A review of Tori's November 19th Lowell, MA concert was published in the November 21, 2002 edition of the Boston Herald. Thanks to Soulwings658 for sending it to me.

Amos loses way on 'Walk' tour

by Brett Milano
Thursday, November 21, 2002

Tori Amos, with Howie Day, at the Tsongas Arena, Lowell, Tuesday night.Good as it was, Tori Amos' show Tuesday night in Lowell prompted one question: Tori's here, but what happened to Scarlet?The singer/songwriter's current tour is ostensibly tied in with her new album, ''Scarlet's Walk,'' a road-trip concept album with many subplots and layers of meaning. Interviews and press releases hinted that she was planning a thematic show, built around Scarlet and her metaphorical adventures. It may well be her best album, and the characters and themes cried out to be developed onstage.Not at this show. About half the album (though not necessarily the best tracks) was played on Tuesday, in a set that stretched well over two hours. But the new songs were scattered throughout a retrospective/greatest hits show, with her first album, ''Little Earthquakes,'' getting nearly as much play. Amos said almost nothing all night, doing a couple of cute improvised songs in lieu of stage patter.There were signs that she'd been planning a more conceptual show, notably a Roadside Cafe neon sign that went on during her midshow solo set. Perhaps the late-starting rehearsals she described in a Herald interview this week didn't leave enough time to pull it together.There aren't a lot of rock performers who could sit at a piano for two hours plus and do a set of nothing but ballads and light rockers - especially with a rhythm section as low-key as Amos' band, bassist Jon Evans and drummer Matt Chamberlain. But the show bore out her flair for strong melodies, and the passion in her singing. Her sold-out audience was reverent as usual, cheering equally loud for her meaningful songs (''Silent All These Years,'' about the aftermath of rape) and oblique ones (''Caught a Lite Sneeze'').Howie Day gets a lot of mileage out of his good looks and a Sting-like, pseudo-jazz vocal delivery. The closest thing to excitement in his opening set came when it was briefly interrupted by an equipment malfunction.

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