North American Plugged '98 Tour
Little Rock, AR
October 9, 1998
Updated October 18, 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 Little Rock, AR on October 9, 1998 at Robinson Auditorium during the main North American leg of her Plugged '98 tour.  Set ListTori performed Hey Jupiter and Frog On My Toe solo. Thanks to Frank, jeanaleigh and Molly Marguerite for first emailing me the set list. Precious Things 1st Encore: 2nd Encore: |
ReviewsThe most recently added reviews are first. From Molly Marguerite (posted to the Precious Things and RDTRN mailing lists)October 18, 1998 - During iieee at the Little Rock show Tori started singing "If I ever get out of here, thought of giving it all away..." I knew I heard that line from another song...I found out today that it's from "Band on the Run" by Paul McCartney's band WINGS. From FrankOctober 14, 1998 - Tori Quote: "So, aren't you all in the fucking news? Well, let me tell you that I do swallow while I'm up here." Thanks for letting me be the smallest part of how things work in the Tori world. If you want, I'll submit a review of the show too, cause I will see her again after that performance. :) This concert was special to me for several reasons, not only because it was my first Tori concert, but because I was taking a dear friend of mine (Her name is Jessica.) to her first Tori concert as well. The difference was that I "found" Tori in late August, early September, and Jessica has been a fan since "Little Earthquakes" came out. We got there a little late, as I had just bought a copy of ToriStories and so, we spent a good hour or so listening to that, and getting all gittery about the whole thing. When we got there, we got a good parking spot, and went outside. I had met Emi online, and she had said she would be there, and gave me a description. However, there were tons of people on the front steps of the auditorium, so, needless to say, I couldn't find her. (Sorry, Emi. Better luck next concert.) Since we spent all our time listening to ToriStories, we missed the Meet & Greet, which disappointed both of us, but it was ok. After having dinner at this pizza place down the street (which as a side note, every customer in the store was going to the concert, so it was almost like a mini- pre-concert-party), We went inside, where security was rather tight. Jessica had to go to the bathroom, and as I was waiting for her, I overheard someone say that the increased security was coming at Tori's request. I don't know whether that was true or not. While we were standing outside the concert hall, I recognized Joel standing outside, and pointed him out to everyone. Since all the people there have been EWF for quite a longer time, and also considering this was my first concert, everyone was surprised at all this stuff I was spouting off, pointing out certain security, identifying certain musicians as they gave last minute sound checks, and the like. Anyway, we had great seats. They were in the second section on the second row, so we didn't have anybody blocking the view. I swear, I would guess that over half of the people at that concert weren't from Little Rock, as anyone who has been to Tori concerts knows the menagurie that shows up, these people don't live in LR, but it was soooooo nice to see so many people I could identify with. There was one guy with fairie wings on, and I felt bad for not dressing up. Everyone was decked out like it was a grand ball at the dance hall of some great king. People were wearing crowns, white "doiley-like" dresses, HUGE go- go boots, and I noticied an unusual amount of redheads dotting the landscape before me. The crowd was anxious for the concert to start, as any slight pause in the background music sent the crowd into an uproar. Well, finally, the concert started, and the only way I can describe it is by songs: "Precious Things" - I thought I was going to die! I had liked the album version, but was absolutely blown away by this new "live" version. Everything just seemed to sceam on stage. Since that performance, I have purchased a bootleg from this tour, if for nothing else, that song. It, so far, remains my favorite from the show. "iieee" - Very well done. I loved the track on the album and they did a very good job of taking it live. I remember Tori's keyboard being a little hard to hear on this one. During this song, I found Kenny by Jon Evans, and pointed it out to everyone near me. (Both Jessica and I had set the goal that we WOULD find Kenny) "God" - Was ever so happy to hear this live. Both Jessica and I were surprised to see her playing it in one of the capitals of the infamous "Bible Belt." At the same time, we found it quite appropriate, and a funny, satirical, sick sort of way. "Northern Lad" - I cheered as long as I could without being a nuisanse to Tori. This is my favorite track from "from the choirgirl hotel" and I was so happy to here it as part of the set. "Caught A Lite Sneeze" - I didn't recognize this one at first, as she plays it on the piano now. I miss the harpsichord. Still good, but I miss the harpsichord. "Bells For Her" - I didn't recognize this one at all. I think it's the worst track on "Under The Pink", but, live, it was ever so much better. I wish I would've known it so I could have given that song a new evaluation. "Hey Jupiter" - I saw the band begin to leave, and I knew what time it was. The lighting on this song was the best of the show. Tori lit up in a literal shower of red light, as she put so much emotion into it. I looked around towards the end of the song, and I didn't see a single dry eye in the house. A highlight of this performance. "Frog On My Toe" - I was hoping that we would get to hear a song that either hadn't been played on tour yet, or one that had been played only once or twice. I wasn't disappointed. It was nice to hear this B-Side live. Not my favorite, but a good song at any rate. "Sugar" - I believe it was during this song (It's been a few days since the concert) that Caton just started dancing on stage, and he was being crazy. I swear I saw Tori start to crack up partway through the song. We were all laughing, but I thought he looked like he was having WAY too much too fun to be getting paid to do this. "Spark" - We both knew this song was coming. I don't know how. We just did. There wasn't anything "truly" remarkable. It was Spark. Good song. Better song live. "Tear In Your Hand" - The only song I absolutely hate off the "Little Earthquakes" album. Still, the crowd was extactic, so I sat through it. I think playing things live improves all songs, even this one. I still don't like it. Oh well. Not everything is perfect. "The Waitress" - I heard Jon start the bass line, and I knew the concert was almost over, and so this song, even though there is a lot of anger in it, it came across to me as having a very sad underlying tone to it. The song still rocked, and as MikeWhy says it best, "Can you ever go back to the original again?" At least not the same, anyway. Afterwards, they all got together and hugged and I could tell they were all having WAY WAY too much fun to be getting paid. Several times during the time between the "end" and the encore, the audience kept dying, and I was getting scared that they might not be enough to get her out there for the encore. But sure enough, she did! "Crucify" - This song affected the crowd in a way I had never anticipated. The crowd basically left their seats and started dancing in the ailses. It was just beautiful. Even my friend, Jessica, got caught in the moment and went leaping down the rest of the stairs to join them all. (She later mentioned that she had danced to that song too many times at home NOT to dance at the concert.) I told myself that I wasn't going to do anything like that unless they played Raspberry Swirl. I think Tori both saw what was up with the crowd AND read my mind, because the next song was indeed... "Raspberry Swirl" - I was in too much disbelief that she was playing it to do much of anything. I just sat there. The whole place looked like one huge club, and by now, most of the audience was dancing. But I just sat there, something I regret even now, and something I will hopefully get a chance to correct at my next concert. "Hotel" - The perfect song to end the concert on. Most people were still standing and waiting to dance again, but no one could to the constant change in tempo. I just sat there in awe the whole time. The last few seconds of this song were absolutely beautiful. All the disco balls were lit up, splashing light everywhere, as the band literally faded out to Tori's "I'm still alive/I'm still alive/I'm still alive....." Needless to say, we were so in awe that we forgot that there was a Meet & Greet after the concert, so I didn't get to see her at all, but I left with some of the most positive memories of my life. So, that's my story. Take it for what you will. I hope to be able to be a little more social and meet some more people at the only other Tori concert I will be able to attend. See you all in East Lansing! From blphillips@Harding.eduOctober 12, 1998 - The Little Rock show was not as great as the Memphis show, however the thing that made it all worthwhile was that Tori played "Hey Jupiter" for me. I gave her a letter at the meet and greet telling her how whenever I had found out that someone I love was HIV+, I could not talk about it with anyone because it was a big secret and I went into shock and my only outlet was this song which made me confront my true fears that one day no one would be picking up the phone and then I'd know he's gone--blah blah blah--and then she played it and I was a complete mess of hysteria. Actually, maybe she had already planned on playing it, or maybe she didn't even read my letter, but I prefer to think that my letter inspired her to play it, although that might just be feeding fuel to my psychosis. Anyway, the show did not get off to a very good start, but it really picked up with "Bells For Her" which sounds absolutely fantastic. She improvised a lot of lyrics like, "If I ever make it out of here alive, you know what I'll do?" in "iieee"; and "You need a woman. I need one myself." in "God"; and "I thought you could, but you can't. You're full of " in "Caught A Lite Sneeze". The sound was not really very good, but the audience was more active and louder than any other show I've been to. I would like to say something about the opening act. I didn't even know his name. The first thing he said was "I'm Tori's brother, Corey Amos.". He seems like he's from another decade. He did one really great song called "Nothing Good", but the rest of his stuff really wasn't very good and I don't say that to be mean because I was probably the only one in the whole audience who was actually listening to him. Overall, the show made me glad that I didn't jump off the bridge and kill myself like I was thinking about doing right before. From Jeremy LanceOctober 12, 1998 - Jeremy sent me a scan of the official/written set list. Tori followed it clsely except for her solo songs and the second encore. For the second solo song, Tori was supposed to do either Cooling or Never Seen Blue instead of Frog On My Toe. The Second encore was supposed to be Muhammed My Friend and Winter instead of what she did song, Hotel. This does mean that Muhammed My Friend will be appearing soon in concert for the very first time this year. From Laura D. BeatonOctober 12, 1998 - I never expected Tori Amos to come back to Little Rock, but she did, and since the day I heard about her concert in my god-forsaken hometown, my life has been revolving around October 9: the day of the concert. I showed up at Robinson about 9:45 am, and there were already 5 people there. Someone told me to mark the numbers on my hand with a sharpie, and I did. Fair enough, I thought, for those of us who sat out all day and got terrible sunburns to be able to have priority in meeting her. Unfortunately, around 2:00 pm, some people showed up who rather shunned the whole idea of first come, first serve which bothered me a bit, but I dealt with it. I think they were Tori regulars which perhaps gave them the idea that they were more important than us first-timers. I don't know. But I met Tori! My first time to ever see her in person, and I am so grateful that I got to. She signed an autograph for me, and took a photograph with me as well. She really is a genuine, gracious woman! I didn't see a lick of celebrity haughtiness in her. It was refreshing. The concert was amazing. I hardly moved throughout the entire thing; I was mesmerized. From the third row, it was almost as if I could feel her energy and vitality -- it was a tangible thing. Her opening, "Precious Things" sent waves of energy into the crowd, and "Hey Jupiter" and "Frog on my Toe" sung solo were immensely beautiful. "Sugar," too, was a high point for me. The highlight of the concert for me, though, was "Tear in Your Hand." It is undoubtedly one of my favorite Tori songs, but what made me nearly cry and laugh and cheer all in the same moment was the fact that I has asked her to play this song at the meet and greet, and she had. This was the first time I've ever seen Tori Amos in concert, live. The power of it alone was enough to make me want to follow her to the ends of the Earth. Or New Orleans. From ShaneOctober 11, 1998 - Noticed you didnt have anything on the meet and greet or such of the Little Rock Show. The meet and greet was REALLY small with like only 25 people before the show and I got to see her, but wasnt in the front. Me and my friends then went over to eat and after we came back we decided to sit on the upper side of the building above the tour busses just to catch a peak of the tour busses, well then i noticed a door open and wanted to see if i could hear tori practicing inside, I DID!!! WE all sat there for like 25-30 minutes while she practiced iieee and Muhammed My Friend!!!!!!!! I was so happy, she didnt play it during the show, so it was like it was just for us!!! It sounds so great with the band, and i cant wait to hear more of it. After the show me and my friends left before she played Hotel (the last encore) and i got right up front. Well there was a little boy in front of me with his mom, but his mom left and told me and this girl to watch him so we could get closer. So we had to really hold back people so not to crush this little boy. Joel said he was getting nervous cause the crowd was so rowdy. Well then she came out and ran right over to where i was. She signed my ticket stub and then I said "Thank You so much Tori" and she said "Youre welcome sweetie"!!!!! SHE CALLED ME SWEETIE. I guess the important thing is i wanted to tell you that Tori practiced Muhammed My Friend!!!!!!! I was the first to hear it :)!!!!! From jeanaleighOctober 11, 1998 - So the Little Rock show was awesome. I saw some rather interesting people, but very few were actually nice. This saddened me because I've always thought of Tori fans as the kind of people that would be. But I got there late for the meet&greet and the people that were already there were shoving me around, making sure I didn't get ahead of them. Henceforth, I didn't get my picture signed. And there were people flicking their ashes right on top of me. Now, on with my little review. Ron Sexsmith was the opening act last night. My aunt and I arrived at about 4, and there were already five or so rows of people at the meet&greet. I tried to get a picture just by holding up my camera but I doubt it worked. We got inside at about 7. I bought my stuff, The blue Jackie's Strength tshirt and program. We found our seats, with the help of an usher. I was right on the aisle, RowN seat 111. So are seats were good. There was this guy, I don't recall his name ( we nicknamed him the Town Crier ) walking around trying to sell programs and he was LOUD and ANNOYING but I liked him. He had a really beautiful tattoo on his leg. Anyway, Ron Sexsmith was fair, I guess, though somewhat dull. I'm glad he didn't stay on any longer than what he did. He played till oh maybe 8.30 or 9. Then about 9.15 here came Tori. Oh my God it's really her! She was awesome. Here are my personal thoughts along with the set list Precious Things i i e e e God Northern Lad Caught A Lite Sneeze Bells For Her Hey Jupiter Frog On My Toe Sugar Spark Tear In Your Hand Waitress Encore I: Crucify Raspberry Swirl Encore II: Hotel I realize that my adjectives seem limited, but there are only a few words worthy to describe Tori. The energy in that room from the crowd and from Tori was awesome. I saw a guy with a shirt that read "Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups" but I say, Never underestimate the power of Tori's people in large groups. From Molly MargueriteOctober 11, 1998 - I showed up at Robinson at 7pm. I was excited about being able to see Tori in this small venue again (only seats 2,365). Also I had front row tickets I ended up right in front of Tori but one of her monitor/speaker thingys was in front of her, so I only saw from the waist up! Everyone in the audience was great not hardly any shouting and it seemed like an older crowd. There was some guessing about the opening act...We had heard Devlin's but then I read in a Mamephis review that the Devlins were saying Memphis was their last show. Well the opening act was just a guy and a guitar. He had a good voice, his music reminded me a bit of Willy from the last tour. At one point I belive he was singing the theme to Dawrson's Creek? I don't know I have never watched the show but I heard someone mention that. He only played for thirty min. Tori came on at about 9pm. She was beautiful of course in a cute all black outfit with a lace tank slit up on the sides. She started right into PRECIOUS THINGS every song made me want to get up and dance but I settled for grooving in my seat. There is an orchestra Pit betwen the front row and the stage so we couldn't walk up closer to the stage or anything. IIEEE was beautiful Live, she kept pointing to and grabbing her stomach pulling her top out like she was pregnet. It was painful watching her do that knowing how much she ahd lost. She seemed to do a lot of improvising in all her songs which I loved. In the middle of IIEEE she started singing "If I ever get out of here...I'm gonna give it all away...you don't know me." I guess this is a cover of another song, it sounded familair. When she stopped to introduce the band she made a little comment about us being in the "fucking news" and for us not to worry because she swallows while on stage. She started GOD out singing "You need a women, not a slut...You don't know me". Everyone was dancing around with this song...the communication she has with the band is just amazing from hand signals to smiles they seemed to al be one mind. Everytime she turned to the keyboard she would talk and wink at Jon Evans, who by the way had the KENNY DOLL by him tonight, another point of interest there seemed to be a one-legged barbie doll on the drum set! Before NORTHERN LAD, she said someone had requested it so she was going to give it a go she just needed to take a breathe she said that's what happens when you get old. Solo time: The red lights for HEY JUPITER were wild her hair was glowing...like a Traffic Light (heehee). She hit everynote perfectly, I am really amazed at the strength of her voice. I let out a little screech when she started FROG ON MY TOE, I think that song is so cute, and I was pretty sure it was one she hadn't played much. Beautiful, I couldn't help but mouth the words along. She would lift her foot way up when she sang "bigger than a flea...". She made cute little faces during this song. It was just like the album version. Very touching! She really went off on SUGAR with the "Sweet boy when they find you out....". It was harsh, not at all like the way I've heard it before...she didn't tell the Freddy M. story before it...she really didn't talk much at all. Everything was wonderful, I wish I could have stood up and danced, but I didn't want to make the people behind me angry...everyone was nice and well-behaved no screaming. All-in-all a perfect night! Here are the songs as she played them (it's accurate)...if there was a different song listed on the actual set list I put it out to the side. What she sang................Setlist Precious Things |
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