Tori Fans Dew Drop Inn - May 1996

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She also threw in a few lines of "Ring My Bell" in there somewhere, stopping with a grimace and a "blech".... *grin*

When she played "Daniel", my husband of same name (who doesn't like the song much) grimaced, but said after that she did the song more justoce than even Elton John. From him, that's quite a compliment. =)

Now then, I saw you... yes, _you_ - with the suspicious tape recorder-like bulge under your jacket. =) I will trade or pay for a copy.

Seriously, if anyone has a copy of this show or the May 27 (Monday) Toronto show (or the Tuesday late show, for that matter), and you feel exraordinarily generous, please mail or contact me! I have a few interesting tidbits to trade. =)

Hi Mike, I just finished briefly going through your Tori Amos page, it is excellent. I was at her May 28th concert in Toronto and want to tell you a little story about it (bear with me). First of all I'm from Cape Breton, N.S., Canada; a far distance from Toronto. I'm taking summer courses in Halifax and going to the concert meant missing 2 classes out of 12, but I was willing to make that sacrifice for Tori. I set off for Toronto (by myself, first time on a plane and out of the province) with the sole purpose of seeing Tori at Massey Hall (and visiting my friend). She didn't know how to get there and asked a guy from home (notorious for giving out bull) for directions there; and I asked her if she was sure he knew what he was talking about and she said yes because he had just gone to a concert there. The night of the concert we were running a little late (I would have left hours early, but...) and when we got off where the guy had told us, we realized we were no where near Massey Hall, I was really starting to panic and was ready to kill the direction guy. I didn't think Tori would have an opening act, but my friend tried to calm me down by telling me she would.

When we finally got to Massey Hall (almost in tears), forty minutes late, we could hear music playing... it was Tori. We started running to where our seats were and had to wait until applause. We ended up standing on this thing because our seats were so bad, but as soon as Tori started to play everything left my mind and I was on the verge of tears again, but this time tears of joy because her music was so touching- it was "Case of You" which I love anyway because it takes me to a place in my mind where I am completely happy. The concert was amazing (this is my reason for writing, I thought you'd like to know about it), especially "Precious Things" and "Talula". She told the story about Marianne; it makes the song more real. During "Precious Things" she let the girl part really linger, showing her amazing vocal capabilities and giving me the goosebumps. "Happy Phantom" also stuck out in my mind, I don't know if it's how she sang it or because it's one of my favorites (I wanted it to be our grad song). "Talula" was amazing, between this and "Precious Things" my mind was completely blown and made the trip worth it. "Me and A Gun" left the crowd in utter and complete silence; this song live is really powerful, but somewhat depressing. She does a way better job on "Daniel" than Elton John or Wilson Phillips. Usually I'm not the type to scream or holler, but I did at this concert, especially when it came to trying to get her to come back out. I desperately wanted to go to the second show, but my friend wouldn't go for it, I'm the biggest Tori fan around (Nova Scotia anyway). I hope I didn't bore you to death and would like to know if you got my mail (Usually I'm not this long winded :)).

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Torrid Amos

Tori delivers a hypnotic show

By JANE STEVENSON

Tori Amos caught "a big loan from the girl zone," to quote her current hit, Caught A Lite Sneeze. And then some.

The flaming-haired, otherworldly singer-pianist had a large contingent of squealing, shrieking female fans - ranging in age from teenagers to twentysomethings - in the audience for her nearly sold-out show at Massey Hall last night.

And when one of them screamed out, "Nice shoes!" just three songs into the concert, the blue-high-heel-wearing Amos replied: "No matter what they say girls, go shopping, it does help. And who knows guys, maybe you should hang them up on the wall and drink from them."

To the uninitiated, her relationship advice may have seemed more than just a little strange.

As the oddly hypnotic evening progressed, however, even first-time concertgoers would have had a hard time not getting caught up in Tori's highly theatrical world of dramatic music and lights, vivid images and color.

But in the end, it was Amos' sheer talent that could win over even the most cynical audience.

Seated in the middle of the stage and flanked by a piano and harpsichord, Amos turned her attention to both instruments throughout the night.

She began, spread-eagled on a piano stool, playing Beauty Queen and Horses off her new album, Boys For Pele. Behind her, hundreds of little white lights twinkled on a sheer curtain.

Then Amos changed over to harpsichord for Blood Roses. "I'm just learning her," Amos said, strapping on headphones. "We're in this together."

But the classically-trained child prodigy had no difficulties playing - or singing, for that matter - backed up on several songs by her longtime guitarist, who made rather unguitair-like noises both on acoustic and electric instruments.

Meanwhile, the stylized song presentation appeared all-important to Amos, as ever-changing colored lights swirled around her and a triangular screen above her projected everything from fast-moving snowflakes to black and white footage of vintage airplanes.

She played fan favorites Leather, Cornflake Girl, Precious Things, and the harrowing a capella number Me And A Gun (which details her actual rape).

Amos even trotted out a few covers. First Leonard Cohen's Famous Blue Raincoat, then Somewhere Over The Rainbow for her first encore.

And as she gazed out into the audience singing, "Birds fly over the rainbow, why then oh why can't I?" it seemed as if she really wanted a good answer to that question.

There are still tickets available for tonight's two performances at 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. Flaky image aside, hers is a night of music you won't soon forget.

SUN RATING: 4 OUT OF 5

Sultry Amos underwhelms Massey faithful

By STEPHEN KNIGHT

It's a good thing Myra Ellen Amos got booted out of Baltimore's prestigious Peabody Conservatory of Music.

If not, the world might never have got to know Tori Amos, the eclectic red-haired waif who belts out a hybrid of pop and piano that is enjoying happy results with both critics and cash registers.

Amos, 32, was in Toronto Monday night for the first of three shows in two nights at Massey Hall, and her performance, while riveting, was less than inspiring.

The North Carolina native - who now resides in England - began the show with Beauty Queen/Horses from her latest CD, Boys for Pele, a reference to the Hawaiian god of creation and destruction who is honored by having young boys thrown into volcanoes.

Amos, clad in black tight-fitting tuxedo slacks, teal pumps and a cutoff vest, was every bit the sultry piano diva. Her body language, mostly writhing on or around her piano stool, was exciting for the crowd, especially during Blood Roses, but she wasn't giving away much conversationally.

In a glorious three-tiered, 102-year-old venue made for intimacy between artist and audience, the best between-song banter Amos could muster was, "Girls, if you have a broken heart, go shopping. It really does help."

For most of the 19-song set, Amos was alone on the stage, nestled between her black grand piano and a harpsichord.

The highlight of Amos' set - and the evening - came during Caught a Lite Sneeze. After some hypnotic harpsichord, Amos then used her piano as a drum, beating on it while wailing the final words. "Boys on my right side/Boys in the middle and you're not here/boys in their dresses/ and you're not here/I need a big loan from the girl zone." Amos' voice was at its angelic, raspy best, fusing innocence and eroticism in a disturbing, but moving, mix.

For her megahit Cornflake Girl, Amos was joined by guitarist Steve Caton. A rapt crowd of about 2,700 went wild at its conclusion.

Amos' did not perform her first big single, 1991's Crucify, off her debut CD, Little Earthquakes, which clearly disappointed a few Toriphiles who were yelling from the rafters for it.

She made up for the omission by playing a raucous version of Talula, one of the funkier tunes in Amos' often melancholy three-CD repertoire. The piped-in drums were a minor irritant for such a rhythmic song.

Amos' crew of mostly twentysomething fans gave her two encores, the first of which contained a cover of Somewhere Over the Rainbow that sounded remarkably like Kate Bush. The Bush comparisons are inevitable, but there is an edge, an unpredictability, to Amos that is not apparent in Bush. Tori Amos is what Kate Bush would become if the latter were under a full moon.

Amos' second encore consisted of Tear In Your Hand, Silent All These Years and the plaintive, but catchy Hey, Jupiter.

Amos will probably get it right the second time around.

I really enjoyed the show, as did my friend Shanan who's not a Toriphile. Tori did not dissapoint, playing almost all the songs I'd hoped for. Take to the sky, Putting the Damage On, Donut Song, Famous Blue Raincoat... the only ones I really wish she'd have played where Winter, Yes Anasthasia and Honey. But I won't dwell, because she'd have to play five or six hours to give me all the songs I want to hear.

Me and A Gun... you really feel that song hearing it live like that. The bastard sitting beside me was whispering to his girlfriend but I quickly put an end to that...

...I'm just happy. Tori has a tendency to do that.

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Just got back from the London, Ontario show... it was great!!!! I was afraid after reading so many postings complaining about the audiences, but the London audience was great. No one interrupted the songs, and people cheered like crazy between them. If we could have only gotten rid of the couple in front of me that should have been in a hotel room and not at a Tori concert, everything would have been perfect!! These are the songs I remember: (not in order)

I think there were more I just can't think of them now. it's bedtime... I've been driving for five hours to get home.

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From a posting to the RDT mailing list by "she listens like her head's on fire.." (My vote for most unique net name!)

unlurking again to share my first ever tori amos concert. I've been listening to her ever since Little Earthquakes but always missed seeing her in concert...until last night. :-)

from what I can remember of the set list (by order of album..can't remember the song order):

the highlights for me have to have been when she played Honey (one of my favorite b-sides) and Landslide (!!!I've loved this song for such a long time and it was such a wonderful surprise). Also..marianne and not the red baron; two songs I love but didn't expect her to play. Blood Roses was even better done just with the harpsichord and the rest of the concert was sublime. Her voice conveys such emotion it sent chills down my arms at times.

There were a few songs I didn't recognize though I thought one might be She's leaving home (by the beatles? I recognize the lyrics more so than the actual song) and another song that she said she used to listen to when she was a child.

I was fortunate enough to get to see her afterwards by a happy accident. I cut through a side street to catch a bus and found the exit from the theater that she was going to be coming out of. :-) so I got to see her in person, shake her hand and thank her for her music. I wish I could have offered more. She was really sweet in person, hugging people and talking to them. I still can't believe I saw her in the flesh up close. :-)

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About me: 27 yr old, Technical Recruiter from Clinton, MA. with deep appreciation for the Goddess!

And the show begins....

She comes out during the preacher man song....

(some guy screams.. I LOVE YOU TORI.. She reply's "That's nice" in a really sarcastic way.. as if to say 'get some new material man!')

Encores:

(people were yelling out requests and she said "Naaa. I can't just bring them out if they don't want to come. This is the one that's coming)

And then I sat there.. waiting for her to come back... still waiting... lights are turning on now... still waiting.... piano is being taken away... STILL WAITING... Now my boyfriend is getting concerned. I couldn't believe it was over.. I just didn't want it to end. And how could it end.. No "Hey Jupiter" No more groovy covers or b-sides. I was PRAYING for Icicle, Thank You and/or Lovesong or Songbird" ANYTHING more!!!

(Webmaster Note: Tori must have really been tired and skipped the second encore. According to the written set list for the night, the second encore was to consist of Father Lucifer, Butterfly, and Hey Jupiter.)

Willie Porter did not open, as we had heard. My best guess is that Tori decided she was working under a deadline and very few people in the audience wanted to see Willie instead of her.

She opened the concert with a bassy vamp, then went into an upper-body pendulum of Beauty Queen. This, of course, segued into a thrilling Horses, adding notes that rarely exist into the incredible solos. (I mean this literally - Bosendorfers have 4 extra bass keys that most pianos don't have) She followed this with a slow, languous Happy Phantom, with the first extended Woo-hoos of the evening.

From here on, my grip of the show's order is a little shaky, but I'll do my best to keep it in general sequence.

I believe she next played Here in My Head, explaining beforehand that "this song always gets me in trouble." After this came the extremely rare song Caught a Lite Sneeze. I had thought this would almost be a low point of the show, having heard it so much. It turned to be surprisingly exciting, due to some funky background synthing (the only tracks of the night) and echo effects on her voice. In the chorus after the "Right on time" verse, she sang accompanied only by her own makeshift drumset - the piano bench, her legs, various sides of the Bossie, alternating rhythms and striking techniques as if they were a set of congos.

After that, she told a story about her 11th birthday party. Her father asked what kind of cake was her first choice. Chocolate cake, she replied unhesitantly. Her 2nd choice? Coconut cake. And, when pressed for a 3rd choice, she asked for Bunt cake with strawberries. She got nutcake. "I fucking hate nutcake" were her exact words. This jumped into Cornflake Girl.

She prefaced Doughnut Song with the background "You can tell me" chorus, which I immediately recognized because it is one of the few harmonies I can almost sing correctly, and thus the part I sing when I listen to that song. The sorrowful venom in "too many able fires" had my hand twicthing uncontrollably.

She explained a bit about Marianne before she played it, without actually mentioning the song. It's about a girl she knew in 7th grade, who "made everyone see things from a.. different light." "Everybody really liked her, and I didn't believe it when they said..." Here the story ended and the song began, an almost unnoticable change that made it seem all the more real and personal.

After Marianne came my favorite song of the entire show, Mother. This was the first Tori song I really heard and listened to, a fact I had forgotten until last night. The sudden changeovers from whisper to wail, though common in the show, were perfect here. There really isn't any way to adequately describe how good I thought it was.

After this came another highlight, In the Springtime... It included the closest thing to a solo for Caton, the former YKTR guitarist and Tori's collaborator on UtP and LE, in a minor-third laden twinge-fest between verses. Somewhere around here came Spacedog, the other song in which Caton's talent and good selection of fuzz-boxes was obvious. His background noise, listed as "Something" in the UtP liner notes, took the forefront when it came in after the first verse, but soon receded to a backbeat for Tori's jazzy style.

Not the Red Baron was accompanied by a triangle video screen with footage of WW1 era plane squadrons taking off and the audio heard on the CD, only here it ran through the whole song, but slightly more intelligible. She also played one song I didn't recognize, possibly called Still on My Feet.

Me and a Gun brought the audience to near-complete silence, with the exception of one MTVish shriek during a lull (why DO these people come?). This was, of course, one of the most emotionally tense songs of the set. It was followed by a whirlwind Precious Things, with the now-common GIRRRRRRRRL bassy vocal chord. Due to those same shrieking fans after she finished that, I missed most of the following solo, but what I heard was amazing. Anyway, this ended the first set.

The first encore consisted of Tori's rendition of Fleetwood Mac's best, and one of Smashing Pumpkins' best, Landslide. Although I prefer their guitar work better, Tori's voice lends so much more to "I'm afraid of changing." She then played what was, to me at least, the biggest surprise of the evening: a low harpsichord whirl of Bells for Her at nearly double the normal speed. I had never even thought of it played or song in this heated way, but I think I like it better.

The second encore came on with Tear in My Hand. This was what Chris most wanted to hear, and he was virtually crying in joy by the end of it. After it came the closing Hey Jupiter, on her new organ. I didn't particularly like its sound, a little too blurry and accordion-like for my tastes. Still, I have nothing to complain about. All in all, it was the single most incredible show I've seen in my life, and definite encouragement to improve the horrid Little Earthquake sheet music arrangements.

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I'm glad to say that the first Boston show much much cooler than the Springfield show that I went to last Friday. For one thing, the audience actually didn't cheer as much in random quiet moments. However, the main reason, at least for me, was the beautiful Wang Center. Wow! As Willy Porter said, "This is the most beautiful room I've ever played in in my life." I guess that's something, considering that he's toured with Tori and formerly with the Cranberries. Anyways, this concert was mostly a Boys For Pele-fest, but it was still really kewl!...

A few thoughts on the concert: Space Dog sounded really good, especially with Steve Caton on the guitar. Even Ann, who prefers hearing Tori alone, admitted that Caton made Space Dog sound better. Precious Things: GRRRRRRRRRRRRLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!! :) Talula rocked my world with its background track and all. Tori should play Talula at every concert. Somewhere Over the Rainbow was just gorgeous. I don't remember breathing through the entire song and the similarities between Judy Garland and Tori just made it that much more poignant. Professional Widow surprised me, especially on the Hammond Organ. The organ made the song slower and darker and more goth, which was just fine with me. I like anything that makes songs darker and eviler. ;) However, Hey Jupiter was a disappointment. It looks like Tori isn't quite used to the timing of the organ because notes would come out later than Tori would sing the next note and some of the chords were a little crunchier than necessary for such a smooth song. Also, the organ was, IMO, too loud for that song and didn't have a delicate touch that the piano would have had. It shows even more since Tori is so good with the piano and harpsichord that she seems clumsy on the organ, where she can't use her intricate harmonies in the same fashion. Overall, this concert rocked, but it would have been nice to hear a couple of B-sides and a few more girls. Maybe the Boston show watchers today will get lucky and hear the girls that Tori keeps upstairs where nobody can see them.

Reviewingly,
Hyoun, who's being much too harsh on Tori's organ playing, since he did, after all, like the organ in Professional Widow

Last night was by far the best Tori concert I've gone to. Wow.

Whatever has been said about people worrying about Tori becoming more and more drained emotionally as time goes on... I'm not sure. She seemed to have more energy than usual --- which is saying a lot, given what her concerts are like. Yet it felt like she was giving it all to the audience and winding up drained in the end. I hope she's trying to take care of herself.

The set list:

(she didn't seem to enjoy it nearly as much as last time I saw her play it. *shrug*)

Introduces her harpsichord...went something like "this is my new friend. She has seven guys taking care of her, bringing her blankets, margaritias, anyting anyone could want..she's 300 years old, so don't you girls worry about aging too much"

(this was *amazing*. drool.)

(Steve was playing these weird little sounds on the guitar to accompany her. She also played a verse in the middle that I didn't recognize at all... anyone else who was there get any of it?? )

Introduces Steve Caton (as Caton) to the audience, sounds kind of embarrassed to say they were in YKTR together...

This was much much much much better than the backing track version. WOW. They had a lot of fun with it.

(She sung the lyrics that you can hear if you listen carefully to the album, too, like people have mentioned before... I started crying at the "happy for you / but I am sure that I hate you line." It's kind of funny... I went and watched Seth and Amy get married last weekend. I've been "over" this for nearly four years now, and I love them both and was happy to see them married, yet it was amazing how quickly I could go back to reliving it from the emotion in her voice.)

(Again, they had sooooooo much fun, and in a lot of places it sounded nothing like the recorded version. whee.)

(the audience loved it)

A brief talk to the audience..."Girls, do you know when you keep going and doing something... and I don't mean like chocolate cake.. that you know is bad for you?" (someone in the audience says men...) "Well, men, women, whatever..." she goes on about this for a bit...into Putting the Damage On

(the GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRL is just getting longer and longer each time.)

(very different from the recorded version, pretty interesting)

(with the tornado mix lyrics at the beginning. I really really liked this.)

-----1st Encore

(slow, but pretty)

------2nd Encore

During the song they pulled out what we thought was the Bells for Her piano. Turned out to be an organ.

She said she's only tried this once before and she almost wound up with a brain aneurism. =) She had said earlier that someone asked her to play Professional Widow and she said she hadn't "learned" it yet - not sure what she meant - but that she could try to pull it off anyway. It was a very different version from the album, slower, a bit less chaotic, and on the organ. and she only did some of it... but it was cool.

They gave out roses afterwards and said they were from Tori and the Wang Center. It was really coooool. afterwards I went and waited for her to come out of the stage door. I touched her hand very briefly, but after she talked to about 2 people her security guy dragged her off to her limo and she waved one last time and got in.

Still, it was really amazing.

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The Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania show was the seventh I've seen so far on this tour, and as much as I see each of them as a distinct entity within a continuum, this one stood out clearly in my mind as being highly anomalous. What intangibles, or simply things running through Tori's mind and being may make one show one way and another one another way, I couldn't begin to say. Just the vagaries of the road, I suppose.

The concerts have more and more been reminding me of Grateful Dead shows, in that they are at once highly intellectual as well as emotional exercises, and are also communal get-togethers of like-minded travelers of a common road. And the interplay between Tori and Steve Caton is becoming much more of a true musical dialogue--the differences in this regard between concerts of even two weeks earlier being marked. This shows up most during what was once Steve Caton's guitar solo in In the Springtime of His Voodoo, but which has become much more a contrapuntal experience, with Tori providing accompaniment which complements, yet could stand alone and make its own musical sense. And it's fascinating to see the growth over even these short periods of time. This also holds true in the songs Tori performs alone.

The first, oh, third or so of this show was one of those harrowing deals with being totally in the moment--intense feeling pouring from the stage and into one's soul, with the listener being up on the mental balls of his feet. I was actually wondering if I was gonna make it through an entire concert of this. But I was loving every second of it. This is what music does when it's truly great--takes you from one second to the next to a different place, and leaves you a changed person at the end of it. Wow. A real life force.

It's certainly easy to understand, even from the audience, why Tori sees the songs as girls. They surely are vital, evolving, pulsing creatures. I love the company of girls, and, similarly, I love being in the company of such musical girls. I don't even care all that much for Losing My Religion as a song, but with the way Tori managed to so richly embody it in this show, it was having a profound effect on my psyche. And it was indeed haunting and beautiful. How many times had I heard Crucify before? How could she have *possibly* performed this song such that I would realize previously unplumbed depth of feeling and literal meaning from it? Astonishing.

But then, somewhere around Doughnut Song, all the magic was lost. Gone. Where did it go? I have no idea. It simply wasn't there anymore. The concert became one of merely great music. Her performances from that point on were well-rendered, but they were just songs, not living beings.

Now, this is a highly subjective thing, obviously. I'd had a very spiritually and emotionally intense Saturday the day before, not as much sleep as I'd have liked that morning, and a 3 1/2 hour drive to get to Wilkes-Barre. Maybe I was just exhausted. I asked one of the people with whom I went to the show about this, and she indicated similar feelings, but I didn't discuss it in depth with her, so the detail I have provided here may seem foreign to her. And of course, your mileage may vary. :-)

Other anomalous things in this show were the lack of Voodoo and Hey Jupiter on the setlist. I'd think it was possible that Tori didn't play Hey Jupiter and left early because of the peculiarly misplaced and *loud* song request from the balcony near the end of Silent All These Years, but for the fact that the harpsichord was still in place on the stage, and the harmonium organ was still off to the side. So unless she'd planned a third encore for that show as she'd done for the April 28 show in D.C., that wouldn't have been the cause. Maybe she just didn't feel it was working anymore, so she gave us nearly an hour and three quarters and split.

The last things I want to note are that this was the most gorgeous theater I'd seen so far on this tour, and that Willy Porter totally killed! He was fabulous. And hysterically funny in the process. (This, without his bassist and drummer.) And although this venue seats but 1,800 people and the Theater at Madison Square Garden seats 6,000, the overall level of relaxation and intimacy Tori exuded at the 5/15 show in New York made her seem, by comparison, distracted during this show. She even said something to confirm this along the lines of, "Girls, you know those days when you feel your body isn't quite right, and it's probably just your brain? But you have a job to do, so you do something like smear Tiger Balm all over yourself just so it's something different, but it doesn't help, and you just end up smelling like the inside of a rugby player's jockstrap?"

Atlantic/eastwest really should make an entire full length CD of these nuggets from the stage. I'd buy it in a heartbeat. :-)

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This is the set list from the Syracuse concert on May 15th.
Beauty Queen/ Horses
Yes, Anastasia
Donut Song (She played something at the beginning of this that I am not
familiar with)

Tori talked about The Peabody. Someone screamed out Peabody and she asked
them if they were going there, they said "Yes" and Tori said she was so "Happy
for you"and said:"It should be better than 1968. I said John Lennon and they
said Who? I knew then I was in deep shit but since I was five I hung in
there." She went on the talk about a Jamician Boy who also went there. He
was sixteen and asked her to run away with her. She asked her father which
"wasn't a good idea on my part." She then played a song from the '60s but I
don't know what it is called.

Cornflake Girl
Little Earthquakes
Caught a Lite Sneeze
Here in My Head
Precious Things
Not the Red Baron
Pretty Good Year
Honey
Talula
Me and A Gun

Encore#1 Landslide (I think)
China

Encore #2 Past the Mission
Marianne
Hey Jupiter

Yes, Anastasia was a nice surprise along with Little Earthquakes. LE sounded
every good. I was surprised she played Here in my Head and Honey. Talula was
AWESOME!!! There was a bar next to the theatre. During Me and A Gun, you
could heard the band through the wall. This ruined the song and was very
annoying! Everyone was respectful during Me and A Gun though. Tori seemed to
be annoyed by the screaming at the end of each song. I think Tori played very
well and it was a wonderful concert. Willy Porter was good too which surprised
me a lot.
I also would like you to know that your web site is VERY helpful. I find out
a lot of information from it. It is hard to find current info. on Tori on the
web. Thank-you for sending so much time on your site.

Seeing Tori Amos in concert is sorta like eating a box of Cracker Jacks. The taste is sweet, consistent and always hits the spot, although you can never quite get enough. And there is always at least one moment when you discover the surprise. It might be a surprise that you always knew was there or something totally out of the ordinary like a great magic trick or an impromptu cover. It always makes the caramel corn that much more special.

Tori started the show as always - "Beauty Queen/Horses" and then immediately into "Yes Anastasia" She followed with "Blood Roses" and the "Doughnut Song" complete with minnows swimming in the background.

It was at this moment as Tori was preparing to signal Caton to start "Cornflake Girl" that an audience member yelled out something about the Peabody Institute. This caught Tori's attention she carried on a conversation with this person which led her into a story of when Tori herself was there. She remembered mentioning the name John Lennon and getting, "Who?" in reply. As Tori put it she knew she was in deep shit. She followed by saying that she wanted to run off with a Jamaican boy she met there. Given that she was five and he was sixteen this didn't exactly happen. She reminisced about a song this boy played for her. He would place her on the piano bench while he played. Tori demonstrated as she began a gorgeous Stylistics cover, "You Make Feel Brand New." Before we knew it, what may have been intended to be a short demonstration for story-telling purposes had suddenly become an impromptu cover - the Cracker Jack thing.

Tori finished and while the audience was still stunned signaled for Caton to start "Cornflake Girl." Tori then played a familiar rumble that I had never heard live - "Little Earthquakes" She kept Caton on stage and went through "Caught a Lite Sneeze." Tori then played the pretty b-side, "Here in My Head" followed by her recently typical "Precious Things" and "Red Baron" duo.

Although I was thankful for the earlier Peabody comment (given its result), I was disappointed to notice that the noise level and unintended disrespect had continually grown louder and more frequent. So loud that Tori was forced to kindly whisper, "I know you're there and I love you, too, but I need to hear myself sing" It even took repeating this line twice before she was able to get it past the noise. She then finished "Pretty Good Year"

Tori then dedicated "Honey" to someone who had traveled four hours to hear it. Of course my wife and I had travel five hours and would have loved to have heard "Flying Dutchman" but she didn't ask us. Certainly not disappointed, we listened to Tori start into the Tornado remix of "Talula". She finished the set with "Me and a Gun"

The first encore started with a entrancing cover of "Landslide" made mystical by Tori's angel-like appearance in the surreal green lighting. She finished the first encore with "China"

Encore two started with "Past the Mission" followed by "Marianne." Tori ended the show with her familiar pump organ, "Hey Jupiter"

When thinking back upon the Syracuse show, I will always remember it as the one with the over zealous and sometimes rude audience. A great show shadowed only by misplaced enthusiasm.

NOTE: This is a very special posting that Victoria gave me permission to put here because what Tori says to her after the show might be very helpful to others out there. This posting left me in tears ...

i just wanted to pass on the setlist for the syracuse, NY performance on the 18th, and what Tori said to me after the show. it is very special and i wanted you all to hear.

setlist:

(talk break during which a woman mentions a place (Jamaca maybe?) and tori goes into a story of how a black boy of 16 asked her to run away with her when she was five...she asked her father and he was very upset. she said that they boy sat her down on the edge of the piano bench and proceded to play a song to her...she played it in full, but i am unsure of the title...some of the lyrics were "only you" and you make me feel brand new" my mom will know for sure, so when i find out, ill let you know! -> now back to our regularly scheduled setlist!)

Encore:

Encore #2

now on to my story...i had heard that tori was gonna come out and meet with the people..so of course i wanted to be right there. I was right in front when they put up the barriers, so i got to talk to tori when she came over. i handed her the friendship bracelet i had made for her, (it was red and creme, cause of the vanilla and chilli peppers i told her) then i found myself holding her hand and telling her that there was a man who was very mean to me and that her music got me through. it looked like she had been shot. honestly...she was really concerned. she said 'are you taking care of this person here?" (patting me on my chest) "yes im trying to" "well, " She said, "are you getting through okay?" "well, it took a year on a couch to, but im doing better..." i stroked her cheek and kissed her hand and cried..alot.

It was then that something very wonderful happened.

Tori put her hand om my shoulder and pulled me into her arms. and as i was crying on her shoulder, she spoke into my ear. "you know, he can never take your soul. there can be scars, but he will never take your soul. your soul is yours. you take it back okay? you keep your soul."

i nodded into her shoulder and looked up at her. she squezzed me a bit and was gone. i know it may seem silly to a bunch of you...your'e probably saying "duh! who is this chick filling up my mailbox with crap!" however, this chick just recieved some very good advice that she knew all along, but never heard out loud. and never from her one and only hero. Yes, Miss Amos is a godess mother allright. and does she ever love her children.

It's 4:00AM and I just got back from seeing Tori play in Syracuse. The show was absolutely amazing. It was my first Tori Concert and I was in comnplete and total awe. As a result, I don't have the right order for the set list, but I think I remembered everything that she did play (how could I forget?) Is it just me or was this a pretty unique setlist for this tour (Two b-sides, two covers, LE and YA and 4 songs from utp)?

These are definitely not in anything close to the order she played them in, but this is everything, I'm pretty sure:

It was a great show. She interacted a lot with the audience and was very friendly. At the beginning, after Yes Anastasia she turned and faced everyone and said, "How ya Doin'" and a girl in the front yelled "Tori!" Tori said, "And what's your name," and the girl shouted, Lori" then Tori said "Nice to meet you Lori, but I have to go back to work now," and then played Blood Roses. She also told the really neat story before You make me feel brand new (who did this originally and has she been doing it on the tour before toninght because I don't rember seeing it mentioned). The audience was well behaved for the most part, but it got loud a couple of times--but she whispered things in the mic during the song intros like "I love you guys and I know you love me, but I have to be able to hear myself sing, but I love you." At least people were polite enough to keep quiet during me and a gun. Caught a Lite Sneeze is eerie in this arangment--alot of underlying tension that feels as though it's barely reigned in.

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Actions speak louder than words. Especially when the words are loud, constant and screamed at inappropriate times. I have noticed that Tori has been increasingly challenged by loud and often unruly audiences. The beauty of her show on Friday was that this audience was ready to listen rather than obstruct. It was obvious that Tori enjoyed the respect and was ready to give the kind of show she used to give - freely paced and pleasantly dynamic.

Tori opened as usual, "Beauty Queen/Horses" and into "Leather". "Leather" sounded as alive as ever. It is a song that, when performed live, is like a brand new piece - bright and full of energy. Tori then moved to the harpsichord for "Blood Roses" - a song that would resing itself in my head for the rest of the night.

She moved back to the piano for an intense and focused "Little Amsterdam". Point to Caton. Pretend to swim. Start "Cornflake Girl." A delightful three-step that Tori has added to most of her recent shows. Tori then moved into "Doughnut Song" and "Pretty Good Year" while maintaining a common somberness. Then came what I believe to be the delight of the evening. While candles burned on the backdrop, Tori gracefully gave the crowd "Let It Be."

Tori moved into "Mother", "Precious Things" and "Not the Red Baron" without incident. She then moved back to the harpsichord (temporarily) for "Caught A Lite Sneeze" which seems to take Tori to a strange place with bizarre reverb and distorted affect. Tori then played "Cloud on My Tongue" - a cool song that I hadn't heard in a while. As always Tori finished the set with "Me and a Gun." For the first time I heard something screamed from the audience that actually made sense. At the exact moment that followed the end of the song but preceded the beginning of applause, a lone voice uttered a sincere, "Thank You" - a thought we all shared.

Tori started the first encore with a peaceful song that sounded familiar but whose title was not evident until Tori sang it - "Twinkle." She finished the encore with "Winter."

Encore two started soon after with what would proved to be a great surprise. I now get the sense that this encore was Tori's gift to a well-behaved and yet enthralled audience. She started with a funky and jammin' "Voodoo" She then mentioned that her next song was one she used to play over and over on her record player when she was younger. She then played a song that although unfamiliar to me was captivating and melodic. I have been led to believe that it was a Rickie Lee Jones Song ("On Saturday Afternoons in 1963"). Tori then played the popular b-side, "Honey" and ended with "Song for Eric." We were not convinced that she was done until the house lights came up. The lights came up after what seemed to be a longer delay than normal for a show end. I must admit that I was somewhat disappointed that she wasn't coming back. However, the show ended up as one of the best I've seen - and for no particular reason, just two hours of Tori. The way I remembered her.

joe and i went to this show expecting it to be more like a usual torishow: smaller venue (about 2000), quieter crowd (hopefully), non-urban, therefore more experimental song-wise. but getting inside and seeing that we were the oldest people in the entire audience, and that the majority were under 21, put those thoughts of another constantly interrupted show back in mind...

much to our shock, the instant that tori hit the piano keys, the crowd quieted... into UTTER SILENCE! nearly the entire show was pin-drop quiet!

this was more like what we were used to!...a stunned, captivated audience. and tori fed off of the vibe all evening, putting on the BEST performance that i've experienced since seeing her for the first time years ago.

beauty queen was incredible. horses was incredible. the show started as she surely intended it to... a single note from silence, a melody growing gradually note by note, perfection segueing into horses.

leather was done quite teasingly, with a more sexy, flirtatious touch than previously. this made the honky-tonk section stand out even more. and to whip around to the harpsichord and start blood roses was an excellent contrast! and it was a nasty, wicked performance.

tori then asked if anyone sees frankie to tell him that she saw him running alongside her limo with a winnie the pooh and that she says sorry and thank you...

little amsterdam was rrrreeeeaaaalllll slow... a nice mix of ominous and sensual in her voice on this one. caton's playing was superb here.

doughnut song was very touchingly done, with a new intro.

mother came as a complete surprise!

precious things was not as grandstandingly done as in new york (she didn't grab her breasts this time).

cloud on my tongue totally shocked me. it's one of the songs from utp that i've always wanted to hear live...and it was fantatstic! the lighting guys were clueless as to what to do on this one! joe and i were talking to the crew before the show, admiring the mac 9500s running things. i asked them what they do when she just switches the songs around, since every song is timed for the lighting cues and then all stored on their computers. the guys said they just try to follow her manually. well it was obvious that this song caught them off guard!

let it be was another shock. she looked as if she was trying to get the audience to sing along, but they weren't going for it. i think they were kind of surprised that she'd play a beatle song. either that, or they'd never heard it before...

not the red baron was stunning. the intro was very prokofiev-ian in style, all dramatic, crashing chords. marcel's voice was mixed perfectly in, and her singing was heart-wrenching. all on a song that sits so unassumingly on the album.

cornflake girl was excellent!

pretty good year was prefaced with a variation of the story of greg, this time painting him as more of a loser. in effect she was intending the song as saying "get a life", and it came across that way tonight, angry and disdainful, but poignant as well. caton's cello-like effects were beatiful.

caught a lite sneeze blew me away. the intended effect switching from piano to harpsichord was acheived, as her voice faded from the p.a. and you could hear her sing un-aided by microphones for that few seconds... it sent chills! i want a recording of this version!

it was hard to believe that me and a gun was the most intense version i've heard... it was utterly gut-wrenching, as if everything was being re-lived again in those very moments. i've seen her perform the song almost a dozen times; in danbury i was not more than 10 feet from her as she sang it... and i'd say that it hasn't affected me anywhere near as much as it did in springfield. i couldn't applaud when she finished.

twinkle was a pleasant surprise as the first encore. again it worked as i'm sure she intended, as kind of a bookend with beauty queen. and again done in total silence.

winter was as gorgeous and touching as ever.

second time out, she and caton launched into voodoo. this was the only song that i thought was played better in new york, i think because the crowd was more boisterous there and the song almost calls for that.

she then started playing a small piano figure over and over. someone yelled for upside down and she said "b-sides are coming, but i gotta do this first", and she played a song i've never heard or heard of. the tag line was "years may go by". it was a beautiful little song, almost sounding as if written by a young tori. anyone have any idea what it was? a cover perhaps? (Webmaster NOTE: This was On Saturday Afternoons In 1963 by Rickie Lee Jones!)

and when i saw caton holding his acoustic guitar i thought of meth... and then they played honey... phenomenal is all i can say.

and then she took the microphone and sang song for eric a capella...

overrall performance: 11 on a scale of 10

the show last night was great. willy porter was fun (he's a rhymin' machine, as hyoun put it when he started improving for us). his guitar style kinda reminds me of ani difranco on a mellow day. ;)

there were, unfortunately, a depressingly large amount of obnoxious screamers there-- if i hear anyone say "tori, you're my goddess" or "i love you tori" ever again, someone is going to get hurt and it won't be me...grrrr. not to mention the annoying teenybopping girls in front of us who felt the need to stand up and dance and shriek and block our view and were too many rows ahead of us for us to grab 'em and sit them down. oh well. the one really nice call i heard from an audience member was a woman who called out very calmly "thank you" right after "me and a gun," which i thought was a much better response than anything else shouted out last night.

but enough of my ramblings, here's the set list:

_first encore_

_second encore_

so that's it. i don't think i left anything out. during little amsterdam and doughnut song she started doing some other stuff which was unfamiliar to me, and i don't really know whether to call them completely different songs or just tangents, cause she would eventually return back to what she'd been singing. steve caton is a good guitarist but i didn't think he really added much to the show... i miss the days when it was just tori and us and the instruments. yeah yeah, grumble grumble. we'll just have to see what it's like on tuesday in boston... :)

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Tori Amos offered up a show on Wednesday which turned out to be a bit of a departure from her other recent performances. Although she would play several of the "Amos Standards", her approach and song selection would prove to be a pleasant surprise.

The show started as any other with Beauty Queen/ Horses. Tori moved immediately into Yes Anastasia and then Caught a Lite Sneeze. The crowd was energetic, although sometimes they went slightly overboard. Most crowds have yet to realize that silence is as important a player in many Tori songs as the sounds themselves. Yelling and screaming at any quiet opportunity during several songs tended to diminish the complete experience.

Tori decided to speak much more with the audience on Wednesday. She mentioned that the show would be slightly different in that many of her songs have been "hogging" time and attention and that the others wanted out. Tori was not about to stand in the way. She immediately went into "Tear in Your Hand". Having Caton onstage, Tori pointed at him to start the new and improved "Cornflake Girl"

Tori then decided to bring the audience into the Dwarf Situation. She explained that several dwarfs had been held hostage for whom the ransom was a steep 10,000 Snickers. She was sad to inform us that Dopey had been killed. She encouraged a crew member, "Marcel" on stage. She explained that in memory of the tragic event, Marcel had decided to pay homage. Marcel entered stage left decked to the tilt as Snow White herself. A surprising appearance indeed.

Tori moved into a melodic "Pretty Good Year". Tori continued to fight off the numerous requests being shouted from every corner of the theater. She mentioned that "Take to the Sky" was not possible because she had hurt her hand. She also recognized that many audience members had made it to all three New York shows. She called out for "Frankie" who quickly replied. She asked him to be patient and trust her, which he agreed to do. Tori then started playing "Angie" and an incredible "Leather".

Tori followed with two songs that have appeared in many recent shows - Precious Things and Not the Red Baron. At this point, Tori started a story about a guy who made her tea for nine months. She asked unruly audience members to quiet down while she told the tale. She asked the guys in the audience if after nine months of making tea for someone they would remember how many sugar cubes to use. Setup complete, Tori worked her way into "Sugar"

Tori followed with the always energetic Tornado re-mix of Talula and immediately into Me and a Gun. This transition was very sudden and difficult at first, but the absolutely silent and mesmerized crowd patiently ate up each a cappella syllable.

Tori left the stage to a surprisingly quiet crowd that was either stunned by Me & a Gun, or lazily expected Tori to return without the need to encourage her. Thankfully she did return for Somewhere Over the Rainbow and Baker Baker. Before Baker, she mentioned as "Winter" was nearly chanted by the crowd, that winter was in the powder room and would be out soon. She left the stage, and soon after returned for what would be her final four New York songs of this leg.

As promised, Tori began the second encore with "Winter" played as beautifully as I've heard it. Tori then jumped into an incredibly enthusiastic Voodoo. Tori had called for the harpsichord to be taken away before Voodoo so I naturally expected Jupiter and the final song. I was wrong. Tori moved to the organ, looked far to her left and said, "Frankie, you've waited three nights for this..." She then barreled into an incredible "Professional Widow" which she played to its perfect completion. Tori then ended the show with her expected sign-off, Jupiter.

This show was as dynamic and free as Tori has been recently. She appeared loose, energetic, unrehearsed and magnificent. It is only every so often that Tori plays a show that seems as much a thrill for herself as the audience, and I am certainly grateful to have been a part.

I was so excited to finally see Tori sing live in person that when she started singing Beauty Queen i thought i was going to cry. I just teared up a little, tho. Pretty much every song she played i love, so i was really happy, especially since she played such a range of songs from the different albums, not focusing on BfP that heavily (7 of the 18 were from BfP). Although i would have been happy to hear lots from BfP, it was nice for me since i never got to see the tours for the previous albums. Her voice was wondrous for how strong and beautiful it was considering her touring schedule, as was her piano/harpsichord/harmonium playing, in which i detected not one wrong note.

About particular songs: all of the songs that Steve Caton played on were enhanced by his being a part of it, he really helped add that extra something on the songs that call out for it (such as Talula, which was done in the Tornado Mix style, CALS, and others that i can't remember right now). Tori used the harmonium for Professional Widow (!!!) and Hey Jupiter, and they were both wonderful in how they differed from the BfP versions. Actually, Professional Widow was *extremely* different from the record version in her pacing and also some words. I was wondering if anyone else who was at this performance knew whether she had slipped in vanother song in the middle of this and i just couldn't identify it or something? If so, please let me know by e-mail or posting; i'd greatly appreciate it. Somehow Tori managed to make Somewhere Over the Rainbow totally her own, which is what i love about her covers. People were the most excited over "Leather" (with people whisper-singing along, which was kinda annoying) and "Winter" (which people were thankfully hushed during) and Precious Things (Tori: "so you can make me cum..." Audience: "AAAAA!!!). Winter made me cry a little, just because it was so beautiful. Tori got really funky for Voodoo, doing a little dance at the beginning as Caton started things off. She didn't talk a whole lot, although she did tell us the story behind Sugar about how she didn't have much time to write this b-side and this guy who she "had a crush on" and had been making her tea for the past 9 months still didn't know how many lumps of sugar she took.

i must admit that i went to the show with great trepidation. knowing the size of the venue and the tenacity of tori's nyc fans brought fears of screaming alternateens to mind. fortunately it wasn't as bad as i'd expected...although periodic interruptions did occur, with tori handling most of them herself, and quite well at that. of course even tori couldn't get them to stay quiet...several times as she was telling a story (and she spoke quite a bit!) she'd stop and admonish someone for screaming out requests. even when she said "shut up i'm telling a story" they didn't stop!!!

a brief(!) rundown:

b queen/horses - began (of course) with screaming.... tori's hand motions to shut up got the audience quiet though and b queen was wonderful as was the segue into horses

anastasia was a shock to hear next and tori played a shorter version cutting some of the intro and repeats at the end

caught a lite sneeze was phenomenal! the counterpoint of the harsichord and caton's guitar was trance-inducing. kind of like an ambient version with all the swirly stuff and keyboard repetition. the change from piano back to harpsichord was unfortunatley marred by screaming.

tori then said that she realized that a lot of folks had been to all three shows and singled out a guy named frankie that had apparently made his presence known. she then announced that this show would feature lots of "girls that haven't made an appearance yet, since some of the others were hogging the spotlight"! and she went right into "tear in your hand"... it was a revelation of a performance and caton's guitar strumming worked very well indeed.

cornflake girl was more enjoyable than expected thanks to that infernal backing track having been canned! caton's playing was simple chords as a foundation for tori's piano embellishments, which pretty much followed the recorded version. i too, like woj, would like to hear her improvise a bit more on this song, but i wonder if maybe she feels that this is what was written and it was not meant to be for improvisation (as in a classical concerto where the soloist is given a "cadenza" on which to improvise). the way she and caton switched rhythms on the "rabbit" part was pretty cool, with tori taking the 6/8 over caton's straight four the first time around, and each doing the opposite at the reprise.

pgy, leather and precious things were perfunctory performances, with the "grrrrrl" being quite annoying. i thought i saw "y kant tori read" surface at that point!

at some point in here she mentioned that dopey the dwarf was dead, and related how in connecticut the light guys were holding him for ransom and the sound guys (who she said could barely put on their own socks) couldn't come up with the necessary 10,000 snickers bars for ransom... so they killed dopey! she then introduced marcel, who came onstage dressed as snow white! hysterical!

not the red baron was wonderful! her performance was much more moving than on bfp.

next was sugar, prefaced by the story of how "you girls know how it is... after nine months a guy should know that you take sugar in your tea...". the vocal on this was so different from what she's done before that the song was unrecognizable without the chorus of "sugar, he brings me sugar...". it was beautifully performed.

..as was angie, which was another surprise.

talula started wonderfully with tori singing the new "tornado" part a capella. and it continued great until the infernal backing track came in and ruined it. yuck. i was really bummed because i love that song and it sounded great with just harpsichord and guitar.

me and a gun was chilling as usual, but constantly interrupted by the coughing masses...

and when it was over most of the audience sat there waiting for the next number. it was strange, almost as if no one realized the show was over! no big applause or anything... very weird.

so she slinked back onstage and went right into "somewhere over the rainbow" which was nicely done. i like her whisper/breath style but it was used a little too much on this song. as she finished people were screaming out requests for "winter" and tori said "winter's backstage drinking a marguerita". this only made them scream more...

baker baker suffered the same thing. it was almost like she was really trying to get the crowd to hush by singing so quietly you could barely hear her...

this time she left and the crowd went wild. she came back on and did winter. fortunately the vision i had of 5000 people singing along didn't happen, and it was a memorable performance of the song.

voodoo got the crowd clapping along until tori's piano playing freaked out everyone's sense of rhythm! nice solo by caton here.

she then asked for frankie and told him that this next song was for him. she turned to the harmonium and started playing "professional widow". it was quite a shock! she sang the first verse and chorus, then switched to the first verse of "amazing grace". she then went into a vocal improv in which she was almost screaming about "you come and you come and you come over and over and over..." and went right into "give me peace, love, etc...". it was very intense and captivating.

she followed with a very moving interpretation of jupiter, again on the harmonium, and the show ended.

overrall i give this show an 8.5 for performance but a 3 for the crowd...

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OK, so I was running late, of course (missed my 6:00 train to the city) but I stopped to buy the $10 program anyway. I skipped buying a $25 tee shirt, as I already have a homemade "bootleg" tee of my own that I like just as much (which I was wearing). Therefore, I only caught part of Willie Porter opening for Tori Amos. I thought he sounded good! I'm also sorry that I was forced to climb over people in what I thought was my row, when really it wasn't, but hey, it was extremely dark! Then when I found my row, someone was in my seat! Sheesh! I wasn't having a good evening so far, but okay, that all changed after Tori came out on stage at 9:20 something. I was seated in the second section back from the stage, to the left, on the aisle (since that was the seat left empty in my row, and I was happy with the aisle!) I had a nice unobstructed view with my tiny-but-useful binoculars.

Tori sat on a small bench between her Bosey piano and the harpsichord (I never knew those things were so big!). She was wearing a pinkish-patterned jumpsuit and had her hair tied back in a ponytail. By the end of the show, it had mostly fallen out of the elastic, what with the way she hops up and down and throws her head back as she's playing.

As usual, she opened with Beauty Queen and Horses. She sounded excellent! Okay, let me say it now, it was a really great show, all the songs were great, and I won't keep saying how great each song was!! So it was ....

She mostly played the piano, but occasionally did use the harpsichord. During Caught A Lite Sneeze, she actually moved from the harpsichord to the piano, and back again to the harpie. I liked the sound of it, and it made the show more varied, I think.

Of course, people were always shouting out "I love you Tori!!" but there was this one guy who actually was trying to talk to her!! So finally Tori says, "Okay, so you wanna talk? Then, tell me your name." Apparently the guy was trying to request a certain song, but I'm not sure which one. But she responds to him "Okay, Frankie, I'll try ... but I'm not a jukebox"... or something to that effect. This was early in the show. Then later, right before she played Doughnut Song, some guy yells extremely loudly "I love you !" and Tori paused and asked "Frankie, is that you???" It was kind of comical. A similar event occurred when Tori was trying to play Winter, some girls kept yelling "I love you Tori!" so finally Tori whispers "I'm sure you do. I love you too but can I finish this song?" She was a good sport about it, but to most of us it was really just annoying how rude some people could be.

The only other little story I recall is about Tori saying "you know, it's like when you get married, they make you wear one of those "F***ing stupid, high bonnets? even though I've never been married..." ( i think she was referring to the tradition of making a bonnet at the bridal shower, for the bride-to-be to wear??) "Well, I'm wearing this jumpsuit, and it's falling apart! (she holds up this long piece of string) I knew I should have just worn my jeans!" (again this is from my memory, in my words)

I thought she was closing all the shows with Hey, Jupiter but this show was different... and I also think she cut it short, as I know the setlist from the night before was longer. It may have been due to the fact that it was already past 11:00 pm but I'm not sure.

Encore One:

Encore Two:

19. A Case of You (yes!!!) <--- maybe this is what "Frankie" requested?? It surprised me!

Of course the majority of songs were from the Boys for Pele album, but I thought she had a good varitey... I loved the covers that she chose to do, especially A Case of You.

All in all, a most excellent show, and I highly recommend seeing her on the Dew Drop Inn tour.

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Music Review: Tori Amos, Sharing Private Thoughts

By JON PARELES
c.1996 N.Y. Times News Service

NEW YORK - Tori Amos' concert on Monday night at the Theater at Madison Square Garden could almost have been one long song: a free-floating reverie set to classical piano arabesques. Her voice drifted through the ages of woman - girlish and creaky, innocent and jaded, whimsical and bitter, mournful and flirtatious - as she burbled a stream of memories and fantasies.

It was easy to imagine an adolescent girl, finished with practicing for her piano lesson, toying with keyboard patterns as she mused in a private sing-song. Ms. Amos has held onto her musings and turned them into a professional performance.

Her first solo album, ``Little Earthquakes'' (Atlantic) in 1992, won a fervent, largely female audience with songs about breaking away from Roman Catholicism and grappling with sex and thoughtless boys. The two albums that followed have grown more introverted, to the point of solipsism, while the music has let its vamps stretch out.

For her fans, Ms. Amos' voice carries so much emotion that it's convincing no matter what she's murmuring about. But to those outside the cult, Ms. Amos seems to be following her most self-indulgent impulses, using musical skill to shore up ever-increasing pretensions.

She walked onstage and waved to the full house like a gawky teen-ager. Then she sat straddling the corner of her piano bench, staring calmly into the audience. She used to writhe in that position, but on Monday she held back. Beyond her steady gaze, her most theatrical gesture was in ``Precious Things,'' as she clawed her way from her thighs to her breasts.

Her two-hour set was a meticulously controlled simulation of abandon, with every detail in place. The songs wandered through sexual episodes, Christian heresies, pop-culture references, tales of murder and nonsense syllables; her voice crooned and sobbed, turned breathy or broke into a harsh rasp. Yet her fingers were pecking out precise arpeggios and chords, a crisply patterned backdrop. She played most of the concert alone, on piano or harpsichord. Stephen Caton, who was the guitarist for Ms. Amos' onetime hard-rock group, Y Kant Tori Read, added textures and effects.

Ms. Amos' singing made her wispiest songs vivid, but she took no chances, saving her most direct and melodic songs for the end of the set.

``Me and a Gun,'' a raped woman's song from ``Little Earthquakes,'' was utterly harrowing. The encore that followed it was ``Over the Rainbow,'' sung as if it were a deathbed wish, nearly bereft of hope.

Ms. Amos doesn't need to be conventionally catchy, but when she has song structures and clear ideas, she can make them incandescent. Some private thoughts need work before going public.

okay, here's the setlist for the first new york city show:

as you can see, a pretty "typical" set, with no surprises aside from "professional widow" and "talula" finally coming out to play. in both cases, someone yelled very loudly for them and tori replied something to the effect of, "yeah, that's a good idea." she cut both short and segued them into the following song, but it was nice to hear them nonetheless.

i've already mentioned my joy in having steve caton on stage. he was a perfect addition. his guitar work is subtle, but adds many dimensions to tori's live sound that i nearly had heart attacks during the opening chords to "cornflake girl" and the crescendo of "pretty good year". never mind the so-mind-boggling-beautiful-it-was-painful fingerpicking in "honey" during the second new haven show. that one strum in "honey" slayed me - yow!

i also rather liked the light show. aside from the lights that everyone is complaining about (yeah, they are a little annoying, but i like the fact that the audience gets a little blinded since the artists are almost always incapable of seeing the audience), there are some nice backdrop light effects and a projector which shows film on a triangular screen at the back of the stage. films are often distracting, but in large theatres (such as the one at madison square garden and, to a certain extent, the palace in new haven) with relatively little stage activity, films can be a nice alternative to squinting at tori's tiny visage. the films are all very dreamy and make for a good visual focal point for listening to the music.

needless to say, tori was brilliant. ;)

A MANIC CONFESSION FROM TORI AMOS, by Letta Tayler

"We're ridin' the bull, guys! We're ridin' the bull!" Tori Amos cried to her fans at TheTheater at Madison Square Garden. Then she mounted her piano bench, tossed her red mane and took listeners on a riveting gallop through her private, tortured universe of sexual transgression, bloody sacrifice and religious doubt.

Performing solo for most of Monday evening on a harpsichord, Bosendorfer piano and organ that were clustered around a single bench, Amos wisely stripped her music of the pretentious horn and string arrangements that marked her latest album, "Boys for Pele," letting her commanding fingers and ethereal voice dominate the songs instead.

Amos' other body parts were at work as well. Dressed in a tiny blue top, sprayed-on black stretch pants and red spike heels [TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: the picture that ran with the article does not match this description], she pounced on her bench like a panther on its prey and spent most of the evening arching and writhing atop it, pausing only to switch instruments or to gulp down mouthfuls of water from a plastic bottle. Between her body language and her ability to deliver bizarre, fragmented lyrics in breathy squeals, Amos, at times, appeared to have descended from another galaxy.

But for the most part, Amos' machinations appeared less exhibitionist than confessional, underscoring both her desire to bare her soul to the world and the fact that as a classically trained child prodigy, she spent much of her life communicating with her piano rather than with other people.

"Look, I'm standing naked before you, don't you want more than my sex?" she sang in the slow, bluesy "Leather."

Judging from the roars of approval among listeners, the answer was yes.

Amos, whose father was a Methodist minister, walked on stage to thetaped strains of "Son of a Preacher Man" and immediately launched into the tingling "Beauty Queen" and the rippling "Horses" from "Boys for Pele."

Working through a mix of old and new songs, she caressed and pounded her keyboards, evoking at times the delicate patter of rain on a roof and at others the harshness of breaking glass. Her voice showed similar range, changing from little-girl whimper to silken cry to ravaged growl.

Steve Caton, who has performed with Amos since the 1980s, provided backup acoustic and electric guitar on some songs, but stayed both visually and sonically in the shadows.

Amos, who played before a psychedelic backdrop of flames, jelly beans and clouds, spent much of the night attacking patriarchal society and organized religion. But she also focused on sex, sacrifice and violence. One of the most powerful songs of the show was "Me and a Gun," her tense, detailed a cappella account of being raped. A recurring word in her songs was "blood."

The mostly young listeners -- some of whom wore T-shirts reading "Recovering Christian" on the front and "Tori Amos '96" on the back -- were rapt from the moment Amos came on stage. Earlier, the crowd's clamoring for Amos disrupted the opening act by funk-folk guitarist Willie Porter.

"We want Tori!" the audience yelled over Porter's intricate Appalachian picking.

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NOTE: Tori performed Crucify, Silent All These Years, Cornflake Girl, and Hey Jupiter, as well as answered questions from the crowd, during this in-store appearance. Steve Caton joined her for Cornflake Girl.

I just wanted to give my feedback about Tori's appearance at the Virgin Megastore in Times Square today. All I can say about it is WOW. What a woman she is! It was very intimate and personal, and along with playing five beautiful songs, she also answered countless questions posed by fans in the store and on the West Coast via telephone. It was really great, and I'm so glad that I went. Unfortunately, I was unable to get tickets for any of the shows at the Paramount this week.... so this was an excellent consolation. She is so well-spoken and presented herself so beautifully. I have always been a fan of her music, but had never previously had the opportunity to see her in person, and now that I have my respect and awe for her talent is greater than ever.

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Last night, I had the pleasure of seeing Tori Amos perform two shows at the Palace Theater in New Haven, CT. While the first show was good, **nothing** could have prepared me for just how incredibly, intensely amazing the second show was.

I was rather surprised by some of the song selections: it seems as though she's been doing "Crucify" as the second song forever, and to be honest I'd happily hear something else instead. And "Bells For Her" on harpsichord was definitely different. She did a lot of rearranging of it, and I think I need to hear it again before I can form a real opinion of the new version. "Father Lucifer" simply blew me away: she did all three bridges in consecutive order, not layered on top of one another like on the album, interspersed some bits of Mike Oldfield's theme to _The Exorcist_, and ended with the "run away turn away run away turn away run away" bit from Bronski Beat's "Smalltown Boy" (though that part, like the similarity to "Purple Rain" in "Hey Jupiter" may be officially unintentional). I can't adequately describe just how well all this worked -- just hope she performs it that way when you see her. :) And then she did "Space Dog". What can I say, the song rocks. It was great to have the wacky guitar in the background, too.

Steve Caton is an excellent addition, without question: his guitar textures add just enough to the songs while keeping Tori's music firmly in the fore- ground, and he knows her and her music well enough to be able to improvise along with whatever she's doing at the time (though she did manage to do a good job of faking out her light board operator on several occasions ;). It would be wonderful to see her add more musicians to her stage lineup: not a band per se, but a collection of instrumentalists who could come out and add whatever they could when appropriate -- perhaps a percussionist and a violin- ist and/or cellist.

Tori's voice, this early on in the tour, is in fine form. She's singing out more than on the record, and she never ceases to amaze me with her sheer vocal power. I hope she can keep it up, though -- that sort of thing can really do damage after a long period of time. The one vocal bit that bugged me was the long, drawn-out "girl" in "Precious Things", which when combined with its associated lighting effect has been brought down to the level of a stunt just to please the screaming high-schoolers who have gone nuts over it on the previous tours. It's obviously contrived, and unnecessary. Why sound like a foghorn when you don't have to? Anyway.

I was impressed by the audience: they were very vocal in their appreciation in between songs, and quieted down pretty quickly once the next song began. There were only a few outbursts, ranging from the amusing "Tori, I dreamed I was your cat!" to the most egregious of the entire night, a female shout of "I want you!" during the first line of "Me And A Gun" (Tori managed to silence the resulting angry murmur that swelled through the crowd with a simple motion of her hand, without skipping a beat).

Overall, the first show was good, but I was hoping to be more moved by it than I was. Tori seemed a bit down, and didn't talk at all save for a really bizarre preamble to "Bells For Her" that I didn't quite parse, and a quick introduction of "Caton", as she calls him. After it was over, as we made our way outside into the pouring rain to get in line to enter the building again for the second show (I really wish the theater had a more intelligent way of handling that) I found myself worrying that maybe the criticisms I've seen are right, maybe she has lost some of the honesty and intimacy that have made all of her live shows so special to me in the past. I remarked to one of the people I was with that she hadn't really been able to destroy me since she performed "Baker Baker" immediately following "Me And A Gun" at the Symphony Space, NY show at the beginning of the last tour. Gee, maybe I should make comments like that more often. 8)

Our seats were down in the orchestra this time, pretty much directly beneath where we'd been earlier in the evening. The crowd was certainly more raucous before the performance began, but as it turns out they were merely getting it out of their system early, thank the gods: they were even more respectful and appreciative than the first audience.

Are you ready for this set list?

I'm getting chills just typing the set list. I don't know what she did or ate or took or whatever in between shows, but a different Tori came out on stage the second time around. She had changed into a blue version of the jumpsuit thing she's wearing in the mattress photos and pulled her hair back into a ponytail, and she was totally into it and having a great time. She took a break from the proceedings to let us all in on a war Sound and Light were having involving 7 little plastic dwarf dolls, reading a ransom note which stated that if Light didn't get 10,000 frozen Snickers bars (king size ;) by 9:15 PM on May 11, "Dopey gets it". At that point two voices from the back of the theater yelled, "Tori! We've got ze dwarves!!!" This totally cracked her up, and she said, "Did you hear that, guys? You've all gotta help Sound out here, 'cause they're fucked" and then launched into "Little Amsterdam". :)

She and Caton jammed more on "Cornflake Girl" and especially during "In The Springtime of his Voodoo" (which she introduced by starting the keyboard vamp and declaring, "Girls, mount your bulls!"). I was in shock when I heard the first strains of "Upside Down", when "Little Earthquakes" began to follow it up the shock deepened, and when she turned to her harpsichord and said, "Some of you may know this one -- I used to listen to it really loud while driving down the freeway in L.A." and then launched into a HARPSICHORD VERSION OF THE CURE'S "LOVESONG", I went into another place, convinced the show couldn't get any better. Hah.

She had to go and play "Baker Baker" right after "Me And A Gun" again. Then completely blow her studio version of "Famous Blue Raincoat" completely out of the water. She left the stage to the first standing ovation of the evening, and came back with a sly grin on her face to pull "Mr. Zebra" and "London Girls" out of her bag. Caton came back onstage, and people started shouting requests: "Sugar", "Icicle", "Honey", "Professional Widow". Tori thought a moment and said, "Okay, while he's tuning I'll do this" and gave us "Icicle". At that point I thought, Nothing could make this show any more transcendent unless they did "Honey" or something, not noticing that Caton had an acoustic guitar in his hand.

"Honey" is my absolute favorite Tori song ever, even now. To hear it with the full musical accompaniment on acoustic guitar was absolute heaven, and reduced me to a quaking mess. When the song was done Tori turned to the pump organ, which her techies had expertly set up in place of the harpsichord behind her in the meantime, obviously ready to do "Hey Jupiter" again. Then she abruptly turned back and shooed Caton off the stage, who, surprised, shrugged and left with a smile and a wave for the enthusiastic audience. She started playing something on the organ that sounded eerily like bagpipes, and when she sang the first line of "Song For Eric" I just lost it. There she was, playing something that she only rarely performed even when she and Eric were together, something I never in a million years would have expected her to ever perform in public again. The first time I saw her perform "Me And A Gun", not 10 feet in front of me at the Iron Horse Music Hall at the beginning of her first tour, wasn't nearly as powerful as that. (I think sometimes it's not necessarily a good thing to know too much about an artist.)

Then it was over, yet another long, loud standing ovation and a few minutes to recover before making our way out, surrounded by people in a similar state who couldn't say anything that didn't start with something resembling "wow".

I know it would kill her, but god, she should do two shows a night more often. I don't know what it is about New Haven, but all of the shows of hers I've seen there have been something beyond words -- that one in particular. I sincerely believe that show was the best Tori show I have ever seen, period, and I hope as many other people as possible get to have a similar experience as the tour wears on. I have doubts that tomorrow's show in New York can even equal it, never mind surpass it, but hey, she's surprised me once already!

Having seen Tori Amos perform in another Palace Theater(Albany,NY) less than 24 hours prior, I have only one criticism when comparing the two shows. Tori's need to play two shows back to back in New Haven required the elimination of her opening act, Willy Porter. Willy's performance in Albany was not only stunning, it was a perfect precursor to the anticipated main event. New Haven lacked the set up and forced Tori to take the stage with a somewhat unsettled and terribly anxious crowd.

Tori entered with her usual "Son of a Preacher Man" fashion and not one bit too soon. Keeping an eye on my watch and knowing that another show needed to go on at 10PM, I was anxious for the show to start.

It turns out that Tori's set would be very similar to the Albany show, but still invigorating. Tori's voice was as strong and solid as ever. Her notes carried consistently and perfectly oftentimes for ten and more second intervals.

The shows highlights included a captivatingly funky "Crucify" and an equally slow and melodic "Me and a Gun". For whatever reason, her version of "Gun" during this show seemed longer, slower and more chilling than I have ever heard it. The song was unfortunately disturbed by an ill-timed scream of, "I want you, Tori".

Tori played her first eight songs according to the printed set list that I later saw at the main mixing board. It was after "Happy Phantom" that Tori decided to play what she wanted. As she said something to the effect of "I normally play according to a set list, but 'she' was coming and this was the point that the list falls apart". This change resulted in a haunting and obviously heart-felt "Putting the Damage On".

Tori ended the main set with a very pretty version of "Mother" prior to her standard "Me and a Gun". The encore set started with her tender whispering "Somewhere Over the Rainbow". "China" ended the two song first encore while "Space Dog" started the second. "Space Dog" had new life with Caton gracefully picking funked up, but subtle guitar licks. Tori called for the harpsichord to be removed. She skipped through "This Old Man" - a song that she has seemed to use to fill space (in this case while the harpsichord was replaced). Tori finished with her normal organ-pumped "Jupiter".

During the tumultuous applause that greeted her entrance, Tori Amos played a rapid but nearly inaudible piano figure; she waited until the audience quieted down before beginning the prelude to =Boys for Pele=, "Beauty Queen."

And the spell was cast. There's something extraordinarily primal about that little song, that one anchoring piano note from which everlengthening strands of vocal melody exfoliate. Genuinely consciousness-altering; the first of a couple of truly extraordinary moments.

Then as on the album she went into "Horses." And though it was a good performance, there was something antsy about it: she fussed over details, pointing up some things, underplaying others, and the lovely flow of the song became fitful. At the time I put it down to first hearing a live performance of a song I knew well from the studio version.

To my considerable ennui she then did "Crucify." Most of her fans love this song, but I've heard it and heard it, and besides she does it really slowly at this point in her career, and it must last close to six minutes. I fidgeted. "This is only the second verse?" "She's still in the bridge?" But I endured through it.

She then turned to the harpsichord for the first time, playing rapid Baroque-style figurations, and surprising me by singing "Bells for Her" (originally done, including on the last tour, on pinging prepared piano) to this accompaniment. I'd been hoping to hear this version, but it was so little what I expected that I didn't "get it," and I'll have to hear it again before I can tell whether the rewrite was successful or not.

The bravura "Precious Things" has been a live standout since her first tour, like a sturdy punchbowl that has lasted through many parties; but this time it slipped through her hands and shattered into fragments. It was practically deconstructed: it started extremely fast, and almost immediately lurched to a near-halt while she worried each bit like a separate scene to be performed. Most particularly the "every nice girl" line, where she habitually extends and growls the "grrrrrrl," but this time turned it into (I'm not joking) a =30-second= grandstanding, almost electronic-sounding grinding vocal sound (with disorienting overbright light behind her). A startling stunt, to be sure, but musically egregious.

I was excited when she brought out Steve Caton, her guitar player since =Y Kant Tori Read=, and he played the mandolin opening to "Cornflake Girl" on acoustic guitar. It's my favorite =Under the Pink= song, but even this go-round without the rhythm track to hold her down she didn't do much more with the piano part than play it as recorded; I keep hoping to hear her stretch out and solo a bit. It was just too literal, besides not being particularly energetic.

"Father Lucifer" was properly bright and springy to start, and then got increasingly more interesting: she did the three simultaneous bridges on the recording in series, and the recap was =completely= rewritten, with new accompaniment and vocal chanting, and it worked tremendously well.

The show troughed for a time at this point; "Doughnut Song" and "Putting the Damage On" from =BfP= sandwiched around "Pretty Good Year" from =UtP= were all nicely performed, but didn't excite me. "Happy Phantom" is another sprightly but well-worn =Little Earthquakes= tune, and "Not the Red Baron" is not the favorite =BfP= song.

But "Caught a Lite Sneeze" pretty much saved the show for me. Surprisingly, she didn't use a rhythm track, which I had thought essential to the song's appeal as the one real rocker on the new album; this transformed the song into almost a ballad with that rapid but harmonically slow harpsichord figuration. It worked very very well. She turned (a hair awkwardly) to the piano for the bridge, and as she hit the recap there came that moment which a friend had described to me so accurately (down to its emotional effect on him) and which I had therefore been waiting for...but =nothing could have prepared me= for actually experiencing that moment. She stopped playing the piano, and while continuing to sing "boys on my right side/boys on my left side" she began tapping out the rhythm with her knuckles, then hitting the high note as she turned between microphones (the note still clearly audible) back to the harpsichord.

No verbal description, whether dry or evocative, can account for a moment like this; I'm getting chills now remembering it. The instant she stopped playing I went =somewhere else=, and it wasn't because I was waiting for and expecting it; the experience itself took me by surprise and transported me quite involuntarily. It just confirms my feeling that there is real magic in the world, that music is magic, and that Tori Amos is one of the most powerful magicians alive.

The rest of the song passed in a blur for me.

Back to earth for "Mother," another sturdy but unexciting old =LE= song, and then a disgracefully audience-interrupted version of "Me and a Gun," strong and quiet and disturbing as usual. End set.

The encore began with a lovely version of "Over the Rainbow," continued with a really fun, energetic version of the quirky "Space Dog" from =UtP= (Caton playing wah-wah guitar), and an OK version of yet another old =LE= track, "China" (though it's always nice to hear the extra vocal melisma she's added to the second half of the chorus).

And yet another encore: the version of "This Old Man" from the first single, and the great "Hey Jupiter" played on the harmonium. I don't really like it that way as much as I like the piano version, so the show as a whole ended on a low ebb.

I was really ambivalent about the show; disappointed in the set list (she did six =LE= songs, which seemed too many, and seven =BfP= songs, which seemed too few, plus four from =UtP=, which seemed about right), a bit disappointed with some of the performances and some of the rewriting, emotionally devastated by the moments that really worked. And physically tired from a long weekend. And so I made a really bad decision: I had the option of staying for the second show to follow, but I wasn't sure I was up to the experience (and it was a considerable extra expense). I took the train back to NYC. By the accounts of my friends who stayed (and who agreed that the first show was good but not that good), the second show was absolutely spectacular, with a =much= more interesting playlist. I'm still really upset about it.

Highlights: Improvising on "The Doughnut Song." "This Old Man" was really great. And she did a great version of "Crucify." She wasn't very verbal, as reported from lots of recent shows-- she had one extended monologue before she played "Bells for Her" on the harpsicord (I liked the song better that way--wish she'd release a harpsicord version) and Caton kicked butt on Cornflake Girl. We heard a lot of songs she hasn't been playing much on this tour, which is kind of cool. It surprised me how much she drew from "Under the Pink."

If the person who yelled, "Tori, I dreamed I was your cat" is on this list, please identify yourself. That was the coolest thing anyone yelled all night. The woman who yelled "Tori, I want you during Me and a Gun" needs to get a brain, though. Afterwards a bunch of us went to Claire's restaurant down the street and worked on perfecting the "Tori wave"--that little two-handed wave she does before she leaves the stage.

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I was so lucky to have my brother hook me up with some presents before the concert. I got to attend the sound check before the concert. I was in the Second row and in the middle. She turned to the harpsichord and then played Bells For Her. Then she went to the Bosendorfer and Caton came out. Past the Mission started, but was abruptly stopped at the beginning of the second verse because something wasn't right. She thanked us for coming and then left. That was it? Well, I can't complain. I was only one of the thirty that got a personal concert.

Willy Porter came on. He's playing at the Tulip festival on Sunday.

Around 9:15, Tori finally came on.

She sounded really TIRED, I hope everything goes well on the rest of the tour

She started on "Thought we'd been through this, in 1919..."

*Tori turned to the harpsichord and commented on all the little things she got; squirt gun crocidile, snakes, etc.*

Steve Caton came on. She is one of the gooviest (yes, GROOViest) songs on this tour.

While Caton did his riff, Tori puit on some talcum powder.

*This one guy screamed something and Tori asked him his name. It happenned to be Greg (uh huh, foreshadowing). She asked him if he was a nerd and how she thought that nerds need a handbook. "How are they going to take anyone on a date?"*

Caton stayed on for this one. On the big chorus, "Heyeyeaheyeah...", Caton and the lights and Tori just railed the audience back. It was beautiful.

People started clapping their hands and you know that Tori changes , stops the tempo so that didn't last long.

*Tori talked about the girl that she loved...*

This is an absolutely beautiful song

Harsh growling "GRRL", you could tell that she was totally tired.

Caton came back on. On the last verse where she goes back to the harpsichord, it was totally silent in the audience. You could hear when she held onto "Big LOAN". The crowd roared as she continues.

Encore I:

I never heard this song befor. It was wonderful. I think if I hear it more that it'll be my new favorite cover. Thanks Fleetwood Mac.

Encore II:

I didn't get to see her this time, but I don't care. I saw her three times in two weeks. That's enough for now.

WEBMASTER NOTE: I agree completely with her in this posting!

i went to the show in Albany yesterday. tori was amazing (as usual)...

but the CROWD....
it just seemed like the Palace was filled with uncontrolable, mad, screaming air-heads and fuq-nuts! why is it that people feel the need to TALK in the middle of a song??? or try to SING ALONG??? i went to hear Tori sing... THAT'S IT.

and, near the end, some *intelligent* jack-en-ape yelled "Hey Tori, I've got something for ya!" stupid fuq.
though, i like Tori's response to the man's idiocy -> she spread opened her legs, stuck out her tongue and replied "Bring it on! Come on!"

why is it that people can't seem to control themselves? all i ask is for SILENCE when she starts to sing...or is that TOO MUCH TO ASK????

so PLEASE: if you're going to a concert soon, try to SHUT UP WHEN THE SINGING STARTS. AND TRY NOT TO 'HOOT` OR HOLLAR...because for those who TRULY love her.... you're fucking up the moment.

i'm not asking to start a flame war, so don't bother. i just want people to try and SHOW SOME FRIGGING RESPECT.

furiously,

cOrNfLaKe GrRrL **************************************
* who would have been more poetic in writing this, but*
* wants to make sure everyone can u-n-d-e-r-s-t-a-n-d *
* her meaning. *
*******************************************************

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Tonight, I was fortunate enough to attend Tori's show at the Whittemore Center Arena at the University of New Hampshire in Durham, NH. Luckily, I was able to score a seat about twenty rows from the stage, dead center.

A folk singer named Willie Porter opened up and was pretty good. He is a talented guitarist who has a good sense of humor and good at keeping a crowd with him. He improvised a song on the spot with suggestions from the audience and even covered "Babe, I Want You Back" by the Jackson Five, complete with a falsetto.

After playing about half of the second disc of the Led Zeppelin box set, the house lights dropped and out came Tori to "Son of a Preacher Man" by Dusty Springfield. (No relation to Rick!) The set went something like this:

Steve Caton, guitar virtuoso and very cool guy joined Tori on the next three.

First Encore:

Second Encore:

It was a phonomenal show, even by Tori standards, both musically and technically. The lighting was better than perfect. It really made Tori appear to be the magical woman that she is.

It was the last day of classes at the university and she told the crowd, "Wow! That's groovy! I promise to have a few margaritas for you all. Wait you have finals? FUCK! I'll guess I'll have to skip those margaritas. Just kidding!"

On a personal note, I and about fifty other Tori fans went around the back and got to meet and hug Tori. She even brought along Steve Caton, who is a great guy and has known Tori forever. He even gave his earring to a lucky fan!

By the way, Tori looks as good in person as she does on TV and in photos!

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I just got back from the Burlingon, VT show and all I cna say is WOW. It was incredible. It was by the far the best concert I've ever seen. I can't quite remember the order of the songs she played, but I do remember she was kidding around withthe audience about the reputation Burlington has as a big time pot town. Anway, this isn't in order really, but this is what I remember her playing:

That's all I can remeber now. I'm sure someone else will have written them down. She also played two songs I didn't recognize. The only disappointing thing about the show for me was that she didnt' play "Hey Jupiter," and I had noticed that she closed with it every night. Sigh.

This is irrelevent, but on my way home, I saw deer standing by the side of the road. It was kinda neat. I don't live in the boondocks either.

I'm all wired now. It was just SO good.

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I just got back to vancouver - I flew to Montreal to see my first Tori concert Last night. I have heard her live (On bootlegs, Radios, ect.) and seen her live (On TV), but NOTHING compares to being there - It was the most Amazing thing I had ever Seen.

The show was simply Magnificent - it was flawless... she came out to the song 'Son of a Preacher man' and she was awesome.... I found that this show was Far more powerfull than anything else I've ever seen her do Live! She had her Guitar player (caton) along with her - they sounded Awesome together. I had great seats - 1st row Balcony!! Ever word sent shivers down my spine - it was wonderfull....

For me, the hilights were Sugar (Cause I just LOVE it), Blood Roses (It was soooo intense!), Mother (I'd never heard her play it live Before!), ITSOHV (This was sooooo good live!), and her cover of elton johns 'Daniel' it was so beautiful.

About halfway into the show, she went to her Harpsichord, and said "This is one of my favorite songs (points to her heart) it really gets to me right here." and she played an amazing song (That I seemed to know from somewhere) that I didn't recognize the title or original artist - it had the words "I will always love you" in it alot - IT WAS NOT THE WHITNEY HOUSTON SONG!!! ....

I brought my 11 year old cousin with me, she loved the show, but the only song of tori's she knows is Flying Dutchman (Cause we played that song for some thing...) and she kept asking if tori would play it, and I didn't think she would - but right at the end she played it!!! We were both very excited.

Well, it was a hell of a show, and I get to see it all over again in Vancouver on July 19th!!!! I bought a tour book and a pendant too!

Her opening act was a guy called Willie Porter , who played five songs , including an incredible imitation of Micheal Jackson in his early years "when he still had his original hair and face" was what he called it. He played for 45 minutes straight , and had the crowd totally pumped for Tori's arrival...

Tori took the stage at 810 pm to a standing ovation... 2000 adoring fans went berserk as she opened with the Beauty Queen/Horses combo... she played an exhaustive 2 and a half hour show , ending around 1030... the crowd was sweltering from the temperature inside of Theatre St. Denis but still managed to cheer her into 2 long encores...

She didn't do as much talking as she has in the past , but made up for it by playing an astonishing 22 songs , some of which lasted close to 10 minutes...

among the many , notable were her version of Losing My Religion , and Somewhere Over the Rainbow...

After the concert , me and my friend Coeli went and got to meet Tori in person in the parking lot by her busses... for those who havent met her yet , she is very interested in everything her fans have to say , spending maybe 30 minutes with the 20 or so of us there! She was funny and sweet , and i got to give her a giant bearhug!!!! And for those who have always thought it but never had the proof , yes that gorgeous red hair smells GREAT!!!!

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I attended last night's late show at the Tower Theater in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The set list was as follows (and contains a great rare extra during the second encore!)

(talked with audience about "The Hobbit" of all things)

Steve Caton her guitarist came out for this one...she introduced him by saying "this is my buddy, caton!" you had to be there to see how cute it was. as he sat down and got himself situated, she flung her leg up on top of the Bosey and said "hey, caton, check out my new boots!!" she was just so damn cute.

1st ENCORE:

2nd ENCORE:

(the original set list had "Honey" listed here, but she didn't play that and played "tear" and "island" instead)

She was seated at the organ and was about to start Hey Jupiter, in fact she had already played the first few notes. Then someone in the audience shouted "Cool On Your Island!" and she said "oh, yeah...ok" almost as if she had completely intended to play it but had forgotten. So she did that one and then without so much as a pause she began "no one's picking up the phone..."

it was an amazing experience.

Well, I got into the concert, got my tour shirt, and sat down. There wasn't an opening act because it was so late.

Tori came out once again to "son of a preacher man"

*She talks about how night shows are a lot different than the normal 7:30 shows. She says it makes everyone feel like: and the she goes into "Riders On the Storm" by the Doors. The crowd went wild.*

*She asked if we knew the next song: I'm so stupid! I didn't know it. It was about getting tickets for Baltimore. It also talked about "when you're in Paris.." or something like that. If anyone knows what the song could be, please email me. It's not Baltimore, but I think it could be Landslide or some older b side. Sorry*

*While she rubbed some talcum powder on her hands, people were screaming some requests. "Oh, don't worry," she said. "Some of the girls are at the bar drinkin' margaritas and we'll see which of them come up. Some of 'em are nerds too, and I like nerds."*

*Then she went into the story about Doughnut Song and after she talked about Guiness I screamed, "I have chardonnay for you, Tori!"
"You do? Pass it up!!" I couldn't pass it up because were not allowed ot have alcohol. I'll tell you more later.*

*After Me and A Gun, I ran out to get the chardonnay, but here's the encore list*

Encore I:

Encore II:

After the show, Tori finally came out. I got the chardonnay to her and eyes totally lit up!! "Guys, we got chardonnay!!" Another fun night with Tori Amos. See you later.

here is a quick review of tori's first performance friday may 3 in philadelphia. i also saw her on wednesday night, but she seemed tired and also annoyed by the rudeness of the crowd. i did meet her afterwards though, (my third time!) and i gave her a fairy necklace i had. friday's show was infinitely better. tori was full of energy and very talkative with the much more polite crowd.

here she mentioned that someone who she went to high school with was in the audience. she talked about how in high school she always fell for the "jock" types, but now likes the "physics nerds". she did cute impressions of both. "these nerds could put bruce willis to shame, if you know what i mean."

then tori started to talk about all of the letters from "nerds" that she recieves. somebody yelled out "GREG?", and tori said that everywhere she goes people try to convince her that they are the greg who wrote her that famous letter (greg he writes letters, and burns his cd's). "but i've got his self portrait, so i'll know him when i see him."

she paused and said," you'll never guess what the next song is. i haven't played it in over a year." people started to yell songs out for a few seconds. finally someone said "mother", and tori began to play.

i can't remember why, but here tori started to talk about kids. "i love kids...well, some of them." then she did a great impression of a little british brat-"'mummy, i don't like that. i want one of those mummy.' ya little fuckin..." this got a huge reaction from the crowd. it was hilarious.

tori then started to talk about christmas time with her family. she started to play "away in a manger", mocking her church service. she said that during christmas service, she stood next to her father and he asked her why she wouldn't sing along. "i just finished a fucking 80 city tour, this is NOT inspiring me." she explained that there was just something about the song that didn't seem right to her. so, she sat down and started to write new lyrics on the back of her church bulletin. "we both know it was a girl back in bethelehem."

the crowd erupted. tori smiled, then began to play.

there was some loud banging going on backstage as she began to sing. tori paused, and said "these things happen", and picked up where she left off. i felt kind of bad, because it was the third night in a row that something (or someone) distracted her during this song. the crowd was completely silent. afterwards, she waved and walked off the stage.

ENCORE 1

ENCORE 2

definitely one of the best shows i have ever seen tori do.

the set list this time: beauty queen/horses, angie (many people were late--i'm assuming because they thought there would be an opening act---& were let into the aud. right before this song. they came in talking & loud & it was very disturbing. i thought she might stop playing, but she didn't. it was very unsettling & i found *i* couldn't focus...i'm talking about maybe 80 people coming in. that's many. so sitting down took the whole song. shame on all of you. : |), leather, cals, cornflake girl, donut song, pretty good yr, mother (she began by saying, 'i bet you can't guess what i am going to play for you now...? [someone shouts china?]...no, this is the first time i have played this song in a year.' she had a very thoughtful look on her face & i wonder what drove her to play it this time.), muhammad my friend, precious things, ntrb, sweet dreams, bells for her, & maag (this time everyone was happy to hear it...whew : )).

for the encores she played twinkle, saty, father lucifer, cloud on my tongue, & hey jupiter. she was in a very happy to see us mood for this show & chatted to us quite a bit compared to other shows this tour. it was great. she told us (before she played pretty good yr) that someone she went to high school w/ was in the audience & that he would remember that she never got the guy that she wanted. & she went into the now she's into nerds schpeeeel & that some people claim to be greg but shhhhhhhheeeeee would know because shhheeeeee's seen the picture & w/ that she began the song. there was much chatter involved in all that but i don't remember word for word. : P

also before mmyfriend she began w/ a speach that i will do my veryvery best to remember... 'i love christmas time, don't you? except for the whining children. i mean seriously, it's so bad. [in a whiney wine screech] gimme this, i want candy, mommy can i have this,eeeeee, whine, whine, whine. why i outta...! the little fuckers. no, i like kids, really. i remember how i would sit in church w/ my parents & they would be praying & singing the typical carols & all i would think about is that all i wanted was a boy. oh did i mention that this was just last christmas? i could never stay focused. the congregation would sing [then she sings away in a manger in a very bored like voice & i am shocked to realize that yikes, this is sad, we do sound like that, don't we?] & then read the congregational response to what the minister has just said out of our bulletins. so they were singing away in a manger [she plays it on her piano w/ a dink-dink style & does the bored singing] & my father looks over at me & says tori why aren't you singing? [all of her little dad conversation is done so cute---a lot of muttering while not moving her lips] daaaaaaad it's not very inspiring. what do you mean not inspiring???this is christmas & we are talking about god's son! & so i picked up a pencil & right on the bulliten i wrote this song...' goes into mmyfriend. now the above is all from memory so it's not all there (or exactly right). & now i also know that i *don't* know how to spell bullitin/ten...er. don't know. but this was great to hear her tell the story. so that i think is all. the end.

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Tori's Performance In Philadelphia Pennsylvania, May 2

yes, i went two nights in a row. the night before my final. but it was completely worth it. tori was absolutely incredible last night. she was singing much more forcefully than wednesday night, in that vintage tori kinda way.

someone already briefly mentioned this, but i just have to bent before you get the set list. as tori closed the set with me and a gun, some complete fool in the balcony screamed "LOSE THIS SONG!" immediately people started screaming at the girl--telling her to shut up. tori kept singing, but clearly she was trying to figure out why the girl was so offended--the next line she sang was "me and a gun, and a man-or a woman-on my back..." then she stopped, and said in a disbelieving tone, "i can't believe you'd come to one of my shows and expect that i wouldn't play this song." tori kept singing then, and someone yelled "she's a lizard!" tori stopped at that point and said "no, she's just uncomfortable. i understand that, because i used to be too." then she finished the song. the whole thing was one of the most unbelievably rude things i've ever seen, but tori did a great job of containing it and finishing the song...

and now i'm done, so here's what she sang (again, by album)

they had technical problems during talula. when the percussion was supposed to kick in, it didn't. tori stopped playing, and said "guys, you know that sensation when it just won't work? well, i sympathize. let's try that again." they managed to get it to work at that point, but it cut out again with about 30 seconds left in the song.

overall, i think this was a better concert than the wednesday night performance. people screamed a lot less, and except for the me and a gun fiasco, the entire experience was a lot more pleasant (probably helped that my seats were a lot better too...)

Surely a better suited person than Tori Amos to serve the Munchkin-like role of revealing the Yellow Brick Road cannot be found.

Thursday, May 2, on the second of her four shows in Philadelphia, Ms. Amos made plain what has earned her place in the pantheon of popular music performers of the day--florid, yet straightforwardly heartfelt keyboard work and vocals, assembled into a collage of mammoth sonic proportions.

As the previous night's show in this same Tower Theater made clear, the young audience tending to overenthusiasm would prove a force to be reckoned with, and to meet that challenge head on, she blindsided all with her second piece of the evening, Yes Anastasia. This gave enough time and space to most potential screamers to help them to settle in for a long night of walking the Razor's Edge, as they were treated to one expression of pianistic perfection after another for nearly two hours.

Though twice marred by forces beyond her still-mortal powers, the deftly executed pieces flowed like a great waterfall, drenching her audience in a panoply of emotion. This night's version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow, with its gorgeous, impeccably articulated chords would have caused a turnip to cry.

The decision to close the shows on this tour with a foot-pumped organ version of Hey Jupiter, accompanied by longtime collaborator Steve Caton on guitar, proved itself yet again to be a savvy one, as the lingering, languid tones remain with one long after the house lights come up.

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Tori's Performance In Philadelphia Pennsylvania, May 1

As the crowd walked in Willie Porter started to warm them up. He's a very good opening act, I would like to add. He got off the stage and the lights came back on again.

Twenty minutes later, the lights turned off. The crowd roared as they heard "Son of A Preacher Man" come through the system. Tey knew that Tori was coming. The lights on the stage came up and her highness walked across the stage. People were screaming, I was estatic (that's what happens the first time you see her) and she started to sit down by the piano. The crowd was still on its feet.

Encore I:

Encore II:

After the concert, I rushed outside to the stage door. I waited for a half hour and I got to shake her hand and talk to her. She is soooo sweet. She talked to everyone she could and with such kindness. I thanked her for the show and then she went over to the other side of the baracade. I will keep this show in my memory forever.

I went to the first Tower show last night, and I'm still reeling - it was just incredible! However, I was slightly disappointed - imagine thinking you have fifth row floor seats and then finding out they're fifth row BALCONY seats. And these are tickets purchased 5 minutes after they went on sale! Oh well.

Just a few thoughts...
Willie POrter was cool - his guitar pickup wires got crossed, so he had to play with the mike picking up the instrument. At one point he tried an a capella song while the crew was attempting to fix the problem. Not too many people actually sang along though..

But when Tori came onstage after a 40 minute (I think) delay - the crowd went nuts. Unfortunately, some people didn't seem to know when to keep their mouths shut. People in the balcony were screaming all the way through Beauty Queen, Horses, Take to the Sky, and SATY (during which she actually stopped in the middle of the song - I guess her concentration was blown - and said "I love you too, but can you please let me play this song for you?" ) That pretty much took care of the problem - but I felt really bad, like here she is, putting forth all this energy to play for us, and we don;t even have the manners to keep quiet whie she's playing. I mean, yelling out between songs is one thing, yelling out "Oh yeah" at the beginning of Me and a Gun (I swear this really happened) is another. I think the people sitting near that particular guy were ready to toss him off the balcony.

And, she's on to us! She introduced Steve Caton as follows - "for the few of you who AREN'T on the Internet, this is Caton, he and I used to be in a band called Y Kant Tori Read together" At this point someone shreiks "Play Etienne!", she looks straight at where he's sitting in the middle of the balcony - how she does that, I have no clue, and replies "Interesting" "Maybe she'll come tonight, and then, (in a stronger voice) "Maybe she won't." I was wondering if she gets tired of half the audience knowing most of what she's going to play and most of what she's played in the past. After all, her set lists aren't too different from show to show.

She did treat us to " A Case of You" however. I almost fell out of my chair with joy. Other highlights - Cornflake Girl, Not the Red Baron (although my complete and total enjoyment of the song was ruined by the gaggle of giggling girls in the row in front of me - what was so funny, I have no clue) Talula - the tornado mix rocked, and Tear in Your Hand.

And finally, I agree with all those who say she's not as talkative with the audience as she has been in the past. Granted, ours was particularly bad mannered, so maybe that had something to do with it. I don't want to think that performing almost every night is wearing thin with her, and she's tired of socializing. Please, don't let the magic be gone yet...

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