You can read a press review of Tori's September 4, 2003 West Palm Beach. FL concert in the September 6, 2003 edition of the Palm Beach Post.
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Read the concert review online at palmbeachpost.com or below:
Lotta pianos, whole lotta love
By Jonathan Tully, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Saturday, September 6, 2003
At first blush, the pairing seemed a bit odd.
On the one hand, you had Tori Amos, whose music can appear to be intense and very personal but also dreamlike. On the other, there's Ben Folds, a self-proclaimed "suburb rocker" who has a tendency toward the playful.
But there are a lot of similarities, as evidenced on the final night of the Lottapianos Tour on Thursday at Sound Advice Amphitheatre in suburban West Palm Beach.
Both are extremely talented pianists -- a rarity in rock. And both grab audience attention in their own ways. But although Folds put on a superb and well-received set, many who left the outdoor theater Thursday will probably remember Amos first. And for good reason -- Amos is equally powerful and vulnerable when performing. Every song in her 2 1/2 -hour set seemed a concert unto itself, which did sometimes tend to mute the emotions of some of her quieter songs if they followed an uptempo number.
That said, one of the strongest moments during the show was when Amos slowed the proceedings a bit, had her backing band leave the stage and let the audience enjoy some of her quieter songs.
Leather , from the album Little Earthquakes , was the highlight of this set-within-her-set. Once bassist John Evans and drummer Matt Chamberlain returned, Amos was more than willing to push the tempo up again. Father Lucifer and Professional Widow , a pair of songs from Boys for Pele , got the audience roaring, as Amos and her excellent rhythm section whipped up a storm of energy.
By the time she had finished her initial set and was about to head off stage, some of Amos' more fervent fans rushed to the front to show their affection, to which she responded in kind, with two encores.
Folds also got the audience involved, though in a different way. He was more willing to play conductor, having the crowd sing horn-section parts and three-part harmony -- something he couldn't exactly pull off himself, since he was the only one out there.
Seemingly willing to play the audience into their seats as they arrived, Folds walked onstage with a wave -- and without a band -- and dived into his set, which included an excellent version of Selfless, Cold and Composed from his former band, Ben Folds Five.
Even when things went a little haywire with the sound system, Folds was ready to entertain. He simply waited for it to get fixed, gave the audience a taste of that concert standby Freebird , and then playfully ranted about how Korn lead singer Jonathan Davis (whom he called Jonathan Korn) had ripped him for being a wuss.
Then Folds launched into Rockin' the Suburbs , leaving the audience grinning.
jon_tully@pbpost.com
