North American Club Tour
Detroit, MI
April 29, 1998
Updated May 19, 1998
|
|
North American Club Tour
|
|
Check Out The Reviews And Set Lists Page
Tori performed her 8th concert of the North American club tour in Detroit, MI on April 29, 1998 at St. Andrews. The photo you see to the right is actually from this Detroit concert. It and many others like it can be seen much larger at Tori's Official site  Set ListThe photo to the right shows Tori singing "She's Your Cocaine" from this show. It was taken from a RealVideo clip available at www.tori.com
Many thanks to Karen Hagglund for calling me at my home and giving me this set list so quickly! Black Dove (January) 1st Encore: She's Your Cocaine 2nd Encore: Landslide ReviewsFrom The Metro TimesMay 19, 1998 - This review appeared in Detroit local paper the Metro Times, in the "Fly On the Wall" section. Thanks to SomaCub for sending this to me. However, I still would like to know the date this was printed and the name of the reviewer! Hot-Temperanced Tori With a mood reminiscent of an urban Lilith Fair, starry-eyed waifs, urchins and suburban ragamuffins began lining up in the wee hours for the Tori Amos concert at St. Andrew's last Wednesday. Not to get tickets mind you; oh no. They already had those. These kids took sleeping bags, tents, board games and Tori scrapbooks down to Congress Street, just to wait eight hours for the general admission, all-ages show. Once inside, their early arrival ensured them the opprotunity to get close to the stage and sit cross-legged on the floor while singer-songwriter David Poe opened the show (in fine fashion, according to observers). Of course, once those doors did open, the anti-scalping ticketing system ensured that a long line snaked around the building. Upon spying this waiting mass of humanity, my companions and I opted for a preconcert refreshment at a nearby watering hole, which was apparantely a good idea, as St. Andrew's was under strict instructions to refrain from serving any refreshments whilst the "Temperance Tori" show resigned on stage. Once inside, I couldn't even find a cup of water to slake my thirst. Amos apparently remains a bit concerned about her cultlike Motor City devotees, as she also demanded that no bottled drinks be served at the show. This mandate wasn't issued until about 20 minutes before she went onstage, thus requiring the grumbling staff to comb through the packed building, picking up stray bottles and instituting a cup-fo-bottle exchange with the capacity crowd. Escaping briefly into the entrance hall in search of water, I ran into 93.9 the River voice Ann Delisi and Q95 fixture Tom O'Brien, who were seeking a bit of fresh air. The packed house clearly relished this rare club performance by Amos, shrieking at every initial song chord, and she was not one to dissapoint, providing an emotionally charged performance aided ably by her backup band. Maybe next time she'll let us have bottles. From MacKenzie A. Wilson & The State NewsMay 5, 1998 - This review appeared in the May 1, 1998 edition of the State News, a university newspaper in the East Lansing, MI area. TOPSY TORI by MacKenzie A. Wilson DETROIT - The bird-like songstress known for curdling vocals and mighty dispositions of female liberalism, male frustrations, sexual abuse, and skepticisms about religion paints the colorful picture of Tori Amos. On her first tour since the 1996 Dew Drop Inn tour, Tori embarked on a small 12-date club tour of North American clubs on April 18 in support of her forthcoming new album, "From the Choirgirl Hotel." Slated for release on Tuesday, her fourth album marks her personal trials and tribulations of a miscarriage suffered after the last tour. Newcomer David Poe opened the show's performance, presenting a simplistic nature reflected from ex-Crowded House frontman, Nel Finn. Poe's self-titled debut album captures themes of dysfunctional relationships and sentiment. Poe posed a little off of Duncan Sheik, and Tori gawkers welcomed Poe. His acoustic flair showcased his material to be pure and sweetly refined. Nearly 1,100 privileged Tori devotees swarmed St. Andrews Hall Wednesday evening for Tori's rare stop on the Sneak Preview '98 Plugged tour. Purchasing tickets for this exclusive event was a grueling procedure, for tickets could only be bought at the hosting venue. Vouchers were distributed, allowing fans to admitted to the show. Change is a word which has molded Tori during the last two years. She recently married her sound engineer, Mark Hawley. This is the first time a band has accompanied Tori on tour. Fans obviously noted the worthy transformations despite the ticket hastle. Tori exuded her usual graceful charm, but her newly absorbed solid edge stammered through her new material. Tori definitely made a bold statement and integrated her mature growth during the evening. She fluttered her arms like a tribal queen on "Black Dove(January)," the show opener which elevated sweeping, echoing sounds of English moors. Tori's full-frontal piano stance elegantly clashed among the thunderous bongo beats of drummer Matt Chamberlain. "Why does there gotta be a sacrifice?" she sang in "iieee," - pinching keyboard synths soared and a wholesome vocal growl sparked Tori's lustful energy and adopted hard rock sound. "Liquid Diamonds" and "Northern Lad" highlighted industrial driven sounds and intense vocal flights. Lighting consisted of orange and turquoise beams circling Tori - like a silhouette. Tori may be a Methodist preacher's daughter, but her evocative stage presence only reestablished her newly acclaimed acceptance of adulthood. Tori also treated fans to older favorites such as "Precious Things" and "Cloud On My Tongue." "Waitress" tumbled slowly, eventually advancing into a moody orchestral monotony. Current single "Spark" illustrated psychedelic guitar grooves by guitarist Steve Caton. Lighting swirls of the Sun depicted Tori's soulful emotion among the glistening white colors of winter sneakily peaking through. Two encores portrayed Tori's angelic beauty. "She's Your Cocaine" was the Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's" and "Strawberry Fields" twisted into a rocketing blast. "God" was revamped into a jazzy, loud feel. So breathtaking, Tori closed with Fleetwood Mac's "Landslide." The audience silent awe bowed to Tori as tears streamed down her face. "Because children get older, and I'm getting older, too," she said. In an effort to reiterate her maturing spiritual process, Tori made this known to fans and once again to herself. Greet the angel from the choirgirl hotel. From Rebecca ZellarMay 4, 1998 - To all of my little faeries and magical essences - I finally found a place where I belong and it's definitely involves a Tori concert. Or maybe it was just the Detroit crowd and venue. Who knows? All I know is that I love being a fan of Tori's. My boyfriend and I arrived around 11:00 and were numbers 47 and 48 - thanks to Rachel for starting up the number system here. By the time, we got there the drizzle had stopped. Oh, it was a charmed day. I met and observed many wonderful people and enjoyed myself immensely. It was like foreplay to some great sex that was destined to arrive as my friend, Joe, said. Tori's blue bus eventually arrived and I managed to sneak to the front of one of the barriers. Her puppet made an appearance. Wow. I started to tremble. Didn't know I was going to do that but, hey, she's Tori. She came out dressed in the softest of the soft pinkish g sweater and stood there with Joel in tow. It was my first time meeting her. I gave her a script of "The Skriker" by Caryl Churchill and I hope she reads it./ She signed my China single and talked with me a bit. Wow. It was wonderful. Eventually the Saint Andrews' employees told us to line up in two lines according to our voucher numbers - thus, causing a panic to those that had done the number system. Fortunately, the good souls of the world held to it once we were in the two lines. There were some stubborn people that didn't adhere to what we were trying to do and we verbally made them feel guilty. Kind of fun. Anyway, Sean, my boyfriend, and I headed up to the balcony and were horribly comfortable there. We were able to hang our legs over the side and had enough room to breathe - all I really ask for. I wouldn't have been able to see her if I had been on the floor. We were very close as well. Anyway - I liked David Poe because he seemed like a really nice guy. He's just trying to be a musician - nothing wrong with that and I'm ashamed that there are Tori fans out there who didn't support what he was trying to do. He enjoyed out Michigander crowd for being considerate to him. Everybody should have. Tori evidently supports this guy, so . . . you know. When Tori came out - wow! It was the most orgasmic, spiritual, wonderful thing I've experienced in a long time. I loved her new songs and loved the new versions of the old ones. She seemed really comfortable with the band, which made me comfortable with them, too. Her voice was right on and her energy just sparkled. When she played "Here. In My Head" - it was so weird. I had been singing that song all day and it's not one that's normally in my head, so to speak. Maybe I telepathed it into hers because she said this one really wanted to be heard that evening. Crazy. It was lovely. She came out for two encores and played "Landslide" for the final one. I was sobbing. She just hit my heart and I allowed it to explode because she has the power to make everything perfect. I'm sad that the day is over because I met wonderful people, including Tori, Caton, Joel, and David Poe and, like I said, it was a charmed day. Oh! and my boyfriend busted the wall under his hanging feet with excitement! =) Woo hoo! Thank you to all who attended for a wonderful . Rebecca Zellar - - - zellarre@pilot.msu.edu From JOE C.May 2, 1998 - I got there about 11 am and this selfless girl Rachael was monitoring the number system, which, by the way, was not official but was honored for the most part by most of the early people at least, so were were able to leave the line. I was number 49 and 50 (my friend David met up with me later in the day). Thanks for working so hard Rachael, by the way, we DID confront those people that took cuts in front of us and we took our rightful place much to their dismay and embarassment. The meet and greet was a flustercluck; too many people where trying to get to her and the girl (Becky) next to me managed to squeeze thru and meet Tori. I was the guy that yelled, "we have a problem, you're not helping" to the St. Andrews bouncer. I just knew that we should've taken the balcony (everyone looked sooo comfy there, they got to sit down and hang their legs over the edge) because we were just crushed on the floor! I met this guy who's been to all the Tori club shows this month and he said this was the smallest venue so far (and rowdiest). The opening act David Poe was a nice guy but it was like he was on Valium. He slowly tortured us but everyone was pretty polite, unlike the previous shows. There were some high school girls next to me that happened to be from my town and they were very sweet and they got a kick out of the fact that i am friends with their 6th period teacher. This huge Ogre pushed his way thru and crushed everyone and he kept saying "this is what happens at concerts." Well, I was THIS close to doing something about it but he was such an anvil that I bit my tongue. He was lucky that *someone* was too squashed to stab him with an inkpen. He ended up being pretty funny anyway and quite a nice guy during the show, but he caused so much grief when he pushed his way thru and he probably hurt someone. He was the one that kept yelling "I love you Tori" and Tori motioned back to him. Later the girl in front of me fainted. I was disappointed that Tori didn't play "Icicle" but she did play "Cloud On My Tongue". The Tori songs that stood out in my mind were "Horses" (it was so awesome this way! The light show too!) and "Spark" and the last song "Landslide" (I was so shocked that she did a cover; i didn't expect it at all). Landslide was so beautiful! I always thought it was just an okay cover but now you guys have got to hear it live! Everyone was singing quietly to Landslide. It really was the highlight I thought. Well these 2 guys that i know wiggled their way up to the front near me right before Lanslide; they were going crazy trying to hand this black pouch to Tori. They made me crack up and I caught their excitement and I got revived. Well one of those guys Jesse got handed the set list and I noticed it said "Cornflake Girl" for the second encore but she never played it! Overall i met a lot of nice people and had an awesome time and I thought her Secret Time was a little better than with the band. This was my first show and I was Sooo mesmerized by Tori directly in front of me that i just stood there looking so dumbfounded with a silly grin on my face and my hands humbly clasped. Eventually I was able to take my gaze off her eyes and move around and dance and sing a little. Tori has this way of making you think she is looking right at you. Was she? Hmmm, what an experience! From kristi skorijaMay 2, 1998 - Well since everyone seems to be saying that the crowd was pretty bad I thought I would give a little of my perspective. We all know that Tori was fantastic to say the least, but other than that the crowd wasn't too bad either. I was up in front, dead center, there were four people ahead of me. From experience there was little to no pushing at the show, I have been to over twenty shows, of all sorts, at that same venue and I was suprised I could breath through out, and there was even a little extra space behind me at moments. I don't understand why everyone was so upset with the pushing, it was nothing more than what should be expected of nearly a thousand fans just striving to be a little closer. I was really suprised that when she got there she greeted everyone she could, and signed almost everything that was passed upto her, for over twenty minutes straight, with camaras going off in every direction. Last of all for those who couldn't handle the floor, their is a great balcany with a really good view, and from what I hear there were no problems up there. From Adam WeaverApril 30, 1998 - Well for starters, me and my friend got there around 10am. Luckily a girl further up in line was trying to work out a number system, and we ended up being numbers 31 and 32. It rained steadily, but now hard, for an hour or so, but it improved throughout the day. Everybody seemed really nice (as usual); they were more than willing to go out of their way to help out...or so it seemed until we got into the building. I know that this will put me on a lot of people's bad side, but I can honestly say that I'm ashamed and dissapointed in the way that many people acted once we entered the venue. Near the front, the pushing and shoving was simply vicious, the heat was incredible, and it seemed that many just did not have the good sense to simply back off a little bit. Not, of course, to say that everyone was terrible...there were quite a few very considerate folks, which made the situation bearable. If this wasn't a Tori show, I would have left after the opening act. It was seriously that bad near the front. The poor girl who was numbering people even got overheated and had to give up her spot for quite a while. But anyways....we lived through it, but hopefully when she comes around this area again, people will stop and think a little bit before they act. As for the show itself, it was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. Before it started, the Chemical Brothers and the Propellerheads (kind of an odd choice for a tori show) were played. David Poe came out around 8:15 and played for 30-40 minutes or so. He did a great job of keeping the crowd interested; every time we drifted away he'd crack a joke or just plain rock out. At one point he told some obviously uninterested folks - they were sitting on the ground - that he felt like he should read them a story or something, showing them the pictures and flipping the pages!!! Tori came out around 9:30 and of course everything after that is kind of a blur for me. The band was just amazing.....Steve was sooooooo into it!!! I was in the second row with a great view. She was wearing a kinda fuzzy white v-neck deal, cargo pants, and black heals. The music was really bass- heavy....but in a good way of course! Plenty to groove to. Tori's voice seems to be back in the saddle again. I've seen her six times previously, and she hit some notes tonight that were the highest I've ever heard from her! I'm not gonna do a song-by-song analysis because I'd probably just collapse, but the highlights for me anyways were : Precious Things - of course the "grrrrrl" was perfect, and the band seems to really enjoy playing this Cloud On My Tongue - "leave me with your.....hmm...borneo..." seems that a security guy popped up out of nowhere, near the front, and threw Tori off for a second! Waitress - I don't remember exactly what it was, but I think she went into the wrong verse or something....she just said "I fucked up!," smiled, and kept on going! God - she gave us the "Jesus, you dropped the bible on me" line over and over and over and it just kept getting better! I loved the way they did this song - it seems so tribal now Landslide - All I remember is that I was crying like mad, and so were most of the people around me. That was the first time I've ever just lost it at a Tori show - it was just that good This was easily the best Tori show I've ever seen. Absolutely everything she and the band did was perfect, even the mistakes were turned into another reason to cheer them on even more! Tori seemed extremely pleased with the crowd reaction, even saying that she wished we could take her to L.A. with her! Right before Landslide, she promised that she would be back - and if she and the band were this good on a "warmup" type tour, the "real" shows are gonna be intense. Well, that's my opinion. I hope nobody has TOO big of a problem with it ;) From Asmat NooriApril 30, 1998 - Tori was amazing as always. I just got home at it's 2 am so this will be short. I was in thr front row right up against the barrier wall smack dab in the center and got to see every move Tori made. She looked like she was having fun and was VERY happy. The crowd was super responsive and I think we all gave Tori and the band a ton of energy. The last encore was incredible. LANDSLIDE!!!!! I love it when she plays that. My friend Denise and I both blew Tori a kiss at the same time during Landslide. She saw us, started smiling and then tears formed in her eyes. It was simply beautiful. Denise got a copy of the setlist and it listed Cornflake Girl in addition to Landslide for the last encore, but she didn't play that. I guess it wasn't ready yet. This was one of the best shows I've ever seen. From Paul KingstonApril 30, 1998 - Oh my GOD I thought we had a third encore there for a second. The entire night was beautiful. I'm still smiling. CLOUD ON MY TONGUE!! absolutely amazing. The band was tight as hell. Only seemed like two missed notes on guitar, and one from Tori as she says: "Oh, I fucked up... look, you get me nervous, and... " But she was perfect... so perfect. And so was the crowd... she was crying and wanted to take us to L.A. with her, but she said there were no tickets left. Hell, she could bring us out there, and we could have it in my buddy's backyard... Well, ok, he lives in an apartment complex... but I could figure something out... we could rent out Union Station or something. I would love to give a full review, but I must sleep. Love to all. From Trent, the ice cream assassinApril 30, 1998 - Hey reporting in a practically comatose state, what I remember from the show tonight in detroit (not in order...some not even close) black dove (january) there are more....it was a long show...she loved the crowd (wanted to take us all to L.A.) she was in awsome form... |
|
Go Back To The Reviews And Set Lists Page
Please give me feedback, comments, or suggestions about my site. Email me (Michael Whitehead) at mikewhy@iglou.com |
