The June 8, 2005 ediiton of The Scotsman newspaper includes a review of Tori's June 7, 2005 conert in Glasgow, U.K.

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Tori Amos

PAUL WHITELAW

TORI AMOS ** (2 stars)
CLYDE AUDITORIUM, GLASGOW

IT COULD be argued that the best thing about Tori Amos is that she isn't Alanis Morrisette. But while her angst-ridden, overtly tasteful "quality artist" stylings can often grate, she's still just edgy and bold enough to grant her freedom from the Guantanamo Bay-style prison camp to which all earnestly kooky singer-songwriters should be consigned by law.

One thing in her favour is that her legendary eccentricity is obviously genuine - although occasional stunts such as being photographed breast-feeding a pig do smack of "lord love-a-duck I'm bonkers me!" contrivance - meaning that she comes across as charming and amusing rather than someone you'd like to see buried up to their eyes in scalding ordure.

She's also a brilliantly kinetic pianist and singer, her voice a pure, peripatetic instrument which switches from a growl to a whisper to a goose-pimpling falsetto with remarkable ease. But still her songs fail to fully engage. Rooted to the piano, they all sound too alike, overlong and rootless, something no amount of vocal elasticity or charisma can compensate for, although the sight of her standing, legs splayed, playing piano and organ at the same time, like some Raphaelite Rick Wakeman, is a marvel to behold.

While you might reasonably expect the audience to be made up of social workers in floral print dresses, the male to female quotient was almost equal, with even a few children in attendance, who to be honest, were probably cursing their parents for not finding a baby sitter in time. They all sat rapt and lapped it up throughout, but despite moments of undeniable beauty, a torpid and unengaging affair.