North American Plugged '98 Tour
Richmond, VA
August 11, 1998
Updated August 25, 1998
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North American Plugged '98 Tour
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Check Out The Reviews And Set Lists Page Tori performed in Richmond, VA on August 11, 1998 at the Landmark Theatre during the main North American leg of her Plugged '98 tour.  Set ListTori performed Mary and Happy Phantom solo. Many thanks to Richard Handal for calling me on the phone from Richmond with the set list. Joey, shannonblue & Andrew Bain were the first to email me the set list. Precious Things 1st Encore: 2nd Encore: |
ReviewsFrom Phyllis Lynn Spiece (posted to the Purple People mailing list)August 25, 1998 - After spending 9 1/2 hours on a plane and 1 1/2 hrs in a car, i made it to Richmond alive. Why the heck did it take me so long to get to Richmond if I live in Fairfax, VA? Well, for the previous 12 days i was in Honolulu Hawaii (where i managed to meet up with a fellow Toriphile no thanks to The Dent Registry!) and because i promised my 11 yr old sister I would take her to a Tori concert, I got myself some tickets to the show and rushed to Richmond as soon as I got off the plane! I arrived to Richmond with my sister, mom, and a friend at approximately 3:30pm. Tori arrived around 4:20. The barracades were poorly set up and there was very little room to move. My sister and I waited patiently, but because we were pushed so far back, we knew there was no way Tori would get to us. A nice Toriphile let my sister lean over the side barracade to get a look at Tori. Sarah (my sister) spotted Tori and decided to catch her attention by yelling "Tori, I'm only 11!" Immediately Tori walked over and looked through all the people at my little sis and said "Hi only 11! How are you?" Sarah said "I'm good. My sister brought me." and Tori said "Hi sister!" Tori walked away to sign autographs. No autograph for my sister, but a nice little exchange of words. Sarah was pleased. Tori was only out for 8 minutes. The shortest meet and greet i have ever heard of. I was too far away to get pictures, but Tori, once again was wearing her cute little short-overalls and a pair of white shimmery sandals. I always seem to spot her shoes! The meet and greet ended and there was nothing else to do but go eat. On our way to grab food, my mom stopped and had a nice conversation with Caton. She then proceeded to proudly tell Joel that this was her very first Tori concert. He just smirked at her. During Meet and Greet my mom was across the street waving at Tori (my mom cracks me up sometimes!) She reports that Tori walked out holding hands with her hubby Mark (I could not see enough to know if this was true. anyone?) I had Row K seats on the floor while my mom was up in the tier with my friend Kesi. Sarah and I waited contently and I got a chance to talk with some of my Purple People friends. Finally The Devlins began their set. I really like this band and think it is the best group that has opened for Tori. I especially liked it when during their song "Waiting" Colin put his guitar down carefully and took his time to pick up his electric. Big pause and silence. If you have not seen them in concert yet, you will see what i mean when you get there. At about 9:20, Tori began her set with Precious Things, followed by iieee. The show was jam-packed with songs I had never heard live before! During "Secret Time" Tori played "Mary" and seemed to be singing it directly to Alexis (a fellow Purple Person) whom I heard requested it during meet and greet. Tori must have been reading my mind when she sang "Happy Phantom". In the back of my head, I really wanted to hear this one, but never requested it. At this point I had the biggest smile on my face as me and my sister "mouthed" the words. Tori only spoke twice during the performance. The first time to inform us this was their first show in the South and then followed that comment by a short improv on the Bosey. The second comment was about "South Park" and she pointed out the Kenny doll on the stage, which Elyse had given them. During Raspberry Swirl, the lights were turned down and Matt wore glowing "Deedly Boppers" on his head, as he vigorously played his drums. Raspberry Swirl live makes you want to get up and dance! It is apparent to me that the entire band really enjoys playing this one too! Finally Encore time: Siren. WOW! I was enthralled to hear this song because for the longest time when the Soundtrack came out i listened to it on repeat over and over again. Obviously my sister knew this one too. Looking around i was surprised there were very few people who knew Siren. Second Encore: Pandora's Aquarium. WOW-SERS! How much more beautiful could this get? I was so glad to hear yet another ballad type song live. The only complaint i have for the evening is for the girls i was sitting next to. They were singing along to TONS of the songs and i felt like smacking them!!!! A petpeave of mine is people who sing songs aloud during concerts (unless Tori asks you to sing along of course)!!!!! Afterwards, i went back to the barracades with my sister because I was determinedto give Tori my lei personally. Unfortunately, once again, it was too late. I was squished, it was hot, and my poor sister was not a happy camper. All I am going to say is that some Toriphiles are rude and inconsiderate, while others are as sweet as can be. After being pushed and shoved in the crowd, a guy offered to pick my sister up and put her on his shoulders. I also managed to pass my lei forward - and Tori recieved it before she left for her next destination: Charlotte, North Carolina. On the way home, i asked my mother what she thought of the show. "It was wonderful!" was her response. I asked her if she was serious, and she replied "Man, that Tori is the best performer i have ever seen! She sure does put on a great show!" Approval from my mother who listens to "Oldies" music, but i would have to agree, Tori does keep the audience captivated with every show! From VolcanoLvr (Jay)August 13, 1998 - Well, I just got back today from the concert last night in Richmond! It was awesome!!! I live in Baltimore, but I just had to go down there to see Tori. And believe me, it was worth it. She was so amazing. Everything just blurred and all I could see was Tori and she just brought this certain peace to me. It was amazing. I loved it!!!!!!!!!!!!! I especially loved Siren. I wish she would have played Liquid Diamonds, but Precious Things made up for it!!! :) From ElyseAugust 13, 1998 - During the show Tori commented on Kenny from South Park, who was once again on stage. She said that "one of the girls" gave Kenny to us and that he was doing fine. She also revealed that Kenny had 5 bottles of vodka! From Tom HargettAugust 12, 1998 - I just got back from Virginia, what an amazing concert! I didn't write down the set list but i'm sure someone who has it correct will get it to you. Tori performed MARY, and Happy Phantom solo. She said she always makes the mistakes of taking the good ones off the album at the last minute (ref. to Mary). Although i didn't write a review, I did attend the D.C. concert too which was amazing as well. Especially to be surprised to hear Me And A Gun. Well, to start off, I was one of the lucky winners of the best buy auction so i was pretty pumped knowing I'd defin. get to meet Tori! Our seats were in the orch. about half way back. We got talking to the other two winners and found out that we only lived probably about 15 or so from each other near Baltimore. The Devlins came on, sounded good as usual, but about half way through the show a guy, who I then realized was Tori's tour manager John W. came over to our seats and started talking to us. Since the Devlins were playing and I was 4th over the only thing I could hear him ask was if everything was ok and if we got our aftershow passes. He continued talking then handed us all tickets. I thought maybe they'd be souviners or something. Nope!!! He had hand us four tickets that wound up being front row center!! I was in total awe as i sat up there and watched the devlins play. When Tori came out it was so amazing, i never thought I'd ever be able to have a front row ticket for one of her concerts! It made the show so much better! i can't even explain it, seeing her face go through just about every emotion was amazing! She did play (prob. not in correct order) Precious, iieee, Cornflake, Doughnut, Caught A lite Sneeze, Playboy, Honey, Mary, Happy Phantom, Spark, Raspbery, Waitress, ENCORES: 1. SIREN!!, Cruel 2. Pandora's, Horses After the show we did get to go backstage, John took us back, and after a few minutes we got to go in here dressing room. So exciting!! The four of us got pictures and autographs and exchanged some words before we left. When we did leave, there was probably about 15 or 20 people waiting to go back there and I kinda felt bad for her because she looked kinda tired. But, I'm sure she still is excited to know how much her fans appreciate her! From JoshAugust 12, 1998 - Hey! I just got back from Richmond.... I realy don't wanna go on about how incredible this show was BUT I've seen her 4 times and this was THE most amazing show ever. I just want to tell you something realy funny... I saw her Husband Mark... (He was behind the control panel or whatever U call it) He had a Black shirt on and in huge white letters was the words "Northern Scum"!!! OH!!! And Siren totaly took my breath away.... That's all :) From DoseyClwn (posted to the rec.music.tori-amos newsgroup)August 12, 1998 - Just got back from the show. This was my first live tori experience and I'll have to say that I was really impressed. I don't know that much of her stuff (my wife is the big fan), but I found her performance to be really intense and crackling full of energy!!! I had two questions/comments about the show... 1)Why do people feel it necessary to scream during really quiet moments in the middle of her songs? I go to a lot of concerts and scream and yell my head off at most of them, but at Tori, that type of behavior seemed disrespectful. I mean, it was almost like the vibe about how she wanted you to act was there for you to pick up on without anyone telling you, ya know? 2)What was that sticker on the bassists' amp? I know it was a devil, but it looked like a devil with an abnormally large penis. I'm not trying to be rude or anything by saying this, but that's what it looked like to me. It seemed rather odd in fact. If anyone has any more info on this, please post it here. I liked Tori's music before the show, but I'll have to say that she definitely left me wanting to find out more after this wonderful experience. From Mark ManchenAugust 12, 1998 - I just wanted to say that the Richmond show was so incredible!!! I decided at 9am that day to go because Caton told me in DC to expect "Siren" at the next show. So I called up my friend Jeff that I met at the Spectrum show, and we drove the 4 hours to get there. We ended up with great seats, and it was so incredible. Not only did she do "Siren," but to hear "Doughnut Song," "Mary," and "Pandora's Aquarium" made it even more special. She played and sounded so fantastic! And what a great place to see her play! It reminded me of seeing her at the Tower Theatre in Philadelphia. It sure beats the big arenas! This show will always remain very special to me. For me, it was truly magical! From Wayan CarlinerAugust 12, 1998 - The meet and greet here was a bit less pleasant, simply because the people were a tad not as nice. There were less people tho, so it was good in that way. The bus came at 4:20 on the dot for the second show in a row. Matt got out first and I got to ask him a couple of questions (all Critters related) and he signed my Critters liner notes, and the fact that I had them seemed to impress and please him. I also got him a tape of my band which I asked Tori to listen to when she finally came out. The meet and greet with Tori was rather brief. Before I got in to the theater (@7:45) this wonderful girl who works at my favorite local chain of record stores (Kemp Mill Records) told me Matt was just hanging around outside, so I went and found him and got to talk to him for a while. He told me some surprises are in store for the Seattle show, which I choose not to divulge ;-) and that the tour runs through Thanksgiving, and he seemed to imply that that would be it, for him at least. I had originally heard that he wouldn't be free until next summer, but perhaps this has changed. Anyone care to shed some additional light? Greg? But back to the former, Matt will also be doing two Critters Buggin gigs before the Seattle show, on the 8th and 10th I believe, perhaps the 6th instead of the 8th. Check them out if you want to see some drum-driven electronic-jazz improvisation. So while discussing with Matt his drumsets (part of which included him explaining to me the setup he was going to be using on Siren, thus confirming that one) he asked me if I played the drums on the tape I gve him, and I told him I was a guitarist, so he called Caton over to talk to me. Caton is an absolute dear. One of the nicest people I've ever had the pleasure of meeting. It was really funny too when my friends came to find me (as I had vanished to catch Matt), and one of them introduced himself to Steve by saying "Hi, I'm Alan" to which he replied "Hi, I'm Steve" which was met with "I know who you are :-)" from Alan. Pretty funny. He's got a great autograph signature. He signed my Pele liners and my Hey Jupiter EP for my friend Liliana. He and I discussed improvisational music, guitar necks, and recording with Tori at length. Apparently Tori frequently isn't even in the studio when he's in their putting his parts on the tracks. I was amused. So now, the show. The Devlins were much better here than in DC, prolly due to the more receptive crowd. They were pretty talkative this time actually. Tori's set was absolutely phenomenal. She paced herself well, as someone (Richard?) previously stated, but moreso, Matt was pushing the band a lot more than he seemed to be doing in DC. And I'm absolutely convinced that Donut Song was for me because I was bugging Caton before the show to do a guitar solo :-) Okay, maybe not, but let me dream, k? Anyway, after seeing on of my two all time favorite Tori songs at MCI (Winter) as well as Me And A Gun, I was not at all expecting to have the luck of getting a Happy Phantom, but yes, it was played, and yes, tears of joy streamed down my cheeks. Well, not streamed, but I still cried a bit. Mary was quite the surprise as well, and I LOVE Honey with the band. Jon's solo introing Playboy Mommy was quite something, and unexpected no less. I knew Siren was coming, but Pandora came out of nowhere for me. Donut as well, and I still love Caught A Lite Sneeze. The energy was much more apparent for this show, despite the always seated audience (boo =oP). So now onward to Seattle, Portland, and possibly Eugene. From Teresa aka Ears (posted to the Purple People mailing list, a local Washington D.C. based Tori list. Posted here with permission.)August 12, 1998 - I am now the happiest person alive. The show last nite was spectacular. I fet sorta like James Bond when I was trying to find all you guys!! I asked everybody there and then FINALLY!! after an hour of searching, some girl told me there was a sign outside...well they weren't permitting in's and out's, so I asked the officer by the door if I could juststick my head outside and get your attention...he said "Do what you have to do." So I ran outside (I didn't have my ticket stub either...it was with my ride..duh) and I snuck back in behind a large lady!! Heehee...Beth:you are the sweetest person alive!!! Also, I wanna say that I loved meeting all of you guys. Last nite was the most memorable experience of my life. (I snuck in my camera and I think I got some really good pics...plus a girl by the name on Lena (sp??) stood on the barricade and was able to take two awesome pics of Tori after the show!!) This was my first show and most definitely not my last!! The second Tori came on stage, I was crying...in fact, I was shaking so hard that the guy behind me put his hand on my shoulder and told me that everything was gonna be ok!! heehee...She played my favoritre songs last nite (though all of her songs are my fave!!!), but I especially loved Mary. I only saw the music to it in my Bee Sides book, but the words just hit me right in my heart. Wow...Heather: dearie...dearie...dearie...where were you?? heehee...if you still have the mag, I WANT IT!!!!! heehee....maybe you could mail it to me if you still have it...I heard from Chris that you were gonna just give it away...Man... Well, I could prolly go on and on about the show...oh another funny thing that happened was at the end of the show when we were all crowded by the barricades...I started to tell my twisted Tori Dreams and I said really loud "Yeah, it was weird...I SLEPT WITH TORI AMOS!!!" All these people turned around and kinda looked at me funny and one lady said "Are you serious?? Was it good??" I was, like, oh my god...(lemme clarify something...in that dream, nothing happened...except sleep....) P.S. For those of you who don't remember me, I was wearing a white shirt and blue overalls... P.P.S. the official set list (I met a girl who got an official set list from one of the sound guys!! and I wrote it around my hand in a Sharpie pen nonetheless...) Precious Things From Leila DiazAugust 12, 1998 - Here goes my review of the very first Tori show I ever went to! IMHO, the Devlins were okay...actually a lot better than I thought they would be. But WHO CARES ABOUT THE DEVLINS???? I was so damn excited about seeing Tori that I wanted to fly out of my seat on to the stage. I had perfect seats, BTW. Now, this being my first live show (Tori) I cannot say what it was like for Tori to play on stage by herself...but I have an imagination, so I can pretend. I actually enjoyed the band being there, although at times, they actually overpowered Tori. That frustrated me a bit. And Tori didn't talk a lot. She said something about her Kenny doll that she had onstage, but I couldn't catch exactly what she said because of all those loud people. I think it was something along the lines of "We aren't going to kill Kenny tonight." And that was really all she said...=( My review of each song is as follows: PRECIOUS THINGS iieee DOUGHNUT SONG CORNFLAKE GIRL PLAYBOY MOMMY CAUGHT A LITE SNEEZE (all on piano) MARY HAPPY PHANTOM HONEY SPARK RASBERRY SWIRL THE WAITRESS SIREN CRUEL PANDORA'S AQUARIUM HORSES Well, that's my review. Tori looked absolutely beautiful! From Teleute0August 12, 1998 - i am so exhausted. i'll write a more detailed review later. or never. :) all i have to say is that i'm so thrilled and delirious. not only did tori help me in a personal way by talking to a friend that i had had a big fight with, and prompting that person to talk to me for the first time in two months . . . but she played doughnut song for me!!!! :D:D:D:D:D i requested it in DC, and i wrote her a letter today and gave it to her before the show about the song and what it meant to me and how much it would mean to me if she played it live, and i asked her to play it.. and she did! i yelled "thank you tori!" while she played the introduction, and recieved a variety of nasty looks from the people surrounding me. :( i only wish that the crowd after the show was more polite so that i could have thanked her. there was a ton of shoving and pushing and i got smashed and hit and scratched, and tori was only out for a minute. i gave steve (sanchez) a note to give to her thanking her for the song, since he saw me get smushed and said he'd give her a message for me. in general, the show was amazing. tori's energy level was incredible. she seemed at home and comfortable with the crowd and the songs. she stuck right to the original setlist... well. off to sleep and hope i'll be able to see tori in october when she's back in virginia. From Richard HandalAugust 12, 1998 - Richard called me on the phone and gave me some information about this great show
From Susan O'DonnellAugust 12, 1998 - To say the least, Tori captured my being tonight. She astounded me with a magnificent performance (as if I expected any less from her). The Devlins started at 8 on the money, and were very good. I really think I will get their album. They had a kind of Duncan Shiek meets the Church sound and I really liked them. They are a very British band and they complimented Tori very well. They ended at about 8:40, and Tori didn't start until 9:25. The wait seemed unbearable, but.... She started with Precious Things, and it was fantastic!!!! It seemed like all the songs she played were my favorites. Caught a Lite Sneeze with the piano on the whole thing was just beautiful!!! Her vocals could sail from a whisper to a wail in a flash and she brought the whole crowd along with her. She started off Cornflake Girl with saying that it was their first gig in the South (and the Landmark Theatre is SO beautiful on the inside. It's an old mosque and the decorations have a middle eastern theme, blues and greens and gilded gold) and then she sang this little intro and went right in to CFG. Mary was a mesmerizing tune, and the only other time I heard it was on this bootleg copy of the Mary demo, very fuzzy. But it is such a neat song with all the unexpected chrod changes. I loved the Waitress. And Raspberry Swirl was an all out rockin' bass hittin' groove gettin' throw down and play song. Lots of fun!! Siren was an unexpected surprise, and was beautiful, for lack of any better word to use. It was all absolutely fantastic and I am still rather speechless on the whole thing. The lighting design was perfect. They complimented the show with seamless grace. One could not look away the entire time. The colors were fantastic, and at the end, when she did Horses (I'm sure everyone knows that it is completely different than it is on BFP), there were four huge mirror balls and with white lights shining on them from all directions, and with the party fog that was in the air, it made it look like outer space (as if I know what outer space looks like) but they shimmered and made the image of the whole show indellible on my memory. And I get to see her again in October!!!! After the show, I tried to get the chance to shake her hand, but security was doing their job better than I would have liked them to. All in all, Tori keeps getting better and better. She has earned every bit of respect she gets, and can animate a crowd with intensity that I have yet to see matched by any other performer. I hope that next time she is here, I will be able to meet her. She is and incredible woman, and put on an incredible show. Thanks Tori!! From JoeyAugust 12, 1998 - Just got home from the Richmond show, and WOW!!! What a show! It was eighth Tori show, and my third Plugged show... Tori did "Siren" for the first time on this tour tonight and it was incredible. Other special songs that Tori hasnt' done much were "Mary", "Pandora's Aquarium", and "Honey". SHe looked brilliant, sounded awesome, and everything was just wonderful! We arrived at the Landmark Theatre in Richmond around 2 pm today and baracades were already up. There were already about 20-25 people lined up. The baracades were on the sidewalk too, so there wasn't much room left for meet and greet. I was a bit upset because I thought 2 would have been more than early enough, and i was at least 4 or 5 people back. Things just arent' the same anymore. Meet and Greets used to be quiet and very personal, now you pass something over somebody's head in hopes of getting it signed.... Rodney, Lisa, and Fynthia were already there. Tori got off the bus around 4:30 and came to greet. Once again it was noisy and not very personal. I had a gift, a letter, and a picture for Tori, I could have passed it to her, but I wanted to give it to her myself, so I kept everything in hopes of getting it to her after the show. She didnt' stay long either, maybe 5 minutes, then it was off for soundcheck. We walked to the front of the theatre and got to hear about 3 seconds of "Siren" when they told us we couldn't be there. The Devlins were great as usual! They were a bit more talkative than the last few shows. Tori came at 9:23... Oh by the way, i NEVER sneak anything in, but tonight i sneaked in 2 cameras, and a small audio recorder, i was real curious!!!!!!!!!!!!! SHe was wearing blue cargo jeans, a blue polyester tight shirt, with the sparkly navy blue apron/dress/thingee... There was a theme almost tonight "She's back, I"m back, it's back"... she introduced herself and said it was could to BE BACK in the south, that it was their first stop on the tour in the south. Then on the improv intro to Cornflake Girl, she sang something about she's back, oh it's back... This could be anything, but I'm sure some will speculate that it's referring to Tori possibly being pregnant again. Also during "The Happy Phantom", she sanged Whoo-hoo, "back again, whoo hoo she's back... who knows? The highlight of the concert for me was "Mary", it's always been one of my favorites and I was hoping she'd add it to the band reportoire, but tonight, like the Cinci show last month, she did it during the secret time. However, it was still beautiful. This was the second time i've witnessed Tori play Mary for Lisa. Lisa is a fellow EWF that has been around since LE. I met her last year at a show. Tonight was her EIGHTEENTH SHOW!! wow! Anyway, she was up front and center for the meet and greet and asked Tori to play Mary. Lisa says Tori refers to her as the "mary girl", even though her name is Lisa!! haha After the show, I skipped out early, during "Horses" to go outside and get lined up for meet and greet, But wouldn't you know it, it was already about 30 people lined, while the show was still underway!!!!!!!!!! THIS IS CRAZY. Then five minutes i looked behind me and all hell had broken loose. It seemed that every last person inside the show decided to come out for M&G. That's when it got really hot and I decided to wait till the next show to talk to her. Then i watched it grow and grow, and before I knew it, it was a mob. THe police were there, and the crowd had spilled into the street so bad traffic could not pass. THere had to be 500 people waiting. Then Steve came out, he was furious at the Theatre staff for letting it get out of hand. The tour bus was completley surrounded by fans... unbelievable... WHen Tori finally did come out, she didn't stay long, couldnt' talk to anyone, then went on her way. Waved to everyone, there was more applause with the crowd outside then then there was inside the show!! All in All: 1) the show was great, music wonderful, tori sounded and looked beautiful, BUT 2) her fans are too mainstream, and the M&G have desolved to something so much less than they were before, it's not even a meet and greet, it's her stopping for two seconds to sign something... It's kind of sad really.... From Jerry B.August 12, 1998 - I'm sure you have the setlist alredy, so I won't bother with that :-). I'd like to give what I think will be a review unlike any others you'll receive. The "spark" is gone. Tonight's show at the Landmark Theatre confirmed the reaction I had when I first listened to FTCH. No longer can we be treated to a show of intimacy and introspective emotion, as before. Now it seems that Tori is all razzle-dazzle and flashy dramatics. Where I could once expect a quiet rendition of a song such as "china" which would bring me to tears, now I am blinded by the bright laser lights and deafening drums and guitars and I check to see if I am at a Tori concert and not Guns N Roses. Simply put, at no time in this show did I get "that feeling" - the feeling that I get when I listen to the old records and watch the old concert footage. It's just not there and it saddens me. She came the closest when she played "honey", accompanied by the upright bass, but at that point, it was too little, too late. Even when she had the opportunity to be intimate during quiet time, she chose to play "Happy Phantom" as if she were trying to be cute. The overall feeling I had tonight was that Tori was being playful - and while this may be great for the fans that like to get up and dance (god forbid) and giggle, for this Tori fan that was drawn by the complex beauty of her often inaccesible music, it is heartbreaking. As her music has become more accessible emotion-wise, she has acheived greater commercial success and fame, and more cookie-cutter fans, and for this, I am disappointed. Tori was at her best when she was a girl with "really deep thoughts" and it was just the piano playing through her. Now it is an accessory to her and instead of the piano manipulating her, she manipulates it. SImply compare this concert to those in the past and I think it is hard to dispute. HOWEVER, the crowd was great and her voice sounded impeccable. Her technical performance was dead-on and the band was great. But I no longer listen to her for the same reasons and I hope and wish that she will once again return to the piano in the way she did before mainstream society caught up to her. |
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