The Roseanne Show October 1, 1998

The Roseanne Show episode with Tori was aired on Thursday, October 1 in the United States. She had taped the program back on Wednesday afternoon, September 23, 1998. (Toriphiles in the U.K. were able to see this program on October 19, 1998 and January 18, 1999 on Channel 5 TV, although part of Tori's interview was cut during the January 18th showing since the one hour program was shortened to 30 minutes.) Tori performed Jackie's Strength and Me and a Gun. The show was really powerful and dealt with RAINN, the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network. There were survivors on the show sharing their stories. Tori also talked about several things, including how she came about writing "Father Lucifer". The Roseanne Show is syndicated, so networks and times varied from city to city. Below you can find photos from The Roseanne Show and read more about it, including details from people who were at a taping of the show, including a nicely detailed on from Kim H., and comments from people who watched the TV program.

Speaking for myself, this was a powerful show. It was hard not to cry while you were hearing the various stories the survivors told. There was a sense of outrage that people could do this and get away with it. There was also a sense of triumph to see how these women survived. Seeing Tori hug the 18 year old girl before the commercial break was very affecting. Roseanne did a good job with this. Also, Tori's performance of Jackie's Strength was done solo at the piano. (Previous TV performances of this included her band.) Me and a Gun was done at the very end, and the shows credits started to roll before Tori was finished. I was particularly impressed by the amount of time Tori's segment received, roughly 36 minutes.

You can see video from this appearance at the Force Of Tori Amos web site.

None of the photos below include the survivors who were on the show. It seemed wrong for me to place their images on my site without permission...

Click on thumbnail to see a larger image.

Here is some information from Scotto about the drug that Tori mentioned on the program called ayahuasca:

the amazonian potion she took is called "ayahuasca". i thought your readers might enjoy a little more information about ayahuasca, as it is a very significant potion with a long history of shamanic use. the word "ayahuasca" is a Quechen indian word which means "vine of the dead"; the same potion has also been called "yage", and was written about by william s. burroughs and allen ginsburg in "the yage letters."

ayahuasca is a brew made up of various plants native to the amazon jungle. the primary active ingredient is a chemical called DMT (N,N-dimethyltryptamine), which is one of the strongest-acting hallucinogens currently known to mankind. when smoked, DMT provides an absolutely astonishing 7-10 minute psychedelic experience; however, when eaten, DMT is destroyed in the stomach by a system in the body known as the monoamine oxydase system. this is a system that prevents certain enzymes in things like cheese and alcohol from harming the body. however, other plants in the ayahuasca stew contain chemicals that are called "monoamine oxydase inhibitors"; they inhibit the system that normally prevents the DMT from being orally active. often the MAOIs in the plants are psychoactive themselves, and other plants can be added to the mix that have their *own* activity (tobacco is often used, for instance). little is known about the various interactions of all these admixtures, but one thing is clear: when the DMT is made orally active, an intense four hour experience unfolds out of what is typically a 7-10 minute experience.

ayahuasca is used shamanically for healing purposes, and for visionary sessions beyond compare. it is being popularized to some extent among the visionary underground in this country, but without the shamanic trappings in which it was originally used. there are two churches in Brazil that currently have that country's permission to use ayahuasca as part of their worship services. the quality of the experience can best be considered revelatory, extremely intense, wholly non-recreational, entirely overwhelming in many ways. it is hard on the body, always causing vomiting and sometimes other forms of purging as well; it is *not* a "party" experience by any stretch of the imagination. typically users wind up flat on their backs for the duration. more information about ayahuasca, including descriptions of the experience from myself and others, can be found at http://www.erowid.org/entheogens/ayahuasca/ayahuasca.shtml . for those looking to understand the role that psychoactives play in tori's life and music, a look at this very respectful and thoughtful page is probably in order.

Here are some thoughts from Danny Segura, who was at the taping of the show:

I was at the Roseanne taping and oh my God that was probably one of the most amazing experiences of my life! THANK YOU SOOOOOOOO MUCH! I am so greatful to you for putting up the announcment about the Rainn tickets. My story of the day was that me and my friend Danielle (who has pink hair and can be seen through the show) arrived at 1:45 and were harrased by the stupid secuirity people who had no clue what Rainn was. So we had to wait outside the waiting area and then were brought in, then took out again. There were about seven of us and the rest of the Rainn people were already in the waiting area. After about ten minutes they told us to get to the back of the line. We did and there I saw Joel I asked him if Tori would come out after ,he smiled ansd said maybe but probablly not because she has a show. I asked were she would come out and he said around the corner. The show people finally figured out what Rainn was and let us in. To our suprise the front was reserved for us. I chose the seat that was very close to the piano. So we saw the show Tori came out and was as charming and beautiful as ever! She seemed really shy and a little stressed. She talked to Roseanne and then the three rape victims, it was very emotional.

She then performed Jackie's Strength and a couple minutes later Me and a gun. This was so amazing because she kept looking at me because my seat was by the camera. I almost died!

After the show she came out and did a meet and greet with like ten of us. I gave her a hug and a kiss and held her hand I asked her to play Hear. in my head and she said she would try. Unfortunetly she didn't greet everyone because she was late for her soundcheck. It was a great experience. The best part though was watching the show and seeing my self behind the first victim. I'm not completely in focus but it is still cool.I'm wearing a purple shirt and am next to my friend Danielle. I'm going to watch this show forever and show every one how close I was to Tori. Thank you so much for this experience. I was in heaven and the concert that night was awesome.

Here are some thoughts from Heather Parsons, who watched the show and posted this to the Precious-Things mailing list. It is posted here with permission.

Ohmigod, I cannot stop crying...

I was fine until they went to a commercial, and then Tori was immediately up and embracing the girl who had been gang-raped. I just couldn't stop crying after that. It's still on, she just finished "Jackie's Strength", and I am really hoping they will show the performance of "Me and a Gun" that the woman on the Dent said was done. Of course, then I'll just go into hysterics probably...

This was what I have been waiting for--Tori in a TV interview that was heartbreakingly honest and just TORI. Whenever she's on other shows, the host is too busy talking to really listen to what she says, and to let her have that insight. I didn't like Roseanne at the start of the show, but with Tori--she actually took pains to UNDERSTAND what she was talking about, y'know? God.

And they didn't treat her rape as "something that happened to you." It was the most eloquent Tori show I've ever seen. [Ohmigod, they ARE showing it...] I've never seen the experience of her rape treated with so much respect and passion.

Tori tells stories in print that don't translate as well when you're looking at her. Her eyes are often what tell the story, and so whenever I've read about her rape...I was horrified but what she went through, but you couldn't really SEE how it affected her. Maybe I'm not making sense here, but all of these years I've seen her perform "Me and a Gun"...or even listening to it on LE...I wanted so much to FEEL it, and something was either holding me back from doing just that, or perhaps it was because I just didn't understand. Maybe I still don't. I've seen her twice on the last two tours, and have sat in complete silence during that song, but I never cried, not like other audience members. I wanted that connection, I guess, but not in that horrifying way.

But her performance of the song just now made me sob. It's the first time "Me and a Gun" has reached out and grabbed me by my hair in her ragged red dress and smeared make-up and said, "This is what happens to people. This is a world where the dark side is suppressed in its natural form, and therefore has to come out in a violent rage. This is a world where things *happen* for no other reason than to shape who we are, and the only way we can survive is to try and reach out to that tiny fragment of hope and strength...and just because you have never experienced it does NOT mean you do not bear part of the responsibility of becoming enraged by this."

I had to turn the TV off after it was over. I'm just sort of sitting here, mulling it all over. To be honest, I thought I already knew all there was to love about Tori, but today's showing...I'm floored. My entire perception has changed, and how a tv show did that, I don't know. I will never listen to "Me and a Gun" the same way ever again, and I am forever, eternally thankful for that.

Lastly (I'm really sorry this was so long), I only had one tiny gripe, and that was Roseanne's intro of Tori with, "She's turned her trauma into three platinum albums." That cheapens it a bit, don't you think? But the rest of the show was so extraordinary, that to point that out seems a bit petty.

Here are some thoughts from Tracy, who watched the show on TV:

Some thoughts from the Roseanne show.

As moving and as well-produced as the segment was, one thing struck me in particular: Tori's devotion and passion for her anti-rape, anti-abuse cause.

It was so deeply portrayed in her every movement, posture, and facial expressions. Tori the empathic activist:

sitting still, straight, unmoving while the survivors bravely shared their stories;

turning her full attention to each woman, her gaze encouraging them to keep talking as they so chose;

leaping to her feet to strongly embrace the youngest survivor.

And Tori the prodigious musician:

the way she trained her eyes to different women and men;

the way she delicately reworked the song -- in her inflections and phrasing -- to invoke all abuses and rapes, not just her own in that moment.

After this phenomenal, atypical television appearance, I am at a new level in my love and appreciation for Tori Amos. Amidst the endless, obsessive EWF chatter about all things Tori (and who are we to judge whether "Me and a Gun" gets edited, my God, to think she performed it at all in this venue!?!) -- there she was, impassive to it all. Did you notice there was not one mention of the name of this album? Not one plug, not one "on tour now" obligatory PR moment.

Particularly as an anti-rape activist and scholar, I am all the more drawn to Tori at this moment. I applaud everyone involved in making those 36 ground-breaking minutes happen, most of all the strong and courageous survivors. Tori's appearance with those women will, hopefully, somehow, introduce new and productive discourse on the epidemic of sexual violence.

Some thoughts from sara mackey, who watched the show on TV:

very moving, sad and at times very over roseanne's head(or so it seemed). seeing Tori's face while the 3 survivors spoke was very troubling yet comforting all at the same time. i must tell you,even my father-in-law, a very budwiser and nascar kind of guy, said he thought it was very well done and it made him a little sad. quite a feat on Tori's part to get him to admit to something like that. just goes to show how Tori (and stories like this) can effect everyone.

Here is a private email from Richard Handal that he sent out to a few friends giving his thoughts about The Roseanne Show. It is reprinted here with permission:

Subject: Roseanne--wow

Hello:

I just wanted to say to all of you who haven't yet seen the Roseanne that you should have a large box of Kleenex with you when you do. And if you don't drink and thought maybe you'd give it a try someday--this is the day.

The entire final 36 minutes of the show is with Tori, and the women who told stories of their assaults were amazing. I don't know how Tori managed to refrain from hugging the high school girl until the segment ended, and she was still hugging her when they went to commercial.

I had suspected part of the reason the show was delayed was so more attention could be devoted to editing it since it sounded as if it must have gone on a bit long, and this seems to have been the case. Some people are gonna be pissed off that they cut out of Gun in the middle at the end of the show, but the rest of the Tori and survivors' segments were left tastefully intact for the most part, and I say it was a good trade. Yes, she did Jackie and Gun, both.

And I have to say, only Roseanne could have done this show. Geraldo *wishes* he could have done it. No way.

Take care, everybody,

Richard Handal, H.G.

Here is a detail report from Kim H., who was at the taping:

It was an odd day, full of near misses and good surprises. A near miss: i didn't find out i could get in to see the show until just before the taping ! I raced over there just short of the speed limit. Luckily they were still letting people in. Phew ! A lucky break.

So they escorted a group of us into the studio... i noticed it was a nice setup. Nice set, nice seats for the audience, even some easy chairs ! Most of the chairs on the floor were wooden swivel chairs like at the Leno show. The bleacher seats were padded chairs. Pretty comfy ! There was a fair amount of people there representing us EWFs. But even more, i think, just happened to be there, or were tourists... just people there to see a live, free show and some celebs in the bargain. Or perhaps there to see Roseanne in person. But we EWF, came out in fair enough numbers (basically, most of the floor section and lower bleachers).

A warm-up guy came out. It's his job to get the audience in a good mood, laughing, etc. At the Leno show, a guy comes out and makes jokes, invites audience up to dance (just one or two) and shoots souvenirs out of a 'cannon'. At the Roseanne show, a guy comes out and talks to the audience and jokes with the people he asks to stand (I was sooooooo glad he didn't call on me) and then he sang this song set to the music of "Minnie the Moocher" about how good the Roseanne show was going to be. It wasn't bad, and i tried to clap along, but i just couldn't get in on the Hi De Hos. Cos i saw the real Cab Calloway sing that song in concert ten years ago or so. And it was an amazing experience. Wow, such stage presence. Such years of live performance evident in every gesture he made. I just couldn't layer the Roseanne warm-up guy over that memory. Even tho i felt like a snob at the same time for thinking that.

OK so anyway. Pretty soon it was evident the show was going to begin taping. It doesn't tape "as if live" like the Leno show. (not to keep comparing, just as a reference). Instead they tape, allow room for two minutes worth of commercials in between segments, but otherwise they obviously will edit some of it out later on. For instance, Roseanne tended to ask the same questions several times in a row.

Reading the teleprompter page already visible on a camera, i could see that the first guest was a comedian named Eddie Izzar. Sorry if it's misspelled. I hadn't heard of him before, but after he came out, he proved to be intelligent, honest and yes even funny ;o). He was born in Yemen but his background seemed British. Roseanne asked him about his having said before that he is an "Out transvestite". Then she asked him like seven times what 'transvestite' means until he finally said he hadn't planned to talk about that anyway and could they talk about something else ? *lol*. (Rosie: it means, he's heterosexual but wants ALL his fashion options open, and prolly would like to borrow your eyeliner).

So then they talked politics a bit. Eddie said that the Clinton scandal is "just sex" and that people should just get over it, but that it's obviously in reality someone's political agenda behind all of this. He said some other really insightful things that i remember applauding loudly but for the life of me, can't remember verbatim. And i wouldn't wanna misquote. He also said the government in England was a bit out of date, and was glad the House of Lords was being abolished. He also thought the King or Queen should be elected from the Royals, by the people, not just from a line of succession.

OK so anyway. On to Tori !!

The Roseanne set is great. So inventive and informal. It's set up like someone's yummy house. On the left (from the audience point of view) is a big room. A piano was already there... that meant we'd get to hear Tori sing-- yay ! In the center of the stage is a revolving stage shaped like a circle. A revolving disc. On that disc is a living room set (with leopard print chairs !), a 'garden' set (with fake grass and lawn chairs), and a kitchen set. To the right of the revolving stage, is another regular room, with big comfy living room sofa looking furniture. The floors were mostly wooden. OK but anyway ! In between the big room with a piano in it, and the revolving set, is a hallway like in someone's house. (also the rooms are connected by doors) The door at the end of that hallway, the door by the audience, was half open and i looked up and there was Tori waiting to go on !

She was looking off to the side, down at the ground. Focusing, it looked like. I looked but then looked away, not wanting to stare etc. Tori was wearing a light blue slightly fuzzy (like maybe cashmere or angora) long sleeve sweater, a mid calf length skirt that was maroon, brown, with a touch of light blue in it, in some kind of design, and black, knee length suede boots with chunky high heels.

Then Roseanne introduced Tori, after they began taping again (Tori was led out into the hallway during an in-between break) as "someone who wears her heart on her sleeve" and who has "turned personal tragedies into three platinum albums" (*sigh* i hate when they put it that way, u know ?).

OK so this part, i've decided to paraphrase, rather than just say "she said something like this" over and over... these won't be exact quotes prolly, but, i'm trying my best...

Tori sat down, and Roseanne asked if she was doing ok. Tori said 'well tv makes me really nervous' cos she felt ok behind the piano but was kind of shy without it. (that was the spirit of what was said). Roseanne said a lot of celebrities/performers were like that, for instance Lily Tomlin who was just on yesterday 'well not HERE yesterday but it aired yesterday'. Tori said, 'yes and you sat like this' and imitated when Roseanne and Lily had sat in a huge oversize rocker with their legs straight out, like Lily Tomlin's five year old character Edith Ann.

Tori's voice was soft and shy, almost hard to hear.

Oh, and when Tori was saying why tv made her nervous she said she was afraid to sound boring. I said, 'noo' under my breath, not loud enuf to record but kinda hoping Tori could hear it a bit. Tori, boring ?! Not possible.

Soon, Tori seemed to relax a bit more. Roseanne put her at ease, i think maybe. Roseanne has that kind of touch. No airs about her. During the breaks, she wisecracked to the audience. Well anyway so Roseanne asked Tori, where do you get inspiration for your songs ? And Tori began to tell the story of how she came to write the song "Father Lucifer".

First, tho, Tori said that her father told her "I resent that song". Tori said she had replied, "But that's the only song that's *not* about you", which got a good laugh from the audience. For those non EWF present, she explained that her father is a minister.

Then she said that she wrote that song after taking a drug called ayahuasca. (Phonetic spelling: 'aye-oh-wah-ska'.) From the Amazon, i think she said. She said it was an 18 hour journey and that she faced parts of herself she had not been wanting to face. That people had kept asking her, 'why do you keep ending up with the 'bad boys' ?' and that she finally figured out that they represented her shadow (Jung-- kewl !) or parts of herself she didn't wanna own up to. How someone else was always the 'bad one' and she was the 'nice one'. Roseanne's face kind of came to life and she said that she had 'so done that too'. That it was a very female thing to do.

So Tori said that during that 18 hour journey she found parts of herself she hadn't claimed, and i think she said she 'met Lucifer' (i assume symbolically ?) and discovered that "Lucifer is a woman, and she wears white and drives an ice cream truck". I've read her saying before that in that song, Lucifer represents all the things we don't want to face, or call bad. So, i guess she was saying in that journey and then in that song, she was shaking hands with the shadow side ? And found out it wasn't so bad ?

I think they talked about facing fears, also.

Oh, another funny thing Tori said: Roseanne asked her what iowasca (sp?) was, and if it was like Prozac. Tori said, 'this stuff makes Prozac look like Gerber baby food'.

It was a really interesting interview in many ways. I was so glad Tori had an extended chance to talk, for once ! But i was so busy listening that i can't remember too many details, if that makes sense...

Next, Tori went to the piano room on the set, during another break, and when they began taping the next bit, Roseanne intro'd her, the EWF cheered loudly, and Tori sang Jackie's Strength. In excellent voice. She just sang so sweetly. That room had a high 'ceiling' and long windows in the back wall, and, floor length blue-grey sheer curtains that waved in a gentle breeze from who knows where as Tori sang and played. It was a beautiful effect. And her sweater even matched them ! It was like, there is always some touch of perfection from some unexpected place that is like a bonus, wherever Tori goes :)

Then the next segment. The show's theme was Tori and RAINN, and three survivors of a trauma RAINN is there to help find help with, were there to tell their stories.

Roseanne and Tori sat on tiny ottomans at the edge of the stage. And listened. I was sitting very close to all this and didn't know where to look. I didn't wanna disturb anyone's privacy even though it was taping for tv. Still it felt like to stare into the face of anyone speaking of listening would be an invasion of sorts.

It was a very somber moment. The first woman told her story of being abducted and then raped at gunpoint. The most horrendous part of the story, for me, was when she told how she escaped at one point, and banged on people's doors, and NO ONE would help her. Then he captured her again and it all began over again until he finally let her go at dawn.

The second woman told about incest in her family and how she overcame it, and subsequent abusive adult relationships, to become a counselor at a Rape Crisis Center.

The third woman made me just cry. She told how a male friend from high school invited her to his house one day, where he and a few of his friends held her captive and raped her repeatedly throughout that night. When she said the heart shattering phrase, "my friend raped me," i couldn't hold my composure any more. I think i was not the only one in tears in that audience by then.

At one point, Roseanne asked Tori if she wanted to say anything but Tori said, "I think these women should continue speaking. They are so brave".

Roseanne did add at the end of that segment how epidemic the problem really is. How it's just everywhere. I think she added, 'but it's never talked about'. She added, 'just for the sake of wholeness', that 'many perpetrators have had this happen to them too'.

The third woman said that she gave a speech on RAINN day about how RAINN helps people, and she saw those same males (my word, since i won't call them 'men') sitting in the audience, and the looks on their faces. How that moment 'hurt them more than they could ever hurt me'. How she had been a volunteer for RAINN when her "incident" happened but had not thought to call them until a friend told her she should. So as RAINN day approached, she decided to get up and speak out about it in her school.

The mood after that segment was heavy, serious, somber and the whole studio was so quiet.

There was some huddling off to one side and it seemed something was being decided on the spot.

When the cameras rolled again, Tori and the three women were at and around the piano. Someone said that since the song had been mentioned by one of the women (the third woman, i think, had said that that song really helped her), Tori would sing Me and a Gun.

And Tori did sing it. And i couldn't help it, what i'd been kind of able to hide behind my hand before, i gave up trying. Tears rolled down one after another. I'm not a cryer, so i saw that as healing. So i stopped trying to stop them. I feel like crying again as i write this. Today, those women's experiences were being told and honored and the experience was, i think, healing for anyone who wanted to open up to that healing. And Roseanne herself handled the show's serious topic very respectfully, IMHO.

Then the show ended. The audience filed out.

The limo pulled up just outside the door immediately after the show. I had to kind of walk fast to get over to it in time.

Joel came out and said they were running 45 minutes late so there wouldn't be any signings, etc.

There were less than ten people there waiting. Still, there was little decorum.

We should have all been able to stay where we were standing, wait our turns, and Tori would have stopped to say hi to each of us for a brief moment.

But it wasn't like that. I just have to say, if you see Tori perform, you are already receiving a gift a lot of people throughout the world will never receive. If you get to go to a meet and greet of any type, that is another gift most people have not gotten. And if it's a meet and greet where you are able to see/talk to/take a photo of/get a signature from/Tori, you are blessed indeed.

So why ruin it by acting like puppies on uppers ??

OK, i'm just saying, if everyone could examine their hearts... are you there to give, give and take, or only take ? And well, i just wish there would be more respect shown. I saw people go up to Tori without asking, totally jumping other people's places in the lineup, put their arms around Tori, pop off a flash in her face, without asking first, get out of line, run up to her, shove things at her, interrupt her talking to someone else, i mean, i was so disheartened to see that. Especially after the serious nature of what Tori had just seen and heard, and the topic of the show. Well, i don't want to rant. In fact i waited as long as i could, to cool down about it, before writing all this. Cos i didn't wanna sound like Suzy Hall Monitor. But i'm just begging, let's keep the meet and greets positive for everybody please ?! And everyone help each other, not steal moments from each other, stand in your place in line, and it'd be nice if people asked before taking.... photos, hugs, whatever... totally my opinion, but, i had to say it.

Well, the show airs Thursday October first, so, i hope they kept in all of Tori's segments (there was also a long, taped segment of a man who built a castle in America stone by stone over 29 years by himself). Peace, everybody....

Here is a report from Beth Winegarner, who was at the taping of the show:

The first guest was Eddie Izzard, the English comedian who's also a transvestite. They spent a long time trying to work out exactly what a transvestite was. :( Their next guest was a man who's building a castle in -- I thought this was very interesting in terms of synchronicity -- Beulah, Colorado.

Then Tori came out. She was wearing a light blue top, a batik brown skirt that went to her knees, and knee-high suede black boots. She sat with Roseanne and talked first about how nervous she gets when she's on TV, and then began talking about some of her songs and how "Father Lucifer" was written after she'd taken ahuyasca (I think that's how it's spelled). She talked about going on a vision quest to find her dark side and said that "I found out that Lucifer is a woman, she wears all white and drives an ice cream truck."

They took another break and when they came back, Tori and Roseanne had come to the edge of the stage and 3 women were seated in front of them at the front of the audience. Roseanne talked about how Tori had founded RAINN, and Tori told the story of the 14 year old girl who came backstage and wanted to go with her. The 3 women in turn told their stories, and Tori's face was incredible as they spoke -- she was so saddened, and then the last girl talked about having been raped, and that although she had been a volunteer for RAINN, she didn't think to call RAINN when she had been raped. But she took part in a schoolwide RAINN day last May, and got up and gave a speech; although she didn't tell her own story she knew she was driving those guys who had hurt her crazy and "hurting them a lot more than they could ever hurt her." Tori's face got a very triumphant look when the girl said this.

She then played Jackie's Strength solo (the band was nowhere to be seen). After another short break, she set it up so the women who had told their stories stood around the piano as Tori sang Me and a Gun. It was just as moving as ever -- and considering so few of us have heard it on this tour, it was a real treat. I have a feeling they're going to air MAAG and not Jackie tomorrow...

After the show we waited outside, and the limo came by and she came out briefly -- they were drastically behind schedule -- Joel was yelling at everyone to keep it brief. I gave her the gift and card I had gotten for her for the Fillmore show (when she didn't stay long, either). And then she got into the car and sped away...

I can't wait for the show tonight, but this was definitely a great experience, and Tori fans mustn't miss the Roseanne show when it airs.

Here is a report from GloGahan, who was at the taping of the show and posted this to the rec.music.tori-amos newsgroup:

W O W. I cannot say enough about seeing this show live. I really cannot. First off, Tori came out...she was sitting like ten feet away from me. She looked damn good...she was wearing long black boots with a cute skirt and a blue shirt. Roseanne (who looked as good as she ever has), interviewed her before she sung Jackie's Strength. Tori was talking about the "drugs" she took from the Amazon...when they went to commercial, i waved at tori, she winked and waved back.

Anyways, when they came back from commercial, Roseanne and Tori sat near the audience and they were talking about RAINN. Three women shared their stories of rape. they were sitting right in front of Roseanne and Tori. As each woman was telling her story, Tori couldn't help but let the tears flow...her crying got me crying. It was very very touching. Especially when the third girl shared her story..she was only 16 i think. Tori was sooo concerned about that young girl. After they told their stories...Tori insisted that the women keep talking and sharing about how they dealt with the rape. Very very touching.

Then she sung Jackie's Strength...beautiful.

THEN, i could not believe it...but they brought those three women to stand right by Tori's piano while Tori sung "Me and a Gun." I think they extended the show a bit for this. A guy in the audience was laughing...i swear i couldn've killed him. It was a very intimate show...only about thirteen Tori fans were in the small audience..it was great.

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