European Plugged '98 Tour
London, UK
June 3, 1998

Updated July 15, 1998

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Tori performed in London, U.K. on June 3, 1998 at the Royal Albert Hall during the European leg of her Plugged '98 tour. This was her second night in a row at this venue.

Set List

Rick McCartney was the first to email me this set list. Gavin Garnham helped me finalize it.

Black-Dove (January)
iieee
Precious Things
Honey
Cornflake Girl
Jackie's Strength
Cruel
Silent All These Years
China
Pretty Good Year
Spark
Raspberry Swirl
The Waitress

1st Encore:

She's Your Cocaine
Horses

2nd Encore:

Landslide

Reviews

From Emma Taylor + Andy Tebbutt

July 15, 1998 - (This follows on directly from our reviews/comments from London, Tuesday 2nd June. The following write-up probably won't make any sense unless you've read that one first !)

After such a traumatic night, we found ourselves in the departures lounge of Heathrow Airport at 7am, (we do recommend you read yesterday's write up first !), we'd been up 25 hours now with NO sleep. We wanted to catch a couple of hours of sleep here, but that didn't go to plan either ! So, we left at 10am, getting the tube back to the Albert Hall at 11am. We walked there getting caught in a heavy downpour on the way, and sat in a covered doorway - near where Tori went in yesterday. We didn't see anyone else there yet. So, here we were, two totally disheartened, cold, hungry Tori fans (once you get past so many hours without sleep your body runs on auto-pilot). Yesterday was such a brilliant day...but last night/this morning was hell !

By 3pm, it had stopped raining, and there were around 20 of us by now. We all moved to the barriers from yesterday (again it wasn't squashed - which was good), and we were lucky enough to be at the front, right in the middle of the line of waiting fans. Unusually, Joel was already here, out and about waiting for Tori to arrive, today he was with his girlfriend - who we spotted wearing a "Raspberry Swirl" T-shirt the day before !. While we were all sat down by the barriers, Jon walked past on his way in and gave Emma a smile ! Once we'd all stood up again, Joel came up to us and told us Tori would be here in 5 minutes and said it'd be like yesterday.

Tori's car pulled up right in front of us at 3:55pm, but no-one got out for a few minutes yet - you could see Tori and Mark sat in the back eating huge slices of pizza ! It's nice to see the "happy couple" had spent the night and day together, they left last night and had arrived today with each other. (He'd obviously got time on his hands as there was nothing to set up, as it was all done yesterday). Tori and Mark then got out, and Mark went into the venue, Tori was laughing and wiping her mouth saying something about "...still eating pizza...", as she looked along the line, and started at the left end of waiting fans. She looked really lovely with her hair tied back, and relaxed at having spent a day off with Mark. She said to two girls, "We'll be in the tent at Glastonbury", (even though she was billed on the main stage and played on it on the day!). The two to our left had been to every show and Tori looked very emotional as she talked to them, it was beginning to hit Tori that she wouldn't see us "regulars" again after today. And what happened next, made our whole miserable night worthwhile. (It was now 4pm - we'd gone over 34 hours now with NO sleep at all !).

When Tori got to us, she looked right up at Emma, she said "Hi Emma !", and reached up to give her a big hug ! Emma said, "I'll really miss you...", and Tori replied "This is your last time ?" - we were so touched that she really cared. "This is the last time you'll see us, we've got to go home in a couple of hours..." said Emma. "I'll really miss you guys", Tori said, and seriously, her eyes were really welling up at this point. She really did look as though she was trying not to cry, and so were we. This really was so sad and moving yet beautiful. The emotion of having to say goodbye to two of "the regulars" and then us both clearly had gotten to her... it was just so S A D.

Andy said again, "We'll REALLY miss you", and Tori replied, looking up at us both together, "...but you still have each other", really emotionally. "Have you set a date yet?" (we got engaged at the Manchester show - with her help !), and we said "Not yet". So she said enthusiastically, "But it's the next step...", and looking at each other, we agreed "Yes."

Clearly upset, Andy took her hand and pleaded, "Please will you come back ?" (to the UK), and she lingered in front of us, almost crying, just looking into our eyes, before giving Andy a big hug... Then Tori said, clearly touched, "Aw - now I'll have to hug them !", and went back to the two girls before us for a final hug, before getting back to the business in hand and signing for everyone else.

If you've seen Tori about to cry, you'll know what a beautiful, yet sad sight it really is. She really cares about her fans. We knew we would both be really upset having to say goodbye to Tori for the last time, but we never considered SHE would get upset saying goodbye to US, and the two regulars immediately before us in the line. Seeing the four of us had obviously got to her... As she moved further away down the line from us, it really bought tears to our eyes knowing it would be two or more years before we'd see her again touring the UK.

This was so emotional and the perfect ending for us. She went in at 4:15pm...and we never saw her again. Everyone else was going to the concert tonight, and could see her leave afterwards, but we had to leave soon and return home - with such happy memories of a wonderful time meeting Tori. The whole stress of the night before was forgotten. Tori had worked her magic...

(The reason we've remembered all the quotes, apart from them being so highly moving and personal to us both, is that after she'd gone in and we'd composed ourselves, we went and sat down on the steps where she'd gone in and wrote it all down. It really meant that much to us...)

Before we left, we noticed a TV camera crew unloading their equipment round the back, and asked them what they were going to film. They told us they were from "CNN" going to interview her. As all you lucky American fans now know, this was the "CNN WorldBeat" feature - which we don't get over here in the UK :(

We said farewell to the people we'd gotten to know over this tour, turned away, and left at 6:05pm. We had to get our train home now. It was so hard for the both of us to leave, but it had been such a wonderful two days (with the exception of midnight 'til mid-day !) and a great ending for us both. 39 hours had passed without sleep, but it was worth it. Ahead of us lay a 4 hour train journey back home... We'd like to say hello to everyone we met on this tour, and a special thanks must go out to DAVID and his friend, you guys were so generous.

Finally, we'd both like to say a big thankyou to TORI herself for making our lives so wonderfully happy and special over these past two weeks of the tour (and throughout the past 6 years, since '92). If only life was this good all the time... We owe everything to you Tori - T H A N K Y O U .

From Danica

June 19, 1998 - The second night in London at the RAH would prove to be just as wonderful as the night before. It was a different night and a totally different setlist altogether. Black dove was first, followed by iieee, then precious things, where Tori went nuts at the end of it. I noticed that Tori was not only drinking water, but something in a cup, which was probably her remedy for her voice/throat, but she never said what it was. Next was Honey, which was so wonderful with the band. I adore this song anyhow, but hearing it live was heart wrenching. Again, Tori hadn't spoken until after this song. That's my only small complaint, that Tori didn't talk much at all during either of these shows. But the incredible preformance bye her and the band more than made up for that. After Honey Tori says, "Hey guys we're back again. So this is our last show in England (then something I can't make out, sorry!) .....but ...so if you get bored come see me in Ohio! I never have anything to do when I go to Ohio, its so boring. This wonderful group of um brothers up here, I want you to meet them...this is Caton. And this is the wonderful Matt Chamberlain, and this is Jon Evans on bass". They go into Cornflake Girl, Jackie's Strength, and then Cruel where she drools a lot just losing herself in the music and singing. Time for just Tori and her Bosey, "So um, the guys are going to go off for awhile." People start screaning out song titles and Tori responds with "ha! Maybe, and maybe you lose, ha!" Then goes into Silent All These Years, then goes straight into China, which made me bawl like a baby. Sigh. The band comes back on stage and they do the coolest version of Pretty Good Year, which was the first time I had heard with the band! I was really hoping that she'd do this one from seeing the other set lists that people had given to Mike. Spark followed, as well as that great Raspberry Siwrl. During Swirl, two girls had gotten up to dance, and while singing Tori doesn't blink as she tells security "they're ok, they're ok," and a strong last "they're okay" basically telling security to leave them alone, but the security at the RAH seems to be tough and they went back to their seats. The Waitress was again the last song before the encores. Me and a friend, who will remain nameless for now because I haven't asked if I could mention her here, went up to the stage to give Tori her "leaving England gift" which was flowers and a card (which I gave her from several people from the net signed from all of us). Tori took us into a hug each of us in one arm, and whispered in our ears "your alright" because apparently security was coming up. We sat down and some other people had gone up to the stage also. Tori touched their hands and hugged a few people, then went off stage. She is such a giving person. But she left the stage, leaving all the flowers she'd gotten, but took the card I had handed to her. We weren't doing it out of disrespect, we just wanted to give Tori a sort of 'goodbye' gift before she left. Tori and the band came back on stage to preform She's Your Cocaine, which is a fun live song. After that was Horses, then they all went off stage again. Tori came back alone, and preformed Landslide without saying anything at all before that. The song was incredible and what a closer. I don't think I had ever seen such an emotional show as the 2 I saw in London, which I will remember always.

From Paul Wren

June 5, 1998 - The missing song was Honey (my favourite!) I am surprised how many fans don't know this song!!

Silent All These Years, China and Pretty Good Year were beautiful. I'm still not sure about the revised arrangement of 'Horses' though.

The Waitress, Precious Things and Cruel were the highlights (apart from secret time) for me. She plays Cruel in the same way as she performed it on the Jools Holland Show with that wonderful vocal break towards the end. I have watched that tape over and over again and still get goosebumps each time she comes down from that vocal and turns back to the Synth. in to 'I can be cruel...' to finish off the song.

The sound was a bit muffled in the immense cavern of the RAH. I had never been there before and was awestruck by it's size. I went to Portsmouth last week and the volume level was incredible and the sound more crisp. At the RAH it was somewhat muted but still excellent.

I'm glad I went to the second night because she played Winter and Baker Baker at Portsmouth last week so I got to hear the different songs at this show.

The audience were more responsive tonight. Tori spoke more and encouraged the audience to call out song requests during secret time which we duly did. She was very relaxed.

Unfortunately, stewards ensured that everyone kept their seats in the stalls!! When two girls got up to dance to Raspberry Swirl Tori seemed to shout 'They're OK there!!' but they were still made to sit down. This is a shame when she obviously wants to see people enjoying the music. This is probably why she performed such amazing shows at Manchester, Nottingham and Sheffield. It's also what gives London audiences a bad name because we seem 'docile' but we don't have a choice!!

There were still lots of ignorant people taking flash photographs after repeated announcements from the theatre management that Tori specifically requests no photography during the performance. It's such a shame that people cannot respect her wishes.

We waited around after the show for an hour and half but didn't see her appear outside the theatre. Had to leave by 11:45 to get home!

That's all for another tour :( Can't wait for the next one... :)

From Gavin Garnham

June 4, 1998 - This is my first Tori concert and I was a bit worried about the review she received in London on Tuesday (the review on your site) and that she thinks the London audiences are boring etc. etc. (I do tend to agree with her actually!).

We had seats 3rd row back from the front, right in the middle, basically right in front of Tori, amazing seats! As far as I could tell she was on top form, her voice was amazing and she seemed to have a lot of energy in her playing. It was a nice mixture of songs from the new album and older ones. My best moments were Jackies Strength leading into Cruel and then towards the end The Waitress. Her voice was beautiful in Jackies Strength. When she done Rasberry Swirl a few people rushed to the front of the middle isle to dance but they were sent right back to their seats by security, which I thought was a shame. All throughout the performance I felt like I should be doing something other than just sitting there. I could quite happily just sit there (as I did) and just take it all in (my jaw was on the floor for most of the night) but I felt with this new stuff, we should have been up and doing something! The music was pumping and Tori was off doing her thing and we (these hundreds of people) were just sitting there motionless, hardly anyone was even moving at all, seems funny. Anyway, had a brilliant time and cannot wait to see her again.

From Gwynne

June 4, 1998 - What can I say, I have been looking forward to this concert for months and I was not disappointed.Ý Tori sounded fantastic - contrary to what you may have read, she still hits those high notes.Ý The band integrates really well.Ý It was great to hear the new songs brought to so much life.Ý The lights were really good - with a lovely surprise near the end of the set.Ý What I can remember of the set list is as follows (sorry if the order is a little confused): Ý Black-Dove (January) iieee Precious Things (a favourite of mine!) Honey Cornflake Girl Jackies Strength (this one is so beautiful) CruelÝ Ý [Tori said something about this being the part where she plays requests made earlier in the day as she spooned something from a polystyrene cup.] Ý [the band exits] Silent All These Years (intense - I'd swear everyone stopped breathing throught this one) China Pretty Good Year [the band melts back in] Ý Spark Raspberry Swirl (this girl compells you to dance - as a couple of the audience did) The Waitress (She sounds so powerful with the band) Ý She's Your Cocaine Horses (this is totally different to the album version - slower, with a different rhythm) Ý Landslide Ý It was a very intense and powerful concert.

From Rick McCartney

June 4, 1998 - I really enjoyed the show tonight. It's not "Tori's Greatest Hits" by any means, but it was really magical in a different, mystical kind of way. There's an eerie, gritty intensity to the way almost all the songs are played. "Horses", "The Waitress", and "Precious Things" all sound like they could be on "Songs from the Choirgirl Hotel" with the steady drumbeat almost in the foreground and sung in a kind of sinister way. There are lots of blue, red and purple lights used to give an idea of the mood. I think two big gargoyles on either side of the stage overseeing the whole affair would fit right in. I found it not a pop-y melodic event, but an intense, eerie, almost droning, powerful program. Lots of drama. Very reflective of her latest album, which I am liking more and more. Tori seemed in very good spirits (smiled more) and very into the music. As it should be.

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