Last Updated: May 31, 2000
Below, you see stuff that fans (and sometimes the press) have written about the concerts they have seen during August 1996, from most recent to oldest. Thank you again for supporting my web site :)
Well...here's my review of the Tori Amos indoor/outdoor concert I went to at the Finger Lakes Performing Arts Center in Rochester, NY (it was actually in Canandaigua, but no bother) on August 29th, 1996.
I was so extremely excited to be going to the Tori concert here in Rochester. I mean, Tori! In Rochester! The thought just blew my mind, of course. My friend's mother dropped me, my two friends, and my cousin off at about 5 o'clock. As we started walking up towards the gates I heard Tori doing her soundcheck...it happened to be In the Springtime...and I started running to get closer so I could hear. My friends were all laughing and saying they should've brought a leash or something. I was thrilled beyond words. So we walked up and the lady in one of them green shirts said we couldn't get in till 6 so we were welcome to wait around on the grass. So we sat under the trees and listened to the soundcheck, which wasn't quite as loud as I wanted it. Some of the songs I didn't recognize...I did recognize Spacedog, and Talula, I think. She played one downright gorgeous song, but I didn't know it. If someone out there has a soundcheck list...let me know!!
By the time 6 rolled around, we were all wishing we had a deck of cards
or something to keep us occupied (like one smart group of girls had),
and we were conspiring (jokingly) together on jumping one of the ladies
with the green shirts so we could get in early ;-P I wasn't gutsy
enough to get up and intro myself to some of the others that were
sitting around. Next time, someone, say hi to me! Josh came out...wasn't too impressed. The sun was going down, giving
way to a spectacular sunset...you could see Canandaigua lake nearby.
After a wait of total anticipation, and everything short of jumping up
and down in my seat, Tori came out at about 8:40. She wore the grey
stretchy-shirt (you know, the one she wore on 120 Minutes and the
pictures on SNL) and blue jeans with yellow (I think) shoes. She did a
violent intro to Beauty Queen that calmed the crowd down a bit. My head
was spinning by then and after she finished Horses she got quite a big
applause. Her second song, the one which totally surprised me, was Take
to the Sky. I was like, Yesssss! This got the crowd into it, clapping
along with the beat at first. She really emphasized "Have a seat while
I take to the sky" and she kind of laid her hands out before her as if
to tell us to have a seat. And, correct me if I'm wrong, but in the
middle of the song Tori scared me a bit. She started screaming stuff
like "You do(n't) know me" (I can't remember exactly) and pounding on
her chest. It wasn't even into the microphone. Then she finished the
song. Wow. Adrenaline rush, let me tell you.
Tim, from RMTA mentioned that he got the feeling that there was
something "angrier and sharper". Now that I think of it, yes. One of
the friends I came with brought her binoculars and I used them for a few
minutes. Looked to me like Tori was upset. Maybe, I don't know. Most
of the songs she played had a real sharp feel to them.
I can't remember the order of the songs...so I can't post a set list,
unfortunately. But I will comment on what I remember, and please
forgive the length. I just can't say enough of my Tori experiences.
Tori did her Cornflake Girl early on in the concert, complete with cute
little dance and all. This got a lot of cheers. I was glad she did it,
cause Tori didn't develop this little dance in time for the Syracuse
Concert (May 18th) I went to also.
If I remember right, Tori prefaced Blood Roses with a little intro
talking about her 250-year old harpsicord. Some people in back screamed
"We love you Tori" (as usual), and she replied "I love you too" and
something about tequila and the harpsicord. It was cute.
She talked a bit more in between songs. By this time the moon (full
one, I might add) was out, and stars. It was perfect. And Tori
mentioned (not exact quoting) "You know what you guys out on the lawn
have that we don't have?" and they yelled Tori! and she said
something like "No, no...you have the moon!" I don't know about her,
but from where I was sitting, I could see the moon. Then again, she was
lower then we were.
Tori prefaced Professional Widow with another story. She talked about
when she was 8 and something about being the age where you have the
braces and wet your pants all the time (God, I know I must be screwing
this up, oh well...don't quote me on this!) And this guy who asked
girls to marry him like 3 times a day asked her one day, and this song
is for him...so she started playing this song. I had *no* idea what it
was. Something about planting a loveseed. Then about midway in she
starts in "Starf*cker..." and I went wild. I occasionally glanced over
at the lady to the right on stage who was signing the songs to all the
deaf people. I wondered if she censored this one...
I yelled *Yesss* when she started playing Pretty Good Year. It was so
pretty. I almost started crying. My ears were ringing after she got
done with the "What's it gonna take..." part. My friend, who hadn't
been to a Tori concert before, commented "Boy, does she have lungs!"
Precious Things was absolutely *wild*! They had these circular overhead
lights that spun around while she did her intro. The whole atmosphere
was almost surreal. It looked like alien ships were swirling their
lights above Tori. It was wild. And she had a nasty growl for her long
Giirrrrrllll.
I held my breath through Me and a Gun. I thought for sure someone would
yell during this. But, to my utter surprise and delight, the audience
was *silent*. I was very impressed. The audience was much better here
than at Syracuse.
Tori got a standing ovation after she finished. I was so amazed that it
was over already. She came back out and played a BEAUTIFUL Landslide.
I was very near tears. It was so pretty. And everything hit me. I
felt so comfortable here--a place I don't find very often. Even if Tori
was a little on the angry side tonight. Tori was speaking to
me--telling me what I needed to hear. I had a dream a few days before
about this concert--Tori whispered in my ear "Don't you ever let the
bitches get you down...don't ever let them keep you from floating" And
I finally heard that through Father Lucifer, which she sang at the
beginning of the second encore.
Tori also played a beautiful Winter to finish off the first encore. She
waved and shook hands with some of her fans in the front. Also, some
girl leapt onto the stage screaming Tori Tori and Joel (I think that's
his name) was out on the stage like lightning and grabbed her. At least
there was only one ;-)
The second encore Tori sang Father Lucifer, and to wrap it all up was
Etienne on the harmonium. She said "Some of you may know this...I don't
sing it to often anymore". I absolutely loved it. I had never heard it
before...I can still hear her sing Etienne in my head. A wonderful
feeling.
I don't know, maybe I'm just looking too deeply. But I feel so strong
when I listen to Tori. Some of you may think I'm crazy or obsessed...I
know my family does. After I came out of the Rochester concert, I felt
like I could do *anything*...I always have had a problem with
self-conciousness, and Tori has helped me overcome it quite a bit. I
owe her so much...one of these days I will be able to thank her.
Someday in the future I will. ....several of you have enquired about the concert which
I attended tonite. It was great. Heres the playlist while I'm here: Ok, that sounds right. Hi! I went to this concert on Thursday and read the reviews that you
have posted. The song before Professional Widow is Whole Lotta Love.
This concert was a lot better than the one I saw in Syracuse on May
18th. Tori seemed to sing with much more emotion. I heard from some
people that she was feeling sick that night but put on a great show in
spite of that. The crowd was polite during Me and A Gun. A lot of
people were screaming out "I love you Tori" during the concert and it
seemed like it really annoyed her at this concert. One girl climbed up
on stage and Tori's bodyguard with the long blond hair picked her up and
dropped her off stage. I was sitting about 10 rows back so I could see
a lot of stuff I couldn't see in Syracuse. Tori put on some powder near
the beginning of the concert. Also, I noticed her "Q-ing" in the tape
loops for Talula. This concert was about an hour and a half which was
about ten minutes shorter than the one in Syracuse. Back To The Main Dew Drop Inn Index Back to the Main Tori Amos Page That was just one of the BEST days of my life, I must say, Dan, Dina, and my lovely big brother Pierre came down to my hometown from canada to see her play. The four of us and stephanie (I think she's pretty much an honorary rmta-er) went to artpark for the soundcheck. We sat down with this nice guy who lurks around here with a t-shirt of him and tori (hi mr. sharpie pen guy, if you're here). Then the dark-haired bodyguard came out
and told us the rules. My friend Joan Yin came over, too, and was just so excited to find that she would be able to meet tori. so tori comes out with joel, the blond guy, and i'm already snapping pictures. I was
twitching like CRAZY, I couldn't belieeve it was ACTUALLY HER! she looked just like she did in pictures, she was wearing a pink shirt and striped
jumper, or maybe the other way around, but I can't remember. But I'll see
when we get the pictures developed. She signed one of my issues of take to
the sky, and i gave her some birthday presents: a necklace, wooden letters
that spell out t-o-r-i, and a butterfly puppet. She was very excited about
the butterfly puppet. And I gave her a big hug, and I was just so happy.
And then we went up to the top of the hill and watched the soundcheck
through the bars. She did all sorts of improv stuff, some of sat.
afternoon 1963, and cornflake girl. Pierre and I bought matching blue tour
t-shirts, so we're "twinkies" OH and we got a group picture of all of us
with Tori that will be sent to the homepage when it's developed and
uploaded. So anyway, some of my stupid spastic friends see me and freak
out and start shouting my name and i was just like, shut up! I had this
sinking feeling they would be some of the woo-ers during the concert. The
crowd was very adolescent; even though I'm adolescent I can still say
that. We went in, finally, after standing around for a while. The opening
act was good enough, good generic guitar rock about sex and getting
stoned. So we sat there and waited. She was late coming out, what was it,
maybe 9:15 or later when we finally heard son of a preacher man and the
crowd flipped. SEt list is as follows: 1. beauty queen/horses. She collected our cheers with her arms, like she
was feeding off of them.
2. crucify! I was so psyched. She doesn't seem to do this one much
anymore. It was right after this I thinkt hat she told us that she's been
dreaming about crocodiles eating her hair. then went into:
3. blood roses, which was very cool.
4. butterfly. OK, listen, BUTTERFLY!! What did I give her? A BUTTERFLY
PUPPET!!! This was very definetly a nod in my direction. And it was
gorgeous. Then, I think it was bout this time that she told us that the
last time she was in canada she was 5 and her brother wrapped her head in
dirty socks. this was the last time she talked until the very end of the
show, because this next song REALLY got her going.
5. Cornflake Girl. She did a REALLY long dance. LAst time I saw her, she
just did the dance from where she was standing, but this time she got up
and danced all over the stage. Then she just RAWKED!! She was ad-libbing
between "rabbit" and "and the man with the golden gun", saying something
about "baby i know that you're mine and you're coming right for me...."
She was punching the air, she was tossing her hair, she was kicking ass,
and she knew it, she was just ROCKING.
6. TEAR IN YOUR HAND! I started hopping up and down, Pierre can vouch for
this. It was such a mellow and beautiful version. And she KEPT smiling at
Caton, right after the neil reference. And that made me smile. I was
smiling like an idiot all through the whole thing.
7. LITTLE EARTHQUAKES!!! I could NOT believe this was happening. She
seemed just SO energized. Caton's string broke during the second bridge,
right when she was kicking some serious ass. She said "I can't reach you,
I can't...you're off. Did you break a string? OK. I'll just keep going.
I'm just nursing some juice." And then she just went on,and he got a new
guitar and came back in. But her voice was just so powerful, and she was
just so full of energy.
8. smells like teen spirit. "sometimes the ghosts come back, I think you
know what I mean. It's rare that I do this one." This was very nice, very
pretty.
9. FLYING DUTCHMAN!!!!!! Pierre gaveme the biggest hug when we realized
what this was, I had asked her to play it in the birthday card I gave her.
It was amazing. She ad-libbed the cutest little thing about "marky mark
said are you in the house?" after the line "are you out there" and I
giggled. I was giggling like a school girl...wait that's actually what I
am...
10. "this is for you guys on the lawn." PRESCIOUS THINGS! This is when I
said to Pierre, "is this actually happening?" it was like I had always
DREAMED! It was PRIMAL! she growled, panted, screamed, chanted "these
prescious things, wash them clean, wash this thing daddy," it sounded
bitter, angry, AMAZING. (28.28 second "girl", pierre had out the
stopwatch. It was unbelievable, as P said about halfway through it:
"primo.")
11. Caught a Lite sneeze. She was going SO HARD at this point, Pierre and
I at the exact same second thought "can you BELIEVE how fast her hands are
moving?" She was pumping her legs, writhing, she did that cool rhythm
thing where she pounds on the piano and the switchover from piano to
harpsichord was awesome.
12. Talula. She kicked all sorts of ass with this one. The whole place was
just dancing. You know how sometiems she just kinda plays along with the
backing track,a nd yeah it's funky but not all that. Well, this was ALL
THAT AND A BAG OF CHIPS to use a silly expression. And it ended. And I
thought "oh god no, please keep this up, please do more before me and a
gun, it's gonna drain all that energy!" but it was coming. can't stop
what's coming. :)
13. me and a gun. Her voice quivered. she was very close to crying. She
skipped an entire verse. She RAN off stage and got it together,a nd came
back for an encore that just rocked my world.
14. WRAPPED AROUND MY FINGER!!! I've always wanted to hear her do this,a
nd it was just gorgeous and lovely. She was so mellowed out and gorgeous,
just ethirial at this point almost. But she did seem a little bit rattled
for this next song.
15. BAKER BAKER! I don't think she does this one too much, does she? IT
was great, but she forgot the words after "if truly his heart was made of
icing". She started giggling and said "I forgot my own words, I'm sorry,"
but then just played and picked it back up.
16. This was the beginnign of the second encore,a nd people were throwing
all sorts of flowers and stuffed animals at her. These chicks in the front
row freaked out and started screaming aomething at her and she had to say,
"ok, one girl talk at a time." Some guy took the opportunity to scream
"happy birtday tori" and she said thanks,a nd then the gir screamed "IN
FRONT OF YOUR RIGHT AMP THERE'S A TUBE OF GRAPEFRUIT SOAP FOR YOU!" And
she said "Oh thank you, you guys on the lawn, if you want any grapefruit
soap there's a whole tube up here." Then she started FATHER LUCIFER, which
is one of my favorites off of BfP. Pierre and I swayed and mouthed the
words for "nothing's gonna stop me from floating." Then, Pierre's night
was made, even though she didn't play doughnut song, with this next song:
17. London Girls! Has she played this before? Pierre and Dan were psyched!
They started bringing out the pump organ, and I was still hoping maybe for
Etienne or Purple Rain, but I knew it was gonna be
18. Hey Jupiter. Which was fine. I really love this song. But I knew that
it menat, OK, the end. And I didn't WANT it to end. She said "You guys
have been really great, we've got 70 more shows, if you get bored cut
school and come find me." to which everyone screamed. Hey Jupiter was
beautiful. It was the original, not the dakota version, I was kinda hoping
to hear the spiffy new lyrics somehow worked in, but I think she was
getting too tired for that. She works damn hard on the pump organ, I had
forgotten that she has to just keep her legs going. But anyway, it was a
beautiful ending.
In closing, I must say that this was closer to tori unplugged than
anything else. kinda "tori raw." tori with all the scabs ripped off. It
was amazing, it was spiritual, it was so powerful.I would love to hear a
tape of it, if anyone taped it, but don't try to rip me off, I won't spend
too much because the first verses of most of the songs will be obliterated
by frantic "WOOOOOOOOO"s. But contactme if you wanna. I just had the most excellent of all excellent Tori days yesterday. And
you'll probably hear this from the people who shared it with me; Dan Wolfe,
Dina, Stephanie (A lurker even if she doesn't know it) and of course my lil'
sister Maggie.
We all got together to go see the show at Artpark on wednesday. First we
hung out in Maggie's neighbourhood and raided a music store where I got the
Hey Jupiter single and Dan and I had trouble with your stupid american ATM's
and I had a wild cherry Pepsi and before we left, Maggie gave us some of her
extra Tori stuff she had. GOOD stuff, too! I got me More Pink!!!! And
Maggie wrote me a lil' dedication on the back of the booklet where it looks
like tori's on a big planetary snowflake... and then I got Tori to autograph
the front and so it's doubly special.
We got to Art Park early and were among the small group that got to say
Hullo. Me met a lurker from down South who's name is Jess and who lent us
his Sharpie pen and who has to say hi now. Then Tori got here... Maggie,
who's such a darling, brought her gifts. She autographed our stuff for us,
and told me three times she loved me (yes, I'm leaving a part out but she
really DID say "I love you" three times to me. That's my story and I'm
sticking to it) and then we got a picture of all of us with her (all of us as
in our lil' group, not everyone who was there. They weren't cool enough to
be in the picture, which will be up on the rmt-a page sooner or later). So
we fluttered away all hyper from our close encounter of the Faerie kind.
We climbed the hill in back of the venue, 'cause artpark is one of those
in/out door jobies with lawn seats. So we layed there taking in the scenery
and listening to Tori do soundcheck... she even did a full version of
Cornflake Girl, just for us.
Kay, fastforward through us hanging out and taking pictures and dining on
five star cuisine and telling silly jokes at the storytelling place and right
into our 2nd row seats. Damn, they were good. We were seated so that Tori
was looking straight at us for all the Bosendorfer songs.
Tra la la la la, opening act. Guy in the mold of Willy Porter who had a very
up and down show Then it comes... Preacher man. She's on her way. We give the evil eye to
the guys in front of us who we thought would be rowdy "WHHHHOOOOO"ers hoping
to give them spontaneous laringytis, but they turned out not to be a
problem...
Maggie kept track of the setlist for us, so she'll post it eventually. The
show was just soooooo awesome. She was so into it, you could tell she was
just gonna let it all hang out tonight. Every note, every riff, every word
and scream of every song tore through us like wildfire. I won't do a song by
song breakdown, but I'll share with you the parts I loved the most...
When she did Smells Like Teen Spirit for us, and you could actually feel the
loss in her voice, the "ghosts" that come visit, as she said.
When she rocked out on Cornflake girl after doing her lil' dance and drawing
all our power and energy and then giving it back to us tenfold
When she got absolutly PRIMAL during precious things, screams coming from a
place so deep within her that they no longer had gender. Only power... and a
28 second grrrrrl.
When she did CaLS and Maggie and I just stared at her hands and fingers which
seemed to magically know where to be for each note, at a speed that
mesmorised us. The entire song was a trip, that went from being totally lost
and wandering to the empowerment and her lyrics just got stronger and harder
as it proceeded, like she really was getting her big loan from the girl zone
When she did Talula and it was just a total swirl of notes and lights and her
voice
When she forgot the words during Baker Baker and whipered to us, like letting
us all in on her secret, that "I forgot my own words"
When during Wrapped around your Finger, you could tell she was having FUN
doing a song she loved so much
When she did London Girls and Father Lucifer and Mags and I bopped a lil' in
our seats...
When she did hey, Jupiter on the organ, and her voice was so strong and
powerfull and the organ was just there, but the voice was everything... even
if Caton added a nice touch here and there with a note...
Speaking of Caton, I also loved his additions... the way he coaxed harmony
out of his guitars and gave 'm to Tori so she could do with them what she
will... he was absolutly awesome, and I'm now SURE that he and Tori have
something going.
And of course, Tori did an amazing, amazing MaaG... even though she skipped a
verse, every part had it's raw emotion. The sadness, the resentment, the
pain, the fear... the spite, the irony, everything. It was all there, and
she gave it to us.
After the show, we all parted and Maggie and Stephanie met their ride, and we
Canadian headed for the border, we all knew Tori must have thunk we were
really special, 'cause she gave it ALL to us. I'm positive this was one of
her best shows this year. Well I am another satisfied concert patron. Yah like that was ever in doubt.
Second time seeing her this tour and the best ever. What a day !!!
I managed to sneak out of work early, Ok there was begging involved but
I'm not proud, it's Tori. Enough said.
So its about 4 PM and I arrive to find a couple people milling around. I got the
"yes may I help you" from Mr. Security. " Yes I am here to see Tori, get
her autograph..." I said. "Sorry but she isn't in until six and she ain't
signing
today" he replys. Well now that sucks, but there are a few people on the
by the buses hanging out, I'll go over there. Good choice Tim. This was
the meeting spot. Steve comes out and explains the procedure to the 25
faithful diehard
fans. I'm forth in line and don't want to take up her time so I have her
sign my All These Years book and ask her to play Wrapped Around Your
Finger. Her hand was getting pretty covered with requests. The original
security guard was a local goon on a power trip.
I met up with Julie from Ithaca College, I was getting worried when it was
7:15 and she hadn't shown yet. Eight PM was panick time and 8:45 was
hysteria.
Now going to our seats was pretty neat; "May I help you ? " they asked "No we're
in the front row" ... I loved saying that. Actually the ushers were
really happy for us. So twelve hrs. of concrete camping does pay off in a
big big way.
No heads in the way, just an empty orchestra pit between me and Tori.
Well first there was the opening obstacle, I mean act. Clayton Josh Felt
or was that Josh Clayton... he was cool, I think he has a fetish for
trees or at least it was a common theme in his some of his songs.
Tori takes the stage and it becomes a blurr. The usual line up, some one
will no doubt post a proper song list. I actually saw Tori shed a tear
during a song.
It was an actual tear and not just a glob of sweat. Yes we got to see her
sweat, slobber and drool, you could see the bugs flying around etc.
I wanted to yell "INCOMING" as people lobbed things from the audience to
the stage. Mr. Potato Head (in the box), bars of soap, a dozen bouquets of
flowers that propelled like missles and a stuffed baby gorilla. What does
she do with all this stuff? Maybe I'll ask her tomorrow.
Tori talked about dreams of crocodiles eating her hair and her memory of Canada.
As a five year old, her brother wrapped her face in his smelly socks.So
when she hears of Canada she thinks of this. Overall she seemed in a real
good mood.
Superb concert experience except there a loud drunk insulting obnoxious
person sitting next to us. The group tried to reason with him but he was
content to be an asshole. However his drunkness caused him to leave midway
through to releive himself and didn't get let back in for three or four
songs.Bonus. So he either really HAD to go, or he had another beer on the
way or they wouldn't let him back in during the song or all of the above.
He left before the second encore, good riddence asshole. Two from the
second row quickly occupied his seats.
Now Tori comes out during the first encore and plays the song I asked her
for hours before. Awesome. Wrapped Around Your Finger sounds incredible
with the auditorium acoustics. Wow ... she played my song. Okay.....here is my concert review. Last night was my first Tori
concert (my first concert in about 2 years- actually). Opening was a
guy that I had never heard of Josh Clayton Feldt (I believe that is his
name) and he was pretty good. Good humor and good guitar playing. He
opened the show at 8:00 and did about a half hour set. Then about 45
minutes went by before Tori came on while they were playing "Son of a
Preacher Man". During this 45 minute time, I noticed some girls going
over to the bodyguard (blonde Crocidile Dundee looking guy) and writing
some stuff down which I guess was their phone numbers!?!?
Tori came on...went straight into Beauty Queen. Sadly, there is no way
I can give a complete Tori list from the concert as I was more
interested in her performance.......
She did a cover of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and one
spectacular one of the Police's "Wrapped Around Your Finger."
She did a little dance while the guitar guy was playing the intro to
Conflake Girl. She sort of came up right close to the front of the
stage and was doing this little jig.
She did "London Girls" in which she substituted "They will darn your
socks and wash your.....(at this point she used her palm to gesticulate
a washing of your "private" parts while she let out a growl." Actually
there was a lot of growling going on last night.
In "Precious Things" she let out a howl while dragging out the "Girl" in
"the heart's of every nice GIRL" that went on and on. It is
unbelievable that she can perform this intensely vocally and physically
night after night.
Yup...I was a happy camper!
Ooopss....I forgot to mention that she did come out after the show and
talked with about a 1/10 of the people waiting for her. It was obvious
that she was tired. And she is so TINY! I couldn't believe it! She
hugged several people and asked them their names etc. She didn't do any
signings.
So there ya go!!!!
: )
Anna
Artpark was a gracious audience with no hecklers during "Me and A Gun."
Thank god!
Some girls in my row through up a Monkey on stage which she picked up
and it made their day. They also got to meet her after the show and
were shrieking with delight in the parking lot.
Also...she told a story that went something like this:
We are real close to Canada...are their any Canadians in the house?
(Screams). I was staying real close to here when I was a kid on a trip
with my older brother. I think I love him but I am not sure. You know
how awful older brothers are....well, you know how you take your socks
off at the end of the day? He wrapped them around my face so when I
think of Canada- I think of that."
Also that she has a dream about a crocidile eating her hair and wants
to know if anyone will interpret her dream for her. Ok, so here I am sitting in the audience watching Josh Clayton-Felt and I feel
something hit me in the forehead.... Yeah.. for those of you who were at the
show, the PICK HIT ME IN THE HEAD! But hey.. now I have another souvenier. =)
Tori was AMAZING!!!!!!!!!! I cant stress that enough... I saw her at Shea's
also, and this show blew me away! She threw in some covers I havent seen in
other setlists, "Smells like teen spirit" and "wrapped around your finger" by
the police! She also threw in this kewl story about how she dreams of
crocodiles eating her hair, and her brother wrapping dirty socks around her
face in Canada... *huge smile* it was very awesome. Everyone says some of the
best highlights of her shows are when she talks to the audience.. and this
was no exception.
Hell, she did about a 5 minute dance to Cornflake girl too... talk about crazy!
The audience on the whole behaved fairly well.. your typical screaming here and
there, but nothing outrageous like some shows I have heard about.
Overall, the show was toooooooooooooooo awesome for words.. and i cannot
express that all in here, even if i tried. I would attempt a setlist, but
i dont think i could get it right.. (im still in shock). I will say though,
that she did a TON of stuff from LE.. wowowowowow! IN A CHATTY MOOD, TORI AMOS REVISITS 'TEEN SPIRIT' Buffalo News (BN) - Thursday, August 29, 1996 "Sometimes the ghost comes and visits you know what I mean?" The audience at Tori Amos' Wednesday night concert didn't have a clue what she meant.
But so it goes with Amos: Even if you find some of her lyrics
unintelligible, you can't ignore the passion with which she delivers them.
Intrigued, you follow. The following on Wednesday night hovered at
about 4,000, with 2,000 of them redheads -- or so it seemed -- just like
their ragamuffin goddess.
The ghost Amos referred to eventually came into shape as she tinkled the
opening notes to "(Smells Like) Teen Spirit."
It was Kurt Cobain.
In Amos' sensitive rendition of "Teen Spirit," Cobain's anthem is wiped
clean of grunge and transformed into a torturous ballad. Where Cobain
deliberately garbled every line, Amos painstakingly enunciates every
syllable.
Only rarely does she perform "Teen Spirit," Amos told the audience. This
was only the second time she had done so during the tour, which began in
February.
But rare was the kind of night it was.
Less than a week after celebrating her 34th birthday, Amos was in superb
form. The Artpark show hangs a few notches above her compelling performance
at Shea's this May.
While the Shea's Amos was reticent, Artpark's Amos was eager to chat.
She revealed that she's been dreaming about a crocodile that eats her
hair. She invited anyone with an interpretation to drop her a line.
She reminisced about a childhood trip to Canada during which her older
brother -- "whom I think I love" -- removed his dirty socks and wrapped
them around her face.
Maybe the open-air venue at Artpark had something to do with Amos'
uncanny spiritedness.
Maybe she was overcome by the piousness of the crowd, only ruptured by
the hoots of those apparently uncomfortable with the dramatic pauses so
characteristic of Amos' music.
Perhaps the faeries that she acknowledges in her CD's liner notes were
hovering over the Bosendorfer grand piano.
Whatever the factors, Amos was fully engaged as she blended favorites
from her first two albums -- "Cornflake Girl" and "Crucify," among them --
with covers and a handful of new material from her third full-length CD,
"Boys for Pele."
Moving back and forth between the piano and a harpsichord, Amos writhed
on her bench. She spread her legs at a 90 degree angle, pounding the
piano's underside and patting herself on the behind.
As a prelude to "Cornflake Girl," a bouncy tune about betrayal, Amos
walked to center-stage, dropped her head to her chest and pretended to
cradle a baby. Then she danced through a series of Samurai-like poses.
Songs such as "Cornflake Girl" are more about confession than just
communication. Such confessions are Amos' catharsis, and she does
everything in her power to make them a group release.
With a single breath she can show more emotion than some singers can
muster in an entire album.
Constantly tinkering with her material, she venomously spits out words
she once whispered piously, using every corner of her voice to express
herself.
Wednesday's concert was no exception.
Tori came. She moaned. She sighed.
One wonders whether parents chaperoning their teen Toriphiles expected
such eroticism from the daughter of a Methodist minister.
In "Precious Things," Amos' growled for about 30 seconds as she pushed
out the word "girls" ("No one cared to tell me where the pretty girls
are/those demigods with their nine-inch nails and little fascist panties").
Clearly comfortable in the realm of the personal, she sang "Me and a
Gun" -- an account of her being raped by an acquaintance -- with her legs
crossed and one hand draped on the piano.
In turn, throngs of idolizing fans made it known she was Tori-adored.
Roses, carnations, cornflowers, a stuffed gorilla -- even two bars of
grapefruit soap -- had landed on stage by the time she returned for her
encores almost two hours later. For the final songs of the night she chose "Baker Baker," "Father
Lucifer," "Hey Jupiter" and two covers: Chas and Jeff's "London Girls" and
The Police's "Wrapped Around Your Finger." CAPTION:
Mike Groll/Buffalo news An Animated Tori Amos,seen during her Artpark sound
check, was in Superb form.
Copyright (c) 1996, The Buffalo News Back To The Main Dew Drop Inn Index Back to the Main Tori Amos Page I just got back from the concert, let me just tell you, the show was
amazing, but with a few strange surprises that make it different than any
other show on this tour.
Well I went early, I got there at about 2:30 hoping to meet her before
soundcheck, but it turns out that she didn't do the meet-greet thing
today(doesn't that suck!), and I was disappointed, but I understand, because
I mean you can't always do that, it's very out of her way. But I did happen
to see Caton, he was riding his bike and I saw him through the fence. My
sister and I and two other people who we met who were from Europe(one was
from Amsterdam, the other from Belgium; they had met her several times
before and Tori kind of knew them). We said hi and he came over. We talked
for a while. I gave him a note that I had for Tori and the Europeans asked
for a request "Honey", then we thanked him and he rode away.
I met some people on the internet(hi brian, alvin, mike : ) and I booted
up my seats to 6th row, which was amazing, my parents did however get really
pissed at my "lack of concern" for money, but ya'know what, that's OK,
because, fuck them, they don't understand.
Soundcheck, I couldn't hear it very well. She played Josh Clayton Felt was pretty good, I didn't like some of his songs and
thought that some of his lyrics weren't too great, but a few of his songs
were quite good. Some people were rude and shouted for Tori, and I thought
that was really uncalled for.
Then, Tori came out. She was wearing a lime green spandex type of top,
jeans, and these 4-inch heels that had a snake like type of pattern.
Heres the set list:
BQ/Horses(kinda Sugar, I'll explain later) She played a very long set list, and it's weird because a LOT of the songs
that I heard in the NYC May 14th show were also played tonight, but that's
OK, I did hear a lot of new stuff too.
Horses is very different, it's changed since I heard it in may, and in the
middle of it, she blended into Sugar for a little bit, then switched back to
Horses. It was very graceful and subtle so I don't think many people noticed it.
Tori talks #1 Cornflake Girl was amazing, I really love this song, and to see it in
concert is great. And on the dance she does, it reminds me of a tribal sort
of dance, "spritual" in a sense( and I hate that word because it's SO
overused, but I can't think of anything else to describe it) It's very
powerful to see her grabbing energy from the audience then pushing it back
again, then pulling it towards her. It's like she once said in an interview,
any performance goes both ways, the audience has to give, in order for the
performer to give and it's a wheel that turns. She really displayed that
metaphor physically here.
Tori talks #2 I've never really heard Butterfly before, I have the sheet music, so I know
what it sounds like, but I don't have any recordings of it, it was very
impressive. I especially love the line, "they like you better framed and
dried", it's a beautiful song.
Little Earthquakes was very different, she changed the opening and it had so
much emotion and power, it was just simply wonderful.
Tori talks #3 Cloud on My Tongue was a treat because I've never heard it live before. She
added some lines to it near the end, " you don't see me and I don't see me.
You don't hear me and I don't hear me. I forgive you" or something to that
effect. It was a very good version and I'm glad I got to hear it.
Precious Things was so full of raw, powerful emotion. She kept on repeating,
"bleed, let them bleed, wash me clean, daddy, wash me clean, wash this thing
clean" It was one of my highlights.
Tori talks #4 Tori talks #5 Me and a Gun It's weird, even though I was really disappointed at what happened. I
felt like I added something to the show when I spoke and told those assholes
to shut the hell up. I felt like Tori appreciated me doing that, and I
don't know, maybe I'm being overly sentimental, but it felt like I was
really a part of something.
Mother was beautiful, beyond what my words could describe.
Tori talks #6 I'm glad I got to hear Springtime in concert, I've been wanting to and it
was amazing. Around this time things started to get a little hectic down
front because when Tori left for the encore, she walked down and shook hands
with some people in front, so everyone was trying to push foward to see her
and security was shitting a brick, telling everyone to get back in their
seat. Prof Widow, i'm sorry to say that I didn't get to enjoy this one
completely because of all the chaos that was going on. Same with Hey
Jupiter, which is one of my favorites.
So after Jupiter, instead of walking offstage, she came foward and kind of
motioned for people to come foward towards the stage where she was going to
shake hands and meet people, but one girl mistakenly thought Tori meant up
ON the stage so she jumped up, then 3 other people did and it was absolute
mayhem. Tori knew that the girl didn't mean any harm, so she told her to
quickly get down before she got in trouble. Then, Tori was briskly(and
rightly, I might add) wisked off the stage. But I'm pissed, because I was
right up there and WOULD have gotten the chance to say HI, at least. Ah,
well, such is life.
I'd have to say that even though some of the audience members were so
obnoxious, it was a really great show, even though I've only seen two. It
was much better than the May 14th show, I can tell you that. But I don't
know if that's because the show was better or if it's because my seats were
so much better than in May. I felt so much more there. In May, I was
physically there, but I don't think I experienced anything really. I don't
remember how I felt while listening to most of the songs. But at this show,
I do. I felt so much and I was really happy, yet sad at the same time.
Actually I feel emotionally drained after seeing this show. All in all, it
was a wonderful experience.
Thank you for the memory, Tori. Terri then sent me this addition/clarification! Could you please post this to clear everything up, in case there is any
misunderstanding.
In my review of the Holmdel show, I said what happened during Me and a Gun,
I just want everyone to know that when I shouted "Shut up" is was not
directed towards Tori, it was directed to those assholes who kept screaming
during the song...I remanined quiet at first hoping they would stop, but
they didn't, so I felt like I HAD to do something. But I now realize that
Tori might have thought I meant it towards her even though I turned my head
around as I said it, I know she heard me and that makes me feel awful, but I
assure everyone that it was not directed towards her, absolutely not. But I
do regret saying it. It's incomprehensible to me how people can be so cruel
and heartless and how they can lack so much in respect. They cannot, in my
mind, consider themselves to be Tori fans. I arrived with my cousin Kelly, her husband Brian, my sister Monica, and
cousin Lauren at the Garden States Art Center. I was shocked by how many
girls I saw on the corner trying to scalp tickets. When I got to my seat, I
was kind of far up, but I could see Tori (although she looked small down
there) and I could see both big screens above her. Josh Clayton Felt came
out. Brian told me he was from School Of Fish and he wasn't too bad.
Unfortunately, my anxiety for Tori to come out was so strong I didnt enjoy
his set. There was also a group of girls behind me screaming and talking and
I was getting annoyed. I heard one of them say, "When its his last song, lets
go nuts for him." Unfortunately, they thought ever songs was his last, until
Kelly
had to turn around and tell them to shut up. They attempted to tell us it was
the two old men behind them, but we werent stupid.
The Tori came out. I almost died. I saw her wearing, I think, a green shirt,
and some zebra striped shoes. She waved to us, and the crowd went nuts. I
have never been to any other shoes, but from my bootlegs, I must say this had
to be one of the rudest crowds. They screamed through nearly all the songs.
It was a nightmare.
Beauty Queen/Horses
I'm On Fire (Tori went crazy as she started to rock back and forth like a
cheerleader, with her arms crossing over her chest. It was wild!)
Caught a Lite Sneeze (Tori told us about her new shoes and how she had to get
new ones from the NY show because we Jerseyans dont like anything from NY!)
Cornflake Girl (She started to do this weird dance that excited and scared
the crowd; it was really crazy, and afterwords, she warned girls never to
jump up and down with those heels!)
Butterfly (at first I didnt recognize it, then I remembered HIGHER LEARNING)
Little Earthquakes (before this she talked to someone who chased her in NY
with a Winne The Pooh doll; this was so unexpected. The crowd went wild)
Crucify (Another surprise, the crowd loved it)
Precious Things (amazing....that grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrl was inhuman)
Love Song (on the harpsichord; it was nice)
Space Dog (yes, yes another surprise-for me anyway)
Talula!!!!!!! (I was so happy! Talula is my favorite song and it was equipped
with the Tornado Mix and the lights went nutso! It was awesome)
Me And A Gun (Ok, no one likes this song. Its depressing. But Tori was
toughing it out very nicely. Then, I wanted to shoot the audience. People
were on the lawn screaming for her. People were shouting for her through the
song. And when she said "Does that mean I should spread?" someone shouted
"Hello no Tori! Hell no!" Then like 50 people all turned around and screamed
"SHUT UP" and Tori said "Its ok guys." and smiled. That calmed things down.)
Encore 1-
Mother (We all went nuts, it was an amazing shock)
A Case Of You (very beautiful)
Encore 2-
In The Springtime of His Voodoo (the crowd loved it)
Professional Widow (by this time, I couldnt hear or enjoy this song. The
girls behind me were being pains in the asses again, and the crowd was rudely
talking and shouting and the lights were beginning to turn on; it was on the
organ)
Hey Jupiter (on the organ, people were getting up and being rude.)
The concert was amazing and I hope to see her on the next tour. But I pray
the crowd isnt that rude again. Another Evening With Tori Amos Tori didn't take the stage until after 9pm, which was good... I was running
late (as usual). She was wearing a 3/4-sleeve, tight-fitting green shirt,
and I only mention this because I notice that she wears these often, and I
wonder if she's trying to hide or reveal (?) something.... it was, after all,
warm outside, and most people were wearing short sleeves. The backdrop was
lots of little white lights, looked very pretty, and reminded me of R.E.M's
new video for E-bow the Letter (ok, elements of my other favorite performers
is coming through here, maybe...)
She started the show with Beauty Queen & Horses, of course.
Is it just me, or does Tori tell fewer and fewer stories during her shows?
Well, she did make mention, at this point, of her new shoes. "After all,"
she says, holding one foot above the piano, "I can't wear the same shoes that
I wore in New York!"
the remaining setlist:
I'm On Fire She also prefaced the Cure cover by saying hi to all those people with
lawnseats (beyond the pavilion), and that she always got stuck sitting in
such seats.
And then she said "You are in the perfect spot to get warmed up....this is a
song that I like to get warm with...."
During Me and A Gun she even whispered midway.... "It's okay guys".... but
I'm not sure who she was talking to, or if she was even responding to someone
from the audience.
But I do know that the infamous "Frankie" from the NYC shows was in the
audience, and when Tori found this out she stopped to say hello to him and
held their own "how've ya been" conversation with the rest of the audience
listening in.
At the end of the show, Tori was "confronted" by a few fans rushing
onstage... and I could tell that the rest of the audience was concerned, as
the security staff removed the offending audience members from the stage, and
Tori abruptly left.
I do feel that Tori is getting tired, as there seemed to be less energy put
into many of the songs, compared to the last time I saw her in May (in NYC).
While there were no real Toristories, the show was still wonderfully
entertaining and solid, with a varied setlist hitting mostly on Little
Earthquakes and Boys for Pele. And, I finally got to see the Tori dance! I didn't know if you received a copy of Tori's set list from last night at the Garden States Art Center in New Jersey so here it is!!!
August 26, 1996
Beauty Queen/Horses (Here it got crazy with a lot of funs rushing to the front of the stage and Tori came to the front of the stage and shook hands and I saw one lucky person get a kiss on the cheek... Tori came out for her second encore then) 2nd Encore (Again fans rushed foward toward Tori...one girl jumped up on stage and ran towards Tori...Tori looked a little scared and they rushed her off)
The concert was fabulous...another sparkling experience of Tori...and I will never forget her black and white striped 5 inch heal shoes (which she remarked to the women in the crowd to never jump up and down in)
I believe I got the main points of the concert...also want to add you do a great job on your page...I enjoy keeping up with all the latest Tori info directly from your page!!! After waiting anxiously for Yvette to get out of work, we jetted out to the
Garden State Arts Theatre for the show, where of course fans seemed to have
been waiting all day. Nonetheless we assimilated ourselves to the mass
wandering until the gates allowed us to pour into the theatre. After Josh
Claton Felt's performance (No Willie, but still impressive -nothing
insinuated here) it was no more than 20 minutes when the lights went out for
the second time. "Son of a preacher" was played on cue, and during which
Tori did her entrance... also on cue. She silenced us with a chord and the
first notes of Beauty Queen followed by Horses. This being my first show
east of the apalachians I've never heard a crowd so enthused and
impressively loud (or maybe it was because this is the furthest forward I've
ever sat -row7) [note: this was a indoor/outdoor ampitheatre with a lawn!]
when the applause died down, a belated b-day was shouted (missed my chance)
and Tori took a moment to show us the new shoes she had just bought that
day. an astounding pair of Zebra striped heels complete with enthusiasm and
energy she commented on why she got new shoes by saying that she didn't want
to wear the same shoes she did in New York. The concert continued with "I'm
on fire" which recieved a loud and praiseworthy response. Further into the
show, came Cornflake Girl, where Tori did her pixie dance to the left, then
to the right. During the dance, an unprecedented number of fans threw
bouquets of flowers on stage, and those who weren't within throwing distance
came down from their seats. After her dance she jumped, literally, into
Cornflake Girl, and played the song as well as she has ever played the song.
Aferward, as normal spotlights opened up on her, as I noticed that she was
sweating, she said "girls, don't try dancing in new shoes." Later in the
show, she talked to the audience a bit, dedicated a song to the crowd on the
lawn, turned to the harpsichord and played the Cure's "Love song" to keep
them warm. ME and a gun unfortunately was a shattered experience. It was a
lot like seeing a horror movie in a loud theatre where "knowledgable" fans
were yelling "don't do it" and "no" to lines like "as he buttoned down my
pants" and "does that mean I should spread... ...Mr. Ed." Finally, after
someone shouted one of her many "shut ups" Tori shushed the audience, told
us it was alright and continued without skipping a beat.
The lights went out, welcoming to the stage dozens more bouquets, and Tori
who seemed to have just left the stage for just a split second returned. I
love encores, but never have I heard my favorite song played en encore, let
alone any concert! "A case of you" followed "Mother" in this encore, which
concluded after two songs as usual. and not so usual, fans from the first 20
rows rushed to the left side of the stage to reach out a hand to Tori some
of which were lucky to touch her hand. She will return for a second encore.
On cue, Tori returned, and it seemed noone on the right side of the theatre
sat for this one. it was almost like being at a pop metal concert where
everyone was just aching to get on stage. eventually, theatre security was
able to get everyone to sit down as Tori played PW on the harmonium.
Hauntingly beautiful. and definitely is a must see. If you missed her for
good this year, check it out on the Hey Jupiter CD's released in the latter
half of this summer. Finally, the bookend to virtually all of her shows was
put in its place as Tori played Hey Jupiter. as the song ended, Yvette and I
were rudely bumped and before I knew it, at least 50 or 60 fans were halfway
up on stage when Joel hauled of some guy who realized the error of his
actions on moment too late and as Steve hauled off a girl who made it up on
stage as well. the rest of the crowd backed down as Tori and Steve [Caton]
waved a final farewell to the audience...and a final one it was.
We hung around after the show and security guarding passage to the rear of
the theatere was EXTREMELY strict. We retreated into the parking lot, hoping
to approach again when a limo appeared. but unfortunately never was it to be
seen. Later Pat Kochie came from the rear of the heavily guarded theatre
with word that Security-especially Tori's, were in extremely fiery moods
because of the audience's behavior beforehand. apparently there was
absolutely nothing to see anymore. Without notice, the security guarding
passage to the back of the theatre suddenly put away the modular fencing
then told us to go home. It was 12:40 a.m. tuesday morning.
Although there was no Tori to meet and greet, I still enjoyed a fantastic
show, but keep in mind, that excessive behaviour during the show affects
what Tori may or may not be able to do afterward. Here is a recap of what took place last night at what used to be called
the Garden State Arts Center...
Tori came out in jeans and a yellow shirt, and black and white striped
shoes... (She told us she bought them for us cause she didn't want to
wear the same shoes she wore in NY)
Little unusual notes:
I'm On Fire - In the middle of the song, she stopped playing, kinda
stood and sang/yelled, "Baby I know - You said you know me so well... So
well... You said I'd never, never hurt you... No, no, no, no..."
Cornflake Girl - She danced on the stage, first on the left - then she
danced to the right, and then went back to the piano... Towards the end
of the song - after "Rabbit, where'd you put the keys girl?" she sang,
"Rabbit, my baby, you know... (word after word after word - I can't make
them out) She did that twice...
Cloud On My Tongue - After "Circles and circles and circles again..."
she sang, "You don't see me and I don't see me... See me... You can't
hear me, I can't see - You said I can't give... You can't, you..."
Precious Things - At the end she sang in her lower register, "These
precious things, let them bleed, let them wash me clean - Said go on,
wash me clean... Let them wash me clean... Wash this thing Daddy..."
Then she switched to her upper register and repeated those lines and
ended with, "Wash me clean Daddy, Wash this thing, Dad."
Before Love Song she talked to the people out of the lawn and said,
"Now, you guys, this is one of those moments when if you take advantage
of your good fortune then you can, like, get a little warmer right now
during this song... This is a song I like to get warm on..."
Me And A Gun - people were yelling, "Tori!" throughout the song - very
annoying... At one point she whispered, "It's alright guys"
Professional Widow - It was on the harmonium and at the end she
whispered, "Give me peace, love and a hard cock"
So that was the show, I managed to get the set-list from a soundboard
guy and in place of A Case Of You was Tiny Dancer and in place of
Professional Widow was Upside Down... Just thought I'd share... I have heard everyone else talk about how amazing her shows were, but I
never believed they could be that good -- she is so awesome live! She
doesn't even need back up instruments or *anything*-- she can mimick any
sound or beat with her piano. I don't exactly remember the order of all
the songs she played, but I do know *what* she played. Here is what
happened:
That Josh Clayton-Felt guy was pretty good-- his set lasted for 40
minutes. I think he would have sounded a lot better if he had a band with
him. He has a great voice though.
At around 9:10, Tori came out on stage to a song from Pulp Fiction-- I
can't remember the name-- I think it was something like "Daughter of a
Preacher" or something like that.
1.) BQ/Horses 5.) Me and a Gun (there was this hilarious part in the middle-- everyone
in the audience was so silent and serious, and this *one* girl kept
screaming "I Love You" *really* loudly over and over again-- it's like, we
know, OK? Now just shut up! But she did it once during the song, and
everyone "shhh'ed" her, and during a pause in the song, she sensed the
somberness of the crowd, and she said under her breath, "It's OK guys!"
which lightened the mood. 6.) Precious Things I may be forgetting a song or 2.. I know there was another one that I
never heard of. Overall, the show came out well-- she didn't seem to make
any mistakes like at any of the other shows. She also didn't speak too
much, but that was all right. At the end of the concert, 2 girls jumped
on to the stage, and her blonde body guard darted out on the stage, and
hefted the girl over his shoulder and took her away as she screamed and
reached out for Tori! It was hilarious-- she seemed really young too.
Anyways, that was about it-- I am sure someone else will have a more
perfect set list later on. (yeah, sorry.. mine is sort of pathetic, but
it was hard to keep track of everything in all the excitement.) Addendum emailed to me personally a few days later! First let me tell you that your web page is by far the best one around on the
net-- it is comprehensive and always up to date, which is what all web pages
should be like. But one thing... I wanted to add something to my little
review of the 8/26 Holmdel concert because I didn't want to give anyone the
wrong impression.
I wrote under "Me and a Gun" that there was a hilarious part in the middle
where Tori said "It's OK guys" to some overzealous fans. I sat in the lawn
seats, which probably contributes to the reason why my perspective of the
whole scene differed from everyone elses.. I did *not* think it was funny
that fans interrupted Tori during such an important song, but I though Tori
said "It's OK" to lighten the mood. I was probably wrong-- it was just my
first guess, and reading the other reviews, I realized that I probably
misread the situation. Either way, I don't really condone fans being rude at
all. (BTW, one of the offenders was sitting a couple of feet away from me,
and obviously just wanted attention, and everyone around us kept "shh'ing"
her and giving her dirty looks.)
(g) But I *did* think the end was funny when the fans darted the stage -- it
was really just 2 girls, and from what I saw, I don't think Tori was
threatened by them. I just thought it was funny how far some people would
go! (I would never have the nerve to get on the stage...!) Well...you've read the setlists and you've heard the stories... so now
I'll just tell my version of it....
First of all...it's a good idea to check with the boxoffice what kind
of seats the have the day of the concert...I wound up getting 6th row
seats for only $35 last night.... so there's a word of advice. :)
Second... the audience was aweful. I met some really nice people from
Holland at the concert...and they were telling me about how the
audience is real quiet in Holland and wait until the song is finished
to clap, etc. I agreed that Americans can be sort of "rude" when it
comes to concerts... but boy did we prove it last night.
First of all...while Tori was singing Me And A Gun people were
screaming back and forth...the song sounds kinda like this:
Tori: 5 AM, Friday Morning So you can see how the song went. And the thing that REALLY bothered
me was that it ruined all of Tori's concentration to the fact where
she had to "leave" that song and "It's okay" to stop all the bickering
in the crowd. In Tori's interview on Primetime Live, Tori said that
each night when she sings MAAG, there's a point that she reaches and
sometimes she gets there and sometimes she doesn't... Now how do you
expect her to get to that special place if everyone is so busy
screaming?
Okay... THEN, during the encore the whole middle isle became filled
with people who wanted to get a closer look at Tori... which made
things hard to see... but security did nothing about it... the only
time that security actually did something was when some girl jumped up
on stage and went to hug Tori...followed by two or three other
girls.... then they were all dragged off and Toriw was taken off
stage... and there went my hopes of meeting her after her show.
So... the music was AMAZING and the energy that Tori gave was
AMAZING... and I loved the show and it was the best that I've ever
seen...I just think that these audiences of 5,000 or whatever are
getting our of hand... it's like noone has any respect for Tori
anymore... they're too busy wanting to say "I love you" and not really
caring it her music and her message is that important... do people
become so obsessed that they forget about the music behind the person?
Oh well...there's my thought of the day... (and what a long day it
was). :) Hi to all the people that I met at the concert... the doll lady...
(who got to go backstage :P) and to the girl who played guitar... and
everyone else who was nice enough to sit around and talk at 2 o'clock
in the afternoon. :) My First Tori-Going Experience My sister, her two friends and I left our house at 2:45 pm and headed
our way to the Garden State Arts Center, playing a mix of stuff from
_Under the Covers_, _Y Kant Tori Read_, and _Hey Jupiter_. At about
3:30 pm we arrived at the center and spent the next two hours trying
to determine whether fans were lying, newspaper men were lying, or
security was lying about whether Tori had arrived yet and where she
was coming in; at around 6:00 pm we gave up the fight. According to
many reports Tori did not even greet her fans before the show; it
could be due to the high heat and humidity that day.
However, the lady who modeled dolls based on Tori who was mentioned in
the _Entertainment Weekly_ magazine was present, and showed us her
latest creation, a little doll of baby Myra Ellen with her stuffed
purple monkey, Clunky. She also shared with us her photographs of Tori and of her other Tori dolls, and that was *almost* as good as
meeting Tori herself, because the works were certainly very beautiful.
About 6:00 pm we heard the strains of our Red-Haired Goddess wafting
out of the ampitheatre, and all 300 or so people waiting instantly
shut up and listened to her music. [Not an exaggeration -- total and
absolute silence in a split second.] During her sound check, Tori
performed two improvisations, Happy Phantom, Cornflake Girl, Space
Dog, Caught a Lite Sneeze, Honey, and the Tornado Album version of
Talula.
At 6:30 pm the crowds were let into the theater, and the next half
hour was spent by Security steadily searching everyone's bags for
cameras, pot, etc. We then checked out the concessions stand, where
you could find four Tori T-shirts running at $25 and a long-sleeve
Tori T-shirt at $30. They also sold a program for $10, and a cross
pendant with "We both know it was a girl" on the longer post of the
cross and "Back in Bethlehem" on the shorter, and the "Dew Dropp Inn
'96" inscription on the back as well. This ran for $10. Josh Clayton
Felt (the opening act)'s CD was available as well for about $15.
At 8:00 pm, Josh Clayton Felt came on. I didn't really enjoy his
music, although his style reminded me of a friend of mine. His lyrics
did not seem that deep to me, just surface material about emotions and
drives that were sort of cliched; and the melodies didn't seem that
remarkable either. There was one song about hurting an "artistic boy"
that was sort of good, though.
Josh got off the stage at 8:40 pm, and Led Zeppelin was played over
the speakers for the next twenty minutes. We saw vague bumpings in
the white curtain on the stage, the lights dimmed, the curtain was
swept aside, and we saw the telltale light of Joel's flashlight
leading Tori onto the stage. The crowd ... of course ... went wild.
As the lights came up, you saw a background of lights that to me
looked to be in the shape of a volcano erupting. Tori walked on, as
she usually does, to "Son of a Preacher Man", and went right into
"Beauty Queen" and "Horses", followed by "I'm on Fire".
Tori then greeted the audience and showed us her new shoes. "I got
new shoes for you guys! I mean, don't take this wrong, but I couldn't
wear the same ones I wore in New York." Closer examination via
binoculars proved her shoes to be zebra-colored. :) She then began
"Caught a Lite Sneeze".
Steve Caton came on and performed "Cornflake Girl" with an extended
opening, during which Tori did a very cute dance that definitely
reminded me of a rabbit -- but it definitely included the arm motions
that you will see her do on occasion when she performs songs live on
television. Afterwards, she sat down heavily, and said, "Girls, don't
jump up and down if you get new shoes."
To my sister's great happiness, Tori's next song was "Butterfly",
followed by "Little Earthquakes". (I loved how she pounded the words
"give me life, give me pain, give me myself again" in such a rhythmic
way.) After that song, a guy in the audience stood up and yelled
"Frankie's here!" Tori turned, delighted, and said, "Oh, I love
Frankie!" and promptly told us about how he chased after her down the
street with his "boots and his Winnie-the-Pooh and his steel-tipped
things". Then I believe she asked who was the girl next to him, and
she yelled "Carol" ... to which she responded, "Oh, hi Carol! I'm not
trying to move in on you dear!" And with a devilish smile she segued
right into "Every finger in the room / is pointing at me" (Crucify).
After that, she performed "Cloud on my Tongue" and "Precious Things"
(a definite crowd favorite) during which she held "girrrrrrrrl" for
over half a minute without taking a breath (wow!). After "Precious
Things", she said, "This one's for the people out on the lawn. That's
where I always sat at these gigs." She mentioned that around this
time in the concerts, she'd want to get After this, she said, "I love Mork! I always did!" And went straight
into "Space Dog" (also to my sister's definite delight). After this,
she played "Talula (Tornado Album Mix)", which was simply
*incredible*. She radiated all this energy out, and the crowd picked
it up and threw it back at her, and we had this total synergy thing
going that just made the song absolutely incredible.
After this, Tori performed "Me and a Gun", and the thing I had been
dreading happened. Tori couldn't get through a verse without some
stupid drunk schmuck (of both genders) yelling "whoooooo!" in the
background. People kept saying, "Shut up!" as loud as they could
without interrupting the song; and finally, Tori, sensing that her
*true* fans were getting mad at the disrespect, whispered "it's okay
guys" in perfect rhythm in one of the pauses during the song. This
not only quieted down the people yelling 'shut up' but it also shut up
the drunk whoopers.
A standing ovation followed, and Tori came back out for her first
encore, in which she performed "Mother"; and then, to *my* delight,
she played "A Case of You". I hadn't gone into this concert with
certain songs I wanted to hear from her, but if I *HAD* picked it, it
would have been this one. It was absolutely amazing to hear that
wonderful voice sing that wonderful song ... live.
Another standing ovation followed, and Tori came back out for a
second, extended encore, in which she performed "In the Springtime of
His Voodoo" (and Steve absolutely *rocked* on that song). She then
performed the Merry Widow version of "Professional Widow" which just
strikes to the raw heart of the song -- it's an amazing raw version of
the song. After that, she performed "Hey Jupiter".
She *might've* even come out for a third encore if some schmucks
hadn't jumped up onto the stage. (Security was out there in quite
literally the blink of an eye, and carted them off.) One person Tori
actually had to wave off herself.
All in all, it was an absolutely amazing experience. It renewed my
love of Tori's music and of Tori's voice, and brought me new
appreciation to each one of her songs. Not to mention that it gave me
a chance to meet new Tori fans. (One RMTAer, Terri Yuan, brought her
9-year-old sister, who said she liked Tori. Continuing the fandom
from generation to generation, *yes*!) :)
I wish I had had a chance to meet Tori, yes. But perhaps her next
tour I can catch her. :)
Sound Check:
2 improvisations Back To The Main Dew Drop Inn Index Back to the Main Tori Amos Page I attended last night's Tori Amos concert at Jones Beach without the
intention of writing anything about the concert. However, I thought
that the following event that took place might be of interest to you, as
it was extremely moving and unique:
In the middle of singing Little Amsterdam (accompanied by Caton), Tori
seemed to depart from the lyrics and loose Caton completely, as she sang
"Kelly (?I believe that was the name she sang), I read your letter and
you gotta stay with me girl, you gotta hold on" (or something to that
effect). She then went on to sing the "round and round..." part of the
song. It appeared that Tori was singing to someone in the audience,
perhaps someone who had given her a letter expressing deep distraught.
This interaction must have truly overwhelmed that person, as I myself was
moved by Tori's kind gesture to reach out to this person in such a
public, yet intimate way.
On a separate note, the songs played were (though I did not write them
down, so they are not in order and may not be complete) - Beauty
Queen/Horses, Leather, Blood Roses, Little Amsterdam, Cornflake Girl,
Little Earthquakes, Precious Things, Silent All These Years, Frog on my
Toe (she told a story about how the song was written for a boy that she
had a crush on when she was little named Kevin Craig? who passed a note
to a pretty girl in class that said 'I don't like Tori-Ellen at all, she
sings like a frog'), Father Lucifer, Talula, Caught a light sneeze,
Mariannne, Mr. Zebra, Pretty Good Year, Winter, Me & A Gun, Purple Rain.
Sorry if I forgot anything.
At the end of the concert, Tori exclaimed, "You guys have been amazing --
don't be angry if I didn't play your favorite song". Overall, it was a
great concert.
Mike, thank you for maintaining such a terrific page. I really
appreciate it, as do many other people, I'm sure. I saw her last night at Jones Beach and I was skeptical that she could
amaze me yet again- I'm mean, it seems even harder to pull of an outdoor
show- there tends to be more distractions and she doesn't seem quite so
large when she's up on a strange infront of the entire night sky. She
came out and did beauty queen of course, but the way she started it- I
had no idea it was beauty queen. She was banging away some crazy thing
and I thought it might be a new song. The first couple of songs were
fine- she seemed to be rushing a bit- especially through blood roses, and
it seemed like she was going through the motions a little, which is to be
expected when you've been on tour sooooo long. The other change was that
she was jammin' a lot more and improvising, songs would go on forever and
she'd make up stuff that I hadn't heard. It made it a little bit harder
to enjoy the songs because they were all over the place, but it was still
fun to watch because she looked like she was having a great time. The
other weird thing she did start running around the stage doing her
cornflake girl dance- she even shook peoples hands during the intro.
After that, she focused and blew me away with Silent all these Years
during the encore. And I'm sure you know that she mentioned not always
having something to say- during the beginning of the show Caton had to
tune so she asked the audience to talk to her because "sometimes I just
get shy and just don't know what to say- you guys really saved my ass."
And as far as her not talking much during her shows- how many times can
she tell a story? And sometimes she might not play songs that she feels
like explaining or giving an intro to- she's only human. And even after
saying that she gets shy, she told us a story about some boy she had a
crush on and wrote frog on my toe for. And she spoke to a member of the
audience that offered her weed and she said,"Your very cool for
offering... Smoke some for me. I can't right now, I've got work to do."
Then someone must have expounded there love for her and she replied,
"well, if you were my boyfriend maybe I would, because then you get what
you get... [In that case]I wouldn't be doin all the work, you'd be
rubbing my back and massaging my feet." I left in love as ever and I'm a little frightened at my obsession.... The show was not sold out. I ordered a ticket via Ticketmaster from Montreal, Canada. Now I know why everybody is complaining about Ticketmaster. The ticket had been sold twice... Together with the other guy with the 'same' ticket, I went to the House Manager and after checking the payment he gave me another place (6th row left side instead of about 20th row center).
Before soundcheck, I was third in the line of approximately forty people waiting to meet Tori. The girl of about 15 years standing before me was completely in tears when Tori turned to her. She told Tori her story and Tori took quite a long time to whisper her answer into her ear. Then Tori wrote down for her the name of a book that had helped her a lot in the past as she said. She cares, yes she does.
Then it was my turn. Although Tori did not recognize me personally, she obviously remembered that she had already seen me somewhere, which really surprised me because I only met her four or five times for a few seconds during her German tour in March and she sees such a lot of faces.
"Hi Tori. First of all happy birthday." As you already could see in the setlist, Tori did not play 'Alamo' at Jones Beach.
Maybe this little girl was not ready to show up yet...
But maybe she will do it on one of the next nights - please keep me informed. Tori fans are just one big family. I met a lot of people - if you read this: "Hi."
The woman who made the Tori fairie doll; and Mea who was happy because Tori knew where her name came from. And Erik (with a 'k') from Belgium whom I first met after the concerts in the London Royal Albert Hall. The girl from Uruguay who wants to become a musician and the boy from the Philippines, who lives in Queens.
During the show I noticed that many of the songs have been changed more or less compared to her European shows in March. She did a short intro to 'Beauty Queen', maybe just to check the piano. For the first time I saw the dance of the Cornflake Girl. 'Little Earthquakes' was superb. Before the harmonies of 'Frog On My Toe' she told a story that was different from the Marguarita story: When she was nine years old she was interested in a boy called Kevin Craig. Considering her description of him, she does not like him too much anymore... She told him that she liked him at school, and he wrote a letter to another girl which said that Myra Ellen was ugly and looked like a frog. Maybe somebody else remembers this story better than I do...
'Precious Things' was different from the way I heard her playing it before, especially in the end of the song.
After 'Silent All These Years' Tori broke the distance to the audience for the first time. She went to the edge of the stage and shook some hands. A few seconds later about hundred people were trying to get to the stage in order to shake her hand as well. Joel Hopkins (Agent Orange) did not seem to be happy with this procedure which repeated after the very intense "Purple Rain" ("This girl normally does not show up, but today she does."). "Purple Rain" is brilliant on the organ and it seems somehow related to "Hey Jupiter": Everybody enjoy 'your' shows. Back To The Main Dew Drop Inn Index Back to the Main Tori Amos Page On Saturday morning, July 24th, my friend Jenn and I hit the road to
Providence, to the Performing Arts Center (we were coming from MA, about 2
hours away) cause we wanted sooooooo badly to meet Tori. As I've already told
Mikewhy, I did, and it was the most AMAZING experience of my entire life. To
make a VERY long story short, she got off the bus, and I gave her a "Happy
Birthday" crayon drawing that I had done of her, Steve, Joel, Johnny, Arthur,
and Caton, some very yummy recipes for pasta and cream sauce and such, and a
special little thing that will remain secret between me, Tori, and the guys!
All I can say is that the little creation made it on the bus! So, after
hugging her like a million times and getting her autograph ("Just For Angela,
{heart} Tori Amos!) Aye! and our picture together, which I'm blowing up to
poster size, I couldn't help but ask a request. I said, "If you hear 'Angie'
knocking, Tori, could you let her in?" She takes my marker, and doesn't write
it down the side of her hand like the others, but right on the top! It pays
to give her wacky presents! She goes, "I sure will. I really want to. Keep
your ears open, babe!" That was all I had to hear. I'm set for life!
So, after meet and greet, all of us philes hung around the theatre until
about 6:30, when the doors opened. We shuffled in like dutiful little fans,
and anyways, Steve ended up coming over to me and telling me that Tori loved
the gift and that they played with it during the soundcheck and now it's on
the bus. I was sooooo thrilled! Well, we finally got to out seats, waited
patiently through Josh Clayton-Felt (because honestly, who comes to a Tori
show to see the opener?) and then "Son Of A Preacher Man" came on, and we all
strapped ourselves in for what was to be a wild night. Here's the setlist! Beauty Queen/Horses (surprise, surprise!)
Take To The Sky (perfect, very, very strong and Toriesque)
Butterfly (absolutely gorgeous - I've never heard this one live, so it was
just phenomenal!)
Space Dog (the second Neil song of the evening, I was waiting for Tear!
Anyways, it was magnificent, of course, and very very beautiful during the,
"Deck the halls" section)
Tori Story 1#
Blood Roses (she didn't seem angry with the headphones, which was good...it
was very charging and powerful, loved it!
China (WOW!)
Little Earthquakes ( I had always dreamed of hearing this, but never had. It
didn't disappoint me, gorgeous lights, and her voice was like HONEY or
something! It was soooooooooooo beeautiful I will never forget it!)
Tori Story 2#
Angie!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (For ME! What else can I say? This was obviously my
favorite of the night! She mixed up the verses a little, which was very nice
indeed!)
CALS (gorgeous, even more ethereal than last I saw it!)
In The Springtime if His Voodoo (very gyration-friendly on this one, of
course, an dit was very cute indeed!)
Cornflake Girl, complete with dance and adoring, screaming fans!
Precious Things (the grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrlll lasted 25 seconds, good
thing for my Indiglo!)
Talula (This was GREAT! I didn't hear it last time, so it was even more
special! The red light she has got shining in the back makes it even better!
It was very hypercharged and happy!)
Me And A Gun (The most perfect song. Tori was perfect, the audience was
perfect, it was a perfect moment. I think some have taken cues from the
stories they've heard about other shows. And I thought the guy next to me was
going to turn blue from not breathing! :)
Encore 1 She walks out soooo cutely, and then just taps the keys, and starts into:
This Old Man! It was adorable! She sounded like such a little girl! Right
into:
Putting The Damage On (on the harmonium, it was more sparkling than words can
coonvey, very sprightly) and:
Then she bowed her adorable little bow and walked off, but we knew what was
next...
Encore 2! Frog On My Toe (gorgeousetherealperfectsparklingbeautiful. The gyrls in front
of me asked for it! Hi Bridget and Kathy!)
While this was going on the boys brought out the pedal organ, for what I
could not imagine...imagine my surprise when she sang...
ETIENNE! (I was like sobbing, it was wonderful. Never did I figure I'd hear
her sing the words, "Maybe I'm a witch..." live.
~Tori Stories~
#1 - Before she launched into BR, she tells this story about this guy called
John Middleton, and she said, "I was talking to one of my gyrlfriends about
this boy I used to like, John Middleton, and I asked how he looked. She said
he looked fabulous. That's just not what you want to hear, you know?" Then
she started talking about Robert Plant and she starts singing, "Black Dog"
and how she wishes that they could go to see John Middleton, and Robert could
sing it to her. It was VERY cute! Of course...
#2 Right before Angie! I can't believe my song came with a story! Lucky me!
She starts tinkling the keys and saying, "This song is always what I wanted
to hear when I made out with my boyfriends. It's very cuddley and when I sing
it, I think of making out." I was like, Wow, what song could this be?
Yippeeee! It was Angie! :)
It was tremendous, I couln't have hoped for a more perfect concert, what with
meeting her, which I never in a million years believed would happen!, Angie
for me, all of the beautiful LE and B-sides and such, and just the fact that
it was Tori. She didn't play as many BFP songs as she did in the beginning of
the tour, probably because they're tired and having a margarita! It was also
very different than the shows I saw at the beginning of the tour, much more
fired-up and happy and pow! than the earlier shows, which seemed a bit more
introverted and quiet. Either way, it was Tori and it was perfect. Back To The Main Dew Drop Inn Index Back to the Main Tori Amos Page Hello! You have quite a comprehensive page! I was at the War Memorial
Auditorium for Tori's birthday show, and it was great! During her
Cornflake girl mime dance thingie the guitarist (I forget his name)
stopped playing. Tori stopped dancing, looking rather stunned, and
turned to see a whole group of people (I was told one person was her
father, although I couldn't tell) holding a cake, a ballon with arms and
legs, and a sign that read Happy Birthday Tori that was signed by a
bunch of people (when you have great seats such as I did, you can notice
these things Just a small post to say what a fantastic day yesterday was, I still
can't believe I got to spend some time with Tori on her birthday. I feel
like I was the one having a celebration. I don't have the set list with me
now but some of the highlight's were London Girls, Butterfly, one of the
most beautiful renditions of Winter that I've ever seen her do, and for
the first time ever Madonna's Live To Tell. Her Mom and Dad were in atten-
dance as well as her brother. The crew all came walking out as she and Caton
began Cornflake Girl and before Tori saw them Steve had stopped playing and
was picking up a mike to tell everyone what was going on. Tori realizing
something was up (she was already into her dance) ran over to her piano
and stooped down and was hiding. The crew brought out a cake complete with
candles, roses, and a giant balloon(which got tied to the piano and which
Tori later serenated a bit). She already had been wearing her customized
headset which had been fashioned as a Royal crown complete with jewels. The
crew led the audience into singing Happy Birthday. A magical show indeed! --------------------------------
From the posts I've been getting I guess I should tell the story of
how Tori came to do Live To Tell at yesterday's show (Aug.22). On Wed. when
Tori arrived for soundcheck at the Charlotte show she was asked to play the
Madonna song. Tori explained that she had never played it but asked the re-
questee if she would be at the Greensboro show(Aug.22). Finding out that she
would be Tori told her she would try to work the song up. Tori sent someone
out for the sheet music and did in fact learn the song and played it beauti-
fully. In fact when she played it(which I believe was during the last set
of encores), she walked out on stage with the music in her hand. After the
first couple of verses though the sheet music was on the floor and she was
playing from memory. Like I said before, it really was quite a moment. This
is what shes all about. No one else like her. _The "Live to Tell" Tori Story_ In 1991, I was a HUGE Madonna fan. I mean obsessed, really. It was scary.
Then, I saw Tori's "Silent All These Years" video on MTV and was captured.
I immediately bought _Little Earthquakes_ and my life was changed. But I
still loved Madonna. I read an interview with Tori in _Glamour_ magazine
in which Tori said she liked Madonna and would cook her a plate of
spaghetti anytime. Cute. I had this fantasy of Tori singing certain
Madonna songs... namely "Live to Tell" and "Like a Prayer." As time went
on, I stopped being a big Madonna fan and switched to Tori. I'm not as
weird about Tori as I was about Madonna. Probably because Tori effects me
on a deeper level...anyway...
After seeing Tori in Atlanta at the Fox theatre, I realized that if I
asked Tori to sing a song...she might actually sing it! I asked her to
sing "Space Dog" in Atlanta, and she did. I asked for "Father Lucifer" in
Raleigh...and got it. However, I was VERY nervous and shaky when asking
for those songs. Before the Charlotte show, I got the idea to ask her to
sing "Live to Tell." I thought out how I'd ask and everything. And when I
met Tori before the show, I inhaled deeply...and it all came out
smoothly...I told Tori that I used to be a BIG Madonna fan, but that when
I heard Tori, Madonna got put back. Tori smiled. Then I said that I read
the _Glamour_ interview in which she said she too liked Madonna. Tori
nodded (though she made an expression like she wasn't really a fan--oh
well). Then, I told Tori that it had always been a fantasy of mine to hear
her sing a Madonna song. So I asked her to sing her favorite...then I
suggested "Live to Tell." Tori then began to very quietly sing a few words
of it under her breath. I asked her if she knew the song. She said yes,
but she'd have to try it out first. (I was getting hopeful!) She asked me
if I'd be at the show in Greensboro the next day. I said yes. She said,
"Well, if I don't do it tonight, I'll do it tomorrow." I was ecstatic and
said thanks, etc...
The next day, before the show, I gave Tori her B-day gift and said "Did
you remember my request?" She just grinned and said, "You just wait and
see..." OK, we hugged and I waited....
Of course, she sang it that night. I was floating... It was the 1st
encore. She even brought out the sheet music. After the show I told her
thank you, and she said "No, Thank _You_, for opening my eyes to the
song." Wow. Caton told me that after soundcheck the previous day, she got
a CD w/ "Live to Tell" on it so she'd know the words/music. They wrote
stuff out and Caton was gonna play in the song, but Tori decided to do it
solo...
Months later, in Roanoke, VA, Tori told me she'd received many requests
for "Live to Tell," but she'd only sing it for me. It was a one-time
thing.
_The End_ Before I read the review before me, I wanted to post my thoughts on The
Greensboro Show.
I LOVED IT!!
I also loved that there were no more than 25 people getting autographs and
what not before the show so she spent a little time to talking to
everyone. I got three CD's autographed and about 10 pictures....tell me
I'm not excited. Gave her the birthady presents (at least she was polite
enough to accept them and was very gracious, but then what can I expect?
I don't care where you were reared, or where you live, if you were born in
the South, you are Southern, and that's the only way to act!)
MIstakes were made, but take it from me, a theatre and movie person, these
things happen. Especially with a, basically, one-person show.
Great show. Loved it, mean it. Well, everyone at Greensboro's War Memorial Auditorium got quite a present
from Tori on her birthday. The show was absolutely brilliant. By far, the
best we've been to. Lots of b-sides, older songs, a new cover, and Tori's
mini birthday celebration. We lucked out with front row center seats and had
what must be one of the best nights of our lives. Tori seemed as happy and
excited to be there as the audience did. She was in the same breath playful
and powerful. Here's the setlist (hopefully in the right order): Beauty Queen Here's an almost complete set list for the B- day G- boro show: A mistake ladden show , no doubt, but the emotional intensity more than
made up for the cosmetic errors.Out of some 30 Tori shows I've seen over
the last few years this was one of the best/sloppiest.Just proves a bad
note played with intensity is better than a good note that's just played. I had a little tori encounter. I saw her play in Greensboro,NC
on the day of her birthday. It was great, of course. Her parents were
there. I had front row seats, she looked & sounded beautiful. She
forgot the words to Talula, stopped in the middle of the song and
apologized, for having such a wierd day, and went on. She played Live to
Tell and London Girls as well. She started to do Cornflake Girl, but
Steve and her crew stopped and came out with a cake, a dozen roses, and
some balloons. Everyone in the audience sang happy birthday, it was so
neat. After the show, a bunch of people ran out the side door, and I
followed them (much to my husband's chagrin, who reluctantly followed me)
We waited about forty minutes at the barriers, and chatted with Joel,
who seemed to be in a good mood(Although it's hard to tell, you know) It
was about a 100 degrees out on an August night down south, but it was
worth it. Her parents came out from the entrance, and everyone clapped,
they were embarrased but waved. Steve came out and chatted with us for a
few minutes, then TORI came out, she looked so little and tired. She
signed a few autographs, posed for some pics,and talked to Greg(I'm
pretty sure it was Greg) I shook her hand, thanked her for putting on
such a great show (what a dorky thing to say!) and wished her a happy
birthday. It was such a wonderful experience. Anyways, that was my
boring little tori stori but I thought you might be slightly amused. I had the luck of being at the birthday show in Greensboro, NC. The
following will tell you a little about how and why I ended up there:
It all started with a quest for more Tori cd's. This is quite hard to do
when you live in a town the size of Asheville, NC. I was at a music store
that I frequented, and was on yet another mission to find cds that I did not
own. So I asked the sales clerk what Tori stuff they had gotten in (at this
point they knew me as "that tori guy"). I cannot remember what cd's I walked
away with that day, but what stands out most is the answer to the question:
Well, she is going to be in these parts this month on tour. I was
ecstatic....and then the question of money came into mind. It did not
matter...I was going to see a show if I had to eat bread for two weeks. Keep
in mind I had never seen this wonderful lady perform live. I then asked what
dates and locations were....and the lady spilled out about 3 cities...all of
which were about 3 hours from me regardless. She said..well there is
Greensboro on the 22nd...and I said give me two (I wanted to surprise my
boyfriend).
Little did I know what piece of history I had in my hands. I rushed home and
called my boyfriend and informed him that he was going with me, that there
would be no debate, and that he better appreciate me greatly since he was
seeing all of this for free Well, about a week or so later, I picked up the interview book (without cd).
One night when I had time to sit down and read it, I glanced through and
what caught my eye??
Her birthdate...August 22. WHOA!!!! I would be at a Tori show on her
birthday. This was all seeming a bit surreal for someone who was seeing her
for the first time.
The morning we were to leave, two of my tires had been flattened by someone
that really had it out for me -- considering they knew I was to leave that
morning and what I was leaving for. I had made three mixed tapes of live,
album, and bside material from all of her solo albums (yes I am obsessed...).
So after the tire situation was fixed, we got on the freeway with no delay.
It was all soooo unbelievable from that point on. For instance, traveling
from the part of North Carolina that I was living in at the time to where the
concert was, we passed the exit to the town where she was born. We got to
Greensboro a day before the show and stayed the night with some friends.
The night of the show, we get ready and decided that we should leave in order
to hear the opening act. We got to War Memorial Auditorium and payed to
park...blah blah blah. I told my boyfriend (at the time) to bring the camera
along so that afterwards, if we got to meet her we could take some photos.
Well, the security at this show was weird. I had to empty my small waist
pack and everything. So needless to say, my boyfriend had to take the camera
back to the car while I went inside. He came back and heard a few more songs
from Joshua Feldman Clay. Then the show..which you have seen the set
list..so I will keep this as short as possible.
After the show...actually while she was playing Etienne..I made him leave to
run to the car to retrieve the infamous camera. Right at the second she
finished Etienne, I ran out of the auditorium to wait behind the barricades
for Tori and the camera. Thank god he got back before she came out. When
she came out, we had managed to wedge up in the far left corner...right up
front on the side nearest the stage door ...but nonetheless trapped by the
barricade, some bushes, and other anxious admirers. I was floored -- this
woman was sooooooo short. I had not envisioned having to stoop down. We
were the first guys she spoke to after the show that night...and to be quite
honest, I was sooo nervous that what I exactly said to her eluded me right
after I said it. I do remember this though -- while I was trying to talk to
her, my boyfriend was trying to snap a picture. I was trying to talk to her
and also tell him how to take the photo. FLASH!!!! "Jeeze I hope it turned
out" ran through my head. Then I look back at her while she says "Is this
for you silly?". She grabbed me and pulled me close into her and then held
my face next to hers while I smiled the biggest smile ever. FLASH!!!!
Right after, I told her that I did not want to take up anymore time, but
that I wanted to give her a small birthday present. It was a silver
moonstone encased in silver. She actually dropped it when I first gave it to
her -- but thankfully it was quickly recovered. I was beaming. We turned
and walked away so that others could have room to get as close as possible.
It was quite magical -- my brief but wonderful encounter with someone that I
had admired intensely. Back To The Main Dew Drop Inn Index Back to the Main Tori Amos Page I wish I could even begin to convey how juicy this show was, but these
quite inadequate words will have to suffice. Tori sometimes manages to
allow herself to open up and tap into some enormous musical river as it
flows all around her, and the Charlotte show was the best demonstration
I've ever seen of what can happen when great waterfalls of ideas flow
within her and without her.
Tori continues to reach new pinnacles of performance on this concert tour.
I honestly didn't think she would be able to improve upon the Portland,
Oregon shows, and frankly, I wasn't sure I'd want to be there if she did,
lest I be completely overwhelmed. For this Charlotte show I was shaking so
much that holding my opera glasses still was difficult about a third of
the time. And for some of the show--especially towards the beginning of
it, when I was so totally blind-sided by the intensity--tears filled my
eyes from the sheer beauty and artistry of her playing.
Steve Caton is playing more inventively as the tour progresses, too.
There's one point, I believe it's in Little Earthquakes, where he comes up
on a note just as she's fading out on the same note vocally, and he
manages a smooth transition from her voice to his guitar. Pretty swift.
And wherever she goes on the piano, he's right there with her. Always.
We're talking some pretty radical tempo changes, here. And playing in an
increasingly dialogic manner with her, too. Good stuff.
I expect that by now Tori's getting tired of starting all the shows with
the same medley of Beauty Queen/Horses, (she doesn't even play Precious
Things all the time anymore, and that had been one of her touchstone songs
of these Dew Drop Inn Tour shows), and she's been experimenting with ways
to embellish Horses a little bit to provide herself and us with added
interest. She continued to do so this night.
The version she performed of Silent All These Years outshone even the one
I'd seen her do at the earlier of the July 21 Portland shows. Ever so
slightly slowed down, and astoundingly well articulated--pianistically I
mean, mainly--and heartfelt. My best ever, for sure. During the line
"How's *that* thought for you" she opened her eyes wide and tilted her
head toward the audience with a knowing smile. That touch alone was
glorious.
Just recently she's begun to make all these little vocal sounds during
some songs. I wish I could make better notes during the shows, but this is
beyond my ability, I'm afraid. Just sort of scat humming/singing. Nonsense
syllables and sounds which express musical concepts. She did a lot of this
during Little Amsterdam at this show.
She's turned Little Amsterdam into a true show-stopper--what with the
long-held, loud vocal notes accentuated by hitting the backboard of the
piano with her left fist before the final verse, leading into her almost
crying the words "Little Amsterdam" for the final time, all to a big round
of cheering and applause. And chills down one's spine.
She's also been turning the line about Rabbit into a repeating energetic,
driving, segment of Cornflake Girl, and has been experimenting with
different variations of doing that, and it's a good time for musical
dialogue with Caton, too. She does this for the last time the line appears
as a way to increase the momentum of the song before wrapping it up. It's
more dramatic that way when it ends.
On this night, her white lace hair tie had been slipping down more and
more during Cornflake Girl, and just as she finished playing the song it
finally fell out completely, and she left it on the floor behind her, with
her hair remaining down for the rest of the show.
It's always lovely to hear Past the Mission in concert, and this night's
rendering was especially delicate and moving. Gorgeous. As was Little
Earthquakes, in which a stream of drool slipped out of her mouth toward
the end of the long, continuous vocal part where she can't control it and
keep it in her mouth.
She's clearly made the decision to go for musical purity over sanitary
behavior, as surely to interrupt her long vocal phrasing would not give us
the shifting canvas for vocal expression she wants in such instances. I
expect she's somewhat embarrassed when it happens, but I agree that not
that many people notice the drool, whereas all of us benefit from the
musical decision to arrange to have those long, seamless vocal passages. I
love that woman.
One example I can give from this show to describe how much she was opened
up to allow the music to pour through her was something which happened
during Take to the Sky. At one point she was playing a slowly repeated
chord in the upper register of the piano, when she lifted her head
slightly, as if to listen to her muse, and heard a brief musical quotation
of the old Fifth Dimension song Up, Up and Away, and it came out
translated through her fingers and voice. I almost felt I could see the
wheels turning in her head. How much that made me feel I was being carried
along moment to moment during this concert I can't tell you.
That's what the main goody was for me at this show--how much she was able
to be in one moment after the other, and to convey this so well as to
bring the audience along with her. This is one thing that made Sinatra so
great in concert during his heyday. The audience had total familiarity
with the recordings of the songs, but he would hold notes longer than on
the records, shift his textures around, delay coming in for a vocal line
here and there, run one line into another, etc. Compelling stuff. Tori's
coming into a place where she's able to do this herself with increasing
facility and musicality, and the results take one's breath away.
But there's much more to her than that. Such as when during Crucify she
was singing some textural notes which were lovely, but which didn't convey
the melody when it came time again in the song to do that. What did she
do? To maintain the sensibilities of what she was doing vocally but still
convey the melody, she inserted just a few notes on the piano in an
accented manner right in the middle of the piano accompaniment she was
playing for her textural vocal painting. The way she did this so
effortlessly and gracefully told me I was watching pure musical genius at
work. It was like three layers going on at the same time. Once again, my
jaw dropped open, as once again I was lost in amazement. Wow.
But then, soon thereafter during the "Please save me" part of Crucify, she
found herself standing near the upper register of Bosey--tuning in again
to an unseen muse while looking skyward--and she began playing and singing
some completely different song. I didn't recognize it, but it was clear to
me that it was an extant song, not just something being constructed on the
spot. She was singing such that I could hear her back in row R with her
head turned away from me, (nothing wrong with row R--her parents were in
row R the next night in Greensboro), even though she was nowhere near the
microphone until the end of this musical digression, when she finally
leaned down over to it, finished this song within a song, and did a
masterful segueway back into the chorus of Crucify, proper. I was totally
blown away. The floor and my jaw were best buds at that point.
Later, just before Pretty Good Year, some girl asked Tori if she would
sign her program, and Tori said that she would. I think Tori meant in a
more generic sense, not that very second, but the girl threw the program
up onto the stage. Tori went over and flipped it to the wings offstage,
and it was then that others thought they might try to follow suit, and the
head security guy Joel raced to the front of the stage and put a quick
stop to such behavior. Tori cringed when he did that, partly in sympathy
for them, I expect, and partly because she knew she'd played a part
herself in bringing that on. Early on into this concert someone asked if
Tori would give her an autograph, and Tori said that "now's not the most
appropriate time." Demanding people there that night.
Joel is totally devoted to protecting Tori, takes it very personally, and
he's very competent in doing so. It's no small relief to me when I see him
leading her onstage and off with his flashlight, and standing just off the
main part of the stage all show long in case anything happens. We all owe
him a huge debt of gratitude, I can assure you of that. This tour would
not be possible in its current form without him there. I wish I could
think of something nice to do for him if I actually manage to make it to
another show, but he's probably already got all the palm oil he needs.
;-)
I told Tori the next day in Greensboro that I thought she did better shows
when her parents were in the audience, and she thought that was an
interesting insight that she hadn't heard before. I know I always feel
lots of love and parental pride from her folks flowing out to her when
they're in the audience, and it seems to be reflected back out into the
theater. And her mom sits there with the most enormous grin on her face
all show long.
Hey Jupiter wrapped up the evening. I've enjoyed all of the other
harmonium organ pieces she's been doing on the tour, but there's something
about the sweetness and sense of longing that comes with Hey Jupiter
that's special for me, and I've missed hearing it when the show comes to
an end.
I almost didn't come to this Charlotte show. I wanted to make a point to
see the birthday show, but when my new boss told me he wanted me to start
the week after, (I told him in the interview that I'd need to have off
August 22 and 23 if he hired me), I couldn't help myself but to leave for
North Carolina a day early and go to Charlotte. I felt an amorphous earthy
intensity surround me as I was driving deeper into North Carolina on
Wednesday: the mists of the Great Smokey Mountains becoming more and more
dense as I continued to push south and westward. I shouldn't have been
surprised to have experienced such an intense and miraculous show.
Richard Handal
TORI AMOS AT OVENS AUDITORIUM IN CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA 8/21/96
Love the site. Lots of info in a concise format. Our area didn't show Prime
Time last night - they showed Baywatch of all things!
I'm not really surprised she felt like she was at fault. I understand what
she says about the healing and not forgetting. She played Charlotte, NC last
night and she just about broke down into tears when she sang Me & a Gun.
Maybe she almost lost it because she was 'home' and her family was there.
I don't know. It was very moving. It didn't help that I was sitting next to
Dr. Amos of all people.
The show was the best I've seen to date. Songs included Mary, Take To The
Sky, Mother, Little Earthquakes, Let It Be and others.
After the show when Tori was ready to get into her birthday limo - she
came over to the mob to say hi. Everyone sang "You are my sunshine, my
only sunshine..." and then went into Happy Birthday. I think she really
enjoyed it.
From a posting to the Toirnews mailing list by Kimmy (jenkins@vivanet.com)
-Beauty Queen
-Horses
-Take to the Sky
(at this point someone yells out "I love you Tori" while she is
introducing "the girl" harpsichord and Tori repleys that is they
really love her to go buy some tequilla(sp) for the "girl")
-Blood Roses
-Little Amsterdam
-Cornflake Girl (dance included)
-Pretty Good Year
-Little Earthquakes
-(Began with story of someone who one proposed to her...she said he was
one of those guys that "used to make the young girls with braces drool
and pee"...or something like that.)She went into an unrecognizible
song, for me anyway and about halfway went into Professional Widow
where she began at "starfucker..."
-Putting the Damage On
-Precious Things(only 27 second grrl tonite)
-Caught a Light Sneeze
-Tulula
-Me And a Gun ( let me point out that the crowd was very very polite and
I did not hear a peep during the song)
Encore 1
-Some song I was not sure of...lyrics included "Saw my reflection in the
hills...landslide rolling down.." Sorry
-Winter...Beautiful
Encore 2
-Father Lucifer (she seemed to be in a bit of a hurry) She pressed a
wrong key during the intro and said "Oops"
-A YKTR song, I'm not familiar with any YKTR stuff but it started out
"Maybe I'm a witch"
See ya'll soon. -Kimmy
From a personal email sent to me by Cara Waldman (mwaldman@vivanet.com)
Tori's Performance In Buffalo New York, August 28
From a posting to the rec.music.tori-amos newsgroup by MAGGIE T. MORRIS (sebastian5@aol.com)
From a posting to the rec.music.tori-amos newsgroup by Pierre (cayden@idirect.com)
From a posting to the rec.music.tori-amos newsgroup by Tim (tmsub1@niagara.com)
From a posting to the rec.music.tori-amos newsgroup by Anna (bumblebee@microagewny.com)
From a posting to the rec.music.tori-amos newsgroup by Chaz (cstewart@acsu.buffalo.edu)
A Newspaper Review Of The Show Found In a posting to the RDT mailing list by Will Elefante
By: NICOLE PERADOTTO - News Staff Reviewer
Edition: CITY Section: ENTERTAINMENT Page: D7
Tori's Performance In Holmdel New Jersey, August 26
From a personal email sent to me by Terri (ROBB.YUAN@worldnet.att.net)
1) some piano, harp improvs
2)a song that I don't know, but had the line " ride out to the city"
repeated a lot, does anyone know what this is?
3)Happy Phantom
4)Cornflake Girl
5)Space Dog
6)Caught a Lite Sneeze
7)Honey
8)Talula
It's a long list, but it wasn't continous, and none of the songs were
complete. I enjoyed hearing Happy Phantom.
I'm on Fire
Caught a Lite Sneeze
Tori talks #1
Cornflake Girl
Tori talks #2
Butterfly
Little Earthquakes
Tori talks #3
Crucify
Cloud on my Tongue
Precious Things
Tori talks #4
Love song(I think, that was just my guess when hearing the lyric,I could be
wrong, someone correct me)on harp
Space Dog
Tori talks #5
Talula
Me and a Gun
Encore1
Mother
Tori talks #6
A Case of You
Encore2
Springtime
Prof. Widow(merry widow version)
Hey Jupiter
"Hi, how is everyone?" HUGE uproar. "I got a new pair of shoes for you guys
today" raises her leg and shows them on the piano, " because, and don't take
this the wrong way, but they're good because they haven't been to NY, so
they're brand new and this is their wedding day." Keep in mind that was
paraphrased, so I could be off a little on the quote, but that's basically
what she said
After hopping around all over the stage she said, "And I have some advice to
any of you girls out there, If you ever get these shoes, don't jump up and
down in them." I'm sure those 4 inch heels do hell to your ankles.
Then, just as she was starting Crucify, someone yelled something out and she
stopped suddenly, "Frankie's here??" he yells in response "Frankie came to
all of my New York shows. Why weren't you there yesterday?" he answers
something, "well, anyway, Frankie was chasing me down the street with a
Winnie the Pooh bear, in his thick metal heeled boots, chasing me and it
was...it was actually quite...pitiful. But I love you Frankie." A girl
from the audience yells, " I love Frankie" with an accent on the "I"
And Tori's like, "What your name?" Carol, repeats, "I love Frankie" Tori
says" Ok, Sorry Carol, I didn't mean to invade your space."
"For you guys out on the lawn, I want you to know that that's where I always
sat at these gigs, so don't feel bad. But if you're cold, I'm going to play
a song that will warm you up. I always got warm on this song."
This is where I think she played Lovesong, it had the line, "I will always
love you" repeated several times.
She said, and I don't understand what this means, " I love Mark. I always
did" Then she went into Talula, which was very good live. I really enjoyed
this one and it was great how she was playing off the energy in the audience.
I have to say that this has to be the biggest disappoint of the show, not
because of Tori ofcourse but of the obnoxious people who kept on screaming
and hollering during this one. I was so mad, finally I yelled "Shut up"
They stopped for a little, then continued and I screamed again, "Can you
people shut up?" Then Tori said, "It's Ok guys" in the middle of singing a
line, which I took to mean, 'It's Ok, people who understand and respect what
this song is about, and fuck all the other people. Just ignore them because
there's nothing you can do about them.' I can't believe people can be so
disrespectful and so horrible, don't they know anything? I was really mad
and disappointed and I felt really bad for Tori. You know how she said on
Primetime that whenever she sings this song, she's trying to reach a place,
sometimes she gets there, other times she doesn't, well this time she most
certainly fucking did not. Sorry, Tori.
" I wish I could just take you and put you in my back pocket and take you
with me"
Then she played A Case of You. I'm not sure what she meant, but it was very
endearing. A Case of You was beautiful, i heard it in NY, but I didn't know
what it was then so it was a treat
From a personal email sent to me by MetroJoe82@aol.com
From a personal email sent to me by Gina (PezzAngel@aol.com)
and the Dew Drop Inn Tour
Caught A Lite Sneeze
Cornflake Girl (prefaced by the "toridance")
??Running Girl?? (I didn't recognize the song....)
Little Earthquakes
Crucify
Cloud on My Tongue
Precious Things
I Will Always Love You (on harpsichord)
Space Dog
Talula (tornado)
Me and A Gun
Mother
A Case of You
ENCORE:
In the Springtime of His Voodoo
Professional Widow (on harmonium)
Hey Jupiter (on harmonium)
From a personal email sent to me by Jaime Cser (mecser@fast.net)
I'm on Fire (with a verse of Icicle)
Caught a Light Sneeze
Cornflake Girl (Tori came down to the front of the stage and danced!!!!)
Butterfly
Little Earthquakes
Crucify
Cloud on my Tongue
Precious Things
Lovesong (Tori talked to the people in the grass telling them thats where she always
sat- and this was her favorite song to get warm too..)
Space Dog
Talula (tornado mix)
Me and a Gun (some rude fans kept yelling in the middle of the song and another
audience member yelled SHUT UP- Tori, in the middle of the song said its okay guys)
1st Encore
Mother
A Case of You
Springtime of his Voodoo
Professional Widow
Hey Jupiter
From a personal email sent to me by Alvin Alcid (aalcid@tir.com)
From a posting to the RDT mailing list by Kim (silverk@world2u.com)
From a posting to the rec.music.tori-amos newsgroup by Nesh (neshx@aol.com)
2.) I'm On Fire -- (is this a B-side or a cover?)
3.) CaLS (she had this cool projecter type thing where she showed ocean
currents behind her)
Here she said hi, and talked about how she got new shoes. They were black
and white striped-- sort of like a Zebra. But she said that there was no
way that she could wear the same shoes here that she wore in NY, so today
was like their wedding.
4.) Cornflake Girl (and she proceeded to do the dance)
After this song, she panted, "Never do the Cornflake Girl Dance with new
shoes!" ;)
I am not sure of the order for the rest, but here were the songs that she
played:
1.) She did a cover of a CURE song, "I Will Always Love You"
2.) Little Earthquakes (which came out amazing!)
3.) Crucify
4.) Mother
7.) Cloud on My Tongue
8.) Space Dog (she professed that she loved "Mork"
9.) Talula (torado) which came out *awesome*.
10.) Some song that I didn't know-- one of the lyrics was about a Red
Kitten?
11.) Springtime of His Vodoo
12.) Professional Widow on the harmonium
13.) hey Jupiter on the harmonium, which is what she ended with.
From a posting to the rec.music.tori-amos newsgroup by Brian (Brian994@ix.netcom.com)
#1: I LOVE YOU!!!
Tori: Thursday Night
#3: WOOHOO!!!!
#4: SHUT UP!!!
Tori: I'm still...up and driving , etc.
From a posting to the RDT mailing list by Mike (jharris@cybercomm.net)
==============================
(or, a glowing review of Tori's appearance at the Garden State Arts
Center in Holmdel, NJ on August 26th)
Happy Phantom
Cornflake Girl
Space Dog
Caught a Lite Sneeze
Honey
Talula (Tornado Album)
Tori's Performance In Wantagh New York, August 25
From a personal email sent to me by Lauren Charles (lacharle@ix.netcom.com)
From a personal email sent to me by James (jstirl@ix.netcom.com)
From a posting to the RDT mailing list by Eric with a 'C' (EricThelen@t-online.de)
"Oh, hi, how are you?"
I gave her the picture of her and myself that had been taken in Munich to sign.
"What was your name again?"
"I am Eric - with a 'c'."
She gave me a very nice signature which already made me happy.
"Do you remember Germany? We were hoping that you would be coming back in
September."
"Oh I really thought we were going back. I am sorry."
"Maybe next time. Have you ever played 'Alamo' live on stage?"
"No. But I will. Let me see - are you going to be there again tomorrow."
"Unfortunately not - I have to go back to Germany tomorrow."
"Well. I will try to do it for you tonight."
"Thank you. Bye bye."
"It is only such a shame that our friendship had to end."
"I think we both could use a friend to run to."
Tori's Performance In Providence Rhode Island, August 24
From a personal email sent to me by Ang Russo (Torichick@worldnet.att.net)
**********
***********
Tori's Performance In Greensboro North Carolina, August 22
From a personal email sent to me by Justin Doub (justind@nr.infi.net)
(Her Birthday Show!)
From some postings to the torinews mailing list by Patrick Varker (ptv@scm-metals.com)
From a personal account written by Toriphile Jason Hinson (the guy Tori sang Live To Tell for) and sent to me by way of Richard Handal
by Jason Hinson
From a posting to the rec.music.tori-amos newsgroup by miasma226@aol.com
*BQ/Horses (not much to say here, good)
*London Girls (instead of breathing the word cock she made a funny little
sound and touched her hoo-ha. She is so cute!!)
*Bells For Her (I love it on the harpsichord much better than the upright)
*Father Lucifer (lots of ad-libbing which I appreciated)
*Cornflake Girl (As soon as she was up and dancing, Caton stopped the
guitar for the surprise Happy Birthday Thing. The look on her face when
he stopped playing, before she knew what was going on was perfect. Her
face read, "Damn, I look like a big fool right now! Where the hell is my
music?! Then the cake came out...)
*Butterfly (one of my favorites...very nice)
*Little Earthquakes (great with Caton)
*Frog on My Toe (preceeded by a sweet story about her Poppa and missing
him and keeping his spirit with her)
*Caught a Lite Sneeze (we've all heard this version, but I still like it a
lot)
*Precious Things (this got REALLY violent. I am so impressed with the
different ways she interprets this song everytime I see it. This time
around there was the subtext of "oh, please". Sarcasm turned to
bitterness and anger. Not quite the exorcism that song once was....this
time it was a "look back in anger" Very nicely done. A liitle scary, but
that's part of the ride.
*Winter
*Talula (which she stopped and started a record of 5 times. Once to pull
one her Happy Birthday Balloons down that was shaped like a little man,
she played him like a puppet, like he was singing the intro)
* Me and a Gun (on PT LIve she said, about this song, sometimes she gets
there and sometimes not. I would like to know what she thought about this
night. I thought at moments, she was there! She was on her stomach
again, it was very moving. Other points in the song, I didn't feel this,
she was merely reciting words. But the times and phrases where it looked
like she was connected....it was chilling)
ENCORE
*Live to Tell (yes, the Madonna Tune. I loved it. She came out and said,
I'm going to try something I've never done before.(tell me this didn't
excite me). I figure, I've fucked up so bad, what can it hurt?" The song
was stunning. Not a big departure from Madonna's original, but beautiful.
The most dramatic part (I'm sure it was not done for drama, but it still
worked me) was when Tori snatched the sheet music off the piano and threw
it down stage.
*Baker Baker
ENCORE 2
*Space Dog (one of my very favorites!! Just cause...)
*Etienne(on harmonium. Very nice.)
From a posting to the RDT mailing list by Alan & Melissa (alan23@msn.com)
Horses
London Girls
Bells for Her
Father Lucifer (with snippets of Tubular Bells and Smalltown Boy)
Butterfly
Cornflake Girl (interrupted by Caton and the crew for flowers, a big balloon,
a card, and a cake)
Happy Birthday (Caton, crew, and audience)
Cornflake Girl
Little Earthquakes
Frog on My Toe
Winter
Precious Things
Caught A Lite Sneeze
Talula (Tornado Mix)
Me And A Gun
---------------------
Live to Tell
Baker Baker
---------------------
Spacedog
Etienne
Truly unforgettable...
From a posting to the rec.music.tori-amos newsgroup by RevSmiley ( revsmiley@aol.com)
Beauty Queen/ Horses
London Girls
-missed this one-
Father Lucifer
happy b-day
Cornflake Girl
-missed this one too sorry-
Little Earthquakes
Frog on my Toe
Winter
Precious Things
Caught a Lite Sneeze
Talula
Me and a Gun
encore 1:
Live to Tell
Baker,Baker
encore 2: Space Dog
Etinne (sp?)
From a personal email sent to me by Callie Stuhler (cystuhler@juno.com)
From a personal email sent to me by Casperben (Casperben@aol.com)
Tori's Performance In Charlotte North Carolina, August 21
From a personal email sent to me by the one and only Richard Handal (handal@access.digex.net)
==================================================================
Tori hit the stage at 9:19, left at 11:02
Steve Caton on Guitar indicated by +
Beauty Queen/Horses
Silent All These Years
Blood Roses
Little Amsterdam +
Cornflake Girl +
Past the Mission +
Little Earthquakes +
Take to the Sky
Mother
Crucify
Caught a Lite Sneeze +
Talula + (with much backing tape tracks)
Me and a Gun
************
Let it Be (Beatles)
Mary
************
Pretty Good Year +
Angie
Hey Jupiter + (Tori plays Harmonium organ)
From a personal email sent to me by Andrea N. Ross (aross@charlotte.infi.net)
From a personal email sent to me by