for London town's second night, like Tear In Your Hand, Caught A Lite Sneeze, i i e e e, Pancake or I Can't See New York - but no! Just mashed together set lists of Monday and Tuesday in Dublin! What a disappointment! Okay, okay - thinking logically about it - I understand that Tori must've had a *mf* of a day, being on the radio first thing and then spending all afternoon getting the gospel singers just-so, but to cobble together both of Dublin's set lists?!?! I still don't understand why.

Having only had one overlap between the two Dublin shows (The Beekeper, not counting Original Sinsuality, which is the tour's opener), I was not prepared for the amount of repetition in London. I know that following her for four nights in a week might seem a bit much and people would say that I should've expected this, but I can't help being bitterly jealous of Wolverhampton's set list the night before. I'd have given anything to have been there and heard that line-up of songs. Then for Tori to just fall back on the stuff she'd already prepared earlier on in the week seemed ludicrous to me. She MUST realize that there'd be EFW at both the Dublin shows and the London shows. Don't get me worng. I didn't think the show was bad! On the contrary, it was a legendary show and a once-in-a-lifetime treat with the gospel singers. Tori was in a really sexy, good mood and quite chatty and fun, she looked spellbinding in her green dress and shocking pink heels. She really did put on an extra show for the official cameras, and I'm glad. But every time she started into a song, my heart leapt for something new, and then sank when it was a repeat from either Monday or Tuesday. Why do this to her loyal fans?

This didn't stop me listening with all my heart and really gelling with her on Saturday. I thought she made a very strong connection with the audience. I must say that this was the most affecting and perfect version of Icicle that I have ever heard, live or recorded. Mother Revolution though, was much better WITHOUT the gospel choir in Dublin because the show was more strongly themed and the song fitted in better with the set list. Here, it stuck out a bit, even though Tori was obviously enjoying it. It still made me cry, so there was nothing wrong with the performance, but remembering Monday's heartbreaking, stool-grinding, resounding version of it, being so close as to see the drool drip from her lip to her hand; Dublin was better. Father Lucifer, Take to The Sky, Yes, Anastasia, Bells For Her, Winter, Cooling, Jamaica Inn and Rattlesnakes all suffer the same fate, I'm afraid. They were so much better in Dublin that I hardy have any recollection of what they were like in London. I guess I was just so disappointed.

What wasn't disappointing were the two covers in Tori's Piano Bar. Wow - she rocked the socks off both of them. But I felt the same as other peeps who've posted reviews; we were sure that she'd bring on the Gospel choir at the line in Like A Prayer where they should have had their cue to complete the song. Ah well, it was just as good with Tori solo. Really grungy and Tori squirmed on the stool, and screwed her face up and repeated the chorus lots and lots and changed the emphases on words to make it her own. Needless to say the crowd went wild. Father Figure was totally engrossing. You could make out every word, and she put real Oomph into it that I'm sure George Michael could never muster! I haven't been able to get the song out of my head ever since. She was being really funny about the roof. There needs to be a big shout-out to the people at the venue the night before who prevented the gig from being cancelled, cause we didn't realize how bad it was until Tori told us!

The best bit of the night, that none of us will ever forget, I'm sure, were the last three Beekeeper songs with the choir. Witness was amazing. I'd been looking forward to this so very much. On Monday someone (I think Dor) had asked Tori at the Meet&Greet whether she'd be doing Witness and Tori's reply was, "Mmmm... She's coming, but not yet!" When I heard that she was getting her premiere that night, I went hyper before the gig with excitement and she didn't let me down. Witness was everything and more that I'd hoped she'd be live. So groovy and sultry and very deeply rocking, if you know what I mean. The "Come on, come on, come on" parts were excellent, Tori giving a little "Huh!" every time that she turned round from the verses on the organ to the choruses on the piano. Her voice was so much stronger by being backed-up, she rose above the rest of the vocals and seemed to feed off the extra energy on stage. She had a massive smile plastered on her face for all of the tracks that she got to do with the choir.

Sweet The Sting was hilarious: she took an age to come back on stage and when she did she told us how long it took her to get ready having an "extra layer of lippy" and lipgloss applied, re-doing her hair and make-up, then she said "Bloody 'ell!" in a cockney accent! When she told the cameras for the single video to start rolling, she started the song, then went, "I'm in the wrong key!" and had to start again! It was great fun, she was so happy. Did anybody else notice that the sound cut out in the first line of the song? Tori continued on though, I guess she'd figured that stopping once was enough!

Despite what other people have written, I really enjoyed Hoochie Woman. It'd never been one of my favourites on the album. The tune's great, but I'd never really 'dug' the lyrics, even though I've had nothing else on my iPod for the last month or so - I've fallen in love with The Beekeeper album heart and soul. Hearing this live brought her to life and now I love the track. Tori giggled and played a little ditty, looked coyly over her shoulder at the audience with the cheekiest of smirks and said in the huskiest of voices, "Girls, you know what kinda girl you REALLY are" (which made me think it might be Cornflake Girl!), "boys, you know what kinda girl you REALLY want... Boys, you know what kinda girl you REALLY are!" She smiled throughout the song, shimmying and shaking and dazzling everyone. What an encore!

She ALWAYS seems to play Jupiter as an encore in London, though. It was a beautiful rendition, and I cried throughout it, as did most people surrounding me. Up in the circle that night the audience were mush quieter and took no photos, didn't play with their phones and didn't mooch about. It was more settled and I was thankful for that. Here's to everyone who made it special (and to the others - be on your best behaviour next time, please!!!). With love to Victoria, who made London something truly meaningful.


From Rachael:

This was my first Tori concert, and I was really looking forward to it. I had a great time, although because my booking had to be delayed, I had to stand at the back of the venue, which was tiring. To see her in person was amazing, all of her songs she performed were brilliant, however I was a little dissapointed there was no cornflake girl! That was the first Tori song I heard so I was hoping she would play it, or some of my other favourites. I didn't recognize some of the songs but I definately thought the green dress looked very nice on her and shes definately talented at what she does. It's a shame we couldn't take pictures but I guess we had to respect Tori's wishes. Im definately glad I went, instead of going on holiday, it was well worth missing itto make the gig!

P.S: The Edward Scissor-Hand dude who was mentioned earlier was in the backround of a picture I had took of me outside the venue... it was very scary to discover it! (No offence if you are reading Edward)


From Brian Field:

I totally agree with the comments about people getting up and down throughout the concert. They had obviously stayed in the bar to miss the excruciatingly bad support act. The cellist was great, but then the singer spoiled everything by opening his mouth.

Anyway, back to Tori. This was better than the January 17 2003 concert. I enjoyed her singing without the band this time. I wish I had heard her play Marianne and Cloud on my tongue as they are my favourites, but I was more than happy with Cooling, Witness and Mother Revolution. Her live version of 'the Beekeeper' has made me listen to it now (I usually skipped this track) though I can't say the same for Hoochie Woman!

An excellent evening.

(By the way Rattlesnakes is a Lloyd Cole and the Commotions song, not a Stranglers song! The original is fantastic)