You can now see the set list and reviews for the Wallingford, CT concert at the Chevrolet Theatre (formerly the Oakdale Theatre. Tori set list included Mary, Take To The Sky, Crazy, Toast and the covers So Far Away (Carole King) and By Your Side (from the musical Godspell) 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 Summer Of Sin Tour Forum. Thanks for sharing your reviews with The Dent. Please feel free to review Tori's supporting acts as well!

More Details

Tori performed in Wallingford, CT on Tuesday, August 16, 2005 at Chevrolet Theatre (formerly the Oakdale Theatre. Tori's supporting acts were The Ditty Bops and The Like and the show began at 7:30PM.

Set List

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

Original Sinsuality
Crucify
Caught A Lite Sneeze
Winter
Icicle
Goodbye Pisces
Bells For Her

So Far Away (Carole King cover)
By My Side (cover from the musical Godspell)

Mary
Take To The Sky
Mother Revolution
Yes, Anastasia
The Beekeeper

1st Encore

Cars and Guitars
Crazy

2nd Encore

Landslide
Toast

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 Summer Of Sin Concert Review Forum and post about your experiences as well, or read additional reviews.


From Matt Page:

Tonight's show was very different. For one, Tori made many changes to the written set list that she creates before the show. The Piano Bar segment of the show was suppose to be 'Because The Night' from Patti Smith and then 'So Far Away' by Carole King. But she did 'So Far Away' and 'By Your Side' instead. The first encore was suppose to be Way Down followed by Mr. Zebra, and then the second encore was supposed to be Crazy and Past The Mission. You can see above what she did instead. This is likely one of the most radical changes to her written set list that I have seen.

The end of the show was very somber. Tori was almost breaking up during Toast, and seemed very emotional. I think most of the people in the audience felt this as well. It seemed very sad at the end of the night.

Before Crucify, Tori did a long improv with lyrics which included something like, "I'm thinking about you. but shouldn't be thinking about you."

Some of the songs played together tonight had opposite themes. One example would be the covers, So Far Away and By Your Side.

Tori did tell a cute story after Crucify about how Tash is still in a hotel in New York, and that she decided to go to Starbucks for some chocolate milk. She apparently passed some men who said something like, "Do you know who you just walked past? The boss Mr. Trump." Tash replied, "My mommy's the boss here." Tori also mentioned before So Far Away that she was going to play a song by a woman she really loves who writes the best songs.


From Katrina:

I am not going to brag, who I am kidding I am going to brag, I requested By My Side for this show (yeah she played it) I was the retard who yelled thank you after the song had ended.

From the get go Tori has again stunned me. This set list was awesome even with the changes.

She was wearing a bright yellow high collared sheerish shirt and hot pink pants ( Glory of the 80's????) Her story about Tash was really cute and don't forget about the lesson to us girls keep the throat moist.

Every song was beautiful and the crowd was great except for the guys behind me talking about when the Carol King first came out and the group of drunks just standing and talking through out the show, till the woman sitting next to me finally went and told them to basically shut up. The swarm even waited till she completly finished " The Beekeeper" before they bum rushed the stage.

1st encore was alright but the 2nd Encore was awesome. We got to hear 3 covers tonight. from Landslide to " landslide".


From Jason Schlemer:

Tonight's show was simply amazing. I think Tori has risen. This tour has been remarkably different from other tours with little variation in song structure, improvs, vocal ranges, etc. Tonight Tori seemed back to her old self. She was on fire in so many different songs such as Caught A Lite Sneeze which although mimicked the 2001 version, was very powerful and emotive and she echoed this in Icicle, Bells For Her, both covers, and Mother Revolution (which tonight was the best version I have heard thus far). Both covers were simply wonderful. I thoroughly enjoyed So Far Away even though I'm not the biggest Carole King. By My Side was especially emotional, and Tori really dragged out the end with strong passion in her voice. Mary was quite the crowd pleaser as was Take To The Sky as Tori played both with lots of energy, excitement, and gestures.

I was rather close to the stage and it seemed Tori made quite a few mistakes. She forgot the words to Icicle, but recovered quickly, and completely skipped a chorus in Yes, Anastasia. It was barely noticeable, but more importantly it didn't matter. Her spontaneity, vibrancy, and playful take with the audience outshined any mistakes she may have made. I think she really liked the audience because she smiled and gestured a lot during songs being the most expressive I have seen her on this tour. She smiled as she sang "Maybe I'm just passing you by...during the Beekeeper" and I though perhaps coming to grips with her possible fear of mortality since the death of Michael and the illness of her mother.

The show became quite sad during the second encore as Landslide and Toast were heavy heart hitters. Her vibrant energy from the show transformed into something rather emotional. Just about every one around me was crying during both songs and they seemed more emotive and special than usual. Toast was exceptionally sad and Tori herself was overcome with emotion, trying not to sob during it's conclusion.

This show was SO DIFFERENT from Portsmouth. While Portsmouth was somber, meditative, almost a reflection of Tori's life, this show was like the comeback from the dead. I am onto New Jersey, so excited to see what Tori will invoke next. I think this tour is about to do a 360 from the spring.


From Kevin Mitchell:

Tori just never ceases to amaze me. She somehow has this way of captivating the audience, causing this wonderful hush that falls over the room. This is only my 4th Tori show ever... I still feel that every show is my first, though, as I never know what to expect. I finally got to hearWinter live which I was just ecstatic about! Some other personal highlights included Caught A Lite Sneeze, Icicle, Toast and By My Side (I was once in Godspell!). Her story about her daughter was adorable, as well as the little comments she made about using cough drops to moisten your throat, and that you didn't have to be coughing to take them. I was also much more impressed with The Like and The Ditty Bops than I had expected. What a great show!


From Cliff:

Tori also mentioned in her Starbucks story - that Tash likes the chocolate milk there because there's a cow on the bottle. She said "Mummy, you should put a cow on the cover of your record." to which Tori replied - "Oh get over it, I've already done a pig!"

Strong show tonight. Vocals were great. The vocal mic is a little too much as you can barely understand what she's singing - well, to some friends who weren't familiar with the lyrics anyway.

Her outfit rocked too. Salmon colored knickers with her typical heels.


From Gruagach7:

Tori never disappoints when the Oakdale (now Chevrolet) Theater is involved.

Venue: The Oakdale in itself is an experience. I've never been to such an astoundingly beautiful theater. The lobby area is distinguished and full of various different items for sale: tour souvenirs, food, beverages - the usual stuff -- but the setup and layout is wide open and full of comfortable seating and nifty little meeting areas. There is even a whole outdoor patio area with more food and drink that should definitely be taken advantage of. It is located in a really odd spot, basically in the middle of nowhere, unless you are knowledgeable about the area (which I am not - I traveled from Philadelphia), but the time to find it is well worth it. A very, very neat place. The theater area itself is intimate and tiny, compared to most other places I've experienced Tori concerts. My step-mom and her brother had seats fairly far back and even from their seats the stage was plain view and everything was life size and not, as I term it, "ant size" where the performer looks like a little ant bobbing around the stage.

Opening Act(s): I chose to forgo The Like to explore the theater. I took my seat (personal side note nobody but me will care about: BEST [I repeat: BEST ] seating location I've *ever* had: Section 103, Row J) in the middle of The Ditty Bops set. They are definitely unique, I'll give them that. When I first took my seat I thought they may have had some Amish influence, simply by their dress. I'm not great at clothing terms, but they had on long, flowy pants almost making them seem like a plain, grey dress and tight, tight buttoned shirts. I don't know anything about their upbringing or what not, but I kept thinking they must have broke away from their Amish community during their -TERM FOR WHEN AMISH TEENS GO INTO THE DEVIL"S PLAYGROUND-. There were two men on stage playing additional instruments. I am not sure if they are a part of The Ditty Bops or not.

In any event, their music was folky in the traditional sense of just simple guitar, a plinking violin and an accompanying upright bass. The lyrics, on the other hand, were witty and lighthearted commentaries on issues such as getting rid of an annoying love and creating your own path. The highlight of their performance was a theatrical song about having a "big head"; as the braided girl sings, the girl with the hat does theatrics with balloons and airily adds flighty statements in rhythm with the song.

Overall, I really enjoyed them. Not enough to buy the CD, but Tori's had worse opening acts (anybody remember The Unbelievable Truth?). I look forward to seeing them again on the other shows I am going to.

Tori's Performance: The curtain opened about a half an hour after The Ditty Bops exited the stage. Like in April, Tori was standing there, waiting to give us her signature wave. She looked phenomenal with bright, bubble-gum pink Bermuda shorts and a light, pastel green top that flowed down to around her hips. In addition, the shirt had a floral imprint on the left side of the chest. Interestingly, Tori had her hair up, which I have never seen her do in all of my concert history.

The set design has changed since April as well. The backdrop display depicts an educated snake (he has these cute little librarian glasses on), twisting himself around a tree and offers a bitten apple on his tail. The apples in the tree are, curiously, heart shaped. If this is Tori being her symbolic, multi-layered self I don't know, but I certainly found meaning in it.

The hexagon spaceship display screen has been moved to the left side of the stage, whereas in April it was on the right.

Original Sinsuality: A deep, bassy intro came before the melody of Sinsuality escaped the piano. Tori dramatically slowed down the time of the melody and drew out many words - which is something I noticed that she did the entire night. She also lengthened the ending, repeating "You are not alone," many times.

Crucify: Wasting no time between songs, Tori hurriedly turned to the organ behind the piano and fiddled around with it, playing a haunting, almost Hindu-like tune. At first, I was expected Blood Roses, instead Tori sang an improv with words such as "I think of you more than I should. I think of you sometimes. I think of you more than I should. I think of you... I think of you..." She bled the improv into the beginning words for Crucify. She flip-flopped her way back and forth between the organ and piano in her unique, talented way. The first verse was done on the organ, the chorus was played with the piano, the second verse organ and piano, and everything else was done on the Bosendorfer, including the "please be..." lines.

Tori then said hello to us and told us an amusing story about Natashya (sp?) that went something like the following: Natashya enjoys Starbucks milk or something and decided that she was going to go to Starbucks without Tori. Natashya especially enjoys the "moo cow" on the container that the milk comes in and told Tori that she should have a moo cow to which Tori replied, "I never had a moo cow, but I did have a pig." In any event, on her way to Starbucks, Natashya busted her way through a group of men at the hotel when they are staying. One of the men said to her, "Do you know who that is? That's our boss " The man turned out to be Donald Trump, to which Natashya replied, "My mummy is the boss "

Caught a Lite Sneeze: If I am not mistaken this was a tour debut, and a song that I have wanted to see performed solo since I've heard bootleg renditions of Strange Little Tour performances. The lights were blinking frozen blue and crystal white, as Tori pounded away on her piano. Compared to the versions I've heard during the SLT, this was shorter (no intense repeat of the chorus near the end) and she never quite reached down for the bass notes during the chorus. It was a very calm, structured version of the song - very clear and accurate. While it would have been nice to see a more intense Tori, this was a great way to see Tori at her most focused.

Winter: This was the third single in a row that Tori had chosen to perform - wasn't sure if there was something to that or not because I don't recognize any kind of pattern with this coupled with the previous three songs. Again, words were drawn out and accentuated more than usual. The lights and screen are especially appropriate with hues of blue and silver streaming down and visuals of leafless trees painted on the hexagon spaceship.

Icicle: Another song with blue lighting - another semi-trend I noticed. Again, another very structured, focused performance. She did slip up on the lyrics a bit saying, "Feel the book on my chest." I noticed a slight pause after she said "feel" instead "lay," and I wondered if she was going to stop or start over or something, but she kept right on going.

Goodbye Pieces: Green and faint orange lighting draped the stage and I recognized the melody to the song immediately - one of my favorites from The Beekeeper. Once again, she changed a tiny lyric near the end singing, "Am I just a doll I got used to?" instead of "Am I just a doll YOU got used to?" which I thought was an interesting play on words and the theme of the song. On the screen appeared images of snowy lakes and rain droplets. The bass line of this song live always intrigue me. I heard this at its debut in D.C. back in April and felt the left hand was a bit awkward for a live show, but it wasn't as obvious this time around.

Bells for Her: Admittedly, I was not a huge fan of the Rhodes being a part of this tour back in April. The bass notes are barely audible and the high notes screech their way around theaters. However, my opinion changed when she performed Rattlesnakes in Philadelphia last April and hearing live versions of Taxi Ride and Crazy (which she did perform later in her set). Bells for Her was played with delicacy and whispers and the muteness of the Rhodes adds volume and feeling to Tori's voice.

Piano Bar: Tori began the piano bar by saying that the next two songs were requests. Somebody from the audience yelled out a request and Tori acknowledged the shout by saying, "Let me consider it, but that is not one of these two. Sorry, but...loser " Tori went to talk about the next song she would perform and said that it was written by a woman who had written many classic songs.

The song turned out to be So Far Away, which is not something I would have chosen to hear but it was, naturally, a unique version that only Tori could have performed.

Tori zoomed into the next cover, which I recognized because I had downloaded a recording of her playing it previously at another show. By My Side was the first song of the night that I felt Tori had put real, hardcore emotion into. The facial expressions, the full words and her warmth spread over all of Oakdale Theater, which did not fully happen with all the other songs; as I mentioned several times, the first half of the show thus far had been *extremely* purposeful and precise. This was the first song of the night that I thought Tori combined with the more emotional aspect to her music and to herself.

Mary: Another debut of the tour if I'm not mistaken (which I probably am, but who knows...). Again, there was more emotion to this than the other songs that she had been singing earlier. "Butterflies don't belong in nets," was sang with determination, not loud proclamation. There weren't many high/loud notes sang; Tori seemed to be working her way around them or slowing her songs down to the point where high and loud would be inappropriate. The lights were autumn tones: oranges and yellows.

Take to the Sky and Mother Revolution: I hate to admit this, but Tori lost me during these two songs. After seeing so many concerts there are some songs that you much prefer not to hear or see and these were two of mine. In my opinion, Tori has slowed down Take to the Sky to the point where the song no longer has a feeling of independence and resourcefulness, but instead is lackluster and lacking punch. If you listen to the SLT versions of this song, it was much more strong and bassy. Now it is more flowing and quiet. Though, I will always, always love the whole, "Why do you take it, take it, take it, boys..." bit.

I enjoy Mother Revolution to see Tori wiggle her way between two keyboards. The extent of her talent will never know boundaries and this song is a perfect way to exhibit just how insanely talented she is. To keep pace with two fingered instruments and keep in time with her words and the music - just incredible, but I suppose this goes without saying. The song, as a whole, does nothing for me. I respect the meaning and message of the song and enjoy bits and pieces of it but, overall, just eh.

Yes, Anastasia: I was hoping for this and was only too happy to hear the thumping riff after two songs that I am less than crazy for. I saw this back in April in D.C. and Philly - wOw This time around, though, no high note at the end She totally found her way out of that. I was a bit disappointed with that, but the rest of the song was fantastic. She whispered the lines, "Thought she deserved," and then went back to normal pitch for everything else following that. I can't say enough that it seemed to be more of a songwriter clinic, with Tori performing more with focus and discipline than with raw emotion and Yes, Anastasia was a prime example of this. Overall, it was a highlight of the night for me.

The Beekeeper: What is left to say about The Beekeeper? Some people are tired of this, I am not. This was dripping with emotion, which was a welcomed alteration, and her words were smooth and stretched out to their limits. After the line, "Take this message to Michael..." there was a smattering of applause and I just happened to look up at the monitor to see a slight smile form on Tori's face. The lights were brighter than I remember in April, especially during the choruses and the "wrap yourself..." lines when the backdrop became intensely pink-reddish and purple. The spaceship rang out with a rotating ring of fire (which I always thought looked like a sunflower) and then, later in the song, flames. Tori speaks often of marrying two different aspects or opposing sides of things (i.e., Mary Magdalene/Virgin Mary, profane/sacred) and I feel at the end of this song Tori truly marries her voice with the B3. Her voice and the deep, vibrating notes become one and it is hard to distinguish the two. Chilling, amazing, inspiring - I am always awe struck.

Cars and Guitars: YAY!!! Really wanted to hear this - it was flawless and, less clinical and more emotional. Tori stretched out the "keep" in "keep on driving" with fantastic results.

Crazy: Before Tori played this song, she waved her hand up in the air to give, I am guessing, the lighting and sound people some indication of where she was and what she was doing. This was an indication that she went away from her chosen set, which made getting a setlist more appetizing.

I sort of fall in and out of love with this song and, last night, I fell back in love with it. The fragility of the Rhodes with the delicacy of Tori's voice just heightens this song to places I never thought a musician could take a song. Needless to say, I was deeply impressed with how perfectly Tori played this song and this was *the* highlight of the night for me. I especially loved when she whispered, in a breathy voice, "so I let crazy pull me in."

Landslide: Another very emotional song and beautifully rendered. A green stage with fluid screenings.

Toast: Once I positioned myself against the sound area to ask for a setlist, I was able to recognize and fully pay attention to what was happening on stage. The CD version is *nothing* - I repeat NOTHING - compared to this live. And, if I not mistaken, unless it was planned for effect, which I am thinking definitely was not, Tori became choked up and began whispering and deleting words from the song. Not too sound overly dramatic, but I really felt honored to have Tori share this song with us last night because of how much of herself she put into it. It was a very, very emotional closing to a mostly structured and disciplined show.

I snagged a setlist to discover Tori was planning on singing "Because the Night" for the first song of the Piano Bar segment. I nearly passed out and died on the spot. Also, the first encore was supposed to contain: "Way Down / Mr. Zebra" for the first song and Cars & Guitars second. The second encore was Crazy and Past the Mission. These were the surprises and rarities I was expecting in Wallingford and, admittedly, would have made the show more exciting.

Overall Impressions: What started off as a carefully built and detached show, ending with two very emotional encores and a stunning Crazy and Toast. Tori's voice is in *top* form. I've never heard her sound better. Overall, a great concert. Hopefully, for my future shows I'll get some bigger surprises and more varied piano bars.