1999 Solo Tour
KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas
December 11, 1999

Updated December 24, 1999

Check Out The 1999 Reviews And Set Lists Page

On Saturday, December 11, 1999 in Anaheim, CA, Tori and several other artists including Fiona Apple and Beck played the 10th Annual KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas show at the Pond. This is a yearly event from radio station KROQ in Los Angeles, and proceeds benefited local children's charities. (You might keep checking the KROQ web site to see if they add any material from the show!) Tori played solo at the piano for about 26 minutes.

Here are the 11 acts that performed at this event:

  • 311
  • Tori Amos
  • Fiona Apple
  • Beck
  • Blink-182
  • Bush
  • Foo Fighters
  • Oasis
  • Powerman 5000
  • Save Ferris
  • Rob Zombie


You can find concert photos from the KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas show at the Performance Photography web site.

Set List

Thanks to Julie for first emailing me this set list and to Meganatrix who posted all the songs to my Concert Reviews forum as she heard them on the radio!


Smells Like Teen Spirit
Take To The Sky
Bliss
Lust
Juarez
Silent All These Years



Reviews

The concert was played on the radio, so some of the reviews may be from people who heard it on the radio while others are from people who were at the performance in person.


From Los Angeles Times

December 24, 1999 - Alisha Parker found a review of the entire KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas show. It is from the December 13, 1999 edition of the Los Angeles Times. Tori is mentioned, along with all the other acts:

Echoes of Christmases Past Blend With Present
(KROQ's Almost Acoustic Christmas concert - Dec 11 '99)
by Steve Hochman

At KROQ's eclectic Almost Acoustic holiday show at Pond, emotionally rewarding performances by Fiona Apple, Oasis share bill with antic Blink-182, Rob Zombie.

OK, we've gotten used to the KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas shows being not even almost acoustic. Of the acts at the 10th annual edition Saturday at the Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim, only the somber, serious Tori Amos' solo piano set qualified.

And we've learned not to expect a lot of explicit seasonal spirit. Indeed, on this night only class clowns Blink-182, of all people, featured an actual Christmas song, getting the crowd to sing "Silent Night" with the lights all turned off in a rare seemingly sincere moment for the trio.

But a KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas that seemed light on the KROQ?

Well, if KROQ-FM (106.7) is the station of the moment, the 11 acts on the bill were not really a reflection of what the outlet is playing right now. With its airwaves dominated by the aggressive hip-hop/hard-rock fusion of such current testosterone stars as Limp Bizkit and Kid Rock, who would have expected this show to have that realm--represented by 311 with its rock, rap and reggae mix--outnumbered by Brit-rockers (Oasis and Bush) two to one, and by female acts (Amos, Fiona Apple and frothy ska locals Save Ferris) three to one?

The fact was that--with Beck's postmodern soul revue also a standout--the richest and most emotionally rewarding music of the night came from those areas, with Oasis making a dynamic return and Fiona Apple and Amos reaching deep within themselves.

Oasis' appearance was particularly heartening, and even heartwarming. Seemingly on the verge of self-destruction and having diminished in popularity even at home in England with its last album, "Be Here Now," the most successful Brit-rock act since the Beatles, also recently suffered two member defections on the eve of the February release of its fourth album. So seeing the Gallagher brothers on stage looking hale and hearty was a great sign.

And though they played only familiar songs, there was a new energy and punch to the live presentation, notably in the forceful bass of new member Andy Bell, with the opening song "Make It Happen" having an almost T.Rex-like kick. Singer Liam Gallagher still wanders to the stage's side or sits looking bored when he's not performing, but it didn't seem the divisive stunt it once did.

Apple never looked bored in her set, which was marked by abandoned, hair-flinging dancing that added to the sultry confessions of her pop-noir. Notorious for getting flustered easily (a radio station concert appearance last week fell apart due to a few technical difficulties), Apple on Saturday seemed determined to get through anything. With her second album, "When the Pawn . . . ," just released, she's maturing into a distinctively winning performer, with this brief appearance a promising foretaste of her own full shows to come.
* * *

Amos has never been shy. Following a solid set of neo-power pop by former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl's Foo Fighters, the singer kicked her segment off--pointedly, perhaps?--with her languid version of Nirvana's essential "Smells Like Teen Spirit." Her own material, notably the woman-awakening ballad "Silent All These Years," remains powerful and personal, transcending the quirky mannerisms of her breathy delivery and the art-consciousness of her classical-romantic constructions.

These artists weren't the most enthusiastically embraced performers of the night--that honor went to goofy punk-punsters Blink and fright-nightmarish Rob Zombie. (In soot-smudged Santa suits, he and his band created the disconcerting image of Charles Manson disguised as St. Nick).

Blink and Zombie certainly earned the audience's devotion. They're supreme entertainers with their loose wit and intense showmanship, respectively--variations on a mix best termed smart-stupid. And they are clearly acts of the moment for the KROQ audience.

But KROQ management is just plain smart. Aware that moments pass and trends will change, they don't want to paint themselves in a corner, so rather than repeating the U.S. guy-rock tone of last summer's Weenie Roast festival, they broadened the horizons for the winter event.

They didn't exactly go out on a limb with unknowns. If not all the acts on the bill are current KROQ faves, they have been in the past. Only evening opener Powerman 5000, fronted by Zombie's younger brother Spider One and offering B-movie sci-fi themes rather than Zombie's B-movie horror spectacles, is a relatively new presence on the station.

Still, even if the acts came largely from the recent past, the message was one for the near future, a signal to fans who may not be totally devoted to the current sounds that they're still welcome at the KROQ hearth.

Now that's Christmas spirit.


From Reuters/Variety

December 24, 1999 -

Entertainment Headlines

Sunday December 12 11:52 PM ET

Modern rock royalty pays homage to KROQ

Almost Acoustic Christmas (Rock; Pond of Anaheim; 12,000 seats; $45)

By Troy J. Augusto

HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - Saturday night at the Pond was the place to be for SoCal modern rock fans, as Burbank radio station KROQ hosted its annual holiday festival featuring, as always, an impressive lineup of the genre's stars. What they said and what they wore was almost as interesting as what they played.

The event is described as ``almost acoustic,'' but few of the acts adjusted their music in any kind of soft direction for the occasion. Instead, most of the on-hand talent, including such headliners as Bush, Oasis, Beck and Foo Fighters, banged out their hits as they would on any other evening. Ballads by Tori Amos and Fiona Apple were as close as the evening got to unplugged.

Kicking off the long show at 6 p.m., rising stars Powerman 5000 represented the night's heaviest entry. Frontman Spider One is the brother of Rob Zombie (a last-minute addition to the bill himself), and he and his thundering bandmates gave a White Zombie-inspired performance revealing the band to be on the fast track for bigger things.

The entire concert was heard live on the radio and second act Save Ferris, an Orange County ska band, must have tested the patience of the FCC with an expletive-laced set. Next up was L.A. rap-rockers 311, whose melting-pot stylings were the most musically accomplished of the night. Singer Nick Hexum encouraged people to give orgasms for the holidays.

Much of the talk leading up to the show revolved around the appearance of Brit bad boys Oasis, who introduced a new lineup featuring two new members.

The band offered a straight-ahead, controversy-free five song set of older material, skipping for now any of the new songs found on the band's upcoming fourth studio album.

Local kiddie punks Blink 182 drew some of the night's loudest responses from the crowd, though they did manage to keep their clothes on for their entire set (fans still discuss their birthday suit performance at KROQ's summer concert a few months back).

Rob Zombie and his ghoulish-looking bandmates played their comic-horror-metal songs dressed in Santa suits, though Rob was quick to reveal his Charles Manson T-shirt underneath. Spider One joined his brother for a fun version of White Zombie's hit ``Thunderkiss '65.''

Former Nirvana member Dave Grohl and his Foo Fighters played a workmanlike though effective seven-song set of pop-rock from their three albums, including a blistering ``Monkeywrench.''

Brit rockers Bush closed the show, around midnight, in fine fashion, rolling out one alt-rock radio hit (``Everything Zen,'' ``Machinehead,'' recent hit ``The Chemicals Between Us'') after another. Singer Gavin Rossdale spent almost as much time surfing the crowd as he did treading the stage.

Such celebs as Keanu Reeves, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Gwen Stefani and George Wendt made appearances backstage. Proceeds from the 10th annual Almost Acoustic Christmas benefit the following charitable orgs: Para los Ninos, Children of the Night, and the Al Wooten Jr. Heritage Center.

Presented by KROQ Bands: 311, Tori Amos, Fiona Apple, Beck, Blink 182, Bush, Foo Fighters, Oasis, Powerman 5000, Save Ferris, Rob Zombie. Reviewed Dec. 11, 1999.

Reuters/Variety


From Julie in Los Angeles [First to send me a setlist]

December 12, 1999 - Hi Mike! Here's the setlist...

smells like teen spirit
take to the sky
bliss
lust
juarez
silent all these years

all solo, no band...she went on at 9:04pm, went until 9:30pm.

in between TTTS and Bliss she said, "My only Christmas wish is that everyone will remember that Jesus wouldn't be here without a pussy." No radio edit!!

There was a short interview after [on the radio - KROQ], I'll transcribe it later.


From RAM8081

December 12, 1999 - if i didnt miss a song before it:
little piano ditty into
smells like teen spirit
take to the sky
"my christmas wish is that for you guys to remember. jesus wouldve never made it here without a pussy" exact as far as i recall. i'll have to check the tape hehe
bliss
lust
juarez
saty

an overall very short performance. it almost seemed a bit rushed. after, they aired a clip about her talking about the fans. she said they have a relationship with the songs, not with her, and that she doesn't confuse the two.
jed also talked about how tori talked about the chef chasing after little boys, and she had to go to the market to fill in. he also talked about her talking about speed boats, and that it's riding the wave that's important, not the speed.


From Sleeter Kitty

December 12, 1999 - well this was certainly much better than the virgin megastore fiasco! (argh) only cuz i ddint get in and that the set list was killer. loved the quote about jesus not being here without a pussy

okay, is it just me? or was anyone else annoyed when fiona asked for kroq to play her songs? it was almost as if she was doing to concert just to benefit her, and gain air-play. anyhoo, i was just wondering if anybody else noticed that also...

::high fives to tori::
Dawn


From julia (lipglossgrl@aol.com), chrissie (pelerugrat@aol.com), kelly (mermaidblue@aol.com), meggie (raenstorm@aol.com) and danny (hicky3000@aol.com)

December 12, 1999 - hey mike! we just got home from the concert and here ya go...well seats for us turned out much better than we expected...we all loved the front row :) the lineup was:
Powerman 5000--- 6:00
Save Ferris----------6:30
311---------------------7:00
Oasis-----------------7:30
Fiona Apple--------8:00
Foo Fighters-------8:30
TORI AMOS-------9:00
Beck------------------9:30
Rob Zombie---------10:00
Blink 182------------10:30
Bush-------------------11:10
a little bit about each band:
powerman 5000 very interesting style, coordinating in their playing save ferris- awesome, sultrus, moe seduced danny and then fixed her boobies (talked a lot about boobs and vaginas)
311- very hot!
oasis- alright..funny when he announced wonderwall and then went "ahhh" mimcking the audience
fiona apple :) setlist:
fast as you can
sleep and dream
on the bound
criminal
limp
she was really cute wearing a black dress thing that tied around and had her hair down..matt was covered by the piano so we couldnt see him but he rocked our socks
foo fighters- ansy for tori already
TORI!!awesome and incredible as always..had a blueish dress with swirly pattens on the dress and little tassle things at the bottom..wearing ribbed tights and suede boots and a black long sleve shirt under the dress..hair was down and curly and had barettes in it (dont worry we have pictures) The stage revolved in 2 semi circles and then when it turned again another band was on...when it was her turn it got stuck halfway through..it was funny but frustrating..this was ACOUSTIC (solo)
setlist:
Smells Like Teen Spirit
Take to the Sky
"Since its Christmas time and all.. I think that it's very important that all of us remember that Jesus wouldn't have been here without a pussy being around."
Bliss
Lust
Juarez
people were screaming songs "yay flying dutchmand"- danny and k* and everyone..then her mic started to fall down for a while and she said "ok guys i know how you fell"
Silent All These Years (she looked at us all doing 'rabbit goes blinketyblinketlyblink' and crossed her legs and put her hand on the mic :) ok now at the beggining these two f*cking assholes near me called her very very bad words that i WILL NOT repeat which made me cry even harder and then said to the photographers "great crotch shot" so i decided to move before i ripped their dicks off...
but she was awesome as usual :)
beck- in shock still from tori, but he was wearing an army shirt and had lime green leather pants that tied up the sides...very very flamboyant and hillarious
rob zombie- "the special guest" awesome came out all of them, with santa clause outfits...walked around the crowd and got mobbed...then at the end threw "blood" (well i couldnt tell the difference) all over everyone!!! the security guards white shirts were completely covered as well as some tori shirts :(
blink 182- we went outside at this point to releave our tingling ears....they kept talking about the perfect gift for xmas is an orgasm..and how they were gonna do some major f*cking tonight
bush- gavin also walked around the crowd..ending up with a messed up guitar and some lipstick on his face...very very cool. except we were all dead... alright that its! if anyone has an questions they can email us...this is just a rough sketch of the incredible night!


From glo

December 12, 1999 - 11 bands. i am exhausted. i got real lucky. after i posted my need for tickets, a very kind girl (hi liz :) emailed me and i bought them from her. when we got there, we upgraded for 3rd row from the side stage, right by the stage..inches away. only downfall was that we were on the left hand of the stage and got to see Tori's back = |

Kevin and Bean (for those of you who know them) introduced Tori as being "a friend of the stations" or something like that and that they really liked her.

setlist (it might not be in order):

teen spirit
take to the sky
bliss
juarez
lust
silent all these years

I think i'm missing one, eh..oh well. I'd like to comment that every tori event i go to, the same exact wonderful people are there. there was this guy there who had a picture of me kissing Tori's hand after the Roseanne taping from last year and he gave me the pic. it made my day :)

Overall, i did not enjoy the performance that much. worst tori show ever. the
view of her back was horrible, the speaker/sound was really awful, she said one
sentence (see below), and i think the setlist sucked (except for lust, which is an absolute gorgeous song without the boys).

Tori was wearing a nice lil' summer dress over a black short sleeve shirt with knee-high boots. She looked cute.

Tori said something like (paraphrasing): "My Christmas wish to you guys is for all the guys here to know that jesus wouldn't have been made without a pussy."

During Juarez, she pounded on the piano strings. I really REALLY don't think this song sounds halfway decent without the band. She did the whole "no angel came for my little girl" bit.

I'd like to add another comment. about 90% of the people that went , went to see Blink 182. after teen spirit, these girls sitting right next to me yelled out: "Tori you suck, booo!!!!"

so my response was actually very nice (it shocked me as well!), i said "you know what girls, i have met Tori a couple of times and she is the nicest lady in the whole world. she never meant to do you any harm. she is multi-talented, been playing piano since she was 2, and until i see your happy,
flappin' jackasses up there going up and down the piano like she does, then you'd better not disrespect her while she's up there doing a show." After i said that, they kindly clapped after every song. fucking blink fans, fucking blink fans.

I think the best performance there (besides tori) had to be, hands down, Rob Zombie. He tore shit up! Fiona kicked major ass, as did the Foo Fighters.

Blink are kind of entertaining, but they are hella-immature. They tell worse jokes than i do, which is pretty damn bad. Oasis is/was a great band, but i think they're career is over..looks like it.

Bush closed the show, Gwen Stefani was sitting two rows in front of us (in the 1st row) watching her boyfriend, Gavin play. She's one lucky biatch. Gavin is hotter than a whore in church. Some girls asked her for her autograph and she rudely said, "i can't!" I know she didn't want to draw any attention to herself, but she could've been nice about it.


From RaysinGyrl

December 12, 1999 - I had the flu and was throwing up all nite last nite and until 4pm the day of the showy so I was pissed off to begin with. Got the cold sweats climbing the stairs to my friggin sky seats but I wasn't going to NOT go.. I couldn't disappoint my daughter and as it turned out.. it was a really enjoyable time!

Traffic sucked, what is a 45 mile trip took almost 2 hours and I missed the first three bands (listened on radio), Powerman 5000, Save Ferris & 311.

We finally made it to the arena and in our seats during Oasis' set. Liam's got an attitude to say the least, marched around like a primadonna throwing decorations around. We noticed people wearing laminates that had the schedule of appearances and we shuffled off to find the buckets where they were freely distributed.. none left. In the buckets were programs of sort, the first person featured being Tori (yay!). We hurried back to our seats and next onstate was, Matt Chamberlain with Fiona. She's got a touch of Alanis dancin' goin' on in her blood. If I do say so myself! She bored my daughter so we got up to get something to drink. Next came the Foo Fighters who really surprised me. They were very entertaining, sounded great and looked like they were having a really good time up there. I enjoyed their vibe. Then.. Kevin & Bean introduce.. Tori Amos.

The stage consisted of a big giant circular set divided in 1/2 by a curtain. One band performing on the front side, while the next band could set up on the back side. Also included and most helpful for those of us with nose-bleeder tickets was a largy & lovely video screen placed directly over the stage.

So, they announce Tori and the stage starts turning.. only it doesn't turn the whole way round.. it sorta stalls in the middle (hense the long instrumental intro). Tori didn't have the extentions in tonight, and I couldn't really tell what she was wearing, despite the Tori-tron monitor. It looked as though she had a black long-sleeved leotard type blouse on and a short grey dress with black fringe on the bottom. They did get a lovely shot of her shoes tho.. sexy black boots to just under the knee. The intro faded into Smells Like Teen Spirit and although I have never thought of this song as one of my favorites, I'll have to say it moved me tonight. Then, Take to the Sky, during which the audience tried to clap along but Tori lost them (as she should have). During this song I had to YELL at these two bimbo girls sitting in the isle in front of me carrying on a conversation AT THE TOP OF THEIR LUNGS!!! I leaned over and said, "EXCUSE ME.. could you please keep it down?" to which they replied, "fuck you this isn't just your concert." Class act huh? Then one of the girls started yelling even louder to her friend.. and this is the part I love so much.. the guy in front of me in her row leaned over his girlfriend and SCREAMED in the loud girl's ear (in his best Adam Sandler impression) "SHUT UP!" and then.. she did. Some people just don't fucking get it. (sorry for the curse words.. I needed to vent). Then Tori said "Hi guys, how's it going?" and I can't quote it verbatim but something like "I just want you to remember one thing, my Christmas wish for you is to remember that Jesus would have never made it here without a pussy." Bliss was great, my daughter loves this one "is this the killed my monkey song mom?" hee hee. Lust was amazing, I wanted to hear this song during the 5.5 weeks tour and never had the opportunity.. it's really one of my favorites. Then Tori had some minor microphone problems.. it wouldn't stay in place, kept spinning round and round in it's holder.. a tech rushed out and Tori said something like "I know how you feel guys" referring to the fact that there was a lot of engineering problems with the bands.. feedback, microphones really low.. etc (but Tori was crystal clear!) Juarez came next and this song without the band is really something to see. Tori sorta stands over her piano and thumps on the strings. Interesting.. but I don't think it translated well to the crowd of mostly non-Tori oriented fans and so as a consolation.. or rather for her conclusion she finished with Silent All These Years and waved to the crowd. She got up from her piano, walked to the front of the stage, made horns and held her heart and then ran off stage left.. then Joel caught her 1/2 way and walked her back across the stage to exit stage right. I finally made it through a Tori set without crying but I did get really sad when at the end of Juarez she started singing "no angel came for my little girl."

That's it for the Tori show.. but following Tori was Beck and I just have to say.. he is an incredible talent. The man claims to have a 17 octive range in his voice and well.. he used them all tonite. He sounded great, he's a fabulous performer, I was most impressed. Rob Zombie, king of the F word, came on next and continually insulted the audience for not standing up and being apathetic. Los Angeles crowds are known for being reserved.. it's just the way it goes.. sorry. Besides, we weren't going to stand for an 11 band concert, forget it. Rob Zombie was loud and obnoxious, brought his brothers out from Powerman 5000 to jam with him. That's all I can say.. he sucks, he's a grumpy old man. Next was Blink 182 and although these guys are crass and rude.. I really thought they looked like they were having a great time and my daughter really enjoyed them as well. I think Blink got the best response from the audience, despite an entire song who's lyrics were "It would be nice to get a blow-job" or something to that effect. I think this is the band that also asked that all the lights in the arena be turned off and everyone break out their lighters so we could all sing "Silent Night" a capella. Wrapping it up was Bush. Gavin looked delicious as always and sounded great too. He went out into the crowd.. we're talking thru the pit, up into the arena seating, through a row and stopped to stand on someone's seat and strum his guitar for a bit while being mauled by screaming fans. SECURITY! They sounded great and Gavin's a hottie so.. they could do no wrong in my book. We left two songs into Bush's set to go get goodies.

We went to the goodie stand to look for Tori merchandise. They were selling a set of 4 stickers for $10 and the purple/plum t-shirt from the tour with Tori in the street with arms stretched and dates and Venus on the back. We were already wearing those shirts.. so we got KROQ shirts instead (with all the bands listed on the back).

When we were leaving, I saw a guy standing near the exit with one of those elusive laminates on.. I asked him if he had an extra and sure enough, he reached into his sweatshirt pocket and handed me a laminate.. no questions asked. I gave it to my daughter who, when he handed it to me.. lit up like a Christmas tree. I thanked him a thousand times, and then we drove home.

Despite my flu.. it was a good night. Thank you Los Angeles... good night!

Heather G.
From The RaysinGyrl Hotel http://go.to/raysingyrl


From papercut pixie

December 12, 1999 - i personally felt really lucky, despite the brevity of tori's performance, to have an opportunity to hear her play without the band. i guess when tori plays with other well-known acts it will always be a plague for us tori fans to have some insolent non-tori fan making noise during our goddess' set! some really lame "let's recapture our youth by being stupid and drunk" 30-somethings in front of us were shouting throughout tori's entire set, then went on to shout about how tori had captivating her performance had been!!! it was awful. the highlight for me was definately hearing the unexpected "lust" which is my favorite song off tvab. also, i have a "strong dislike" for juarez the album version, but live without the band it was a whole other song and one of the best i've ever heard. i loved it! all in all the concert was really entertaining. we saw a lot of bands we may have never seen (and will never see again hopefully ) and fiona's performance (whether or not you like her persona) was amazing! she had me totally dancing, to the horror of a few nearby blink 182-teen boys. hehe. oh, and i always neglect to buy tori merch at the shows cause it's so expensive but that ten dollar four-pack of stickers was well worth it, as they are all very beautiful.


From FCWulf

December 12, 1999 - One thing that I think was missed by everyone was at the very beginning. Foo Fighters (a fav of mine and WONDERFUL live) had finished their last song and Tori was coming on right after them. When she starts playing Smells Like Teen Spirit, you could tell she was playing it as a comment on Foo Fighters. Dave Grohl (the lead singer) was a former member of Nirvana and a best friend of Kurt. When I was listening to Foo , all I could think about was how different his sound was from when he was in Nirvana. Tori comes on and kinda reminds us all of the power that band once had. THen she starts improving and sings "sometimes I can feel you near me, sometimes I think you are around, are you?" It was so damn beautiful.
It seems everytime I see TOri she plays Smells like teen spirit. BUt this was by far the most moving because she was it for Dave and remembering his pain for Kurts death as well as all of our own. Just the fact that she played it after them took a lot of guts too. All I have to say about the performance in general was that she really was amazing. Her voice was gorgeous, and she really had the crowd spellbound. IT killed me. Lust almost had me in tears. Bliss was cute. And SATY, although I have heard it zillions of times, was great. She held my attention through the entire song. Juarez goes without words as being one of the most beautiful songs she has converted. Take to the Sky was a treat but I wanted something rare for myself to take home and make all the other EWF jealous

Fiona was a horrible mess unfortunatly. Her voice was in a bad condition and her sound was horrible off (a problem everyone had). The band was really struggling. She is still a newbie though... Beck was amazing both as an artist and as an entertainer. Seen him before and he was just as funny this time round!

Anyway... Take care
FCWulf


From K* A*

December 12, 1999 - wow, i got back from the kroq show, and i think it was great :) here's the tori part though.....
okay, i ended up front row near center of the floor, don't ask me how, i'm justa really really lucky girl. i took lots of good pictures too which i will post the link to on the dent forum when they're up. the set list.....
smells like teen spirit
take to the sky
she said the *jesus wouldn't be here if it wasn't for a pussy being around* thing again. bliss
lust
i be;ieve here her microphone wouldn't stay stright, and started flopping aound, and she said, *guys i know how you feel* juarez
silent all these years

it was a solo show. when the stage revolved around to show her sitting on her bosendorfer and playing a random somthing, the stage stopped halfway, but then turned all the way around. she had on a dress with a fringe like bottom, black spandex suit under, and suede boots, to the best of my knowledge. she did a lot of dancing around on the bench, and that was all cute. my friend heather and i agree that tori seemed a little distant at times though. but the show was very very good :) it was broadcast over the radio station too. i think fiona apple was very very good too. rob zombie decided to throw fake blood on the people he could, wonderful..... the entire concert was 6 hr long, but tori only played for approx 30 minutes..... :( but i must say it was a damn good 30 minutes.
with love,
k*


From ToriBaby26

December 12, 1999 - Well last night i
attended the Almost Acoustic Christmas in Anaheim CA.....AND Tori was GREAT! She sang:

Smells Like Teen Spirit
Take To the Sky
Bliss
Lust
Juarez
Silent All These Years

AND....right before Bliss she said, "I have one Christmas wish and my wish is for all you guys to just remember one thing, that Jesus would have never made it here with out a PUSSY!" Then of course the crowd went wild! There were about 10 other bands there as well...but when Tori came on (about 9:00) it was the only "calm" performance...so mostly everyone just sat down...but not me! hehe......But Tori looked beautiful as usual and put on a GREAT show just her and her piano!


From enchant-scoot

December 15, 1999 - KROQ did have a live chat from 5:00 PM till just after the show. They included a live REAL AUDIO/VIDEO feed that was on a bank of computers. The feed was from backstage and had the moderator/DJs and artists. I was able to listen to the concert while conversing with the acts before and after their performances. NOTE: the versions of BLISS and LUST were played almost together without a pause. Foo Fighters played JUST before Tori, hence the sensually slow and melodic version of Smells Like Teen Spirit. This short performance was not as memorable as the recent VIRGIN Megastore show. Online, the DJ Jed the Fish stated that he had interviewed Tori before her performance. They have the entire interview taped, although they DID not play it in its entirety. He also said that he asked Tori what she would be doing this Christmas. He said that she was going to buy a new speed boat, since she had blown the motor on her last one recently. He asked her how fast she went in her speed boat and she replied that it didn't matter how fast you went, just that you can on the water. ONE LOVE


From kelly

December 15, 1999 - Wow, i got back from the KROQ show, and i think it was great

here's the Tori part though.....
Okay, I ended up front row near center of the floor, don't ask me how, I'm just a really really lucky girl. even more lucky, my friend chrissie got tori's hand written ste list from joel! I took lots of good pictures too which I will post the link to on here when they're up.

the set list.....
smells like teen spirit
take to the sky
she said the *jesus wouldn't be here if it wasn't for a pussy being around* thing again.
bliss
lust
i believe here her microphone wouldn't stay straight, and started flopping around, and she said, *guys i know how you feel* juarez
silent all these years

It was a solo show. When the stage revolved around to show her sitting on her Bosendorfer and playing a random something, the stage stopped halfway, but then turned all the way around. She had on a dress with a fringe like bottom, black spandex suit under, and suede boots, to the best of my knowledge. She did a lot of dancing around on the bench, and that was all cute. My friend Heather and I agree that Tori seemed a little distant at times though. But the show was very very good it was broadcast over the radio station too. I think Fiona Apple was very very good too. Rob Zombie decided to throw fake blood on the people he could, wonderful..... the entire concert was 6 hr long, but Tori only played for approximately 30 minutes..... but i must say it was a damn good 30 minutes.

with love,
k*


From mattrix

December 15, 1999 - Things I am pondering besides the obvious:

I wonder?

I'm wondering if Tori did split earlier on her own. She was entitled to her whole 30 minutes and I don't think another song would have killed anyone.

I do like the paralel to Foo Fighter's Groll and Teen Spirit. Someone else previously got that one.

I'm also wondering how it must of been back stage with Matt Chamberlain and Tori. Matt had drummed for Fiona's Set.

On the song Limp, Matt has an awsome drum solo and really saved her show. He is a great drummer and got Fiona out of a few binds.

On Fiona's set. The girl has no stage presence. She is currently copying Alanis' Spazz out convulsion moves. The thing different was that she stood up and sang instead of playing behind the piano. I think that she should stay behind the piano or get a better feel for working the stage. Just a thought because if you are a performer you should learn to work the stage and have a presence. By the way this is in no means of a flame to Fiona, I bought the new album and like it.

Not everyone got the band introduction by Fiona. She only gave their first names. Interesting that Fiona's guitarist was trying to emulate the Caton style of dress. He had a hat on and was in black. Matt usually puts the drum sticks up on his head to form antenae, I thought that was a thing only done with Tori's intros.

As for Tori - I wonder when she will do the next concert with her piano only again and maybe Caton. This was a really moving 30 mins as people have mentioned before. I also miss the harpsichord.

As for the shortness of it all. Hey, I feel fortunate to be in Los Angeles where she usually comes and tours and usually adds extra shows when she tours. She does frequently visit here.

The crowd infantile but what can you expect with all the other bands. I even liked the Rob Zombie part although I wasn't within spattering range.

Take it easy...
Matt H.
aka mattrix


From toribiting

December 15, 1999 - This is a few days late, ive been so busy!! i really thought this show was amazing. i have never seen her perform live before, and i loved it. i was busy snapping pics the whole time, so unfortunately i never really "connected" with the music like i have at the other shows i have attended. the setlist is written above by others. lets see..what else can i add? my friends (danny (hicky3000@aol.com) julia (lipglossgrl@aol.com), kelly (mermaidblue@aol.com) and meggie (raenstorm@aol.com) were all very lucky. we were able to upgrade our seats to first row. it was amazing up there. i will be scanning pics shortly so if u would like to see them get back to me. In the middle of Fiona's set (before tori) joel came out to talk for a while. it was nice to see him again after the 5 1/2 week tour. after tori he came out again and handed me her hand written setlist! he said something like "this is tori's makeshift setlist" and smiled. i almost died, but its in my room framed. rob zombie was ok...until the fake blood got all over my Venus Envy baby-t..luckily it came off.
Im not sure if anyone has posted that Sarah Michelle Gellar was there. i got her autograph and talked to her for a second, frankly i think she was rude and stuck up..but thats my opinion anyway, the show was great! bye! chrissie ps...for some reason the forum wont let me use my username..which is pelerugrat. so i had to use this instead.


From Otto

December 19, 1999 - Hello -

I took a bunch of photos at the show. I was a bit far back, but I got some good stuff on the big TV. I've posted seven of Tori: http://www.PerformancePhotography.com/tori/

Enjoy



Go Back To The Tour Schedule & Reviews Page


Please give me feedback, comments, or suggestions about my site. Email me (Michael Whitehead) at mikewhy@iglou.com