North American Plugged '98 Tour
Seattle, WA
September 11, 1998
Updated September 20, 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 Seattle, WA on September 11, 1998 at the Key Arena during the main North American leg of her Plugged '98 tour.  Set ListTori performed Hey Jupiter and Merman solo. Many thanks to BrodskyS and Zovira for emailing me the set list first. Precious Things 1st Encore: 2nd Encore: |
ReviewsThe most recently added reviews are first. From The Bremerton SunSeptember 20, 1998 - Toriphile Rebecca Ann Merrill sent me a review of this show that was published in the September 18, 1998 edition of the Bremerton Sun. Rebecca put a [sic] wherever the young Mr. Wilson forgot some grammar rules. The rest of the mistakes (if any) are hers. Plugged in to the new Tori Amos
by Matthew Wilson
"We're from Ireland," said the lead singer of the Delvins. For whatever
reason, the (heavily Irish?) crowd erupted in applause. Apparently as
baffled as I was, he asked, "Does that make a difference?"
I couldn't help but chuckle at the unintended irony of the large
illuminated sign on stage that read "Waiting," as if to announce the state
of the audience (it's actually the name of their album), which was no
doubt waiting for Tori Amos to take the stage Friday at Key Arena. In
case you havent heard from your nearest Tori Amos follower, her shows are
supposed to be, "like, an experience." Her current tour, on the heels of
her latest release "from the choir girl [sic] hotel," was advertised
appropriately as "Plugged '98."
In the spirit of her electronic, amped, blissfully experimental album, the
erstwhile piano-only prodigy had a live band. The use of the word
"prodigy" is no overstatement. Amos received a piano scholarship to the
prestigious Peabody Conservatory at age 5.
More relevant to the present, she has risen as a modern musical goddess
with a strong following for her blunt, often cleverly indecipherable and
ambiguous lyrics, and for making the piano cooler than Elton John ever
could -- not to mention that she's one of the nost fascinating interview
subjects out there.
"I guess you go too far/when pianos try to be guitars," reads one lyric
from a song called "Northern Lad." If anyone knows that, it's Amos, who
once had the displeasure of fronting a glam-rock band.
It's interesting that her style seems to have come full-circle, with a
sort of reconciliation between piano and guitar.
After the curtain was suddenly raised, Tori's band took the stage and
began playing, followed shortly thereafter by Amos herself who took what
seems to be a cross between a squat and a bow, and proceeded to pound into
"Precious Things."
Watching her for about two seconds, I understood what exactly all that
"experience" talk was all about.
No one plays quite like Amos. Staddling the bench and playing with a
mesmerizing intensity, she stands, arches her back, bobs up and down, or
leans low.
Say what you will about the way she talks about her instrument as a living
thing (and she's not being metaphorical), there's an almost organic
connection between the two.
Even more impressive was watching in awe as she performed songs like
"Spark," during which she played the keyboard and piano simultaneously.
She did some of her classics, like "Cornflake Girl," and "Caught a Lite
Sneeze" (unfortunately excluding the disquienting "Me and a Gun," and the
intruguing -- or irreverent, depending on your point of view -- "God"),
but for the most part she concentrated on getting through most of the new
songs.
All of this was accompanied by the band and a spectacular light show.
Going beyond mechanical coordination, the lights seemed to incorporate
with the tempo and pitch of the melodies. At times, the light mixed with
smoke, producing holographic effects, shapes and beams hovering on stage.
And as tired as disco balls are getting, it sure fit like the last piece
of the puzzle during "Pandora's Aquarium."
There were, of course, encores (two of them). I tend to find these
moments overly theatrical since their novelty has long been replaced with
predictability. However, it's hard to complain about the genius of the
first encore, which waited for the excited crowd to cheer and cheer, and
answered with two of the most vibrant songs of the new album, "She's Your
Cocaine" and "Raspberry Swirl."
One friend who caught a show ealier on the tour informed me that I might
not enjoy the show if I had seem Amos before, because of the lower crowd
interaction, the way the band had a tendency to drown out the piano, or
perhaps because of the simple fact that there are those who don't dig
Tori's new sound. However, as a man commented on the Monorail, "she [sic]
sounds even better live." For that simple reason -- yes, the "experience"
of it all -- and the fact that I went from admirer to fan on the basis of
her bold new work, the show's flaws were forgivable.
Only time will tell if this will be the only time Tori Amos if "plugged."
I hope it won't be. I would be a shame if the chance to see and hear her
with this new layer to her work was a once-on-a-lifetime opportunity. From Wayan!September 18, 1998 - Seattle was absolutely insane. I heard a number like 16,000 ppl with general admission tickets. Absolute insanity. I was maybe 4 people from the front, and I was being crushed the whole show. It was even worse than being on the floor for the Tibetan Freedom Concert (at RFK Stadium with a capacity of something like 50,000 for concerts). There was no pre-show meet & greet because Tori had just flown in from LA, was doing the End Session, and according to Steve, she was more concerned with people having a good seat in a general admission setup this large. Anyway, the show itself was good for me, since it had 5 songs I hadn't heard before (my only other two shows at the time being DC and Richmond), and those were Liquid Diamonds, Hey Jupiter, Merman, Little Amsterdam, and Bells For Her, none of which I recognized immediately, nor was I expecting them. I met a few people briefly (Laura, Keith, Dor I think...) but didn't really talk to them much since I had met up with some fumblers (Sarah McLachlan list) to hang out with at the show (including the really nice John Stewart of ToriNews fame, although I only got to meet him briefly). Back to the show tho, it was varied, but that was probably the only real redeeming factor of it. Tori didn't seem as "on" as I've seen her be (i.e. Richmond), and the crowd was absolutely insane. Here was the first time I heard the Sweet Leaf (Black Sabbath tune) tease in the middle of She's Your Cocaine (before the "Is it true, that Devils end up like you" line), which I'll go in to more detail about in my Eugene review. I really like that song. I was glad to hear CALS and Cruel too, especially since it was the last time I'd see them. Bells sounds great in the new arrangement, and Merman is even prettier live than the recorded version. Didn't go to the post-show M&G since I was heading off to Portland at 7:30 the next morning, but it didn't seem to be too big. Kinda wish I'd stayed for it, but oh well. From The Seattle TimesSeptember 16, 1998 - The September 14, 1998 edition of the Seattle Times had the following review of the Seattle show. This was sent to me by Toriphiles Janet and Burning Phoenix. Warning, this is a very sarcastic review... TORI AMOS IS QUITE THE ARTIST-SERIOUSLY. Tori Amos is a very, very serious artist.
You can tell she's a serious artist because everything she does on
stage carries heavy meaning, from her whimpers and growls to her soaring
high notes and low rumbling ones, from the little dance she did with her
knees bent and her wrists held together in front of her like they were
tied and bound, to noisily dropping the microphone inside the piano at
the last dramatic note of the last dramatic song in the set (prior to
the three very dramatic encores.)
You can tell Tori Amos is a very, very serious artist because all of
her arrangements are big and bold and dynamic, with body-thumping drum
sounds, pulsating bass and lots of busy electric guitar.
Hers are very serious, very artistic arrangements with
quick-changing tempos, loud crescendos, and occasional contrasting
moments of silence. They have no room for subtlety or humor or
improvisation. [?!?!?!?!] Sometimes they have rhythms you can dance to,
rhythms inspired by rock 'n' roll and R&B. But nevertheless, they are
all very, very serious arrangements created by a very, very serious
artist.
For the first time, Amos is touring with a band, and she used her
three musicians intensely to create crashing soundscapes, intense
interchanges, and huge finales. Oftentimes the music was so blustery you
could not hear what Tori Amos was singing. And you must hear what Tori
Amos is singing, because she is a very, very serious artist with very,
very important things to say.
Her songs were about love and death and drugs and feelings and
artistic reveries. The one line that got the greatest response was about
wanting to kill a guy [does anyone at the concert remember this?]. These
artists, they sure say some scary things.
She looked like a serious artist, straddling the piano stool center
stage so she could face her adoring audience as she played her big
black, full-size grand piano.
Sometimes she switched over to the other side of the stool to play
an electric keyboard in some of the heavier, rock-influenced numbers.
With long, flaming-red hair framing her small oval face, and her green
eyes flashing, she emoted every note with her hands and body, sometimes
throwing her head back when the honesty was just too much.
You could tell Tori Amos is a very, very serious artist because her
show was big and busy and impressive. It was one of those shows where
bright lights were shone into the audience constantly. It was worth
putting up with *those blinding lights every minute all night long*
because it made us in the audience feel special, like we were part of
the show.
It wasn't a hokey gimmick, not at all. It added to the drama of a
very, very serious concert. And during the very last song-it was
probably "Liquid Diamonds," it was hard to tell[it was really Pandora's
Aquarium]-not one, not two, not three but *four* huge mirror balls were
used to make the whole Key Arena sparkle.
Artistic! Very, very artistic! From dreSeptember 16, 1998 - I had gone to the Vancouver Sept. 9th show and i realized that she didn't touch Pele except for horses. Well she did three songs from pele and im for certain she did them for me. ( i know everyone wants a piece of tori) I was standing right in front for the show and i swear and so do the people around me that tori was for sure singing to me on that night. Tori Kept staring and raising her eyebrow at me during little amsterdam and when caught a lite sneeze came up i was totally caught off guard and i began to cry histerically. Saw this and looked straight at me and sang "Building tumbling down" and i was crying and she was singing to me. She added some lines and i swear she was trying to talk to me, she sung "let them go just let them go now, building tumbling down." Having her sing to me gave me so much warmth and courage that it opened me up inside and i let my family go right at that point. She still came back to me for hey jupiter...it was planned in her set list so if anyone thought she played it because they shouted it out during the show is probably wrong. (like i said everyone wants a piece of tori including me :) ) Well when she hit those high notes at the end i went crazy i cried even more. She added more Woo Hoos on top of More get louder and higher each time..A couple minutes of Woo Hoos at least it was so beautiful. So she really touched me that day, in all senses of the word.. later in the show i noticed her looking at me again and that i was having more fun and i wasn't crying and i was dancing she smirked and me and kinda sighed her words with the smirk and i smiled and she smiled and i was at peace i was happy. I waved it will probably be a long while till tori comes back again. I will soon have complete reviews and photos on my web page: From ENiamhSeptember 14, 1998 - I just wanted to let you know the stori Tori told regarding Monica & Bill I saw some people mentioned it, but for those who want to know a little more, here's what she said, give or take a few adjectives: It's nice to be in a liberal city after the fucking day that this country had. You know, that's what happens when you fuck around with 19 year olds who don't know how to swallow... Then she played Cornflake Girl.. You bet your life it is..... From Shawna HolmanSeptember 14, 1998 - The Devlins Goldenrod lights Summoner's tales Septemeber When Voice up through my head blue Ireland - does make a difference Not necessarily unique but novel I knew that - ordinary but not. Drowsy Dreams Waiting Having a ball clap when prompted maybe scream for practice tingle with my favorite green and purple. TORI Precious Things Squat hello Devlins backup light pulse black glitter on her moved to tears wild tears fire/diamonds stammer/shaking head Rocker chick: black mascara purple green polka dot freeze crazy freeze shock shake face. Little Amsterdam brain...numb Auburn laze... orange fuzz fase daze smoke sapphire brain experiment 70s guitar wave purr... voice echo (echo echo echo echo echo) GODDESS Cornflake Girl comment about fucking 19 year old girls impromtu "You swear to Christ you will, you bet your life you will..." yellow splinters from her. blue LOUD ECHO DREAM spinning daiseys dancing guitarist ow...like 80's-what's- his-face "uh huh".....Orange "where'd ya put the keys, rabbit?" yellow spikes up with her voice. Jackie's Strength "This is a song about blowing it" cello/bass violet amoeba floor lights quiet crowd - must be in awe. Caught A Light Sneeze blaring guitar ears break spike lights crazy spazz is back drifting, soaring look at carpet of heads little wiggles would tickle under feet to music cover as blanket can the music actually break through ear drums? turqois string up to sky again... next song. Liquid Diamonds Poipel globes her voice breaks speaker fuzz trance-like mono. Spring green dances in poipel neat lights! She's not- but elegance of crossed legs in an evening gown. Jupiter "The guys are gonna go away... it's just me and (name of piano). You guys have asked for loads of stuff, so obviously I can't do it all. But...maybe... maybe...maybe..." lighter in the crowd out of tune piano... like a guitar! (has a twinge in her voice like that blond chick from "Annie" movie - she played Queen Mab in Merlin, too) Much more formal than '97 concert razzle dazzle. * HOARSE * Previously Unrecorded Song [Merman] "So.....'Nah'" - paw in the air - "Here is a song that I like, it's not on the album. It'll probably bore you. But... tough!" Icicle/daisey spotlight "Go to bed...the priests are dead... finally you found him..." Icicle Salt shaker bass trance swagger waltz, it's make love to your instrument... while the man in the corner tunes guitars what about the piano?!?! Smoke machine blue/red/white sea waves marble audience circles on back ceiling disco globe spin smoke. Cruel blue/purple/green hug red flashes guitars - WILD gun in the air epileptic redhead private convo "ah, ah!" to whom? bleeding paint reach grasp air...hug? shots of light and fade. Spark orange smoke flickers yellow on Tori dancing daisies in the arena ROCK - insanity is in does she want the roses thrown up on stage? Waitress turqois/puple on us small fireside chat with her face white clouds - peace/bitch purple amoeba grace and shadow puppets comfort with old hat anger white light dance for pause ad lib at end paper trembles spazz radio free Europe reach "I BELIEVE IN SOMETHING...I BELIEVE IN SOMETHING...I BELIEVE IN SOMETHING..." heavy breath skip squat hug skip qhite... leave. 1st Encore - She's Your Cocaine flames, deafening applause limbo jump out to stage Rock insert "Please don't help me with this... leave it alone" Orgasm shakes. 2nd Encore - Raspberry Swirl green/purple techno... drummer is NUTS glow bulbs dangle from his hat KISS/fall off stage bye bye. big kiss buddha squat LOVE HER. Last song - Pandora collage paints blondie tone is back glitter stars at night disco lights flowers to her then run out From AngelaSeptember 13, 1998 - While you have gotten some wonderful revues of the show, i would just like to tell you one thing that Tori did in the middle of the show that everyone neglected to say. In the middle of one of her songs (I think it was Little Amsterdam, although it was more probably Cornflake Girl) Tori broke into her routine of breathing heavily into the microphone, but right as she was finishing up her little "seisure" if you will, she let out the most amazing PURR! Oh my god! I about melted!!!! (As did everyone near me...we had to hold each other up!) Anyhow...that was one of the highlights of the concert for me :) The highlight of the entire evening was being able to talk with Tori face-to-face at the meet n greet and telling her that Raspberry Swirl was the coolest song of the evening! She told me Thank you and made eye contact with me. Oh pure bliss :) From Chris DavisSeptember 13, 1998 - I just got back from my first Tori concert ever and it was probably the absolutely most wonderful experience ever. I left ditched school early from Port Townsend WA with my friend Paige and we took a ferry and drove for about two hours to get to Seattle. We got there around 4:45 and I think Tori was at the local radio station 107.7 The End performing songs for an End session. I was so excited that I almost forgot the tickets getting out of the car. Before I actually went in the big line, Paige and I took off our shoes and socks and walked in through this big fountain that was in the middle of the Key Arena. This was all just totally new to me and I was just so excited to get to see a concert I've been anticipating for two years. When we showed up in line we were soaking wet and still in our bare feet. I looked around and I saw so many different people that seemed to have hair every color of the rainbow. The people just all seemed so interestingly beautiful and it was so easy to just talk to one of them and not worry about feeling alienated. I check in with the Dent almost every day so I knew what to expect with the pushing and shoving and screaming. I got a nice close place in the middle standing up. The Devlins came out and everyone was really respectful of them, and it seemed like some people around me were actually familiar with their songs. One of their quotes before there 3rd or 4th song was something like "Hi everyone we're from Ireland" everyone screamed. "Hey, does that make a difference??" Everyone shouted "YES!" They also said that they toured with Tori in Europe and she invited them to tour with her again. During this time I spotted my cousin Nicole from the UW and after the Devlins left we chatted for about half an hour. When Tori came out I found myself going crazy I knew that Precious Things was going to be first. this was so awsome. I had watched her perform this at the Glastonbury festival on T.V. it wasn't that different until the ending when she went wild and totally expanded it. Little Amsterdam It's not that I don't like this song, but it was really one of the songs that I sounded too much like the album version. It was totally unexpected though. Cornflake Girl I loved the intro. The lighting was also very cool. I really expected the audience to do more cheering throughout this song, but the audience was very polite for what it was. I loved the way the last two lines were improvised and extended. Jackie's Strength I think it was before this song that she said her first words that had to do with Monica Lewinsky. I didn't quite catch it, but she used the words fucking 19 year old girls and some corny thing about oral sex that I didn't understand. Caught A Lite Sneeze the piano was nothing like I thought this would sound like, she played alot of high notes and the lines "but you still got that belle dragging your foots yes" was back! Liquid Diamonds A totally awsome song that didn't quite catch my attention the very first time I heard it on the album. It was performed beautifully tonight and I could understand the words pretty clearly. Hey Jupiter (solo) The highlight of my night!!! As soon as the band left and it was really quiet I felt that maybe if i requested a song she would play it. I screamed Hey Jupiter as loud as I could and some people around me looked at me as if I was the rudest person in the world. She didn't know where that voice came from, but i know she heard it. She said something like "No. No. I am not going to do that." to some audience member closer to the front who requested something else. It was quiet again and I screamed JUPITER even louder and what did she say. "No... No..." then one last time I yelled it again and she said "well.. maybe" and she started out with the opening chords that were so familiar to me. This was the very first song that had touched me in such an emotional way. It was after seeing the video for this song that I went out and bought my first Tori album. After this song I shouted Thank you and the girl in front of me covered her ears and made a pissed off face at me and walked away. Merman (solo) She said before this song that it was one that didn't make the album, and something to the effect that if you don't like it.. tough. It was very beautiful. It was slow and sweat and reminded me of a lullaby. Bells for Her I was convinced this was going to be Little Earthquakes, but it turned out to be Bells for Her. Matt, the drummer, was shaking a rattle to the beat all throughout the song. And Jon Evans was playing a string base like you would see in an orchestra Cruel She made this slithering movement while sitting on her bench that totally got a reaction. The base seemed really loud and I loved it. First time hearing this live. Spark I've really heard enough of this song. The most amazing thing during this was the way the lights made the air seem like animated spheres. The Waitress I loved this even though everyone around me was asking how long this song lasted. Towards the end she started making really high pitches with her voice that seemed almost humorous. 1st Encore: She's Your Cocaine I thought this was God at first but nope. I really don't think this is as awsome as the other songs. I couldn't hear a single note Tori played on the piano, but I loved when she switched to her keyboard and did "And is it true devils end up like you..." Raspberry Swirl the audience was a real dissapointment on this one. I was expecting total chaos. Everyone was just standing perfectly still except for a few. The people in the upper seats reained seated except for a few of the younger girls. 2nd Encore: Pandora's Aquarium hmmm. well, I guess this was good. One thing that was kind of upsetting was the marijuana that a group of girls were smoking right next to me. It kind of distracted me for the fist few lines. Why would anyone go to a Tori concert to do drugs? Anyone got any answers? I don't. i really wanted to hear Horses, but I guess this was it. The lights came back on after this. It was an absolute fabulous night, but one thing that people should know is to try and drink some water before going to one of these concerts, because you get really thirsty. I didn't buy a T-Shirt because 30$ for a T-shirt is a bit much for me. The handbill is worth buying though because the pictures are really nice, even though there's a lot of pictures of her tech guys that I don't recognize. It was probably the best concert I'll ever see. But Precious Things was the only Little Earthquakes song which was kind of a dissapointment. Jackies Strength and Spark were the only two songs that I didn't want to hear, mainly because I have so many live performances of these songs taped off of late night shows and stuff, nothing was a surprise during these two. Anyone who hasn't heard the new Bells for Her or CALS try to find a bootleg that has them on it, they are so different from the album. In closing, I'd like to thank Mikewhy for his fabulous webpage that has been the #1 rescource for all fans on the net. Thanx. From Mark Biscomb (Posted to the Precious-Things mailing list)September 13, 1998 - Here's what Tori played (AMAZINGLY well, I might add) in Seattle last night: 1. Precious Things It was an AMAZING concert (how many superlatives have I put into this
post?). During the course of the show, Matt broke at least one set of
drumsticks, and Jon snapped a bass string. They were really going at it!
It was all followed by a meet and greet. You can read about my
experience on my page at http://members.rotfl.com/Phoenix/concert2.html From StacySeptember 13, 1998 - So Tori did the Key on Friday. I can honestly but sadly say the show was rather dissapointing to me. I'd seen her 3 DDI shows here and the Sneak earlier this year and Friday was a shock. Tori seemed buisness like and agitated. The solo songs were only two (Hey, Jupiter and Merman)and she massacred "Bells For Her", "Cornflake Girl" and "The Waitress". It's awesome that she rocks now and the FTCGH girls are their own but her others did'nt seem to need any help. I realise she's an artist and it's good to try new mediums but I wonder what's up after this venture? Will we hear less of her early songs? The crowd was amazing to view in size. It was great to see so many people there and enjoying the music...she's come pretty far for being a "fruitcake.." and a "new age waif shivering in a forest..." and I can only say "I told you so" to some anti-Tori atagonists I know :> . My whole evening was saved by "Raspberry Swirl". As soon as I saw the drummer's glow-y stars I read about I knew "Here we go"! The band actually looked like they were having an extra rock-out time with that song. And seeing Tori play keyboard AND piano at the same time...ya-hoo! Negative side was her comment about "19 yr old girls" who don't "swallow". I was taken aback by that comment due to the fact that the majority of her fans are young and female. I wonder what we're going to hear from Tori and her girls next cd.....sigh....two more years...but maybe a live cd before? From GayleSeptember 13, 1998 - I see you already have the set list. I was very happy with it. I felt it was a great concert, unfortunately I didn't get to be up close but I still sat in pretty descent seats. They were house left, which means her back was to us, but still we could see. She made a quick comment on the President, saying something to the effect of It's nice to be in such a liberal city seeing as what's going on in the world, then something like,that's what you get when you fuck around with a 19 year old, and something about a girl that doesn't know how to swallow. I don't remember exact quotes, I'm sure somebody does, but it was funny. Cartman from Southpark was seated behind her, and Kenny moved around, ending up on the disco ball stage right, just spinning and spinning. Jon broke two strings during Raspberry Swirl, and Matt broke one of his sticks( I don't remember which song) I think Caton got through unscathed. She talked right before Hey Jupiter and Merman saying something about how people have been requesting stuff but this is what she is playing. Some people shouted requests again from the audience, but she basically told them Nope with a cute smile. I'm not a great critic, so I'm not going to try to go through each song. Matt wore a hat with light up/glow in the dark antenna (I haven't had time to read all the other reviews so I hadn't heard anything about if he did this before) I'd like to say though that trying to do the numbering system is a nice effort on the Tori fans' that were doing it, but it really didn't work. It worked somewhat when she came for pre-tour concert but this time the arena peopel had us on and behind stairs opening more than one door and then saying ok we're open so everyone rushed the doors. Oh well. I think that maybe they should not do the numbering system anymore--I do appreciate what they were doing, but it didn't really work.(and a big part of that I'm sorry to say is the fans' faults because of not cooperating or calming down) I must say that I finally got to see her up close this concert. She is even more beautiful up close. Everyone was in a bunch waiting for her and my brother managed to work me in to about the third "row" people. I had a book of poetry to give her, and I said "I made this for you Tori" and she said "Thank you" but I'm not sure she really was able to see who was giving her the book. She did make some cute faces at comments people were making but I couldn't tell what they were saying. When she got on her bus she took off her sweater or something, did a little dance, or maybe that was taking off her sweater, anyway everyone cheered and laughed. Oh well, maybe next concert I'll actually be able to talk to her a bit and get a handshake or hug or something. (Maybe even an autograph) I guess that's all I have to say about the concert, just saying it was great or wonderful doesn't' do it justice, and I know I'm biased, so I'll end here, From Star Tat (Tim) and Glitter Girl (Kristie)September 12, 1998 - Although we know you already have the set list from the Seattle performance, we thought we would include our impressions of Tori and the show. The overall experience of yet another Tori show is hard to express. Unfortunately, inbetween the power of such a magical performance were minor annoyances with the Key Arena and how those incharge ran the operation. Whoever decided to make an entire venue general admission with people running everywhere for the closest seats and positioning to Tori needs to rethink this idea for upcoming tours. Although we are some of the lucky few who ended up in the front row, after arriving 10 minutes before the doors of the arena opened, there were those who waited since 6:30am in front of Key Arena, only to have the doors open an hr before the show and have hundreds of other people jam pass them and shove their way to the front. Although this is not uncommon for concerts with general addmission, what followed at the Seattle Tori show were dozens of preople complaining throughout Tori's performance and talking during the most powerful aspects of the concert (Merman, Hey Jupiter...). Sooo....we thought we would include this not only to describe part of the Seattle Tori experience , but also as an example of what hopefully will NOT happen at future Tori tours...We must say that there were many mesmormizing moments of the show. Tori looked wonderful and seemed to have a blast wiht the crowd, dancing, smiling, and telling stories... (before Jackie's Strength and Merman especially). Tori seemed to really be into her gestures and movements, yet the "girls" that showed up to be played seemed rather mellow overall. There were times that the performance seemed to swallow the entire audience. It was as if, despite the fact that you couldn't breathe because of the crowd of hundreds shoving forward to get one inch closer to Tori , you and Tori were the only people in the entire room. Her performance was as we said earlier, very low key for the most part. Some of the more intense moments were during She's Your Cocaine and Raspberry Swirl. During both of these songs the entire crowd really got into the music and Tori really seemed to get into the crowd. Overall another amazing show dispite the general admission issues. We will report more after tonights show @ Theatre of The Clouds in Portland. P.S.--To those who are sitting in front of the Rose Garden right now handing out numbers in the hopes of having some order----good luck! It was tried last night without any sucess. When those doors open up unfortunatly its every one for themselves and numbers are really irelevant. From Matt PresidenteSeptember 12, 1998 - So two days later my mom drove me and my sister the 3 hour drive down to seattle. because we both had school we did not make it in time for meet and greet, but something strange did happen, as we were getting close to a venue we are at a stop sign and a limo pulled up next to us - my mom goes "look it's tori" and I'm like... yah sure... and then I looked and there is joel in the front seat waving to us! We could see tori through the tinted windows... it was really cool! As we got to the venue we found steve riding around on a bicicle! he noticed us and rode up to us and we gave him the pictures we had gotten developed the day before of us with him! He thanked us and put them in his pocket, he said it was cool that we made it out to the show, and that him and tori really appreciated it... he asked about our mom and if she was coming too (we told him in vancouver that she was too nervous to let me drive out by myself so she was driving us out, but not coming to the concert) so it was really neat. He said he would be looking for us in the concert! Since the concert was general admission we got their early and when the doors opened were some of the first ones in! WE GOT RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE STAGE! We were hangin off the bar! the downside to this was that we were constantly being pushed and squished but it was worth it! We were right in front of steve the whole time, and he kept waving to us, or trying to show off by playing some cool guitar lick - it was really neat. Joel came by and said hello before the show, and he asked how we got up so close, and he remembered us from vancouver and said it was nice of us to come down for the show. Tori came on at about the same time... 9:00... this venue was a lot bigger, there were 10,000 people there, and they were a lot ruder too - they screamed through the show more - I find the canadian audiances to be a lot more polite. She didn't talk as much in this show, she even forgot to introduce the band - I don't know if this was intentional or not... she seemed angry though - her show was great, but not as good as vancouver. she seemed a bit tired. and the show was about 15 minutes shorter, but the same number of songs. She just didn't jam them on for quite as long I guess. tonight she was wearing a shortened sparkely apron over a black shirt. she had her hair down, and some light makeup on, but I must say she looked older than she usually does. PRECIOUS THINGS: she did the energy crouch before the song - it was very simalar to vancouver... very powerful. It totally had me shaking. LITTLE AMSTERDAM: She did a cool little intro before this. i recognized it by the lights before she even started because she did it for the second song in toronto too. It worked well - it was very groovy. I like how the band comes in all loud. CORNFLAKE GIRL: Again, the beautiful intro - great performance too. JACKIE'S STRENGTH: I was so happy when she started this song. She prefaced it with a story about a "president who fucks around with a 19 year old who can't swallow!" it was funny. It was just beautiful. other than the people screaming through it. They had an echo on her voice just like on CONAN when she performed it. and after every time she said "and I learn..." she would whisper "yes I learn" it was great. CAUGHT A LITE SNEEZE: woah. I did not expect this to sound like THIS. It was fucking incredidible! I loved it with the band -it was a comprimise between the album version and the live DDI version, except all on piano with the band! It was great! She threw in breaks between some lines, and some she sang like on the album. there was a VERY long intro where she danced, then more intro where she played the piano. near the end she went WILD and started doing her SCREAMING thing (like on the waitress in boulder on the last tour, or losing my religion in miami on the last tour) it was great! The end went on with her repeating the chorus over and over! LIQUID DIAMONDS: Beautifull then funky - like the other night. HEY JUPITER: before this she said "a lot of people asked me to do a lot of different things, so obviously I can't do them all" not nearly as sweet as when she dedicated sister janet to me the other night. but hey jupiter was lovely. she sang a really short performance of it that probably lasted 2 and a half minutes, but it was great. the "hooooo's" were perfect. MERMAN: this was a really nice suprise! She said before it "This one didn't make it on the new album but it's one of my favorites [tori tori play blah blah blah... lots of requests from the audiance] NO NO NO, I'm playing this - i doubt any of you will even know it" she seemed irritated with the audiance. Merman was fantastic. much better than the original recording... it was so sweet live. definatly the hilight of the show. BELLS FOR HER: With the new intro which sounds very tribal... really good - she got all emotional and sad near the end and looked as if she was crying. The ending got quite intense. CRUEL: Woah. was I ever happy to hear this! Great performance! She really used whatever anger she had, and she got it out, cause she wasn't angry for the rest of the concert, and she just nailed this song! It was perfect! The bridge went on forever and the high wailing did too! It was perfect. John evens was really getting into it, and he even broke a string on his bass he was going so wild! Steve was too, and he kept smiling at us. SPARK: really nice - tori kept smiling through this one. THE WAITRESS: Loud, powerful, and passionate. Tori looked sinister as she sang this, then the hang ten honey past was fun and it really built up. the improv at the end was hard to make out but she kept saying "I belive in _____" then would say something different each time. -first encore- SHE'S YOUR COCAINE: This was GREAT FUN! They did something really different though... after the "If you want me too" piano break, the band did a loud thing BEFORE the "is it true" part. someone said that they were playing along with a CD, but this is not true... it was just them playing - for a moment I thought they were doing a medly, but then after a minute they stopped and it was just tori "and is it true, that devils end up like you..." so sweet! It was really cool. RASPBERRY SWIRL: It was so cool to watch this up close. The lights and the drums and the whole thing was so bouncy! I loved it. She dragged on the end for awhile, but not as long as usual. after this song the coolest thing happened... everyone in the front was reaching out to grab her hand but there was too big of a gap between the stage and the barrier that we were up against... so tori came right up to the people in the middle... then she came over to the right (where we were) so I leaned over as far as I could, and she saw me! She got the biggest smile on her face, and bent over and I blew her a kiss - she then put both her hands to her lips and blew me a huge kiss right back! she mouthed "thank you" which I thought was really nice. Even though I didn't get to meet her this time, we did get through to each other and she knows that I was there. it was important to me, and it was a nice goodbye - it could be years till the next tori concert I see. -second encore- PANDORA'S AQUARIUM: The perfect closing song to end my shows for this tour. I was also suprised to hear it. It was the hilight of the show for me (well, tied with merman) and was so much better than on the CD... the intro was lovely... she doesn't say aqua-HAI-rium! she sings it softly, and the note glides up, rather than being so sharp. the disco balls came in halfway through this, and made it look gorgeous. I looked around durring this and thought "This is it - my last tori concert in a long time" but rather than ending it with a really dark intense song like "horses" Pandora was a perfect closer... it was beatufiul and slow, yet fun and happy at the same time, and It just left me feeling really pleasnat and happy about the whole thing, and that Is how I want to remember this week. Seeing tori twice in 3 days was really cool, and I won't ever forget it. Oh yeah, and kenny was attached to a disco ball for this song! Another thing is that the band really adds to this - the guitar (which is not on the album) gives it an underwater dreamy feel... especially durring the "line me up in single file" part. After the concert I managed to obtain an official setlist, which is excatly the same as what she played... a lot of people were complaining that the concert was too short, maybe it was a bit, but tori has a harsh tour, and she puts so much energy into her shows... I thought it was perfect. A lot of people are unhappy with tori playing in larger venues and with the band, and are worried that she is getting too big for us. I really disagree. after what happened to me, I realize that tori is still the sweet wonderful person we all love - her songs are still incredible, and she is awesome with the band! plus they play totally different sets every night! What more can we ask for... it's a natural progression - although I can't help wonder what's next. either way I will never forget the five shows I've seen so far (the best of them all being the vancouver one last wednesday night) and I will never forget how sweet tori has been to me, and how she has made my life so much more fun. From Polly HawverSeptember 12, 1998 - Hey... Oh mi gawd. Ok, this was my 1st Tori concert (hey, I'm a poor son-of-a- bitch).. We got there about 3:30pm. Free parking!! woohoo!!.... On one side of the Key Arena they were doing some number system.. I was number 214 or something, but on the other side there was about half the people and no numbers. It's really hilarious, 3 of us would stand up, then all the sudden the whole crowd would be standing. It's really awful, if we would all have just sit the fuck down maybe we wouldn't have had to stand for 2 hrs. Anyway..... the show. I was probably about...... oh, 15 ft from Tori and 3 ft from the stage. Amazing. I looked back at some 16,000 people and just thought "Holy shite."... Opening w/Precious Things set me off in a spasm. And she did the "W/Their Nine inch nails and little facist........." thing fast too!!! I was just amazing to see how much energy she puts into every show and that she doesn't cheat any of us....... even if she's having a shitty day, she'll give us all she can. I think that is absolutely the best. And everytime she came out she'd do this sort of bow to the audience, like she was humbling herself and thanking us for being there. I really think she is probably the best performer I've ever seen. She's not even my favorite musican, but she's definitely the best at giving the audience what they paid for. I've paid 30 bucks for a show b4 and this is the only one that was truely worth it. On top of that, I never realized how beautiful she was.... Sure, I thought she was cute, but my god... she is absolutely goddess-esque. Oh, I seriously got into the 1st encore.... Rasberry Swirl and She's yr Cocaine... that was the chance for the crowd to move. Otherwise we were all glued to each other.... but it was totally worth the sweating, the fainting (not me, but all those around me), the waiting, and the standing...... Thank you Tori. From Rebecca Ann Merrill (squiress of dimness)September 12, 1998 - I'll just start right in with good stuff: Concert was LOUD. My ears were still kinda ringing when I got home at 3 am, not kidding. But it was alright. A couple days before the show I had received my bootleg copy of the May 3 Speak Peek show in Seattle and had watched it, so when the band started in on Precious Things I was kinda half paying attention. I had just seen her play it on my TV, there's not gonna be much difference in how she plays it now, I thought. But I was very WRONG -- the song kicked some MAJOR ass. She had so much energy, and so much more than that May 3rd concert (well, she had been sick). But I got to thinking, you know, when she said the little pre-tour was called a sneak peek at what the Main tour would be like, she sure wasn't kidding! Then the best part, Mike. When I heard the first line of Waitress, thanks to your site and counting songs in my head, I knew that this was the last song before the encores. And I thought to myself, 'I'm never gonna have a really good chance of ever meeting this woman and thanking her for what she does unless I make a run for it right now.' So I left the arena and went to the south side where I found 2 guards setting up the barriers... and nobody else. Yes, I was first. And I also had a good 10 minutes to myself out there (I missed Cocaine and Swirl), but it was worth it. When Tori came out on Joel's arm, and 50 people were pressing against me from all sides, and I could feel the metal bar pressing up against my stomach, and see ever inch of her within 3 feet of where I was standing, I didn't miss those songs at all. I asked her to sign my humble little ticket (my picture of her I wanted signed was in the car and I'd given the keys to my friend to didn't come out to meet and greet), and she smiled and did so. Then I gave her a little note I had written and told her it was filled with gratutitous thanks (and confetti, but I didn't tell her that -- I'm afraid that bits will be found in the tour bus for year to come!) and she thanked me for that. I asked her how her chops were holding up. She asked which ones, and I wiggled my fingers. She said that they were fine. So it wasn't much of an exchange in person, but I got to thank her and make her smile, and that's all I really wanted, Well, maybe a hug, but she was being pretty business-like and running late. So that's okay. :) Now I can go to future concerts in peace, and hopefully reserved seating! Thanks for all your help, now, in the past, and in the future. You must run yourself ragged doing so much work, but you'll never know how much you're appreciated. From JanetSeptember 12, 1998 - The performance in a nutshell: volcanic, outrageous, Faustian, Dionysian---as if the woman transformed into a maenad and Pandora herself, letting loose an enormous panoply of Underworld beings from a treasure chest. I hadn't expected this. Move over, James Brown: here is the Hardest Working Woman In Show Biz, and it seemed the most natural thing in the world for her to be bench-pressing up there onstage with her musician "brothers." I've seen her four times and enjoyed her art since the beginning of her career's "reincarnation," and all I could think was that now she's found the perfect medium to express all that fiery emotion and erudition. It was as if she'd come full circle, in a healing perspective, from her days with Y Kant Tori Read: here was the full-tilt, monolithic rock-n-roll experience she should have enjoyed before the music industry misled her and the jaded critics scoffed at her first band's work. With this performance, I didn't care about the "potential lost intimacy of the smaller venues" reservation that I entered Seattle's Key Arena with. Tori has fully claimed her power as a creator and performer, and it's quite formidable as well as an absolute delight to witness! This woman and her tour are not for the faint-of-heart, Folks---both are all the way up in your face. Be afraid, be very afraid...or just pee your pants, enjoy the sensation of your hair standing on end, and be glad. I certainly did. From Keith Shapiro (Posted to the Purple People mailing list)September 12, 1998 - News from the coast: What a hectic day! Be happy we live in the east. From what I've seen so far there are very few decent people here on the West Coast. I'm seriously disappointed in almost everyone who showed up for the show tonight. Keith later posted the following: I probably should apologize for my tone in the last report. It's just that I was really tired and didn't explain much. When I say that the people here are unfriendly it's more of a general vibe. There were, of course, a LOT of great people at the show. Unfortunately a few rotten apples can spoil the bunch. I spent most of the day wandering around (while numbering) talking to people and until I actually tried lining people up, I was really impressed with how cooperative and wonderful people were taking the whole thing, especially after the Moore incident. However, with two strikes against them now, I doubt this city will ever have any luck with numbers. Somehow, I ended up being number bitch today. For those of you who know me, this really shouldn't be too much of a surprise. But we numbered up to about 700 to get people in to G.A. seating. The venue was even co-operative this time except for one thing. But more of that later. So we make it to the venue at about 10:30 a.m. Of course, there are many people already there. Number 47. Met a bunch of great people. Since nobody else there (except Dor) had really done any of the other shows, the line number thing was really dubious until I got there. As always, I guess because I had a clue, I ended up with the Sharpie. So, we just kept numbering folks in the hope of the meet and greet. Eventually, Dave came out. Talked to him for a while. They got the big rigging out there tonight. I asked reaaaaaly nicely and Dor, her friend, and I got to go in for a quick peak at the rig. Absolutely beautiful. Those guys do a hell of a job. Back outside to numbering. I was wise this time and brought my big cooler. Had Dew and Pepsi. Of course, anybody who wanted drinks was welcome to them. Steve Sanchez came out while I was out numbering to inform us there would be no M&G. Seems that due to the Gen. Ad. show, Tori didn't want us to lose our places in line. So anyway, as things get closer I get up on my cooler and try and get everyone organized. It actually worked really well for a time. Until we started trying to get everyone lined up. Lazy lazy people. Venue people came out then. I think we could have gotten everyone in safely and quickly (in number order) had the Venue lady not said "The numbers are meaningless and we will not honor them." Yes, I realize that the venues don't care, but if she hadn't said anything we could probably have kept enough people convinced to get everyone in without pushing. So, we number up to 800 or so and start lining people up. You'd never have thought there'd be so many people who couldn't count. It's either that or the people are just assholes. I'm almost more inclined to go with the second one at this point. So, by 5:30 or so I've managed (almost losing my voice) to get everybody on the steps down to the venue. It was all going really well until the venue lady made me get in line with everyone else. At that point, the crowd lost their focus. So unfortunate. Anyway, when they finally open the doors there's a mad-pushing dash/run down to the doors. It was horrible. As for the venue, no seats on the floor. Being an arena, there were seats available on the lower level. Got into the crowd and (Matt Page agrees) it was the worst we'd ever been to. Everyone was pushing and shoving. The Devlins came out, did their typical set: Waiting, Heaven's Wall, etc. They rock. :) Not a very enthusiastic crowd response. They wanted Tori. After the Devlins set, I realized that I wanted to be in the front center of the crowd and started moving my way through. Some girls latched on to me, and I was more than willing to drag them along. Tori came out at 9:00 (or so). Setlist: Precious Things
Hey Jupiter
Bells For Her The show itself (and Tori's performance) was amazing. Love the lights on Swirl (as always). There was a comment made (by Tori) about not pissing off 19 year old girls who don't know how to swallow... missed it as I was moving through the crowd. Merman as always brought me to tears and Bells is sooooo amazing. Think that everyime I hear it. From Aaron KampSeptember 12, 1998 - WOW! What can I say??? Ok, I'll start w/ the setlist. 1. Precious Things
Solo:
w/ Band: Encore 1: 13. She's Your Cocaine / broke into Black Sabbath and were playing w/ CD (I could hear Ozzy singing in background) I think it was Iron Man, I'm too excited to remember for sure! 14. Rasberry Swirl Encore 2: 15. Pandora's Aquarium The whole show was amazing, it was as if everyone in the Key transcended time and space, she transported us to a whole other world. I don't think my feet touched the floor the whole time she was on stage. Despite being jammed together w/ NO room to dance, move, or breathe, it didn't even matter. I know from talking to a few people after the show that it touched, dare I say, everyone, if not deeply, in some way. I know I will never be the same again, I've been to hundreds of concerts, and this was by far one of the best ever. I am just so overwhelmed, I'll have to attempt a proper review later... Everything was just so amazing. I met alot of cool people (Tori fans are the best!) and she played some songs that she doesn't always play, which made it even more special. I don't think this high will ever wear off... It brings to mind a Morphine lyric, "If they ever find a cure for pain, that's when I'll throw all my drugs away." Well, the cure is Tori, anyone want some drugs? |
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