North American Plugged '98 Tour
Anaheim, CA
September 18, 1998
Updated April 25, 2000
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North American Plugged '98 Tour
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Check Out The Reviews And Set Lists Page Tori performed in Anaheim, CA on September 18, 1998 at the Arrowhead Pond during the main North American leg of her Plugged '98 tour.  Set ListTori performed Winter and Merman solo. Special thanks to Matt Page for calling me on the phone with the set list. Precious Things First Encore: Second Encore: |
ReviewsThe most recently added reviews are first. From MelissaAdded April 25, 2000 - First let me tell you what led up to this amazing life experience... It was the beginning of May 1998, I was in class at a continuation school, Junior year. My friends and I sat at a table doing our "work", listening to the radio and talking. But soon, I had everyone shush - A man's voice announced on KROQ that Miss Amos, herself was to be at the pond in Anaheim and that tickets were going on sale next week. OH MY GOD! I had to go, of course.
This was my first concert. I knew nothing about good or bad seats or anything about the concert-going experience. So, I persuaded my mom's boyfriend to take me and pick me up (I was just a 17 year old with no car). I got there so nervous and excited. I looked around and saw all these people who looked very at ease and familiar with Tori concerts. I had no idea what to expect. It was one of the best times of my life. It was emotional, spiritual and the definition of love and beauty. The only things I was upset about was: I had a bad seat, (she looked like a sparkly dot) I didn't have anyone with me to share the experience, the couple next to me were kind of arguing because the girl obviously dragged her boyfriend there - he kept making fun of Tori and the EWF and it was getting on my nerves! He really shouldn't have been there... and that I didn't get to buy any merchandise. I wanted a tour book and a T-shirt, but I was broke and really didn't think about it until after the concert. Like I mentioned before, I had never been to a concet I don't know about these things. Other than that, A PERFECT NIGHT, that will never be topped EVER! From Manuel Del AltoSeptember 24, 1998 - Well, I've been a Tori fan for about 4 years now. I started with some of Under the Pink, and just started to love her ever since. This was my first Tori show, so I was really nervous. The whole day at school I just kept hearing Tori inside my head. I left my house for the show at about 6:30. After what seemed like the longest car ride in my life, I finally got to the Pond. My friend, Karyn, and I were surprised by the diversity of all the other Toriphilles. Our seats were great, we were about 30 feet away from Tori. After what seemed like another eternity the opening band came out, a group called the Devlins. After they played their set, the announced that Tori would be on next. Then I really started to go crazy. The thought that Tori Amos was going to be less then 30 feet away. This woman, this magical and beautiful creature that has helped me through the worst, and opened my eyes to the best things about myself, was going to be 30 feet away!!! When she came out, I started to scream, yelling, cheering. She was so beautiful. She wore this blue, sequenish, sparking dress that was full length. The dress was split down at about the thigh, under the dress she wore a pair of dark blue jeans. When she started to play, the place just exploded with cheers. With the first chords I knew that she was playing Precious Things, one of my many favorite songs. She was awesome, the energy that she brought to the stage, her presence made everyone stand. It was that stage presence that kept everyone on their feet the entire night. I watched her, watched her move, I watched her dance while she was sitting on that piano. I saw all the beauty and the grace that makes her Tori. You could see the songs just coming alive through her fingers!! Her beautiful red hair flying, her legs moving, her face...electric!!! I can't even try to describe all the energy and magic that surrounds her. Between songs she would trail off into her own little melodies, her creative side never ceased. Then everything got very quiet, all the snare had been drowned out and the guitar was still, and then this beautiful little melody started to trickle out of this woman. "I get a little warm in my heart when I think of Winter" After the explosion of applause everything was so clean, graceful, and quiet. I couldn't believe how lucky I was to be hearing Winter solo!! My lips seemed beyond my control, moving to all the words. My body moving slowly, swaying to the melody and harmony of the music. Then Tori started a song that I had never heard before, Merman. She said "This is one of my favorites. My favorites never make it on to the records." I wished that it would have because this was the most beautiful lullaby. Ever since the beginning of Winter, I started to get choked up, through Merman, I started to try and suppress the tears, but when she started to sing Northern Lad, there was no holding back. I started to cry, all the beauty was just too much. This wonderful angel of a woman was singing all these magical songs. How luck was I??? Space Dog was a welcome change, it's upbeat tempo took away all the tears. During the little piano solos I started to cheered like a madman. However, all Hell broke loose when Raspberry Swirl started to play!!! Everyone was dancing, people were singing. Everyone around me was up on their feet, it was great!! After she played The Waitress, Tori got up from the piano and start to walk out. I knew that she'd come back, and started to yell "ENCORE ENCORE," and sure enough she came back. She actually danced back to the piano. In the encore Tori played Cruel and Cornflake Girl, which was probably the best song to hear in an encore because it was so damn good!!! Then she got up and left again. "ENCORE ENCORE!!!!" and once again she came back. She was beaming of smiles and happiness. She started to play Pandora's Aquarium, which wasn't exactly my favorite song, but you can bet I love it now!! All the songs that I heard live are special to me. They all are beautiful and will not be forgotten. It's been about 1 week since that show and I still find myself dancing when I listen to Raspberry Swirl and Cornflake Girl. All I can say is that you can bet I will not miss her next concert!!! From The Orange County RegisterSeptember 23, 1998 - This concert was reviewed in the September 21, 1998 edition of the Orange County Register. An adoring crowd let Tori Amos feel she did no wrong.
REVIEW: Can she achieve intimacy in an
arena setting? Not exactly, but she has
her moments at Arrowhead Pond.
By DAVID WEINER Tori Amos
Tori Amos is about the last alternative
rock artist you'd expect to find
headlining a large hockey arena. But
there she was Friday night at the
Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim ã looking,
sounding and acting every bit the
arena-rock star, despite that the
building was only about three-quarters
full.
The singer's music has changed since the
days when she used only a piano and her
winnowing voice to mesmerize audiences
with exquisitely vulnerable ballads such
as "Crucify" and her haunting cover of
Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit." Her
recent album, "From the Choirgirl Hotel,"
is coated in the kind of production gloss
one expects from Alanis Morissette, while
Amos' live shows, once celebrated because
of the performer's hypnotic and sensual
piano playing, now feature the standard
rock 'n' roll backing of drums, bass and
guitar.
At the Pond on Friday, her young, mostly
female fans accorded Amos a religious
fervor, with someone bursting into
impromptu applause at nearly every pause
of her breath. But like a politician
addressing the party faithful, Amos risks
being too at ease with her overwhelming
support. Beaming and radiant throughout
Friday's show, she appeared blithely
determined to stay on message. There was
never the sense that she might do
something unpredictable, like offer a
fresh interpretation of one of her songs
or make some spontaneous effort to reach
out to her adoring fans.
Maybe the Pond's bludgeoning sound system
overwhelmed the beautiful inflections of
her voice, or maybe Amos is simply smart
enough to understand the difficulty of
giving a truly intimate performance in
such a venue, but there was the sense
that she rushed through her two-hour set.
By not slowing down between numbers to
let some tension accumulate, she robbed
her material of much of its inherent
drama. The three-member supporting band
offered little beyond competent
accompaniment, but that's hardly
surprising ã Amos' songs are so propelled
by the raging intensity of her voice,
there is little room for any musical
aggression.
Which is not to say that Amos and her
band sounded bad. Plowing through most of
the songs on "Choirgirl," they hit solid
high points on the uptempo "Raspberry
Swirl," the simple but elegant "Spark"
and a pulsating encore of "Pandora's
Aquarium." She had mixed success with her
two big hits from 1994's "Under the
Pink," offering a spirited "Cornflake
Girl" but surprisingly tepid "God."
Anyone waiting for that one special
moment, however, for Amos to ditch the
band and bring the house down with one of
her cathartic ballads, had to settle for
her lone solo number, a passionate
rendition of 1992's "Winter."
Amos did perform one unreleased song,
which she introduced as one of her
favorites. "My favorite songs never make
it onto my albums," she told the crowd.
It was a suitably enigmatic thing to say
to the fans who purchase those albums,
but when you have adulation like this,
it's hard to go wrong. From Sara AdamsonSeptember 23, 1998 - At the Pond, I went over to the meet and greet at about 1:00. I thought there would be a lot more people than there were. People were assigning numbers and I got 24. These people are like the regulars, they go to every single Tori show. They were kind of friendly, but mostly I met some other really nice EWF's, Charli, Adam, Jim, Mike, Valerie and Julie, I think that was all of them. We had a lot of fun together waiting for the Goddess. At 4 they told us to line up so we all stood against the barricade. I was in the third row. We were all thinking Tori was going to come in a few minutes. Well she did but not until 530. It was a long wait but totally worth it when she suddenly popped out in a green jersey. she seemed very tired as she went the rounds and signed autographs for about 15 minutes. When she came to my side, I put my Past the Mission out and she grabbed it and then she held my hand for about five seconds and asked me how I was. It was pretty thrilling. I got a bunch of pictures and I'll send you some if any of them are good. After that we ate and then went to the show. Our seats were so-so; the place is so huge. The best was just to watch the show through the binoculars. Tori looked awesome in a blue glittery sarap thing, she looked incredible. The lights were really intense. The set was pretty nice. Iieee sounds pretty close to the album but it's still one of my favorites. At the end of God she added the "you dropped a bomb on me Jesus" which I guess she is doing all the time now. It was really rocking. She told a quick story about how she used to live in Newport Beach, it was cute. Steve is really funny how he dances. Siren was a great surprise, really great live. A lot of people were singing along during Winter which was kind of annoying. Merman was completely surprising, right before it she said "I like this one so much it's not on any album". I hardly knew it except for one time downloading it. Space Dog and Northern Lad were both great. In general I loved the show, she gave a really terrific performance. I just knew that it would be much better in a smaller venue. In this huge arena with about 15,000 people inside, there was really no personal feel. From rasingirl (aka jessica)September 21, 1998 - i just now got around to sitting down at the pc. i wont regale you with yet another set list, as i know that you already have it. what i will tell you is that i was surpised at how good the devlins were. i had now heard them before, and my boyfriend and i were both impressed by there stage presence. so much so, that we have decided to go out and get their cd. tori was fabulous. i LOOOVE little earthquakes, and when she played that my knees were instant jully. the only thing that i have to say was that the pond has too much echo and that made it hard to hear. the folks attending the greek will have a much better venue, as i saw her there on the last tour and comparing the two, the greek is much better. tori's new songs were really good, and i think that everyone wanted to dance on "Raspberry swirl" and my toes got to tappin on "Spark " and "iieee" as well. i was glad that she did play songs off of LE as well, but why no BFP? just cause she didnt have the harpsichord doesnt mean she had to leave those in ireland:) From Libby KimSeptember 21, 1998 - sorry to be so late with the review, i couldn't get on a pooter til now. okay, here goes: i went through a panic and mad-dashed to arrowhead pond by 7:30 p.m. (10 minutes from diamond bar!) my friend natyna and i were joking about how the pond, when the lights are out, looks like a mothership and how our leader was going to be tori. hey, if that was how we were going to be abducted, i have no complaints. good points on the concert: winter and merman. i almost cried when i heard winter, cuz it has been a favorite of mine since forever now...merman was absolutely gorgeous, and once i find a chance to get a copy of it (if it ever comes out) that will be my favorite too. her entrance was exciting: the band started with this beat, and tori walks in and suddenly begins the intro for precious things. everyone went absolutely bonkers, and at the same time it was amazing, watching this little flame-headed woman play the piano with such virtuosity and emotion. i thought the concert was awesome, but i somehow felt that the one she did at the greek several years back was a lot better, even though this time i actually got better seats. the light show was great, but at times it glared in my eye and made me very uncomfortable. the band, at times, was clashing with tori instead of making her sound better, and for a person who has been the girl and her piano for so many years i guess she's still going through adjustments. she was doing her famous wails during the waitress but the drums just clashed with her so badly i had to cover my ears. i also think that since she has a band now it might not be as easy for her to improvise and play covers and whatevers cuz her show's not as flexible as it might have been. i could be wrong and i hope i get some feedback about that. the show at the greek last time she interacted with the audience more, and this time it seemed like the place might have been overwhelming, even though it wasn't like a giant baseball stadium or anything. that may be one of the reasons why tori likes the greek theater because although it's still big, it's kinda cozy, at least what i remembered of it. well anyway i've said enough. the show was really cool, the lights were so pretty and tori remains one of the most talented and beautiful pianist/songwriter/artists i know. thank you. libs. From JuliaSeptember 21, 1998 - MEET & GREET: CONCERT: precious things boys return: everyone thought she was going to do a 2nd song on the 2nd encore so we clapped for like 5 min until the lights went on it was so incredible she is the most amazing, sweet and calm woman i've ever met... From Heather PerrySeptember 20, 1998 - My name is Heather Perry. This is my first time ever writting to you. I absolutely love your website and your dediction to Tori. Last Friday (Sept.18) was my very first Tori concert my parents bought tickets for my best friend and I. I remember I was working the day that I recieved them I was getting really frustrated with my job and my parents thouht that giving me the tickets would make me feel better. I remember when they handed them to me I began to cry. I was so overjoyed and surprised I didn't know what to do so I gave my mom and dad a great big hug,thanked them and then I called my best friend to tell her the news she was juat as excited as I was. Anyway on friday I was extremely jumpy at school because I was so excited to go. When school finally got out I jetted home to get ready. Finally at 5:00 me,my best friend, my mom and dad left the house. The drive to Aneheim seemed to take forever but in actuallity it was only about 50 minutes. We went to eat and then my parents dropped us off at around 7:00 when we entered the stadium we got all excited and overwhelemed. My best friend and I went to look at all the stuff we could buy I bought a t-shirt a necklace and a program. Finally we got to our seats at around 7:30 and we waited very impatiently fo the show to start. So finally at about 9:30 or so the show begins. I never screamed so loud in my life. When Tori took the stage her presence filled the room and she looked so beautiful. When she put her hand on that piano and began to play Precious things I was in awe for the rest of the evening. It was such an emotional experience for me because Tori's music ahs helped me through so much and I have never experienced something so wonderful. From Phillip Garcia (Posted to the Precious-Things mailing list)September 20, 1998 - So last night was my very first Tori show at the Anehiem Pond. First of all the place is not that huge, but the seats are really crammed together and steep. So no matter where you sat, you still had a good seat. Her opening act was okay. They kinda put me to sleep. Well anyways the show was amazing! All of my expectations were met and exceeded. She opened up with Precious Things if im correct, and that was amazing. I was so happy to hear Rassberry Swirl, i felt like i was in a rave or something. The whole place was rockin. She also played-Winter, Cruel, Spark, IIIEEE, Merman, Space Dog(Im pretty sure),The Waitress(It totally shocked me, I didn't even recognize it at first!) Pandora's Aquarium. Im sorry i didnt write down the order. She sang a few other ones too. But there was one song I had never heard before and i still dont know what it was. It was like the fourth or sixth song? And the coolest part about the show was how nice all the fans were. Everyone was polite and helping eachother find thier seats. The only down side to the whole concert was that, about halfway through my right ear was pluging up and it hurt after the concert. The Band was awfully loud. When i plugged my ears you could hear tori's voice way better. But now its fine and Im hoping to got to the show im San Diego if i can find tickets.:) From RaysinGyrl@aol.comSeptember 20, 1998 - Tori took the stage at the Pond at 9:28pm. We were sitting about a 'mile' away, but we could tell she dressed up tonight. She was wearing this blue (or purple..I was far away) sparkley halter dress, slit high on each side with monochromatic tap pants (or tights) underneath. It also looked as though it had some sort of see-thru, long sleeved, brown top underneath. Her shoes were microscopic from my view, so I'll have to rely on someone else to post on that! I think they were small black heels. The Pond was huge and intimidating, I was worried about having a quality experience, but I must say I was impressed. The sound and lighting were incredible! She began with Precious Things, the band took the stage first and then she walked on in all her glittery glory and began to play. The piano was crystal clear! iieee came next and they stepped it up a notch. God was third on the list and when she say "when the wind blows" the band was quiet and her voice reverberated, it sounded so nice! God was also extended with the "you dropped a bomb on me Jesus" chorus. After God she took some time to talk to us saying, "hey everybody" and continuing on to tell us she used to stay with some people in Newport Beach who were nice enough to take her in. She continued to explain, "I used to live in an apartment in Hollywood right, and the lady I lived with well, she thought I was going to fuck her husband. And I wouldn't you know, I mean he wasn't my type but she had this dog that had fleas, and I ended up with like 75 flea bites, you know, in the hospital with impantigo and these nice people in Newport Beach took me in and I will be forever greatful." She introduced the band, of course Caton got the biggest cheer! Spark began and the audience went wild! Then followed Siren and Little Earthquakes. The band made their exit, without mention, and Winter filled the arena. The lighting for this song was dramatic, just Tori and her piano, in her sparkling blue dress with about 10 or 12 white lights angled on her. Absolutely amazing. I took issue with the audience during this song because they interrupted with cheers and claps no less than 10x. I love this song, but I go to the concert to listen and it's so distracting to have clapping and cheering during such a delicate piece. Please guys.. clap and cheer during the opening or closing of a song not during random elements. Ok.. I'm off my soapbox now.. thanks for indulging me. The second half of secret time was the song I was waiting for all night, Merman. Tori spoke again saying "This song isn't on the album, because it's my favorite. None of my favorites make the albums." It was all that I hoped. The band returned and Northern Lad showed up, followed by Spacedog and then Raspberry Swirl. My attention was placed squarely on the drummer, Matt Chamberlain, during Swirl because he put this white hat on that had glowing alien antenna on it. He stood up and beat the hell out of whatever it was he was bangin' on. Man he works hard! They really seemed to have fun with this song and I was enraptured by Matt's talent! I don't even remember looking at Tori once during that song! The final song of the show was the new version of Waitress. We gave her a standing ovation, and she waved with both hands palms out, grabbed some lucky hands in the front row, and disappeared stage left. Caton was funny 'cause he just sorta put his elbows at his waist and flipped his hands around and skipped off the stage like.. like he knew he'd be back, and they were. The first encore consisted of Cruel and Cornflake Girl with an interesting new(?) intro, just Tori and her piano for the intro. Giving us a big wave again and touching hands in the other half of the front row, she again disappeared stage left. Encore 2 was Tori, the piano and Pandora's Aquarium. We went outside and the fireworks from Disneyland were going off. What a way to be welcomed back into reality! A couple girls behind me commented on my Mickey ears (which I bot from Disneyland that day and had "Tori Amos Plugged '98" embroidered on the back), and we started talking about how incredible Tori is. These girls were so nice and I recognized one from television, she was the blonde girl from the San Francisco cast of Real World. She was really sweet. We then headed over to find the meet and greet (yah right). We found the barricades which were, by this time, already chock full of people. Security was a little dumbfounded. We kept getting re-directed further and further back. So I saw this lady inside the barricade with a Tori pass on and asked her if I could give her something to give to Tori for me. She said she would, so I gave her another pair of the Mickey ears inscribed with "Tori Amos Plugged '98" and thanked her profusely. I asked her name, and she replied Katie, so.. Katie...... THANKS A MILLION!!!!!! We tried to go to our car but security instructed us to walk all the way around the building (arg!), so we walked around and found a vantage point so we could see her (again from a distance). We talked about how frightening it must be to have so many people pushing and shoving. To require barricades and security. Fans were hiding behind cars in the parking lot, ignoring security, climbing on things, basically being fanatic. We discussed how different it was to meet and greet her 5/12 at the Leno show, where she hugged me and held my friend Robert's hand. The meet and greets at the big shows are a whole 'nother world. She eventually came out (about 12:20 or so) and Joel escorted her to sign autographs and whatnot for the fans. I think she was out there for like 15 minutes or so and then she was escorted back into the Pond soon to appear entering her awaiting tour bus a level below. Some fans screamed and ran over to the wall. Once they began to move the bus, the same frantic fans made a mad dash for the street practically running out in front of the bus. Arg! People! If you chill out, she will come! I loved the show, and most of the people! It was nice to sell our other ticket to Gloria who's really sweet and had her dreams fulfilled with Pandora's Aquarium. It was wonderful for Katey to do me that favor, and fantastic of my pal Robert for getting the tkts to the show in the first place! Thanks for the memories.. I'll see you at the Greek shows! From shelley plummer (posted to the precious-things mailing list)September 20, 1998 - Yeah I was there and I thought the band was a little too loud. It was diificult to hear Tori at times. But then again I wasn't very close either. And I was so disappointed that she didn't sing anything from Boys for Pele. From ezekial aka zigSeptember 20, 1998 - "i was looking forward to this so badly, it would be my first tori concert, i have heard her live stuff..on cds and etc...but anyways...i was expecting something i did not expect...i showed up...waited trough a semi ok band, well...as the curtain raised i expected tori to be out ther kickin some arse...but it was the other band members out there gettin the flow down, they had this awsome beat going, im just sittin there letting the music flow....then all of a sudden she poped out...she started playing precious things...and i could not help but to let tears run down my eyes, i was total extacy...she had this energy that every single person felt, i have been a fan for years but now after seeing the engery and all the love she has..i will be a fan for life...." From Daniel RiddingtonSeptember 20, 1998 - we arrived early for the greet and meet...and thankfully do to the ignorance of the staff, we got to part somewhere off limits for free. anyway, there were around 25 people at the meet. everyone was very friendly, we shared stories and showed off our Tori stuff. the downfall of the greet and meet was the cocky staff. they announced that Tori was on her way, so we all stood up and crunched together. an hour passes...and still no Tori. the secure staff, one in particular named Dave, sure you know him, was a pain in the ass. we were all renewed when Tori showed up wearing a jersey. she looked very tired. i got some photos, i didn't get to talk to her because the fans that follow her everywhere needed "to talk to Tori." she did sign my friend's album and she spent a good amount of time with us. i wanted to ask her to play "Twinkle," but people were throwing out requests. as for the show, excluding the Devilins set, it was awesome. her voice was stable, and she seemed to be having a good time. my favorite songs of the night were "Merman" and "Northern Lad." i hope to see Tori in San Diego. From GloGahanSeptember 20, 1998 - Well, well, well...I have been to three Tori shows this year and i must say this was the most kickass one i've ever been to. I cannot believe i got to hear Merman for the very first time. This song is the only song tonight that brought tears to my eyes. My favorite part of the show is and always will be the part in Precious Things where she screams "with their NINEINCHNAILS.." The lights are so extraordinary on this song...I cannot believe she used to do this song without a band. The downside to the show was Waitress. I not only dislike that song...i really hate it with a passion. And to make it worse, she DRAGS it for a good 10 minutes! It was pure noise. The other downside was the sound. Something was wrong with the sound in Oakland and tonight. Just WAYYY too loud. Definite highlight of the night : Winter . I have never seen the crowd go so crazy in my life! Beautifully done. Set list ( in no particular order): Precious Things |
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