I assume that's rosin or powder of some kind she puts on her hands before going out for Cornflake Girl... Kept expecting a pommel horse or some uneven bars to pop out from off stage. 8)
....Steve and Joel take a lot of criticism here and in line before shows. Except for about 5 minutes in Normal when Tori wasn't there yet and Steve seemed more interested in guarding the body of a blonde in a spandex top, they conducted themselves with the utmost professionalism, even if they are a tad over the top at times.
Highway repair was a pain but it slowed things down enough that I got to see a golden eagle swoop down into the grass just off the shoulder about 15-20 feet away, and pull up and off with something. Most impressive.
1500 miles in 6 days and worth every single one.
From a posting to the rec.music.tori-amos newsgroup by Marc Heiden (heiden@uiuc.edu)
I was at the Normal show - the second one I'd seen on the Dew Drop Inn tour (and the second Tori show I'd seen overall). Arrived too late for the opening act (what'd I miss? anyone?) and was quite disappointed upon arrival to find out that our seats were in the balcony. Tori did start rather late, causing more Zeppelin than I had any real desire to hear to be played, but when the lights went dim (the "Son of a Preacher Man" entrance is the coolest opening to a show I've ever seen) it was of course worth it....
Tori's voice seemed a lot stronger than it was when I saw her in Chicago, though she did confess to being hungover. It didn't show at all in her playing, but I was disappointed that she didn't tell as many stories as she had in Chicago (though the extended "Cornflake Girl" dance and the "Sweet Little Pill" song made up for it). The watches going off during "Me and A Gun" disturbed me too; thankfully mine had the sense to keep quiet. One of the security people's walkie-talkies crackled a couple times during the show, too, at particularly bad times. Somebody else posted the set list so I won't attempt to paste my scattered memories together, but I was very happy with the choices - adding the songs she played at the Rosemont Theatre (I saw the 6-7 show), Tori magically managed to play every single song I desperately wanted to hear - except for one, "Somewhere Over The Rainbow". I guess I'll have to make it to another show and try my luck again. :)
Over all, despite being a balcony away Tori still put me in a trance and I loved every minute of it. Thank you and goodnight.
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Tori's Performance In Madison Wisconsin, September 23
From a personal email sent to me by Monica Sanghavi (sanghavi@students.wisc.edu)the show was really good. Tori had gotten sick two years ago in Madison and had only been on stage for an hour, and then was taken to University Health Services to be treated. So she knew that Madison was waiting for her. She seemed very mellow....but also very aggressive.
I'm on Fire blew me away..It seemd to have come out of no where...but it was beautiful..they had a red light on her so it really looked as if she was on fire. Little Amsterdam was awesome! Caton and her were so together....Because I was sitting so close, I could see Tori's passion....in her drool....it was awesome..I mean, she was very into it...The other few suprises were Angie, Silent all these Years (which she did so beautifully) and Sweet Dreams..(without the acapella intro..).
She did talk a little bit...she said something about Madison being the home of the Liberals...and thats about it..I was kinda dissapointed that she didnt talk...or tell any stories.After the second encore...she came out the the front of the stage to bow..and some girls stood up and Tori shook their hands..so then everyone rushed to the front and she shook a lot ppl's hands..it was cool..and Joel or Steve didnt seem to care too much. She did seem to be rushing through the set....the audience was very kind...a lot of applause and just very warm. I felt like I was in a theatre of very good Tori fans. The show was great...I had never heard her play a few of the songs that I heard and that was a real treat.
From a posting to the rec.music.tori-amos newsgroup by Bob (Frying Pantheist) (rjk1@cs.wustl.edu)
Bob saw 5 Tori shows in about a week! This was part of a post where he commented on all of them.
A considerably larger crowd waiting for Tori's entrance but all got their turn.
After I'm On Fire, she turned and tongue-in-cheek said that she guessed some of the crowd had been waiting 2 years for her to come back and do an encore. ;)
The show was a close second to Green Bay in intensity. Ask me later and I might say that it was even better. Little Amsterdam and Little Earthquakes were incredible. Precious Things was great - not the forced showpiece it sometimes has seemed to become (37 seconds, BtW). Angie was beautiful beyond words.
From a posting to the rec.music.tori-amos newsgroup by Dor (dorthis@aol.com)
ok. next day. we got to madison, and got our pictures developed from the day before immediately. we ate lunch, met katherine, then went to the stage door where we found dear lisa waiting patiently reading a madison paper she'd found with a little article about tori in it. we waited for about two hours until 4:30. there were about 30 fans there... and again we took our place at the end of the line and began to snap pictures. aaron got up to the front of the line and gave tori a copy of goodnight moon that he'd had for a long time. he thanked her for playing lovesong, and then it was my turn. i had a question in mind. after i gave her two letters, and had her sign my china single, i asked "tori, how come you never play In the Wrong Band?" again she gave me a weird look. very secretive, implying that she never told anyone, and wasn't about to tell me and didn't expect to be asked. she thought for a moment and then asked "is it your last show?" i nodded, hoping i wasn't right. "well, i'll see what i can do." i smiled. as she asked me what else i might want to hear, i didn't have to think very long before i answered "well, i haven't heard here in my head yet in concert.." and so she said "okay! i can do that." she called me ann again this time too, and i corrected her, and she told me that i must have been Ann in a former life. : ) i said goodbye and let the next person have a turn. thinking for a moment.. just for the heck of it, i asked steve if me, aaron, lisa, and jeff could take a group picture with tori since it was probably our last show. reluctantly he said yes. we waited til everyone was done, and then she graciously posed with the four of us. YAY! :) what fun.
we left.. and i made an important decision. thinking to myself "hm, tori might play the Wrong Band or Here in my Head tonight for me, i sure wish i had a recorder to bootleg the show" i decided to go out and buy one, just on the spur of the moment. so off we drove to a mall where we found a microphone, tapes, and a lovely tape recorder at a radio shack. we also developed our pictures that we'd just taken with tori. we got our pictures back (they're so GREAT!), and after a small ticket scare (jeff dropped his on the floor in the mall and didn't realize it til we were in the car!- he found it though), we were off to the concert.
we missed the opening act, and were sad cause he was really good the night before. i shoved the recorder down my pants and we walzed in and walked to our separate seats (only aaron and i were sitting together). tori came on and sang a great show. i lost the setlist i wrote out. but here are some that she sang: I'm on Fire, CaLs, Talula, MaaG, Precious Things (amAZING! she went totally crazy in the end), Sweet Dreams (that was jeff's request), bloodroses, little amsterdam, CfG, Father Lucifer, Hey Jupiter and.. Here In My HEad!
i was quite emotional throughout that one. anyway. my bootleg turned out really well for it being my first try and all. yeah, actually, it isn't bad at all! :) so i'm proud of myself. anyway. we RAN out the door after the last song (hey jup) and ended up in the FIRST row! we had to wait for over an hour (lisa and tori were talking backstage!) but when tori finally came out it was cool.. i asked her what she thought she'd do after the tour was over. she shugged. "its kinda scary, isn't it? i think it makes all a little nervous to know that there's a light at the end of the tunnel." i nodded. "i'll have to get used to living with myself again." I hugged and thanked her, and she moved on down the line.
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Tori's Performance In Green Bay Wisconsin, September 22
From a posting to the rec.music.tori-amos newsgroup by Bob (Frying Pantheist) (rjk1@cs.wustl.edu)Bob saw 5 Tori shows in about a week! This was part of a post where he commented on all of them.
Sunday in Green Bay. Nothing but football on the radio. Nothing.
Beautiful day before the soundcheck and with the exception of the couple dozen people slowly gathering for Tori, all the campus I saw seemed remarkably dead.
Absolutely incredible show. Possibly the best show of the five. She was sooooo into Upside Down and Mother. MaaG was intense and her eyes... those eyes.
From a posting to the rec.music.tori-amos newsgroup by Dor (dorthis@aol.com)
i've returned from two grrrreat torishows.....
first one was Green Bay, it was at the weidner center, which is on the university campus there. i waited with my friend aaron for a while. there were two torifans there when we showed up.. then more arrived. first was Lisa, who is just awesome.she's LisaK102 online.: ) and we talked about tori and i showed everyone my pictures and i met two other torifans (andy and katherine) who were both great and soon it was time to talk to tori! i was nervous because i wasn't sure if she would remember me or not. i had made her a drawing, so i hoped that would help. anyhow. out of her big bus did she walk at around 4:00. she was wearin' a green striped long sleeved shirt and a blue skirt and blackish blue tights that looked quite warm. there were about twenty five people there, and she talked to each and every one. i wanted to go towards the end of the line because steve said we'd have to LEAVE right away after she talked to us, and i wanted to stick around for a while... take some pictures and such so me, lisa, jeff (another friend i was with), aaron, and katherine and andy all walked to the end of the line and watched tori talk with everyone, taking an occasional snapshot.
finally aaron (who was in front of me) was talking to tori. as i took their picture, tori looked up and me and said hi!! when i walked towards her, she looked at me and exclaimed "hi Girl Who Loves China!" sigh.. i was happy.. she remembered me!! she asked me how everything was going, pertaining to whether or not i'd moved out, and i told her that i'd just moved to a dorm, and she was real happy and gave me a huge hug. then i gave her the drawing and she said "wow, you do really amazing work". yay! she called me Ann, though, which was strange. i corrected her and she smiled. then i said that i had a message from her.. i said that all of her fans that i saw the L.A. shows with said hi, and that they were sad that she would not return. she said very sincerely "well, tell them i send them many hugs" or something like that.. some thing about many hugs for the los angeles tori fans. : )
when we were done talking, jeff and aaron and i went to grab some food before the show started. after a hearty meal at taco bell we came back, grumbling about our awful seats (second to last row!). we ran into a season ticket holder at the weidner center trying to sell her tickets. on a whim, i whipped out my checkbook and said "gimme all four." i turned back to jeff, katherine, and aaron and smiled. "my treat". so, there we were, with fourth row seats! we were happy. we went on in and sat down. happily, our seats were right in front of andy's. like RIGHt in front.
i don't have the compLETE setlist at this moment. but. she played (not in order here) CaLS, BQ, Horses (duh), Talula, Upside Down, Mother, Lovesong, Butterfly, Pretty Good Year,CFG, Little Earthquakes, Me and a Gun, ETIENNE!, Honey, and more. something notable is that she DIDN'T play precious things or not the red baron. which i thought was cool, cause i'd seen them at eVERY other show, and it was good to see some variety. a really good show, definitely. she went pretty crazy during the chorus of PGY. etienne was beautiful, she ended with that. talula was the best ever..all of us sittin' in the fourth row were totally groovin' out. anyway.she played lovesong because aaron requested it, so that was cool for him.
after the show was over, we BOLTED out to the stage door to thank her afterwards. even though we ran obscenely fast, there were already fans there, so we settled for the second row of people. not so bad. : ) tori came out pretty quick, and after hearing a strict speech from steve, the crowd was very well behaved. tori came out and talked with everyone individually in the first and second rows. among what was said: she told jeff to think of a song he wanted to hear at the next show; when andy asked her if she was ever gonna have a new album, i chimed in with "after a baby, right?" and tori gave me the most killer look.. it was awesome. it was sorta like a "so, you know my secret?!" kinda look. i thanked her for playing china for me way back in june and she said "well, i can play it tomorrow too!" but i said "don't worry about it" cause i didn't want to be bitchy.. i mean, she's already played it once for me!!
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Tori's Performance In Rockford Illinois, September 20
From a personal email sent to me by Marina (z942029@niu.edu)ok, i went to the show in rockford tonight, just mere hours ago. i am happy. here's the set list: beauty queen, horses, BAD COMPANY (see also: beer commercials), caught a lite sneeze, space dog, cornflake girl, honey, icicle, marianne, precious things, lovesong, talula, me and a gun, ENCORE 1: mary, mother ENCORE 2: london girls, hey jupiter. tonight was a special night for me. remember how i told you that my now ex boyfriend requested cornflake girl for me? well she sang it so i was happy and then she sang honey, which is my second all time favorite tori song. before cornflake girl people were screaming requests and people requested pain in my hole but she only laughed and then someone said ode to the banana kingdom and she had a little banana person hanging from the top of her piano so she started dancing with him and said there's your ode to the banana kingdom, i don't remember the song, but before the night is over i'll try to sing it but you'll have to help with! the words (she never sang it). anyway, she sang lovesong, which is my fave cure song, so i was happy. then for the encore she sang london girls, which i never heard before so that made me happy, too. she seemed quite aggressive and pissed (not in a bad way) but i don't know what was wrong - she seemed to mellow a little in the end. afterwards, my friends rachel, greg, and katie waited for her and she said hi to katie and asked her name and SHE DIRECTLY LOOKED AT ME AND SAID HI!!!! i couldn't believe it. i was overwhelmed, or fucked up (in the best possible way). anyway, she was SO cute cuz people in the back said that they couldn't see her so she had a guy lift her up. she was so friendly to everyone. it was wonderful. that's all i have to say. can't wait til tuesday and saturday when i go to see her again (yeah!!)
From a posting to the rec.music.tori-amos newsgroup by fastrada (fastrada@ix.netcom.com)
wow!!!!!!!! all i can say is, the rockford show last night was about 1000 times more intense than the last tori show i saw, rosemont in june. tori had such an edge to her last night. even her choice of songs was much more intense. at rosemont she was doing happy phantom and toodles mr. jim, and for this show she really brought out the heavy emotional artillery. the stuff that just grabs you by the throat. we had 15th row seats so i could see her face pretty well, and some of the expressions on her face were just heartbreaking. especially during icicle and mother and whatever that third song was. she sang much more in her loud voice than in her soft breathy voice this time too. and she barely talked at all. it was just song after song after song.
oh yeah, and i met her too!!! we got to the theater at about 2:30-2:45 or so, and a couple of people were already there. we waited and pretty soon they let us go around back where they had set up the railing. one of the bodyguards, i think his name was steve, was being such an ass. once it got to be about 4:30 or so and still no tori, he told a bunch of teenagers behind us that the show was off, with a totally straight face. then he gave us the usual warning, you get one thing signed or one picture and then get out of here. he seemed like he was in a really foul mood. which i guess makes sense, because tori's tour bus had gotten caught in major traffic coming up from chicago. finally steve told us that tori wasn't going to get there until about 5 and that was too late so she would say hi to us but wouldn't sign. i was disappointed but i'm going to chicago next week anyway, so i figured i'd catch her there. plus, i hadn't met her before so i was excited just to get a close-up glimpse.
so the bus finally pulled up and she got off. she looked really cute but tired. she was wearing this bright orange sweater and pants and she had her hair pulled up into a ponytail. she said hi guys, and we all said, hi tori, and the guy in front of us held out a photo and said, very politely, you can't sign this, can you? steve was hovering right there looking mean. and tori kind of thought for a second and said, i'll sign one thing for everyone, really quick! thank you, whoever you are, for asking her to sign because with the bodyguard standing right there i wouldn't have the nerve! meanwhile, when tori said that, steve just gave her and us the look of death. so much for his authority!
anyway, 'cause tori was obviously in a hurry, i didn't really say anything to her. she signed my poster, although she spelled my boyfriend's name wrong! (i had her sign it to him and me.) then she gave it back to me and gave me a big smile and i just melted. i was surprised that she looks older than i thought she would. now, of course, i'm kicking myself because i didn't say anything to her. i didn't think she'd take the time to hug me so i didn't ask, but when i was leaving i saw her hugging other people, so i felt kind of bad. but i didn't want to get really emotional in front of my boyfriend because on the drive up i was a complete emotional basketcase, i'm not even sure why, and i burst into tears for absolutely no reason and couldn't stop. so i didn't want to lose it again in front of him. in chicago i'm definitely going to hug her, 'cause i'm going with friends and they're not gonna care if i cry.
here is the setlist:
beauty queen
horses
???? a b-side or maybe a cover? i didn't recognize it. i couldn't make
out most of the words except for at a couple of points she sounded like
she was saying "bad company." and somewhere in the middle she sang
some lyrics from "getting to know you" from the king and i. anyone know
what this was?
(it was either before or after caught a lite sneeze that she stopped
to talk to us. she said something like, ok, i have a question. and
then some idiot yelled "pain in my hole." someone else yelled "ode
to the banana king" and she said that she doesn't know that song anymore
because she just made it up on the spot. she said she might try it later
on in the show but we'd have to shout lyrics at her. she didn't try it
later, though, as far as i can tell 'cause i don't know that song. she
had what looked like a little stuffed banana with arms and legs hanging
from the cover of the piano and she said, ok, here's ode to the banana
king and she grabbed him and wiggled his arms and legs. she also had a
stuffed monkey sitting on the piano. she never did get to ask her question,
though!)
caught a lite sneeze (cool transition from piano mike to harpsichord
mike! almost like suspended animation. and at the point where she usually
drums on the piano, she was drumming on her body too, on her legs and
stomach and breasts, )
spacedog
cornflake girl (wow!! i've never heard her do this song so intensely
and with so much passion. she didn't just do her customary dance here,
she got right down to the edge of the stage and danced for a good couple
of minutes while caton played the intro over and over again. she added
sections and repeated sections...it was so long we didn't think it was
ever going to end and we didn't want it to! how the hell did she dance
in those shoes, though? she was wearing high heeled white mules that looked
really uncomfy.)
honey (wow!!!)
icicle (oh my god, so intense)
marianne (so sad)
precious things (started out really really fast, then slowed down by the middle. i
didn't time the grrrrrl but
it didn't even sound like it came from a human being!)
lovesong on harpsichord. (cool!)
talula (wow!!!)
me and a gun (dead silence, thank you! this song seemed to affect her emotionally much
more than it did
at the rosemont show.)
first encore:
mary (is that the right title? "don't be afraid...even the wind cries your name...")
wow!!! for some reason, i
don't know why because this song usually doesn't affect me, i found myself on the verge
of tears.
mother!!!!! i was so excited that she did this! this was one of the three songs i really
wanted her to do.
and i had to try really really hard not to cry because this song always affects me like
that.
second encore:
(here one of the bodyguards or roadies or whatever plunked this blue
stuffed-animal thing right in front of her on the piano and i don't
know if she was making a song up about it on the spot or what, but she
started singing about "this stuffed blue thing" and how it reminded
her of someone who wasn't in her good book any more. this was probably
the only remotely playful moment she had during this show. then she went
into:
london girls
hey jupiter on harmonium
anyway, i thought this show far surpassed the last one i saw, not that tori's ever bad. i had chills! she didn't do two of the songs i wanted to hear, yes anastasia and muhammed my friend, but maybe in chicago. i can't wait to see her again! i love her even more than i did before.
From a newspaper review in the Rockford Register Star emailed to me by Sarah Johnson (Garden Muse)
Click here to read the review from the Rockford Register Star
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Tori's Performance In Bloomington Indiana, September 19
From Mikewhy, creator of this web site. (mikewhy@iglou.com)I have to thank Maggie, who did a better job than I did with transcribing some of Tori's quotes for the night. I have changed the quotes in my review to match hers in most cases. Her own terrific review follows this one!
The day after our Muncie show, Stacey and I moved on to Bloomington Indiana to see Tori at the Indiana University Auditorium. The campus at IU is beautiful, as is the town of Bloomington. Definitely one of the coolest small towns I have seen. The campus is just pulsating with activity and student life, and I really enjoyed the feel of the place. I met more wonderful Toriphiles there, and you can read all about them in my review of Muncie from September 18, where I also include the great people I met here in Bloomington!
Click here to see sound check photos I took at Bloomington!
We attempted to do the sound check thing again, but by the time Tori arrived the crowd was rather large, plus we were out in the open and there were many students around. While Steve said that we WOULD get to meet her individually, when Tori arrived on the bus, Joel stepped off looking really pissed and said that there were too many people. Apparently a local radio station had mentioned the soundcheck, which may have contributed to the large crowd. So we stood at the barricades and watched as Tori got off the bus. She then chatted with a few people in the front and accepted some gifts. Charlie Poole gave her a wonderful instrument from Europe called the Melodica (or something like that). As she passed me I said, "Thank you for Killing Me Softly.", refering to the night before in Muncie when she sang that song for me. She gave a big smile and pointed at me with a "I remember you" expression. After Tori went inside, the crowd went for Caton, who seemed to really eat up the attention during the photo sessions and the autographs. I personally thanked him for adding so much to the show, and he looked really touched. He seemed even more thrilled by some of the women who gave him attention, but that's Caton!
Though Stacey and I came to IU with 38th row seats, we managed to legally upgrade to 14th row, which was really good. The show began in the now usual manner. However, Tori was bouncing happily as she made her way to the piano, and she gave us a happy two handed-wave. I turned to Stacey and said, "She is going to really kick-butt tonight." Though Muncie was fantastic the day before, overall, her energy level was much higher tonight. She was humorous, energetic, and simply gave one of her best shows of the tour. Her hair was down at the beginning, and there was energy in everything she did. This show was much longer than many of the shows she was doing during this part of the tour, so we were lucky!
BEAUTY QUEEN/HORSES - Her performance of this pair was the best I have ever seen! I was also pleased with the sound at the IU Auditorium, which was fantastic all evening.
FLYING DUTCHMAN - Tori was really animated and I wish I had a camera so I could have caught some of her facial expressions. Her voice was screaming one minute and whispering the next. I realized again that Tori's voice has really strengthened over the years. She said during the Ticketmaster Chat that she had developed a strong chest voice, and that really showed tonight!
She then said the following: "Hi you guys. Something really odd is going on. Marcel, is the organ firing off or something? Do you hear that WhOOMP, whhhOOOMP? Everytime I go to move. WHHOOOMMP." (Looks to the right side of the stage) "Oh, it's your chair. Oh, you need some ah, squeaky stuff cause you're in the middle of tape. I love you too. It's just that you gotta understand it's like 'who is killing air around here,' WHOOOOMP." She then sings:
BLOOD ROSES - Definitely an audience favorite. Very intense.
BUTTERFLY - She began the song with some lyrics that talked about "one little Indian girl." Is this part of Butterfly or something else? Anyway, shortly into Butterfly, she thought she messed up, "General, need a litt... (giggles) hang on..What key is this Caton? OH. Sorry." Changes to different key. Then switches back to original key. "I was RIGHT. Sorry about that" Restarts song. Stops to say "See... sorry boys, some things are interchangeable"
CORNFLAKE GIRL - Before this song she pointed to Steve Caton and said, "Sorry Caton. Anyway, this wonderful being is Caton. And ah, I'm in a bit of a funny mood tonight. So, just, if you hang out I'll figure it out." Someone shouted out a request for 'Waitress'. Tori looked confused for a moment, and then said, "what?Wait wait wait. OH, I thought you said why is your hair red. Yeah, some of them will come I promise. And some of them are having margaritas as you well know." Then we were treated to Cornflake Girl with her dance routine. Like the previous day in Muncie, she inserted those unfamiliar lyrics in the middle of the song. During one part she was singing, "You think I am falling, but I am right with you..." Any clues as to what this is or if it is new material?
TEAR IN YOUR HAND - This was a big night for songs and b-sides from the Little Earthquakes days. Like 'China' the night before, this one really hit home, and I felt a little sad.
LITTLE EARTHQUAKES - The swirling beams of light she uses for this song complement the song perfectly. There is a lot of energy and hope in the air during this song. "Give me life, give me pain, give me myself again." Good song to follow 'Tear In Your Hand'!
SWEET DREAMS - She did a little growl at the beginning of this song that was exciting. She sang the first few lines accapella, and then slowly added the piano to the performance. She was later really swaying to the music, and at one point was standing while playing and singing, though not into the microphone so you could hardly hear her. She later claimed to forget the words and asked us for help, something she also did in Cincinnati last June! Someone in the audience screams "Here. In My head," to which Tori replies, "NO, the verse. The WORDS," and then a guy screams "well well" and Tori says "No, that's the other one." Finally someone yells out the correct verse and Tori says, "Thanks you're a fabulous man." When the song ended, Tori said,"Girls, it's one of THOSE days, you understand. Guys, you will never ever ever understand. Not to be gross, but I'm having hot flashes up here, but I'm still going to play."
WINTER - As Tori began the beautiful introduction to this favorite, a man yelled, "Can I sit on the stage with you?" Tori just smiled (She was so playful and FUNNY tonight!) and said, "Well, there are gonna be two really big guys that are gonna jump on you. But, if we weren't here and we were at a friend's house and we had pudding, of course."
CRUCIFY - The Little Earthquakes party continued with this song.
CAUGHT A LITE SNEEZE - Love the sounds Caton makes with his guitar here! Tori also did the same dramatic turn from piano to harpsichord that she did in Muncie the night before, with that really wild look on her face as she holds the note.
TALULA - I just love the Tornado remix of this song, as well as the slow build-up to the fast part.
ME AND A GUN - Another quiet and respectful crowd during this healing song.
ENCORE 1 -
BLACK SWAN - The tenderness and the beauty here is overwhelming. Is it just me, or is the first song of the first encore always so sad and sweet at the same time? The blue lighting added to the feeling.
A CASE OF YOU - Tori covers the songs she herself wished she would have written. Tori makes this song her own.
ENCORE 2 -
TAKE TO THE SKY - I have the lyrics to this one on the walls at work, for it is another personal favorite. Very empowering! The audience clapped along for a while, but fortunately it died down. She stood up off the piano bench and played a lot, and did some rather dramatic gestures.
FATHER LUCIFER - Caton again provided a tasty accompaniment to this song. Tori played this song even more impressively tonight that the night before in Muncie. At one point, she seemed to be singing or almost chanting short little bursts or fragments of words or syllables.
ETIENNE - She said, "Some of you will know this next one." A fan named Ben shouted "Pain in the Hole," and Tori then said "No..." and started Etienne. When she finished, she left with Caton, who picked her off the floor and basically carried her out!
This was one of my best shows, and Tori simply rocked tonight. :)
From a posting to AOL by Maggie (Scullyfied@aol.com)
This is the setlist and Tori comments from the Bloomington, IN show- 9/19 Sorry this is so long guys but, Tori was in a good mood.
BQ
Horses
Flying Dutchman
"Hi you guys. Something really odd is going on. Marcel, is the organ wired or something? Do you hear that WhOOMP, whhhOOOMP?Everytime I go to move. WHHOOOMMP. Oh, it's your chair. Oh, you need some ah, squeaky stuff cause you're in the middle of tape. I love you too. It's just that you gotta understand it's like 'who is killing air around here' WHOOOOP."
Blood Roses
One little Indian Girl intro."One little Indian girl. I say cross me again white man. One little Indian girl. One little Indian girl can do much you think to yourself.One little Indian girl."
*Butterfly(she screws up "General,need a litt..(giggle giggle) hang on..What key is this Caton? OH. Sorry" Changes to different key. Then switches back to original key. "I was RIGHT. Sorry about that" Restarts song. Stops to say "See, sorry boys, some things are interchangeable" Restarts song again. "Sorry Caton. Anyway, this wonderful being is Caton. And ah, I'm in a bit of a funny mood tonight. So, just, if you hang out I'll figure it out." At this point a girl in the audience starts screaming 'WAITRESS' and Tori says "what?Wait wait wait. OH, I thought you said why is your hair red. Yeah, some of them will come I promise. And some of them are having margaritas as you well know"
*Cornflake Girl (with what seemed to be an extended faery dance clocking in at just under two minutes) (and a bit about "Rabbit, say you're right with me.Where'd ya put the keys girl?This is the thing. I know what's coming.I know you can see me.You think that I'm falling but, I am right with you.Right with you. Myself right with you at all times. said Rabbit, I know that you're going. No one's stopping. I know you are with me. Figured you would be. I know what I'm hearing. I know what he isn't. Where'd ya put the keys, Girl?')
*Tear in your Hand
*Little Earthquakes
Sweet Dreams (Midway through she stops and asks what comes next. Someone in the audience screams "Here. In My head" To which Tori replies "NO the verse.The WORDS" and then a guy screams "well well" and tori says "No that's the summer one" Finally someone screams out the correct verse and she says "Thanks you're a fabulous man. Girls, it's one of *those* days. You understand." And then she continues. )
Winter (at the beginning some guy asks if he can come up on stage with her and she replies "Well, there are gonna be two really big guys that are gonna jump on you. But, if we weren't here and we were at a friend's house and we had pudding, of course."
Crucify
CALS (with a rather animated super slomo switchover)
Talula(he's chasing tornadoes. I'm just waiting calmly. Chasing her. Repeated
two times)
Me and A Gun
Encore #1
Black Swan
A Case of You
Encore #2
"okay good"
Some girl screams "take to the sky Tori"
Take to the Sky
Father Lucifer (with a bit about "Runaway, turnaway, runaway, turnaway")
"Some of you will know this next one"
*Etienne(on harmonium)
* = with Caton (who is much cuter in person than I had remembered.) Maggie :)
p.s.- does anyone know anything about the Indian intro on Butterfly?
From a posting to the rec.music.tori-amos newsgroup by Charlie Poole (cpoole@indiana.edu)
Tori's concert Thursday night was absolutely incredible. Now that she's ending the tour (at least the US leg) it will probably be a couple of years before she tours again. Bummer. :-( But from what I've heard she's composed more than 60 songs for a new album and people are saying that they are soft and gentle and beautiful; a big contrast to Boys for Pele. Personally, I can't wait (but of course I will).
I rushed home from work (took a half a day off), did laundry, took a shower, got my stuff ready (binoculars, tape recorder and Tori's belated birthday present) and suddenly realized I was going to be late. With all the photo equipment I have (was a pro photog) I've never owned a simple point-and-shoot camera. I rushed off to the store to pick up a camera and raced to the campus. Scullified and I have been E-mailing but had never met. We'd made plans to be at the soundcheck. Stacey contacted me last spring about meeting at a Tori concert. She and mikewhy ("A Dent In The Tori Amos Net Universe" -- if you've never visited his pages please do so -- http://www.aye.net/~mikewhy/index.html) were coming and we'd made plans to get together also. I'd never met them before either. While you're visiting mikewhy's Tori page be sure to check out his review of both the Bloomington and Muncie shows -- http://www.aye.net/~mikewhy/toursept.html#bloomington. I also met with two friends who've moved from Bloomington and I haven't seen since the last Tori concert here two years ago. After the soundcheck we all went for food and I took them around part of the campus. I had I really good time and I think they did too. We went into the auditorium about a half hour before the opening act. But, I'm getting out of sequence here.
I arrived for the soundcheck a little after 2PM. There were a couple dozen people there who, like myself, wanted to make sure we didn't miss Tori. What I didn't know was that one of the local radio stations was doing a promotion for fans to come into the auditorium at the end of the soundcheck. As a part of their promotion they were inviting everyone within hearing to come to meet Tori. By the time she arrived there were a couple hundred people all expecting to get autographs, photos and hugs. The descending hoards guaranteed that all we would be able to do was say hi and wave. So I didn't get my photo with Tori or get to record our conversation nor receive a wonderful Tori hug.
Tori's security people and the IU security people freaked out about all the people at the sound check. They even did a sweep of the auditorium before they let Tori go inside. As I said the crowd was a real bummer. I had planned/dreamed that:
1) I would get to record Tori and I talking,
2) I would get a photo taken with her,
3) that I'd get to tell her the story of the present I had for her,
4) that I'd get to photograph her opening it and record her playing it, and, above all,
5) that I'd get another Tori hug.
None of that was to be. When her security guy, Joel, told her other security guy, Steve, that there were just too many people for Tori to deal with (translation: too many for security to have to deal with), we were informed that there would be no pictures with Tori or autographs. And that was after we had already been told that we would be able to have a photograph OR an autograph. We had been lined up single file but then everyone rushed the barricade to at least get close enough to speak to Tori. There were three row of people between me and Tori when she came down from her bus. I managed to stretch an arm through the crowd with my present and got her attention. She took it, asked my name and then asked what the present was. I told her it was a musical instrument for her to play. She thanked me and that was all there was to my Tori encounter this time.
I suppose that you are curious about the present. Well, 29 years ago I was in the Army and stationed in Worms, Germany. In those days I smoked a lot of stuff and we had a bunch of Turkish hashish that had been dipped in opium. Fun stuff! There were a bunch of us who hung with a married couple at their home every night and all through the weekends. Poor people didn't get any privacy for months. We'd get stoned and Butch would get out his guitar and start writing songs. He'd teach each of us a part and most of us had instruments to play except for poor me. One day Steve walked in (shortly after I got orders to go to Viet Nam) with a present for me. It was a Honer Melodica. What's that you ask? Imagine a harmonica (Honer makes the best in the world) turned end for end with a mouthpiece to blow in much like a recorder. Now put a two octave piano keyboard on top of this stretched out harmonica in place of all the mouth holes along the side. Voila, a Melodica. I've had a lot of fun trying to learn how to play it; just noodling on it had been restful at times, stimulating at others. Anyway I've gotten a lot of mileage from it. I wondered if Tori would enjoy it as much as I have so I decided that it was time I passed it on. Yeah, it's something that was a very precious part of my life, but so is Tori's music and that was the only thing that I could think of that meant enough to me to mean enough to give to Tori. That is the story I wanted to tell her (in a condensed version) but didn't get too.
I did get to talk with Caton. He's a really cool guy. I think he's added a lot to Tori's performance which I thanked him for. I asked him to do me a favor and give a message to Tori. He said he would and I told him about the Melodica. He thought it was a great story and said he'd pass it on to her for me.
When we all got back to the auditorium (about 2 hours later) I realized that I'd left the binoculars in my locker where I'd stashed all my stuff. With 15 minutes to spare I ran the three blocks to get them and ran back. I almost didn't go and now I'm really glad I did. On the way back, Steve, the security guy was in front of the auditorium watching people as they went in. I wasn't sure that Caton would tell Tori so I thought I'd repeat the story to him. I said I was the one who'd given Tori the Melodica and he said he remembered me doing so. I started telling him that I'd gotten it 30 years before in Germany. He interrupted me with a grin and, "Was that World War II?" With a smile I said sarcastically, "Thanks a lot. WWII was a few years before that," as he very well new. I started telling him about the smoking music group and he interrupted me, "I already know this. Caton told Tori your story. She's been playing with it all afternoon. She said that she really wanted to learn how to play it." Needless to say his words were almost as good as a Tori-hug.
The concert itself was the best (except for the first one) I've seen. Tori was in rare form; lot of energy flowing between her and the audience. The concert, including encores, was almost 2 full hours long. This audience was one of the most respectful of any of her concerts I've attended. No one yelled anything stupid (not that I heard at least) and no one yelled anything during MAAG. Even the applause after MAAG was gentle. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
Tori came on-stage wearing jeans with a black/navy long sleeved bodysuit over which she wore a spaghetti strap top trimmed in purple with line drawings of flowers. Although I was sitting in the center of the first row there is a large orchestra pit between the stage and the audience in the Indiana University Auditorium which puts the artist at a greater distance then most venues. With binoculars I had a field of view that included Tori's head to just below the piano bench. I spent much of the concert with them glued to my eyes. Tori could see the first few rows of the audience very well from the reflected light as well as from the lighting that shines out from the stage. Almost every time she looked down at me sitting there with the binoculars in my face she smiled or giggled and I found myself grinning and giggling back.
I won't do a set list as mikewhy has a detailed list that he will be posting. The first evidence of "drooling" came when she took an extra large gulp of water and most of it came back out around the corners of her mouth. She was bright, bubbly and much more animated than she has been at other concerts on this tour. Her movements on the piano bench reminded me more of the Little Earthquake gyrations; as if she were feeling less restricted. Everything about her was more animated though, her expressions, her hand and head movements as well as the rest of her body. Although she really worked up a sweat (I could see it running down her face) she didn't drool (that I noticed) until the encores. Of course she did her Cornflake Girl dance again as she has done in every performance lately. This time it was a lot more fluid and graceful, kinda like Tai Chi instead of Karate.
At one point a guy yelled, "Tori, can I come and sit on the stage with you?" which received a big laugh from the audience. Tori responded, "If you do there are two really big guys backstage who are gonna run out here and jump on you." She turned back to the piano momentarily, turned back to the audience and said, "Now if we were somewhere else ... and if there was pudding ..."
She asked Caton what key the song she was playing was in. Another time she forgot the words and asked the audience, "Com'on guys, give me some help," with her helpless little girl expression. Someone called out a song title. "Nooo, not a request. What words come next?" A person behind me yelled out a line. Tori said, "No not that. I already did that one." Another line was yelled, she said thanks and started playing again. She stopped, turned to the audience and said, "Girls, uh ... no. Guys, you think you understand but you will never know what it's like. Girls, it's my time of the month and I'm up here having HOT FLASHES. But I'm still going to play for you."
She did two encores. After the second she and Caton bowed to the audience. She looked down at me, put her hands to her eyes and wiggled them as if she was focusing a pair of binoculars. Then she laughed and waved to me. I, of course, waved back laughing. Caton put his arm around her waist, picked her off her feet and carried her away. Exit stage right.
Th', th', that's all folks. Hope you enjoyed it.
From a personal email sent to me by Katherine
The Bloomington show was the most incredible night....the most incredible day, and I will never, ever forget my experiences there.
I think I told you this, but let me share it again. I have the biggest, most hugest crush on Steve Caton. Well, as he was meeting and greeting and what- not, I boldly approached him and said, "Hi, my name is Katherine, and I have the biggest crush on you. Would you mind getting your picture taken with me?" He laughed and said, "Sure." After the picture I asked him if he got my letter at the Ball State show. He looked confused and I told him that I had written a letter for him in a basket I had given Tori. He said he'd check on it, and went inside. I was so happy.
I decided to sit on the railing outside the stage door as my friends went to grab a bite to eat. Then I noticed someone had sat down beside me. It was Steve!
He told me that my letter had either gotten lost or accidently thrown away, would I mind writing another? I said I would, and before I knew it, we had the most wonderful conversation! Everything from touring to funny stuff he and Tori had done to amuse themselves on the road, early beginnings in the music business and so on. After fifteen or twenty minutes he had to go in for soundcheck, right as my friends came back. I told him I would make sure the letter got to him and he went inside. It hadn't hit me what had happened until my friend Joe said, "Katherine, we couldn't help but notice while walking down the street that you were sitting down, just 'chilling' with the crush of your life." I said, "I did? I *did*!?!!" And then I got sortof giddy and needed to be calmed down a bit.
I sat on the steps and wrote another letter to Steve. As I finished I began talking to a very lovely girl named Karen, who has "Hold onto nothing as fast as you can" tattooed around her ankle. Anyway, we were having a very nice chat, and who should approach but Steve!
I gave him the letter and inquired him about the book he had under his arm. It was a book on Physics, and next thing we knew Professor Caton was giving us the most interesting lecture on protons, atoms, the speed of light, and all sorts of related things! He must have talked for over twenty minutes! The conversation did drift to other things, but by that time it had reached six- thirty or so and he had to get going. What a wonderful day and experience for me. I mean, for some people it's George Clooney or Brad Pitt, for me it's Steve Caton. I don't know. I'm still pretty giddy about the whole matter.
But all giddiness aside, the concert as you know was incredible! It was a complete change from Ball State. Whatever energy she had lost there she regained here at the IU auditorium! Some of my favorite parts...
*Flying Dutchman* What a treat! It was such a surprise after Horses. I also noticed how much she was using her deep, "spooky voice" one minute and then whispering the words the next. Her vocal gymnastics that night were amazing, and this is just one example. The tempo of this song was not slowed a bit, it was upbeat the whole time!
*Butterfly* She played my request! *Tear In Your Hand* My all-time favorite Tori song. I cried...
*Crucify* At the risk of being shunned, I must say that this is not usualy
my favorite live. I think it loses a bit in the translation from album to
solo piano. But this was different. Energy was just seething out of her.
Her vocals were so feisty and angry. It was awesome! I also enjoyed the
added lyrics, something like "Sometimes I still don't know why I still do
crucify myself...."
*Sweet Dreams* Liked the "funky beat" thing she did at the beginning....this
gem is always such a treat.
*Black Swan* This is another favorite of mine! She was so sad on this one,
especially on the Eric line...
*Take To The Sky* Wow! This sure was a night for Little Earthquakes, be it
the album songs or Bee Sides.
*Father Lucifer* I love this song live...I like to hear the layered voices
seperately, done in Space Dog fashion. Her facial expressions are just a
hoot sometimes!
All in all, this was the best concert I had ever been to. This and Cincinatti will always hold a special place in my heart. hey. this is matt, the guy with the cool hat--hey, that rhymes. so here
is a pretty short(sort of) review of bloomington. mainly just an overview
so after school i raced home, got the obligatory " be careful" speech
from my mother, and left indianapolis driving at an average speed of 75
miles per hour hoping to get to IU before soundcheck. when i finally
found the audiTORIum (couldn't resist), there was a VERY large crowd of
people there. at first steve started telling us that we could get a
picture or autograph, but then the plan changed and we could only see her
if we fought or squirmed to the barricade. she walked off the bus and
talked to the first couple rows of people, then walked inside. i had
planned to give tori two things-- a sun picture i had done and a gargoyle
box-type thing. i managed to give steve(bodyguard) the sun before the
show.
waiting for the show wasn't too bad. i met katherine and
mikewhy(hello!)...the story how i met katherine is peculiar. i was
walking around the auditorium and saw caton talking to a couple of people
of which katherine was one. moving closer, i could hear that caton was
talking about the theory of relativity and other assorted science stuff.
i had to hear this, so i plonked myself down and listened, and we ended
up talking about that and other stuff. after he went back inside, it was
almost time for the show to start.
i had second row seats, so needless to say, the show rocked. you guys
can read the other setlists, so i'm not going to recall it all now. she
was very talkative and energetic.
right after the second encore i bolted up the aisle and out a side
door. i was probably one of the first people out of the auditorium, but
there were already people by the barricades. i had a pretty good spot,
though, so i wasn't despairing just yet. we waited for about 45 minutes,
then tori came out. she was EXTREMELY tired, but she talked to everyone
that could get up to her. when she got to me i gave her the gargoyle box.
she said " this is fantastic". i asked her if she got the sun. she perked
right up and said "oh yeah, didn't you see it up on stage?" apparently it
was by one of the feet of the piano and i didn't even see it. she was
asking other people if they had seen it and they had. so she took my hand
to say thank you and i immediately leaned over the fence for a hug & kiss
on the cheek.
a very good show both inside and outside the venue. i think maybe i can
rest knowing the tour is ending. maybe. Back To The Main Dew Drop Inn Index Back to the Main Tori Amos Page Because I had to work a half day, I did not leave Louisville until early afternoon. I picked up my friend Stacey and we headed out for the three hour ride to Muncie Indiana. We arrived at the Ball State Campus around 3:45 PM their time. Having graduated from a really small college in Louisville (Spalding University), I was amazed at the large crowds of students walking or riding bikes. We found Emens Auditorium and parked. We walked around the side of the place and saw a group of about 15 people lined-up behind a barricade. Bodyguards Steve and Joel were also there, so I knew we had just made it for soundcheck. Sure enough, within 5 minutes, Tori walked out. By then there were still under 30 people there. I waited nervously until it was my turn. I noticed that Joel was utilizing his skills and many years of security experience to keep the bees off of Tori! Tori's hair was down and she was wearing a white sweater. She looked fantastic, and I momentarily froze when it was my turn. Then I said, "Hi Tori!" She said "Hi, how are you?" with a smile on her face. I said "Great" as I handed her the CD booklet from Little Earthquakes to sign. She said, "And you are? " and I managed to squeak out "Michael". She went to write it, but after doing part of it she looked up at me. We were looking at each other eye to eye for a few seconds. I could hear my heart really beating loudly. One has to experience an eye-to-eye meeting with Tori to know the amazing feeling it creates. I think she knew I had something else on my mind. I then said, "Tori, you have a girl who comes to some of your sound checks called "Killing Me Softly." Could you invite her to the show tonight and see if she will come?" Tori shook her head yes,said "sure," wrote "killing" on her hand, and then finished my autograph (She used a SHARPIE pen!). The way she shook her head she seemed to be saying, "I was waiting for someone to ask." That is the impression I got anyway. She handed the booklet back to me. I felt really warm and then we hugged and I really enjoyed the sensation. Then I quickly stepped aside to let Stacey meet her. Stacey later told me that she asked Tori to sing 'Hear In My Head', but only IF it comes to her. Tori said, "What a polite way of asking." As usual, Tori was approachable, friendly, and just incredibly warm.
While waiting for the show to begin, we ran into a few people on campus who recognized me from my web page. I must say one of the best things about this trip was meeting these wonderful Tori fans, who were all really nice. I am normally a chronically shy person, but that Tori-bond was there, and I really enjoyed talking to everyone. The same thing happened the next night in Bloomington at Indiana University. I met Monica Sanghavi, who has helped me tremendously with my web page. She was totally charming and friendly. Katherine was at Muncie and Bloomington, and shook my hand and thanked me for my web page! Her enthusiasm for all things Tori was great. I met Karen from Cincinnati, who agreed with me that Tori's Cincinnati show was truly stellar. Charlie Poole showed Stacey and I around the IU campus, and though he was older than me, inside he was much younger, and he was amazing to meet and talk with. There was the married couple Chris and Dennis. Chris is a school teacher and Dennis is trying to get a cool video business going, He and Charlie are big Amiga and Mac computer fans! Maggie was a nice young woman who we met with Charlie who also impressed me with her dedication to Tori. Lana was a young woman from near Louisville who I remember from the Indy show in July. She showed us her Tori tattoo! Toriphile Matt was a young guy with a cool hat. I met Ben the video guy, and Brad, a personable fellow who I also talked to at the Indy show. It was so much fun to talk to them all!
Anyway, back to Muncie. Before the show started Katherine told me that Tori played at sound check 'Pretty Good Year' and 'Killing Me Softly'! I was hopeful. Could tonight be the night she does it? She had never done Killing Me Softly during this tour, though she did during previous tours. I had dreamed of her singing this for 3 years. I had already seen her do all of her songs that I wanted to see, so all that was left was to see this cover, which I identify so strongly with Tori!
We took our seats, which were 5th row and off to the left side. Josh Clayton-Felt opened the show. He is a pleasant and talented man who looks REALLY young. He has a lot of enthusiasm and seems like a hell of a nice guy. His material seems a little bland, but he did a fine job. I still really miss Willy, but life goes on!
Then we went through the heart in your throat feeling as we watched Tori walk out during "Son of a Preacher Man," and launch into:
BEAUTY QUEEN/HORSES - Her voice sounded a little weary, and was more breathy than usual. She still sounded great though. The sound at Emens Auditorium seemed unbalanced and not loud enough me, but they were minor complaints. Her hair was tied up, at least at the start of the concert.
ICICLE - She began Icicle by doing an ONWARD CHRISTIAN SOLDIER routine with some lyrics of her own, She seemed really into the song, which is one of my favorites. She was jamming and swaying at the Bosey, and Tori sometimes would really draw out and savor some of the words.
CAUGHT A LITE SNEEZE - I was surprised by how early into the concert we heard this one. During the part of the song where she drummed on the piano, she also drummed quite a bit on her own body, which was different. She did her famous piano to harpsichord switch while singing "Girl zone", though it seemed a little different to me this time. She slowly built-up to the moment singing "Zone, zone, zone" over and over, gaining in volume each time. She then turned in jerky, mechanical moves to the harpsichord, with the most intense and amazing look on her face. She seemed almost possessed with her fist out while turning.
CORNFLAKE GIRL - Tori then greeted us, "Hi, you guys." She introduced Caton, calling him "wonderful". She then commented to us that this was like her 148th show. She said this while putting chalk on her hands, a sure sign that Cornflake Girl was about to happen! She then raved about the seats that were in the auditorium. "You have the grooviest seats with that aquamarine blue color. I need some shoes in that color." She turned to Caton, who looked a little occupied, and said, "Is it groovy? Okay, we will try it then and if we fuck up, oh well." She then began the Cornflake Girl dance while Caton played guitar. The dance is now a lengthy routine that is very complex, graceful,and cool! She then skipped to the piano, and threw herself into playing/singing Cornflake Girl. Toward the end of the song, twice, she seemed to slip in some lyrics I never heard before. It happened really fast, but could this be some new material that is finding its way into the show, or something else? Did anyone else notice this?
HONEY - Tori said, "This is one of my favorite songs from Under The Pink." The audience shouted out "Honey!" Tori said,"yeeeeeeeeeeeeuppppp". The tempo seemed a little faster than usual to me, but it was still moving.
LITTLE EARTHQUAKES - She began with a gorgeous instrumental with swirling beams of yellow light all around her. Lots of atmosphere dripping from the stage here!
MR. ZEBRA - Playful and fun.
UPSIDE DOWN - This was the first Tori song that I fell in love with in 1992 and it is always a thrill to hear it live. When she sang, "My daddy would scream..." there was real anger and fierceness in her voice.
PRECIOUS THINGS - With the usual haunting opening, and the crowd-pleasing grrrllll part, which was truly lengthy tonight. She sounded really wild at the end of it, with her voice sounding like it had split into 2 or more sub-voices. Truly remarkable, It sounded like a voice from deep within her surfacing to the top, looking for healing. The wash me clean part at the end was surprisingly subdued however.
LOVESONG - A short while into this Cure cover, she looked unhappy for a second, smiled, and sang, "I just messed up pretty bad, but it's okay..." She started over and did the song, turning sometimes to look at the screen behind her which showed a roller coaster ride. She ended the song on a long, loud note.
TALULA - An frenzy of light and sound!
ME AND A GUN - It followed Talula as it often does on this tour, and I was thankful that Muncie was quiet and respectful.
ENCORE 1 -
CHINA - ENCORE 2 -
There was an open pit in front of the stage, and as Tori walked out with Caton for the second encore, she acted like she was going to sail right into it! She then sat down, said, "Okay," and played:
FATHER LUCIFER - Tori was really playful as she did this one, and her piano work was impressive.
At this point I saw that the organ was being placed into position where the harpsichord was, so i assumed that my request for Killing Me Softly was not going to be granted today. I thought, "Okay, I will ask her again tomorrow." I was getting comfortable with that thought as Tori finished 'Lucifer' and turned to the Harmonium organ. She then said, "I have never done this during the tour yet..someone asked me to do this and..."
I sat up real straight and struggled for composure. Could it be...
People shouted out song titles. Tori shook her head negatively. Then I heard a girl scream, "Killing Me Softly." Tori looked a little irritated (in a humorous manner) and said something like "Is this one of those telepathic shows where I think of something and you guess" (or something like that, I was too nervous to remember!) She then started singing a few lines of Cumbuya (spelling?) perhaps to throw us off a bit. And then I heard the words:
"Strumming my pain with his fingers..."
KILLING ME SOFTLY -
I cried out in joy. A surge went through my body and I rocked back and forth in my chair. As she played, I listened closely and these parts of the song tugged at my heart, and yes, I have changed the gender to apply to Tori!
Strumming my pain with her fingers Half way through the song she switched from the organ back to the piano, a rarity during this tour! She sang powerfully at the end, causing me to weep for a while before pulling myself together, It was as beautiful as I always dreamed it would be. I KNEW she could do this song better than anyone. I knew she would be incredible. She was, Good God, thank you Tori, Oh how I need this....I really NEEDED THIS. :)
I am still flying high from it. So I guess my little claim to fame during this tour was to be the person who helped coax 'Killing Me Softly' into the spotlight! It was not the strongest concert I have seen overall, but with 'Killing Me Softly', it will always be one of one of my favorites. My thoughts: My friends and I were just outside of the stage door during soundcheck but
there was so much noise going on underneath the stage in the dressing room
area that a lot of Tori was muffled. However, we heard Pretty Good Year,
Cornflake Girl, and KILLING ME SOFTLY! Joel came out and told us that she
was going to play it tonight and we freaked out. But I'm sure that was nothing
compared to what you were doing when she played it! Well, after the sound-
check was nearly done, Ironman Steve kicked us out of the area. But that's
ok cause we got an earful!
The concert.... CALS was the best version I have ever seen, hands down. She was just going
OFF on the "zone" switch. I thought, man, this girl's on fire...
But then she kind of seemed to lose it. Did you pick up this feeling? Maybe
it was just me, but she seemed very preoccupied the whole night. She seemed
a bit more tired than usual, and it was kind of like her mind was on other
things. I'm not disappointed in the show, I'm just concerned. She looked
really troubled.
During Me And A Gun, maybe my eyes were freaking out on me, but while I was
watching her it seemed like all the youth just drained out of her while
singing that song. With every word she grew older and older. This song
seemed to suck the life out of her, making this one very haunting.
Little Earthquakes was definitely a highlight of the night, though. She was
really in a Little Earthquakes mood last night, don't you think? Hardly any
BFP....
And then....the highlight of the night (prehaps the whole tour!) Back To The Main Dew Drop Inn Index Back to the Main Tori Amos Page Hey everyone :) Just went and saw my fifth and final Tori show (this
year at least *sniff sniff*). It was amazing. So amazing that i think i
can honestly say that it was even better than the second show in Cleveland
back in June. I had pretty decent seats, right next to the soundmen. I
recognized on eof them from the picture in _all these years_ with Tori
and the crew out to eat. I talked to him and he had a strong British
accent ;) What I thought was hilarious though, was that his styrofoam
cup of whatever had this name on it: Deaf Twat!!! I thought that Tori and
the crew were close, but i never thought...Well, anyway, on to the show.
Josh Clayton-Felt was better than I had thougth he would be. A lot of
people haven't liked but I think that he was Ok.
Tori comes out in a tight short sleeve blue top with blue Levi's.
And get this...NO SHOES!!! Maybe she needs to go shopping or something.
(Yeah, right. With all those millions of pairs she already has.)
T: stands for Tori talking A: stands for audience or audience member Hugs to Scott and Molly and Alie too (who i heard had a wonderful Tori
encounter after the show? You'll have to tell me about it.)
I'm sad thinking about what I'm gonna do with myself for the next few
years. It was a great feeling when you're having just a really bad day and
you can say to yourself, i'm gonna see Tori soon and it is just all better.
It'll be hard to convince myself, you're gonna see Tori in about 3 years.
Oh well, she desrves a very nice big huge gigundo long rest after the
incredible amount of touring she has done. And the best of luck on the
next project. Then we went back to the concert. Tori was fabulous; she played all sorts
of wonderful songs; some highlights were a cover of Ohio by Neil Young,
Butterfly, Entienne (on the harmonium), CALS (I love this one live), Tear
in Your Hand (prolly my 2nd favorite tori song, a close second to Upside
down), and a really warped version of This Old Man. And she played Space
Dog, and Little Earthquakes. I had a pair of binoculars for this concert,
so I got to watch her expressions and movements. There were points where
I thought she was going to leap off the stage into the audience, taking
the piano with her. She tapped out percussion on the piano, the
harpsicord, her thighs, her chest, and just about everything else she
could get her hands on.
And Scott got a really neat recording from her at the soundcheck; she told
him how she was going to miss us at the end of the concert (she's taking a
2-yr hiatus to write and recuperate) and how she considers us not so much
fans as walking ears, and then she started getting all choked up on the
tape.
Anyways, I didn't get to meet her this time, but if anybody out there does
meet her, tell her to rest and take it easy and take care of herself and
that her music has had a profound impact on my life, helping me maintain
my sanity through some pretty rough times, and do invite her to Toricon in
December!
I'm very tired now; I think I'll go to sleep. Anyway, I have a complete setlist (copied from Maery with a dead pen.
Engraved on a Josh Clayton-felt flyer)
Beauty Queen/Horses - gee, what a surprise =)
Ohio - Great great great. I have heard the song before, but was not
aware who did it originally. any help finding it? I like to track
down originals of covers.
Blood Roses - Fine form. She had dramatic pauses in it, but in
general, it seemed like the tempo was a little sped up.
Butterfly - the silly thoughts I had while listening to this. It was
again a little fast, I think. I was blanking on what song it was, but
sitting there loving every second of it. Then it hit me.
Cornflake Girl - including the cute little dance. Wierd wierd wierd.
Space Dog - with My Favorite Martian intro and blurry planet pictures
on the screen
Little Earthquakes - My heart just about stopped during this. Prolly
the second time i cried there (first was during Butterfly)
Alamo - I actually didn't recognize this. I don't hear it too often,
even tho I like it. I just haven't had time to listen to singles
lately. I know, sounds odd, but I mean, I can't hop up to change the
CD every 15 minutes. Pictures of a flamenco dancer on screen
Precious things - 31 second "girl" Not bad. Still have the time on
my watch. I haven't reset it =)
CaLS - Same old same old
Talula - Great great great again. I love it. Great song, phenomenal
live. Caton was really into it as well.
Me and a Gun - two shouts when she began, one after "5 AM" Not great
behavior, but it could have been worse. Felt really odd coming right
off of Talula.
Encore 1:
Angie - not much to say about this...
This Old Man/Putting the Damage On - This Old Man went up to four, but
she was leaving bits of the lyrics out. Loved PTDO.
Encore 2:
Tear in Your Hand - nice
Icicle - You'd think I'd remember to look for the concert intro by
now. I was blanking for some time. Caton sat there and smoked
through the whole song.
Etienne on Harmonium - Amazing ("Some of you may have heard this, some
may have not)
Anyway, I must say the concert was simply amazing. I'd have to put it
above the second Cleveland show (my first Tori concert) Back To The Main Dew Drop Inn Index Back to the Main Tori Amos Page Reviewer's background: 29ym, fourth time (LE, UtP, and BFP tours in Pittsburgh previously), LE is my second all time favorite album (behind Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon), although I would resequence it as 1,2,4,10,6,8,9,5,3,7,11,12. For details, see my web page, World Wide Web Segue Service , which is under construction.
My wife and I have seen her now 4 times in the past 5 years, and it has been a pleasure to see the evolution of a remarkable talent in that time. While the show in Pittsburgh in May 1996 was somewhat uneven and fatigued, September 14, 1996 should go down in the annals of hisTori as the most passionate performance in Pittsburgh ever.< p>
Josh Clayton Felt opened the show, demonstrated notable classic rock guitar skills, and appeared to be warmly embraced by the largely college-student audience. His talent will likely be better highlighted with stronger material. The intermission featured obligatory homage to Led Zeppelin, followed by the artist's entry during "Son of a Preacher Man." After several handshakes with fans, about 100 others rushed the stage. All returned calmly to their seats, and hisTori began.
After an intense bar or two on the Bosey, the haunting introduction to Beauty Queen led to a silence throughout the theater that would persist throughout each song, but would explode in between. The audience was most appropriate and silent during Me and a Gun. The storytelling and other highlights mentioned in previous shows were present here: Caton's introduction (albeit abridged), the advice to put jelly beans in the pants of abusive employers, and the "girrrllll..." in Precious Things lasting about 15 seconds, with some interesting mouth-to-mike audio distortions. The dance during "Cornflake Girl" was uninhibited, prancing all over the stage prompting the audience to converge and connect.
There were no technical mishaps on this night: the sound quality was perfect given the suboptimal acoustics often afforded by a small arena designed for basketball. The taped backing track for Talula (which did not function properly in the May show) was fully functional, and the intensity created gave the feel of a full band. The prospects of a tight band backing her on future tours would be amazing.
Most passionate performances were given throughout the evening, but Horses, and the sequence of Sneeze-Cornflake-Lucifer-Little Earthquakes was a phenomenal climax capturing the theme of personal freedom and confidence after prolonged perceptions of self-doubt and personal inadequacies. This sequence notably benefitted by the tightly integrated guitar accompaniment of Caton, and the two in tandem were essentially one. Caton's addition to the tour has been very fruitful, and his stage performance easily surpasses the high quality of his studio contributions.
The recent Tori tour break was the best thing the Pittsburgh audience could have asked for. This performance was vibrant, alive, sincere, and perfect. She connected with the audience and the energy grew throughout. The clarity of the vocals was perfect and without any slurring, and the spontaneity enhanced the quality of the individual songs like never before in her performances in Pittsburgh. Prior to this show, I doubted she would be able to top the LE show in 1992 with respect to the energy that new artists maintain with small intimate audiences. With any doubt comes greater faith, and this night marked the perfect balance of self-confidence (which was lacking in 1992) with boundless energy and intimacy with audience of nearly 6000.
Back To The Main Dew Drop Inn Index Back to the Main Tori Amos Page Tori Amos
Eisenhower Auditorium, Penn State University, University Park PA Time: a bit less than 2 hours
Thumbnail sketch: A fine show, though probably not a standout on this
tour
Josh Clayton Felt came out at just after 8:00 and entertained us with
about half a dozen songs, all solo. He got a warm reception (some of the
girls really liked him), though i wasn't really turned on. He had a great
voice, but concepts like "Nature Boy" or "Paint the Tree Green" didn't
interest me.
Then the Led Zep tapes were played as the crew made final adjustments.
This happened behind a white curtain (Josh played in front of the curtain).
Tori's show didn't get underway until just after 9.
The lights went down and the curtain went up and Tori walked out
in the darkness and started playing as the stage lights went on. There were
several spotlights on her or around the stage, strings of christmas lights
strung on a big curtain behind the piano, giving the impression of a
starry night (though all the stars had a yellowish tinge to them), and a big
triangular TV screen on which were projected various still or moving images
during the concert -- these were abstract blurry images, mostly, and i liked
them as part of the ambience.
Fashion report: Tori wore what looked like a blue velvet top that
left her shoulders bare and black jeans. I was sitting in the back row of the
grand tier (that's what i get for buying my tickets at 12:30 the day they went
on sale). Unfortunately i couldn't see the expressions on her face -- i was
just too far back.
She started with "Beauty Queen" which segued into "Horses", then
"American Pie"-->"Smells Like Teen Spirit", which she added some words to in
the middle (i couldn't tell what they were). She switched over to Harpsichord
and did "Blood Roses". Then "Caught a Lite Sneeze" on harpsichord then piano
then back again. Caton had come out for that number, and Tori introduced him
and here (or maybe later) she told us that Caton's cousin was on the Penn
State football team for one practice. He was too small to stay on the team.
"I'm sure a lot of you guys know what it's like to be too small, right?" Tori
teased. Anyway, Caton played the opening riff for "Conrflake Girl" while Tori
did a dance, starting on the piano bench, then getting up and moving up front
and around stage left, then she got back to the piano and sang the song.
She prefaced "Pretty Good Year" by saying it was about the nerdiest
guy she had ever met, and described how he had written a letter about all the
troubles in his life. Then we got "Silent All These Years". Somewhere by
this time i realized that Tori was slowing down the tempo of a lot of these
songs to dramatically emphasize the lines (A technique Bob Dylan has used to
great effect). Next was "Little Earthquakes", starting with some heavy
resonances in the Bosendorfer, and augmented by Caton's guitar washes. She
then did "Flying Dutchman" because some she met before the show had requested
it. Then "Precious Things". I didn't time how long she held
"girrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrl", but
it was probably at least as long as that note in Dylan's cover of "Freight
Train Blues" on his first record.
She switched back to the harpsichord to sing "Lovesong", then "Me and
a Gun". She put back in the line "You can laugh, it's kind of funny, what you
think in times like these", which i liked in the original but had been dropped
the last times i saw her. Then she went back to the piano for "Marianne",
then there was a tornado-fied "Talula" with backing tapes and Caton. End of
show.
First encore she did "China", and she must have done another song,
though the next thing i have written down on my setlist (admittedly written in
the dark) is "Father Lucifer", which i thought started the second encore.
Before the second encore, the crew rolled off the harpsichord and rolled up
the pump organ. After "Father Lucifer", Tori did "London Girls", which was
fun. Then she said something about her old band, to the effect of when most
girls were looking to the virgin Mary for guidance, she was looking to Lita
Ford, and this was a song she did back when she was in a band with Caton.
Someone shouted "Y Kant Tori Read", which got a bit of a jovial scowl from
Tori. So she gave us "Etienne" on the pump organ. Then she walked off and
the lights went up almost immediately.
She was totally in control of the audience and the material and
everything, very confident. Even though her performance was nearly 2 hours, i
was left with the feeling it was too short (maybe because i was thinking it
can't be over until she plays "hey Jupiter", but she didn't). Overall this
show was a leap in production and peformance over the previous tours -- maybe
because she's more flexible in what she does on stage (even though having
accompaniment from Caton means some things have to be worked out in advance).
I mean if she wants to dance, she'll dance; if she wants to knock the side of
the piano, she'll knock the side of the piano. Fine with me. I just read the University Park review, and I have a funny little piece
to add. I think my good friend Kim had sent you some quotes from the
concert and you put then on your page. Anyway, I was at the UP Concert,
and was blessed with about tenth row seats. As she was playing "Caught
a Lite Sneeze", you know how she switches from harpsicord to piano?
Well, for some reason, she couldn't reach!!! She laughed, and so did
the audience!! Click here to read the review from The Digital Collegian. Back To The Main Dew Drop Inn Index Back to the Main Tori Amos Page Well, I just got back from tonight's show and though I need sleep, I thought
I would share the set list and a brief review of tonight's concert.
First of all, I got there at 8pm. The show was supposed to start at 7:30pm
and I had heard from an employee of the venue that the start time was pushed
back due to "technical difficulties". But by the time I got there at 8pm,
Josh Clayton Felt was already finished.
Tori came on at approximately 8:30pm to the strains of "Son of a Preacher
Man". She strolled across the stage wearing faded blue jeans and a tight
spandex top that was black and either blue or purple. She was wearing black
shiny shoes with sort of big, blocky heels.
The set list, was as follows (I may have transposed a couple of songs in the
first 6 or 7):
Beauty Queen / Horses As for a review of the show, first let me say that this is the first time
I've seen Tori in concert. I knew, from reading the set lists and reviews
at this site, pretty much what to expect. But she was absolutely amazing.
There were a couple of songs of hers that I'm not particularly fond of on
record - Leather and Little Earthquakes -- but seeing her perform them in
concert really converted me. She gave them both an energy that can't be
duplicated on record.
Tori spoke after Angie, saying (and I paraphrase) "Thanks for all the baked
goods. I'm probably gonna gain 10 pounds. I come to Poughkeepsie alot and you guys always give me the most yummy things. How could I say no?" Then she feigned seriousness and said, "This is my philosophy voice....you've got to encourage your girls to eat."
She didn't speak very much other than that. At one point she seemed ready
to start a song and she turned to Caton and said, "Oh, are you tuning?"
Then she addressed the audience and said, "well, is there anything you'd
like to ask me?" Several people shouted out things which I could not make
out, and she basically turned the piano (as Caton was ready) and said
something to the effect of "Oh, you don't want to hear the answer to that."
I believe it was before Honey that she said, "This song should have been
on Pink, but I always kick my favorite songs off the record, because I'm an
idiot."
She did her dance before Cornflake Girl, beginning by sitting at the piano
with her head hung down between her legs while Caton strummed, slowly rising
and walking to the front of the stage. It was kind of cool and funky. She
then ripped into an AWESOME version of Cornflake Girl. It blew me away.
I have a complaint about Caught a Light Sneeze. She really dragged the
first half of the song out, adding extra bars of music between each line of
the song. It really picked up when she got to the "right on time..." part,
and from there it was great.
Talula was excellent, but the tape backing track was much too loud and the
bass was basically distorted coming out of the P.A. The "Septic Center", as
we like to refer to it, is not know for its great sound -- hence the
disparaging nickname.
I was wondering all night what the reaction to Me and a Gun would be and I
was hoping that people would be respectful. I'm a guy and I can't relate to
that song as well as a woman can, but I respect her and respect the people
who really take that song to heart. Happilly, the only sound during the
song were someone coughing in the back and the periodic squeaking of folding
chairs. She really seemed to have a difficult time getting this song out
and it seemed to take forever. There were points where I thought she was
actually going to cry. But it was really well done.
My only disappointment was that she didn't play Hey Jupiter, but I console
myself with the fact that had she played it, she probably would have done
the awful "industrial" Dakota mix which totally turns a quite beautiful song
into a kind of bland, droning number. Everyone has their favorites and that
one is mine. Also, I would have liked to hear her do Past The Mission
and/or Icicle.
Well, that about raps it up for me. I really enjoyed the show and would
definitely go to see her again if she plays in the area.
Addendum I realized that my review may have sounded a little negative and I wanted
to dispel that. The show WAS great and even though the venue is not know for
it's sound, she still sounded incredible, due in no small part to her own talent
and the work of the sound guys. Plus, since the instrumentation is really
limited, it's hard for the building to screw up her sound.
She played and sang with a great deal of energy and from what I could tell, she didn't screw up anything -- she was right on, and in complete control. Just reading through your timeline of the DDI tour- you correctly have "The
Wrong Band's" first performance listed under Sept. 24, but, rather
unofficially, she did sing some of it (backstage) earlier- on Sept. 10 in
Poughkeepise. It's really a rather nice story- I'll make it short... I am a
serious musician; my parents started me on piano when I was 2 and I'd since
become involved with the oboe. Anyhow, my parents decided that they didn't
want me to continue with music- they wanted me to "get a job." Also, I'd
just been denied a spot in the NY All-State Orchestra by 1 point- on the
audition exam, though I'd been forced to sight-read the entire thing because
my teacher accidentally gave me the wrong movement to learn. My parents and
guidance counselor told me over and over that I wasn't good enough and would
never make a decent living. Coincidentally, this whole thing happened on the
day of the show- I caught up with Tori in the parking lot after the show and
really broke down- she knew who I was and remembered the situation from a
previous show- even though she was in a big hurry she spent about 20 min.
w/me giving me some of the best advice of my life- she told me that I had to
develop myself as a musician and "if no one appreciates the way you play,
maybe you need to find a different way of doing it. Maybe you weren't meant
to be a classical oboe player- you have to seriously think about your musical
identity- but don't give up just because people don't believe in you." Then
she chuckled and broke into "The Wrong Band!" Everything worked out- I ended
up getting a close-to-full scholarship to a very competitive music
conservatory for next year- and my parents agreed to let me go. I can't
thank her enough... just thought you'd like to hear my Tori story... The Beauty Queen/Horses duo was pretty ordinary (which is awesome, but
not AS awesome as I have heard her.
Angie: This was so nice to hear! A little slower and more relaxed than
the version on the Crucify single. She does this awesome part where she
goes into Whisper/Hysterical Mode and then builds this single note at
the end of the song, craining to hit the high one...the right one...and
when she does it is just...y'know...a "Tori Moment".
Blood Roses: This was a nice one. She really had her voice on focus on
the "And God knows I know I've thrown away..." bridge. Her voice is so
perfect here, effortlessly throwing it over every note. I've heard this
many a time, but that part was a treat :)
Little Amsterdam: This was the nice relaxed version she always does in
concert. Nice to chill to.
Marianne: This was also really nice. I was expecting a little speech
about her, but not this time. That's okay, because she was really into
it this time. With every word she said, you felt some imagery there.
You KNEW that this song ment something special.
Crucify: I can't get enough of Crucify live! She did a neat little
baseline (kinda bluesy, like "voodoo") for the first 30 seconds or so,
and threw in the line, "Ain't no sunshine/Wet again". Maybe a new song
she was throwing around? Hmmm..don't know. But, this 7:15 version left
me wondering, "Why DO people crucify themselves?"
Caught a Lite Sneeze: I like this song better on the album (and on SNL)
then on live. But, it has its perks here. She had some nice echoing
effects going on (she reuses this in Talula and Etienne) and Steve
Caton's wierd-ass guitar sounds are really haunting. It's a little long
and wanders, but how can you not love the second crossover from piano to
harpsichord when she holds out that one note?
Talula: The echoing effects are really awesome here! They give you
that BT feel, and she repeats the "Chasing Tornadoes" part twice just to
rub it in. I read some complaints about the base being too loud here at
the time...on the CD it's perfect.
Somewhere Over the Rainbow: On the "Hey, Jupiter" EP it was okay.
Kinda skipped over it now and then trying to get to the next track. But
here, it's really really really good. She hooks you. It's almost as if
she's at her deathbed, singing this. I never really, y'know, ingested
this song (like we all do with Tori). But now that I have, I really
wonder if there is someplace over the Rainbow like that.
Cloud on my Tongue: We don't hear this song enough in concert! It's
one of my faves, and she does it with some extra sauce here. The piano
moments are more developed here. Has the same personal effect that
"Marianne" had. Emotional vomit is everywhere. (That graphic enough
for ya?)
Springtime of His Voodoo: This is great live! I wish she had recorded
it on BfP this way. It's a lot easier to groove to (as the crowd
appreciated, as they clapped in unison to the beats for the first 2
minutes or so). Steve Caton's accoustic guitar also adds a definite
positive element (especially his solo). She seems to be going with the
flow on this one.
Etienne: She should rerelease this song as a B-Side! She sings it with
the Pump Organ (which doesn't sound half as bad as you would think).
She tells the crowd, "Hello! Some of you may know this. This was on
some failed record that I did." The beginning sounded like she used the
same chord for "Hey Jupiter" so she could recollect for a second. The
song is beautiful. Absolutely mesmorizing. Total high point! Back To The Main Dew Drop Inn Index Back to the Main Tori Amos Page You can read this positive concert review at the Boston Phoenix Web Site. The lights dim. From the speakers, the Led Zepplin tape ends, and "Son of
a Preacher Man" blares from the soundboard. The crowd, as well as I, stand
on their feet and screan a defiant cry. Our goddess, Tori Amos, has entered
the stage.
The signature light of Joels flashlight creates a thin line, escorting
Tori to her piano. She is wearing a short turquoise dress over long sleeved
black shirt and black tights. She takes her seat in her unique pose, legs
spread out in a ninety degree angle, and straddling the piano bench. After
getting comfortable, she pounds on the piano as if trying to break it back
in from a week long vacation, then she opens into a single note.
*Ding* The single note the beginning of the concert. Beauty Queen, the
first song off "Boys from Pele" The opener to a new world, and she was
inviting all of us to enter.
My senses were at their high. As the lights on the soundboard in front of
me flashed in their ethereal dance, I could feel the notes make their impact
through the thin night air. I was here, I was in Nirvana.
The slow, echoing sounds of "Beauty Queen" then flowed into the sweetness
of "Horses." "I got me some horses to ride on, to ride on." I could not
contain myself from the pure joy and energy that was glowing from the stage
and audience. It was time, time for me to follow the music.
"If you army stays perfectly still" Those words fade as the audience
gives their applause to her. Not waiting, she takes back to the piano and
pounds more notes into the sound tablet that was being formed in front of
me. My trained ears instantly recognized the song. It was "Take to the
Sky." I scream a long prolonging "Yes!" after the shock sets into my mind..
The crowd gets into the rhythm of this number. Everyone starts to clap to
the beat of the song. Tori seems to enjoy this, extending the into for a
few more seconds before breaking into "My house is like Russia."
Her hips are gyrating as she bangs into the powerful song. She is feeding
off the energy that is being radiated from the crowd. The faeries are being
quite nice tonight.
As she breaks into "Have a seat while I take to the sky.", a passenger
flies 200 feet overhead. I smile, feeling that this is certainly fitting
for this tune.
My eyes focus on the light show that appears around Tori. A mix of violets
and crimson dance around the petite 52" 33 year old that is the center of
my attention.
The song ends as the sage turns to black. The applause echoes once again
through Fan Pier, the area where Harborlights is situated. Then, a single
blood red light appears behind Tori and Caton, making both of their bodies a
mere silhouette. My ears hear a unfamiliar sound, the sound of the
harpsichord live. As she plays, we are assualted by lights. Her first
single from "Boys for Pele" was beginning. "Caught a Lite Sneeze" has come
to visit.
The designs created behind her was dizzying. "Caught a lite sneeze, Caught
a lite breeze" The addition of Caton live brought this song to another
level. I was floating in heaven.
"I need a big loan from the girl zone" she wailed, moving her body from the
microphone to microphone. This created a perfect cross stereo effect. A
scream of unison erupts from the crod. She was used to this by now. She
just continued to play.
Then, she drops her hands from the keys of the piano and starts a
rudimentary beat with them. She pats her body as well as the highly shined
piano as she continues. The arena is silent. All that I could here was her
angelic voice and the soft tones of the beat.
"Mr. Saint John, just bring your son." The song ends. A common echo comes
from the crowd. This is the song in which many have found Toris petite,
yet strong, voice. I was totally overwhelmed.
Caton prepared one of his three onstage guitars as Tori takes a sip of the
ever present bottle of Evian water. She stratches out her arms before
calling "Little Amsterdam" She, the song, was definitely here. It flew off
her hands and mouth like a demon. "Little Amsterdam, a Southern town"
The crowd claps after that thrilling performance. Tori turns to the crowd
to tell the story of Frankie, a pierced man who travels with her in New
York. "It was like he was going to cap me, and he pulls out a Winnie the
Pooh." She stands, then executed the mime dance.
Everyone screams as we watch her swing her arms back and forth, squatting
abd thrusting, and, basically, doing whatever came to mind on stage. She
dances as Caton plays the introduction of "Cornflake Girl"
She slips back into the piano bench and the stage lights kick into a higher
intensity than before. Green and yellow lights dance on the stage and into
the crowd, blinding many, including myself. Tori sets back into the piano
and goes into "Never was a Cornflake Girl, Thought it was a good solution."
This song causes everyone around me to beat their feet against the ground,
catching the beat of the catchy song.
From whispers to screams then to moans, she dances across the lyrical
soundscape. "And the man with the golden gun, thinks he, thinks he knows so
much"
The situation is heavenly. I feel as if it is a dream, but, I am there. I am part of reality.
From the playful "Cornflake Girl", she slips into "Little Earthquakes"
These two songs, in some minds, were the signature songs from the first two
records "Little Earthquakes" and "Under the Pink."
"Yellow bird flying, gets shot in the wing." Symbolism, this is what
Toris music entails. She has brought me into world where she ruled. She
and the faeries played and harmony existed.
Tears formed in my eyes. I am about to cry. This is becoming too beautiful.
"Sugar", the next song to visit us during a night of passion and betrayal. "And Bobbys collecting bees and hammers. And he used one on me" she
chants, as if in a state where no one can touch her. We were all in the
hidden realm where we all can be in bliss.
A mood of rest lays over the crowd when "Sugar" is finished. This was not
to last long, this feeling of relaxation. The crowd peaks back into their
dazed state of being which Tori, our personal guide through the world,
beings "Mother."
"Mother", a song which has personal sentiments for song, including myself.
I couldnt handle it anymore. This is where I shed my first tear in a
prolonged period of time.
"The phone has been disconnected" Disconnected, thats what I was to the
rest of the world. We allowed her to take us away on a wild chariot ride.
I sat back and enjoyed the ride.
One of the signature songs of the tour was next up to bat, "Precious
Things." The crowd, as well as Tori, was ready. I was about to be
assaulted with sound.
She thrusts herself at the keys of black and white. Not as much as the
last tour since she is developing repetitive strain injury, but she
continues to pull through.
"Where the pretty girls are" she sings. She holds this note for 24.49 seconds. The crowd cannot contain
themselves. Another defiant cry is launched.
"Flying Dutchman" I was one of the few who screams during the opening of
this fairly rarely heard song. She explodes with her voice and mind the
story of Rantz during the enchanting music. This is beautiful, more tears
are to be shed.
She turns to the crowd again after finishing "Flying Dutchman", then
changes her position to face the harpsichord.. After stating the story of
"the friend who you just want to kill, but just cant." a roller coaster is
displayed on the projection screen. She skips her was into "Lovesong."
"Lovesong," a song in which I was already in love with before the show.
This cover of this Cure song just makes the taste sweeter.
"And I will always love you. I will never fall away, I will always love
you." Her words melt my heart as well as my defenses. Tears now fall
freely from my cheek.
Tori seems to want to jazz up the concert, so she knows exactly what to do.
She cues the sound and light men and a single shines upon her, only
revealing the shadows.
"Hes chasing tornadoes, and hes waiting calmly, chasing them" Talula!
The crowd jumps and screams as the backing track kicks in. Being so close
to the main sound board, both of my eardrums pop with the assault of bass.
I was overwhelmed.
After the song ends, it was time to settled down. Tori takes the
microphone in hand. It was time to be serious. It was time for "Me and a Gun."
A song which explains the story of her rape, the tragedy which befell her.
Why does the fates choose such a fate for someone of this power, grace and
beauty? I shall never know.
Everyone in the arena cries. Tears fall freely, even from Toris eyes.
None can resist being affected. It was too much. Most in the audience
allows tears to fall.
Tori leaves for the first time, only to return to sing an encore. A common
occurrence, but I still enjoyed it. She launched from the pain into "This
Old Man." Before I could react, she dances her way into another beautiful
song, "Putting the Damage On." This five minute song takes the emotion of
sadness and puts it into beautiful music. "Its just my ghost passing
through."
"Baker Baker" , a sweet beautiful song off "Under the Pink." It was the
most beautiful way to end the first encore. All can agree that this is the
most beautiful version that they have every had the pleasure to hear.
The lights turn black for the third time of the night. The crowd gives
another standing ovation. She comes back out, as if to reward our faith
with two more songs: "Father Lucifer" and "Purple Rain" I was in true bliss.
"Nothing going to stop me from floating." The chorus of Father Lucifer is
absolutely enchanting. I was indeed floating on a cloud.
My eyes wander off from the center stage, then focusing on Caton. He is
amazing. I watch as his fingers move gracefully across the top of the
guitar. It is amazing how an instrument this small can make such a
beautiful song.
The lights dim as "Purple Rain" appear in my ears. The harmonium was out,
such another beautiful instrument. The sensual nature of the song is
carried out, allowing to dance among the 5,000 people there.
Then, the stage turns dark once again, this time for sure. Tori and Caton
come out to the center of the stage, bowing after a show well done.
I will never recover from the wave of energy that was to be that night.
My dream has been filled. I have seen Tori Amos, the goddess, live. Boston Harborlights is a neat place to see a show. You get the feeling
that you're at a circus as it's a large tent located right on Pier 1 of
the Boston waterfront several blocks away from the downtown area. I would
estimate that the arena held about 3-4 thousand people as it was
definitely smaller than Jones Beach Ampitheatre or NJ Garden State Art
Center.
I missed the opening act, Josh Clayton Felt, but I've seen him several
times before. The Boston Globe mentioned that he went to high school in
the area and that it was likely that some of his old friends were at the
show.
Tori came out around 8:40pm wearing a blue dress, black leggings, and blue
pumps. It was quite appropriate since it was a cool night. I'm pretty
bad about remembering stories but I'll try. At one point, she brought up
a story about Winnie The Pooh and the infamous NYC Frankie. She mentioned
that he was chasing her down the street with something concealed. He
caught up with her and pulled out Winnie thereby surprising her.
Just before playing Lovesong, she mentioned that she always liked this
song when she's with good friends.
Initially the Boston crowd was a bit boisterous but settled down after a
few songs. The crowd had "just" the right amount of enthusiasm without
detracting from the show. This contrasted with the Wallingford, CT show
where I thought the crowd was a bit dead and the NJ Garden State Art
Center crowd was somewhat too enthusiastic/boisterous. I thought it was
interesting that Steve Caton didn't come out for as many songs as he did
at previous concerts. Perhaps Tori wanted to have a more personal
experience that night? After the encores, she shook hands with some of
the people in the crowd but didn't linger as long as in the past.
All in all, it was a great show and a fitting end to the Northeast portion
of the tour. I figured someone else would have posted by now about the magical
night at Harborlights in Boston last Monday. *wow* Something was
amazingly right about Tori and the audience and we got a very special
performance. Here's a sort of review.. this was from a piece of mail
I sent someone else, so it's not really in standard setlist form or
anything, but...
My only complaint was that she was occasionally playing a bit *too*
much on the weird side, drawing words out and changing the tempo enough
that she almost seemed to be drifting in and out of being completely
coherent in a couple places. More than usual. But hey, it's a live
performance and she was having fun... To go along with that, though,
she also seemed to be adding in lyrics to several songs, this was more
than just hearing stuff that's usually in the backing tracks etc. I
couldn't quite make out what she was saying.. but there were a few places
where she added these lines with a sort of haunting simplistic melody
to them, in Little Amsterdam, Cornflake Girl, Sugar, Mother, and maybe
one or two other songs. If anyone else who was there could provide more
details, I would be grateful.
She played an amazing amount of stuff I'd given up on ever hearing in
concert...some of it was even on the printed setlist!! I've gotten
into the habit of writing up a setlist during the concert, of course..
she started with beauty queen/horses, and then jumped right into..
Take to The Sky! one of my favorite b-sides. Then a version of caught
a lite sneeze that was a little weird for my tastes, then Little
Amsterdam, which I *think* she added some lyrics to. Then Cornflake
Girl, which she had done at the Wang with Caton, too.. I like it much
better that way compared to the backing-track she used in the under
the pink tour, so I was in a good mood then. And then... she played
Little Earthquakes! She almost never plays it in concert, too. *wow* it
was amazing. at that point she said something about having been doing
a couple of requests, people screamed some out, and she said, nope,
I've already got them written on my hand. she added something like,
"but just wait, maybe I'll play what you were going to request. or
maybe not, maybe you lose." really playfully. Then she played Sugar,
followed by Mother, followed by Precious Things, which was nice except
for the grrrrrl, which is getting a little absurd these days.
Then the highlight of the night, for me, was Flying Dutchman. I've
never had the guts to call it out in the middle of a concert, besides,
it's kind of rude to and it probably wouldnt happen. But I was
*thinking* it all night, and she actually played it!!!!!!! It was on
the printed setlist, too. She ended up the normal set with a cover of
Love Song by the cure (I didn't know that's what it was till later),
then Talula and Me and a Gun. (I guess she's been putting those
together at the end of the normal set for a while. hmm.) She came out
and played This Old Man, Putting the Damage on, Baker Baker, and
Father Lucifer and ended the concert with a cover of Purple Rain on
the organ that was pretty cool.
the audience was pretty well-behaved once she got into the concert.
there was one point towards the end where someone near the front got
her attention and then for some reason decided to tell her that she'd
gone to see the movie "trainspotting" in israel and it was in hebrew.
tori's response was something like, "i've done a lot of things in
hebrew. I'm a minister's daughter, I'm going to try *anything*." =)
it was apparently a great night for Tori, too... I went to find the
stage exit and found it successfuly. One of her security guys was
being great, very friendly and very willing to deal with all the
people there and said that she did want to come spend some time with
us if we'd be well behaved. amazingly, everyone was.. when they
brought out the barriers to keep things under control, i got in front
pretty easily, and then she came out and actually spent at least half
an hour walking down and hugging people and having little one minute
conversations with each of us, asking names and stuff. I got to talk
to her and hold her hands, and I thanked her for Flying Dutchman and
she said it doesn't come out very often. =) well, I knew that.
the only disappointment was finding out that either the pendant I gave
one of the security people at Northampton 2 years ago never did get to
her, or else she didn't remember it, or whatever. at least I asked.
oh well. she was adorable. and even her anal security guy Joel
(the blond one) was smiling and being pretty nice. He seemed
embarrsed when I looked right at him and said "wow, you're actually
*smiling* for once." heh.
by the way, is the person who won the printed setlist while we were
waiting for tori to come out on the list? The security guard (non joel,
he's got long dark hair and is sort of short and stout) offered to give
it to whoever told the funniest joke while we were waiting. the winner's
joke was "Why can't Miss Piggy count to 100?"
"Because when she gets up to '69' she always gets a little frog in her
throat." =)
Anyway, that's about it. Hey gang, delurking here for a minute to tell you all how magnificent last
night's show was. Apparently someone got a hold of Tori before the show, and
did a ton of requests, which she fulfilled. This was my first time seeing
Tori, and safe to say not my last. And Harborlights (capacity 3,600) was
perfect for the show.
What I can remember offhand: Father Lucifer, CALS, Talula, Little Amsterdam,
Beauty Queen/Horses, Precious Things, Cornflake Girl, Me and a Gun, Little
Earthquakes. I was hoping for Crucify, Silent All These Years and Hey
Jupiter, but no such luck....Talula was the highlight of the night for me,
excellent!
She did an AMAZING cover of I Will Always Love You by The Cure (she
introduced this by saying she "had a disagreement with a friend, don't you
hate that? When I have a disagreement with this friend, this is the song I
think of" Is it true that she's friends with Robert Smith, and if so, can
anyone confirm he was there last night, as he's in town for his show
Thursday?) And she closed the show with the cover of Purple Rain, which was
great (proved to me it's a well-written song, just performed badly by its
original artist the first time around, IMHO!) Back To The Main Dew Drop Inn Index Back to the Main Tori Amos Page hey folks!
saw tori in wallingford ct last nite at the oakdale theatre. great show!
certainly better than i was expecting considering the size of the place.
of course, the rush to the stage at the end of the show was uncalled
for... as she started singing her second encore and the hundreds of
alternateens surged down the aisles, her highness coyly quipped "they
think i'm metallica!".
highlights: "father lucifer" (first time hearing her do this live-
phenomenal!), "little earthquakes" (a pleasant surprise), "flying
dutchman" (my fave tori b-side), "purple rain" on the harmonium.
strange phenomena: tori's bobby mcferrin impression during "caught a lite
sneeze" (after hearing that she's been playing "do re mi" from the sound
of music, i wouldn't be surprised if "don't worry, be happy" was up
next...), the even-more-bizarre-than-before "cornflake girl" dance (what
does she think she's kate bush or something????), and "london girls" as
an encore, with her crotch-grabbing antics :-}
also the sound at oakdale theatre, while clear, was disconcerting. as
mike curry mentioned to me, it was all far left and far right with no
center at all.
overall impression was that her voice is getting weary...she deliberately
skipped a lot of the higher notes, and was certainly more throaty and
guttural than usual. maybe all that low pressure from hurricane eduardo
is affecting her sinuses...she did note that the harpsichord LOVED the
atmospheric conditions.
overall impression: 8 on a scale of 10 Allow me to annotate Chuck's comments a bit... :)
I thought the mini-stage rush at the end was quite amusing, actually. With
the exception of the bozon who trampled us in his rush to vault over seats to
get to the aisle (and end up standing a mere three or four feet ahead of
where his seat with the unimpeded view was anyway), everyone was quite well
behaved, and left in a very orderly fashion after the show as over. I'm sure
the security people were getting nervous, though. But, since everyone was
cool about it, I don't see anything wrong with getting to finally see the
expression on Tori's face after spending the entire show way in the back.
Did you notice Caton? He wasn't paying any attention to what was going on,
and when he finally looked up and saw the sea of faces staring back at him
where there had been none before, he just cracked up and totally lost it. It
was really funny. :)
Set list, as far as I can recall, was: Beauty Queen/Horses She was in a really good mood, and it showed. She also figured (rightly)
that most of the people in the audience had already seen one or both New
Haven shows last May, and said she intended to mix it up a bit and give us
a few surprises along the way. "Little Earthquakes" was a treat, and Caton
really added to the intensity with his atmospheric background noodling.
I gladly traded sitting through "Leather" and "Crucify" *one*more*time* for
not having to endure "Precious Things" again (I'm sorry, but that 30+-second
growl in the middle and the orgasmic screams it induces from the teenies in
the audience just makes me want to retch all over). The highlight of the
show was definitely "Father Lucifer", though. The three bridges in sequence
instead of on top of one another, the lights, the music, the Bronski Beat
snuck in at the end... sigh.
"Flying Dutchman", my second favorite b-side (next to "Honey", which is one of
my all-time favorite songs by anyone, anywhere) was really neat to hear, too.
Tori prefaced it by explaining that she wrote it for a friend of hers who
taught her many things, among them the Sandman comics (which means Rantz,
right?), and he got married this week but she couldn't be there for him, so
she was going to play this song for him. It was gorgeous.
I agree that Tori needs this week off that she's got, though. She should
spend it asleep and not talking. I greatly envy those of you who are going
to see her at Harborlights in Boston on the 9th, the day after her little
vacation ends -- I'm sure she's going to really put on a great show there. Back To The Main Dew Drop Inn Index Back to the Main Tori Amos Page Back To The Main Dew Drop Inn Index
Please give me feedback, comments, or suggestions about my site.
From a personal email sent to me by Matt (pagan@indy.net)
Tori's Performance In Muncie Indiana, September 18
From Mikewhy, creator of this web site. (mikewhy@iglou.com)
HERE IN MY HEAD - These two songs made an amazing pair for the first encore. China deeply ripped into me this time. I found it hard to breathe. Here, In My Head was sung flawlessly from beginning to end. Her voice was smooth as honey, and I was happy for Stacey, who requested it earlier at sound check. These 2 songs are made to be sung together!
Singing my life with her words
Killing me softly with her song...
I felt she found my letters
And read each one out loud...
She sang as if she knew me
In all my dark despair...
From a personal email sent to me by Katherine
I got to meet Tori again...yay! She's so sweet! And I really like this Josh
Clayton Felt fellow. He gave me a signed demo before the concert! He is so
nice.
As you know I was sixth row, dead center. Best seats I've ever had. I was
so pumped. When Tori came out to do Beauty Queen, I was practically pissing
in the seat. At the end of BQ which leads directly into horses, on the line
"I lie again," she was drooling all over the place, and you could just hear
her suck it all in before she started Horses. I was floored. Icicle's intro
was really cute, Onward Christian Soldiers with a few additions of her own...
something really funny about good poppyseed cake but I'm sure you've got all
the lyrics transcribed somewhere.
And then....the highlight of the night (prehaps the whole tour!)
And then....the highlight of the night...prehaps the whole tour....
KILLING ME SOFTLY! Any energy it seemed she had lost during the night just
came back, and she sang this so passionately and so beautifully..going from
the organ to the piano I was freaking out! I thought of how happy you must
have been and I started to cry. I have never heard anything more wonderful
in my life. I am so happy for you. And for everyone there. It was not
prehaps her best concert, but it was one of the most interesting, and it
showed a different side of Tori that wasn't "bad", just a little unusual with
a girl of so much fire. It was a night not to be missed.
From a posting to the rec.music.tori-amos newsgroup by LELAH (lelahliz@aol.com)
if you care...
Beauty Queen
Horses
Icicle
Caught a Lite Sneeze
Cornflake Girl
Honey
Little Earthquakes
Mr Zebra
UPSIDE DOWN!!! (for ME!!)
Precious Things
Lovesong (on harpsichord, i don't know if she normally does it on that,
but it was neat to hear)
Talula
Me & a Gun
encore 1- -
China
Here in my Head
encore 2- -
Father Lucifer
Kum baya-- sorry about the spelling, i don't know, it was a request, she
did it on harmonium, and then she played...
KILLING ME SOFTLY!!
has she ever done that before? I remember reading something about her
soundchecking it but i didn't know if she had actually played it. But she
did last night, the whole song. Part of it on harmonium, part on piano. It
rocked. I think it was also a request from someone, because when I got to
meet her i hugged her and stuff and asked her if she'd play Upside Down
for me, and she wrote it on her hand. I looked, just to see what else she
had written there and I saw something that started with a K, probably Kum
baya, but i don't know. I think she said they were both requested, i could
be wrong. BUT i got to HUG TORI!! it was one of the high points of my
life, i must say. My best friend and i likened it to when someone you
really like alot calls you on the phone. Then when she played our songs
(upside down 4 me, precious things 4 Meghan, 1 after the other) it was
like that peson kissed you for the first time, you know? Actually it was
better than that, it was indescribable. When she played upside down, i
just was so amazed that she was playing it FOR ME. Well, me and everyone
there, but ME! she is so tiny and she smelled so good and i love her SO
much. :) I am so happy. :) NOW i definitely need a bootleg of this showso
if anyone could help me out, i know it was just last night and all, but
still.. it has MY upside down! thanks for your ears and help
Tori's Performance In Akron Ohio, September 16
From a posting to the RDT mailing list and a personal email by ***Maery*** (ij587@cleveland.freenet.edu)
Beauty Queen/Horses
Ohio (!!!) - Neil Young tune
T: Hello! How's it going you guys?
A: *applause* I Love You!
T: Anyway, I love you too. I hadn't played that one in a long time and I
thought that you would understand.
Blood Roses
Butterfly (yippee!)
T: Some of you know who this wonderful being is, this wonderful person,
Caton. While the tour is ending, I'm trying to figure out what I am
going to do when it's over.
A: Can you come visit me?
T: Can you cook?
A: Spaghettios!
T: Spaghettios?!?! You'll have to do better than that, babe. Right now
I'm into spicy, spicy, spicy. Girls you understand. Spicy beans, and I
don't care what my boyfriend says.
Cornflake Girl - the dance has really evolved since back in June. I
especially loved the muscle man poses.
Space Dog - with one of her (in)famous tiger growls added in.
Little Earthquakes
Then Tori plays a li'l ditty and does an (in)famous dog bark which goes
into...
Happy Phantom - I think that Tori just completely forgot how to end the
song. She started making up nonsense noises (not words),
then she started singing about bread and butter and how she
doesn't know where to go but she's getting closer. Then
instead of the piano ending (which she presumably forgot),
she just ended with the same beat using her nonsense
noises.
A: Lucky Ducky!!
Bunch of requests.
T: Hold your horses, I wanna to hear about Lucky Ducky. Then breaks
into this song....
Lucky Ducky - lyrics written down as fast as possible by myself
Lucky Ducky was his name
Every girl knows Lucky Ducky's game
All the girls come from ear to ear, ear to ear
To see what Lucky Dicky's got up his ---- (omits the word rear - filled in
by several audience members)
I'm not to sure what it is abot Northeast Ohio that brings out this weird
impromptu songs from Tori (remember Pain in His Hole? That started in
Cleveland and seems to be getting playing time in other select cities.)
T: I hardly ever play this one, so...
Alamo - I loved this song live. The blues on the way and fast as i came
parts were really really sad.
Precious Things - the grrrl clocked in at 31.16 seconds
Caught a Lite Sneeze - i noticed that at the part where she is usually
the piano as percussion, she was using her chest and
thighs also.
Talula
Me and a Gun
************
Encore One
Angie - it's nice to hear this one in concert. It has a lot more feeling
it than the recorded version.
This Old Man ---> Putting the Damage On
************
Encore Two
Tear in Your Hand
Icicle
T: Some of you may have heard this before, some of you haven't.
Etienne (on harmonium) - has anyone mentioned on what a great ending to the
shows Etienne is? Well, if not, it is a great way
to end a perfect evening.
From a posting to the rec.music.tori-amos newsgroup by David B. Goldberger (goldberg@riker.neoucom.edu)
From a posting to the rec.music.tori-amos newsgroup by Andy Busch (abusch@mail.chuh.cleveland-heights.k12.oh.us)
A review of Akron From Molly and Alie (YOU MUST READ THIS INCREDIBLE STORY!)
Tori's Performance In Pittsburgh PA, September 14
From a personal email sent to me by B. Alan Williams (baw3@pop.pitt.edu)
Tori's Performance In University Park PA, September 13
From a personal account by Andrew Russ (endwar@phys.psu.edu)
Josh Clayton-Felt
Sept. 13, 1996
From a personal email sent to me by Carmen
From a review that appeared in The Digital Collegian newspaper at Penn State on September 16, 1996.
Tori's Performance In Poughkeepsie NY, September 10
From a personal email sent to me by Tony Rexhouse (trexhouse@mhv.net)
Angie
Blood Roses
Little Amsterdam
Cornflake Girl
Honey
Little Earthquakes
Leather
Marianne
Crucify
Caught a Light Sneeze
Talula
Me and a Gun
Encore 1 - Somewhere Over The Rainbow
Cloud on My Tongue
Encore 2 - In the Springtime of His Voodoo
Etienne
From a posting to the rec.music.tori-amos newsgroup by Lydia Anne (ttfn@ix.netcom.com)
Hi Tori-philes,
The Poughkeepsie show IHMO was nice but NOT a great show for a variety
of reasons. First there were only about a dozen of us waiting to greet
Tori when she arrived for sound check--and five of those were in one
family group. I think Tori deserves more of us to come by and greet
her. She is a incredibly warm, kind person who works hard to share
with us her incredible talents.
I noticed that she was wearing a very nice pear-shaped sapphire and
diamond ring on her left hand. Have others seen it--or is this a new
piece of jewelry?
The venue seats 3,050 mostly on a FLAT cement floor--some shorter
people had trouble seeing her and those of us in wheelchairs could not
see her at all for the second encore as the entire audience was
standing. (O.K. I jumped to the end of the concert without the set
list...just be patient)
I did not think the sound quality was nearly as good as in some of the
theater-type venues and that is to be expected with upon the cement
floor, cement walls, metal ceiling, etc.
I thought Tori did a nice job of everthing she played--but it seemed to
be performed without much emotion. Seemed to me that she was
caressing the piano; rather than attacking it--may also be a function
of the songs performed. She also did VERY LITTLE talking. If you
wanted to see a high energy, intense show you should have been at The
Oakdale in Wallingford, CT just before her recent week off.
Oh, yea one more thing, there seems to be a lengthening of the time of
the break between the opening act and Tori's appearance on stage.
Earlier in this tour--Phiily, Wilkes Barre, PA you could time it
exactly--30 minutes after Willy Porter left the stage, Tori came out.
The last three shows I've been to it was about 45 minutes between the
opening act and Tori's appearance. Last night, at 8:30 (30 minutes
after the opening act left the stage) there was a rhymithic clap-fest
trying to get Tori to come to the stage. Several of those happened as
we waited.
Now, Finally, The set list: (as you will see nothing exciting about
this either)
usual entry to Preacher Man
Beauty Queen
Angie
then SHE spoke to the audience
about how she liked coming here as she got some wonderful baked
goods and probably will put on 10 pounds from eating them. (I know
that two of the groups of people who met her for sound check
brought, or were going to bring later, tasty baked goods) Then she
said "you guys need to encourage your girls to eat".
Blood Roses
Little Amsterdam
Conflake Girl-preceeded by a nice dance--but nothing unusual about it
THEN (a song I simply could not remember--she said "it's one of my
favorites, but I cut it off Of UtP. I'm such an idiot!")
I wanted to yell "we don't think you're an idiot)
Leather
Marianne
a short segment of "In the Springtime of his Vodoo"
and then directly into Crucify
Caught A Lite Sneeze
Talula
Me and a Gun
I thought Tori returned to the stage VERY QUICKLY for the first encore
Encore 1: Over the Rainbow
THEN (another song that skips my mind)
repetitive line of "wearing your tatoo"
Encore 2: In The Springtime of His Vodoo
Etienne
After the show there were probably 50-60 people who waited to see her.
This was probably the last show I will get to see this year so I did
not stick around. I did not want the memories of Etienne washed over
by my spending 30-40 minutes in a crowd of people chattering and
clamoring to see their Godess.
From a personal email sent to me by Dottie (Dotq@aol.com)
From a personal email sent to me by Shadowfox7
Tori's Performance In Boston MA, September 9
From a personal email sent to me by Alison Rosen (srosen@ici.net)
wow.
it's very late and I should be in bed but I need to write this review
while everything is still fresh in my mind.
I went straight from school into Boston, to the Harborlights Pavillion
where Tori was to be playing that night...I was with my two friends Mara
and Kristen. we found the crowd of about 15 already waiting for Tori
behind Harborlights, and excitedly/nervously awaited her arrival...at
almost exactly 4:00 her limo drove up. My knees were absolute jelly and
all I could think was, this cannot be real. When tori got out of that
limo I really did "take to the sky" (ooh that was cheesy, huh?) but it's
so true. she looked soooo beautiful; she was wearing a beige angora
sweater and a tank top and jeans. she was kind of tan because she just
spent the last week in Florida. I was the third person to get to talk to
her. I was completely spaced out and of course right now I can think of
10,000 things I WISH I had thought of to say. I gave her a little gecko
and a card...she squealed and said "ooh! it's so cute!" or something
like that. she said "Caton will love him." :) I can't believe I didn't
say how cool and wonderful she is and how much I adore her music; all I
said was um, can we take a picture? then after the picture (*wow, I
hugged Tori Amos*) ok can you sign this? I had her sign my Winter single
which I will now treasure always and forever...she even knew how to
spell my name (one 'l'!) and then bam! it was over, security says
DISAPPEAR NOW! and wow. I said LAMELY it was nice meeting you! as I was
walking away. ahhhh I was walking on clouds anyway...
My friends and I found a crack in the flimsy wall to watch soundcheck
through (harborlights is an outdoor place for those who don't know) I
know she played Marianne and Cornflake girl, but she played a lot of
stuff that just sounded like she was making it up as she went along. oh
yeah and I heard some "I can't reach you give me life"s in there from
LE.
Okay concert time. My seats were the fifth row from the back (ugh) BUT I
brought my binoculars which meant I could see every detail of her
beautiful face. (harborlights is NOT a big place at all. every seat was
good.) now, let me just say: this was THE BEST SHOW I have ever seen in
my life. tori was SO VIBRANT and BOISTEROUS, nothing like the show I saw
in May at the Wang Center. I think maybe it was because she just had a
week off and had all this energy saved up. But she was absolutely
incredible.
Beauty Queen/Horses
she was very into it, what can I say...
Take to the Sky (my first screeching fit of the night)
this is one of my absolute favorite songs. she was amazing. right before
the verse "my heart is like the ocean," Tori sang, "I love this part!"
it was so cool.
Caught a Lite Sneeze
the usual...unplugged style if you wish...
Little Amsterdam
not my favorite but obviously I'm not complaining...
(then she talked about some guy named Frankie who goes to New York shows
alot...)
Cornflake Girl
complete with dance, but she really got into it! she was prancing around
that whole stage!
Little Earthquakes (!!!!)
I was beyond excited for this song...
Sugar (!!!!!!!!!!!)
okay this is another one of my absolute favorites and I was not
expecting it...I would have requested it, had I been in my body at the
time of meeting her, so I was pretty happy. :)
Mother
tears to the eyes, as usual...
Precious things
timed the "grrl": 24.49 seconds. :) she was very amazing with the wash
me clean daddy stuff at the end. shaking her head furiously while almost
growling out the words.
FLYING DUTCHMAN (!!!!x1,000,000)
this song is in a 3 way tie for ultimate incredible song with Ode to the
Banana King and Here in my Head. I was not expecting this and SUGAR and
TAKE TO THE SKY in one concert...
Lovesong
cool...never heard it before...I liked it
Talula
awesome. I liked the acoustics although I know it's not live...tornado
rocks. :)
Me and a Gun
more tears...looked like she was close if not actually crying too.
ENCORE 1
This Old Man
right into....
Putting the Damage On
okay I cried a lot here...this song hits me particularly hard. it's just
so...touching.."it's just your ghost passing through.."
Baker Baker
absolutely beautiful
ENCORE 2
Father Lucifer
now, I don't usually love this song, but in concert it's really very
good. Caton added a lot to it.
Purple Rain!!
I've never heard Tori perform this song before and I absolutely love it.
no hey jupiter but that's fine.
sorry to go on for so long...I would be even more detailed actually, but
I have to go to school in about 6 hours, so sleep would be a good idea.
From a newspaper review in the Boston Phoenix by Lloyd Schwartz and emailed to me by Johnnie Jr.
From a personal email sent to me by Tuan N. Pham (tpham@tiac.net)
Pause.
" those demigods "
Another pause.
" with their nine-inch nails"
Pause.
" little fascist panties"
Pause.
" tucked inside the heart of"
Pause.
" every nice"
Long pause.
" grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr"
The crowd screams.
"rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr"
The crowd screams even louder, almost covering the sound of Toris voice.
"rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrl."
From a personal email sent to me by Bill Smith (bsmith@odi.com)
From a posting to the RDT mailing list by Abbe J Cohen (abbe@MIT.EDU)
From a posting to the rec.music.tori-amos newsgroup by Amy Battis (amybatt@shore.net)
Tori's Performance In Wallingford Connecticut, September 1
From a posting to the Precious Things mailing list by Chuck (cjmacs@cris.com)
From a posting to the Precious Things mailing list by Meredith (meth@delphi.com)
Yes, Anastasia (final third of it, anyway)
Blood Roses
Father Lucifer
Cornflake Girl
Donut Song
Little Earthquakes
Leather
Flying Dutchman
Crucify
Caught A Lite Sneeze
Talula
Me And A Gun
Twinkle
Cloud on my Tongue
Pretty Good Year
London Girls
Purple Rain
Email me (Michael Whitehead) at: mikewhy@iglou.com
