North American Plugged '98 Tour - Akron, OH

North American Plugged '98 Tour
Akron, OH
November 28, 1998

Updated May 2, 2000

Check Out The Reviews And Set Lists Page

Tori performed in Akron, OH on November 28, 1998 at Rhodes Arena at the University of Akron during the main North American leg of her Plugged '98 tour.

Set List

Tori performed Take To The Sky, Landslide, Thoughts and Black Swan solo.

Precious Things
Hotel
Thoughts (solo)
Past The Mission
Muhammad My Friend
Girl
Bells For Her
Take To The Sky (solo)
Landslide (solo)
Purple People
Cruel
Tear In Your Hand
The Waitress

1st Encore:
She's Your Cocaine
Raspberry Swirl

2nd Encore:
Talula
Black Swan (solo)
Mary (with band)
Pretty Good Year

Venue Photo

James A. Rhodes Health and Physical Education Building. Toriphiles wait in place for the general admission show as the sun sets -- note the tour truck to the left. (Thanks to Richard Handal for the photo.)

Reviews

The most recently added reviews are below my own.

From Mikewhy

December 8, 1998 - Tori performed a beautiful and special show. My seats were the worst of tour. They were reserved seats on the far left side level with the front of the stage. I could only see Tori's face during her keyboard songs, and then only with the help of binoculars. But it was still a fun show.

Tori did an abbreviated version of Thoughts solo as an introduction to Past The Mission. It was great to hear this song again! As I had a chance to tell Tori a few days later in person, all the interesting improvs and intros she does are so special to us and really add flavor to the concerts. They also make an already interesting show even more fascinating.

My friend Danica finally got to hear "Girl" in concert. She had been asking Tori for the song for a long time. It was beautiful and I really enjoyed the way it sounded with the band. This is the first time I have ever heard Tori perform this song. Tori messed up a little, but no one cared! The song is really powerful and has a strong beat.

Why do people have to clap along during Take To The Sky? I Just hate that. ;)

Landslide was beautiful. It sent chills throughout my body. There was a lot of tenderness in Tori's voice. Tori must like this cover as well, because it is the cover song she did the most during the Plugged '98 Tour.

I had told everyone I wanted to hear Purple People tonight and it happened. This song is one of my very favorites. It is so gorgeous. When I first heard the title for this song, I thought it was be a silly song. Instead it is so endearing to me. I sincerely hope this appears on the live album in 1999.

Tori mentioned that she only had 5 shows left and that the audience was fantastic.

Tori made a little mistake during Pretty Good Year. In reaction to that, she sang "Pretty Good Smear" and propped her feet up on the piano. It was fun.

The arena was incredibly hot. Some of the people in the front passed out during the show. The floor was general admission while the surrounding chairs and bleachers were reserved. Luckily, Tori gave some water to the folks in the front to share.

I have had the pleasure of hearing Mary on this tour both solo and with the band. The band version tonight was really effective and powerful, while the solo version is more tender.

From the Akron Beacon Journal

December 14, 1998 - A review of this show appeared in the November 30, 1998 edition of the Akron Beacon Journal. Special thanks to Toriphile jacqui for telling me about it.

TORI AMOS SHOWS HER SONIC SIDE
RHODES ARENA PERFORMANCE SKIPS THE HITS,
CONCENTRATES ON UNCONVENTIONAL APPROACH

By Chuck Klosterman, Beacon Journal staff writer

Tori Amos is a pretty good piano player, a pretty decent singer, and a better-than-average songwriter. But she's absolutely unparalleled when it comes to demonstrating the sexual power of personal honesty.

After finishing Precious, the first song in Saturday's 100-minute set in the University of Akron's James A. Rhodes Arena, the building was momentarily jarred by the unbridled war cry of some guy sitting 200 feet from the stage: "I LOVE YOU, TORI!" This declaration was delivered in the most unromantic fashion possible; the unknown Lothario screamed his adoration in the same voice he probably uses to yell insults at baseball players.

But this is what Amos does to people. This normal-looking, introspective neo-feminist makes macho frat boys melt like margarine, and she does it with the same material that gives alienated 15-year-old girls a reason to live. Amos is vulnerable and fearless at the same time. Even when's she's being downright egocentric, you're transfixed by the dark truth of what she's saying.

The current Amos tour is dubbed "Plugged '98," which signifies that she's performing with a full band on stage. The conventional wisdom among Tori-lovers is that she's more powerful when it's just her and a piano, but this show was intelligently conceived and mildly fascinating. It showed a few sides of Amos that usually get lost in the shuffle.

It was an especially solid performance when you consider that she played no hits whatsoever. None. No Crucify, no Cornflake Girl, no God, no Caught a Light Sneeze. Not even her current single, Spark. She even ignored some of her most familiar nonreleases, like the affable romp Happy Phantom or the ultra-chilling rape narration Me and a Gun.

Amos did perform an unexpected cover of Fleetwood Mac's Landslide, which she basically murdered. But that's OK -- Tori is kind of the Gen X Stevie Nicks, so we'll cut her some slack.

Because she had a rock band in tow, Amos stepped up the production value. She wore what appeared to be a diamond-studded apron, and the music was augmented with an intense light show and an onslaught of smoke machines. Perhaps these stage props were leftover artifacts from Amos' ill-fated '80s pop metal outfit Y Kant Tori Read.

The best part of the night was the first of her two encores. Amos and her entourage reworked a few songs in a style that bordered on the industrial. This aggressive exploration sounded unlike anything Amos has ever done before.

The evening was opened by Unbelievable Truth, a group fronted by Andy Yorke, the brother of Radiohead vocalist Thom Yorke. Andy writes music in the same vein as his brother -- highly melodramatic and unconventional, but in a catchy kind of way. Though nondescript at times, Unbelievable Truth's set displayed a great deal of sonic (albeit completely uncommercial) potential.

From Aimey Wilder

December 14, 1998 - I just want to say that the show in Akron would have been alot better if I was not all the way at the top of the bleachers on the right.......The J.A.R. (which is properly named, it felt like a big jar) was very small and it got way too hot in there to handle, which explains why people were passing out and some were even leaving (hello, ever hear of Air Conditioner). It was also horrible because no one, in the section I sat in stood up, so I had to stay seated so people could see (all I wanted to do was stand up and dance), my butt hurt so bad at the end of the night. I got a little upset when they started clapping along during Take to the Sky, but that's nothing compared to Cleveland, when they clapped during Silent All These Years.

All in all of course it was Tori so it was great. All day I was saying I wanted to hear her play Take to the Sky.... SHE DID!!!!!! I will just pretend it was for me...... I drug my boyfriend with me to the show even though he doesn't really know much Tori but he said it was a great experience, and he enjoyed the lighting....... I have to say altogether, it was not a bad show because of the experience of Tori.....Which is worth $35.00 per ticket, even for bad seats (I would have paid $100.00 or even more just for the opportunity to see the person I idolize).

From SsterJanet@aol.com

December 5, 1998 - This is my sad story of my last Plugged 98' tour show, which was in Akron. I'm very upset about how it went. It was my third show, which I'm very lucky to have seen her twice before, but it's not everyday you see Tori in front row. That didn't last too long, as you will soon find out. We left here at 6:00 a.m. to head off to Akron. The drive went by quickly and we got there around ten till 10 to check into a hotel. Well, they didn't have a room so we reserved it and got it when we came back from the show that night. We got to Rhodes arena and people were already waiting. We got our GA numbers and I was number 43. We left and went to eat, which we ended up eating hardly anything. So we went back to Rhodes arena around 1:30 and we had a lot of time to kill so Holly and Heidi tried to sleep, then we listened to music, then we talked, then Heidi fixed our hair and make-up, then I walked around outside and Heidi and Holly tried to take a nap in my car. Finally at 4 we went over to sit with everyone and met four really cool people (Joe, Mike, Stacy, and Jason) who were also waiting there. Well, I got some cards from my car and we were right by the doors playing Gin. This chick came over and said she was with Tori's security and that we needed to go over to where the other people were lined up. We said no b/c this guy had told us that they were opening two doors, the one the others were lined up by and the one that we were sitting in front of, but the girl said they were just opening one door. We still said no and kept playing cards. Steve came over and was checking out stuff by the doors and I asked him if they were opening both doors or just that one and he said no they were really going to open both doors. At five we were all in front and everyone started to stand up so Stacy, Heidi, Holly, Jason, and I all linked arms b/c we were on a mission to get front row. The cops came out and put up barriers in front of us. Right around this time I start to get a major back ache, it was quite bothersome. Everyone was pushing and trying to get in front. This girl (I'm not going to say any names, but she goes to every Tori concert) jumps up in front of us and thinks she's going to get in front, which ticked me off b/c she goes to every Tori show and talks to Tori every time, what about us that don't have that privilege? We weren't too pleased with that b/c people kept coming up to her to get in line with her. It got chaotic, and finally around 6:45 they opened the door, which was the one we were standing in front off. We all went rushing in, I got knocked over in the process, and they padded us down then took our ticket stubs. We went to get a bracelet and ran in the arena like kids in a candy store. We got a space right in front of the barricade that they had in front of the stage, a little to the left. We were right in the front!! We all sat down Indian style on the floor b/c they didn't have chairs. The Unbelievable Truth came on at 7:30, everyone stood up, and it got really hot in there. I was holding my coat and my Winter single and my back was still bothering me. People were pushing on us in the front and I couldn't even move, it was so uncomfortable. I was praying for the stage change b/c I wanted to space myself a little and get some fresh air. When the Unbelievable Truth left the stage at the end of their set no one sat down and it took them an hour to change the stage. About 15 minutes b/f Tori was to come on Holly said she felt like she was going to faint and needed my car keys so she could sit down and get some fresh air. She left and didn't even get to see Tori at all. Tori came on, looking beautiful of course and I got Holly's space by the barricades. We were so close to her. Heidi and I were having a great time. There was a girl behind us who they had to pass over the barricades, it seemed that a few people were passing out. Then the best thing happened. Tori played Girl and during one of the verses when she turned around to play on the keyboard, I was just watching her, looking at her face. She was looking down, then she looked up and we were staring each other directly in the eyes and she was singing the verse and right before she turned around to the piano for the chorus, she gave me her beautiful smile. I was soooooo happy amidst my pain. Heidi started feeling really bad before Landslide and I kept asking her if she was OK and she said yes because she wasn't going to leave (this was her first Tori concert ), but then she started having trouble breathing and she said she needed some water. I asked the security guard for water and he got Steve and they said to come around the barricade. She started walking and got woozy and her knees started to buckle, but I was behind her and I grabbed her under her arms to help her walk. They took her back around the barricade and the guy told me where to go so I went back to where they had the paramedics. The paramedic who was checking her out said Tori was great, really amazing in concert, which we thought was cool. They gave her some water and made sure she was OK. They told us that we should get some food after the show. We went back in and stood in the back and caught a minute of The Waitress before we went out in the lobby (yeah, we missed a lot of songs, most of which were favorites I hadn't had the chance to hear in concert before). I bought a shirt and Stacy and Jason found us and told us they couldn't take it any more either so we went out to the meets and greets line. They were just undoing the police tape to let people in so we went to my car but Holly wasn't there and I got a little worried, but then we went to Stacy's car and went back to the meets and greets to find that a ton of people were there. We got up close to the front and were about two people back. Then these two chicks with voices that drove me crazy came over to where we were and were carrying on (sorry if you read this, but it was really annoying). Never has someone's voice got on my nerves as much as theirs did. Holly found us and she went to my car. My back really started killing me, it hurt so bad. I was trying to deal with the pain and I was getting squished by everyone. I had been out there for an hour and a half, Tori had probably 15 minutes till she came out, and I left. I couldn't stand being there anymore. Heidi and Stacy had my camera to get pics for me and I went to my car. I got in and slammed the door and just started crying, I was so upset about how everything had gone. I could hear them screaming b/c Tori came out and it just made me feel worse. It was my last time seeing her in concert, maybe in my entire life, and I just wanted to be there to see her. I've never been so disappointed in my life. Heidi, Stacy, and Jason came back and they had her autograph and said they got pictures of her. I was so hurt and upset, the general admission was a really stupid situation. If there was a seating arrangement then people would've been fine and not passing out all over the place. I was dehydrated and needed to sit down, so when we got back to the hotel I got some water and my back stopped hurting. I hope that if anyone else has to go to a Tori concert that it's not a GA. Sorry if I sound so whiny, but I had been looking forward to that for over a month, and I doubt I'll ever get over it. On a happier note, the tour has been a real experience and I'm glad that I had the chance to meet some wonderful people.

From Sara

December 1, 1998 - This was my second Tori concert, and it was definatly a fantastic show. My friends Holly, Mike, Jeff and I all arrived about 6 o clock for the concert. I'm not sure what time they let us in to be seated...maybe around 7 or so. Anyway, we had bought tickets Friday so we were in upper reserve. It was hot and pretty crowded on the bleachers, plus I had some girls knee , who complained throughout the whole show, in my back. But I didn't care, I was psyched to hear Tori for the second time on this tour.

Unbelievable Truth came on. They were pretty good...but Holly and I were getting anxious to see Tori...I kind of thought Unbelievable Truth played too long but that's probably because I wanted Tori on so bad. Anyway, around 9 I think, the lights went off and people started screaming. Tori came on waring a long sparkly apron type thing. She mentioned how there were only 5 more shows and the audience has been fantastic.

Precious Things-I expected this one, I loved it also. Her voice was so smooth and perfect for it.

Hotel-Not one of my favorites on FTCH, but it was entertaining.

Thoughts-She did this solo as an introduction to Past The Mission. It was very beautiful.

Past The Mission-I had this song on repeat for such a long time when I first bought Under The Pink so I was excited to hear it.

Muhammad My Friend-Holly loves this song so I was happy when she began playing it. Tori plays it so wonderfully live.

Girl-I knew she played this at another concert and it was SO beautiful. Jeff hadn't heard Tori's music before and he said this was his favorite song by her during the concert.

Bells for Her-I just relaxed and listened to this one. Very mellow and soft. I liked it a lot.

It was solo time and I'm not sure if she said she was going to play some requests or asked for some. I screamed for China with some other people anyway for the heck of it, even though I dont think she could hear me.. :) Take to the Sky(solo)-I heard this one in Cincinnati so I expected people to start clapping along...I wouldn't say it annoyed me but it doesn't really sound right...but Tori did a wonderful job. Its cute when she slaps the piano.

Lanslide(Solo)-One of my highlights. I did NOT expect to hear her sing this one. I've never heard Tori perform it before and it was definatly a favorite of mine. It was perfect.

Purple People-Another I didn't expect. I thought it was Playboy Mommy at first. PP was perfect tonight. (no surprise).

Cruel-A favorite of mine of FTCH. I just jammed to it with my friends. Tori got very into it, I was very impressed by the whole thing. It sounded a little different from the album version, but I liked it all the same.

Tear In Your Hand-My FAVORITE Tori song ever. Holly and I just started screaming when the introduction was played. We had been praying Tori would play this and she did. It was my ultimate highlight of the evening.

The Waitress-I knew the concert was coming to an end when she began this. It was very energetic and pretty lengthy.

She's Your Cocaine/Raspberry Swirl-I REALLY wanted to dance to these but the girl with the pointy knee asked me to sit down :( Anyway, the lighting was awesome and I couldn't help but dance in my seat.

Talula-Another great song. I didn't recongize it until she began singing but it was gorgeous.

Black Swan-VERY beautiful song. I never heard her sing it before and it was so, relaxing.. Mary

Pretty Good Year-I heard this one in Cincinnati so I knew it would be wonderful. During her piano playing, she messed up a bit and said "oops" then sang "pretty good smear." The audience laughed and I thought it was very cute.

All in all, this concert was definatly a 3 hour drive, like I knew it would be. I'm excited to see what she belts out tonight in Columbus.

From MoneekaEWF@aol.com

December 1, 1998 - well...it's the day after that i am writing this so it may be a little off--but that's ok. akron was amazing. i went w/ my best friend jodie and my friend luke. we arrived in akron at about 11:30 and were #'s 60-62...this eventually didn't mean anything though b/c the security or whoever decided to take the end of our line and put them at two other doors that would be opening. that was bullshit and a half. really, it was...and for the people who i heard were there since 4 in the morning...i would be really, really mad...but anyway. i guess it didn't matter in the end b/c after the stampede when the doors opened, i actually was in "third row", if u will, in general admission. behind two rows of people and dead in the center. it was good.

first off--i have never seen a concert in a place sooooooo tiny. like, really tiny! and i've never sat down before a show...oh, and BTW, for all the people i trampled on when i went to the bathroom, thank u sooo much for letting me through...i was holding that since like 2...and i will be eternally grateful for restroom breaks whenever they are presented again. so, thanx... but anyway.

the unbelievable truth were good, in their own way. i don't think that they were bad at all actually. they just played their set and told us to buy their album and then left...but it was good music, i'll give them that. the thing is though...that the 4 or so teeny-boppers to the left of me were like yelling at them to get off the stage and like praying out loud for tori to come on. that was really disrespectful and awfully rude. and then they got real upset when we were waiting for the setup and all that between them and tori. get a grip!

so, tori finally comes on and she has on a great apron w/ sparkles and it was really pertty. i thought the set list was really awesome tonight...i was so into this concert...last time in july i wasn't as into it b/c i had the absolute worst seats and i had met her for the first time earlier that day, so it just was like the day went downhill from the m&g...so anyway this time around i knew better. all of her movements and symbolic motions throughout the show really make it sooo worthwhile (which earlier in the day i was beginning to wonder what the hell i was doing there soooo early and w/ so many people herding towards the door just to open an hour before the show...i mean, i was crushed by people). Thoughts was a surprise...and Muhammad My Friend...that was odd b/c luke and i talked about it before the show and he said he had really wanted to hear it...and we both shit our pants when she played it...sooo...Take To The Sky was sooooo awesome...the clapping was uncalled for though...oh well...and now i'll discuss the girls to my left while i'm halfway bitching...DON'T SING AT TORI CONCERTS!...ok, that's all. i mean, it's a good thing that they didn't know some older songs and B-sides. ehhh. i was really glad to hear Cocaine though b/c i wasn't into it before and now i am...it's like a little tribute to life in some odd, odd way. anyway.

ok, the most beautiful, awesome, heart-wrenching surprise of the night...Landslide. i have never even dreamed that i would hear this live. i would have cried but i was in such awe. i just sat there w/ my mouth open. i mean, i've only been to 3 concerts now, so my chances at hearing this have been very limited.

The show ended w/ Pretty Good Year...which was very, very nice. i thought that tori was really into the show tonight...i mean, i'm not sure, but she seemed like it...i enjoyed the show and i thought that it was very worthwhile in the end.

P.S.--- i've never ever been so sore in my life from sitting then standing then sitting then standing...i feel like i can't even move today and i got home at 2 in the morning so basically i've barely slept either. yuck. definitely an experience i will never forget.

p.s.s.-- mike, it was very nice to meet u, i talked to u in the parking lot and signed yer book... u're such a cool guy.

From Bryan Corbett

December 1, 1998 - So my Tori day officially started when my friend Mei came and picked me up at 10am. We did some tori shopping and picked up the new cruel single and an awesome import poster promoting the spark single. We were both certainly in the tori mood. We decided we needed to get tori a little something , so we bought her a pair of blue fuzzy mittens. They just really looked like something tori would enjoy. So then we went and picked up mei's friend bridget and arrived at the arena at 2:30 pm, where there were already tons of people. we were told we needed to get a number from some girl, so we found her and we were numbered 127, 128 and 129. so we started to wait and wait and wait. there was a lot of cool stuff going on around us though. a few people were selling some neat little tori items and the people were all so nice. the line really started to get long and the crowd big so security came out and took the people from the back of the line and put them in the front of a new second line. so, there goes the number system. now, it was every toriphile for him(her)self. as i was sitting there i noticed a cab pull up and this guy get out. well, it was jon evans and no one else around me knew but me, so i felt kind of cool about that, he walked by a few times and signed some autographs. and then there was the fabulous fairy dressed racheal. she knew one of the security guards so she got me some inside information on the meet and greet. i gave her the mittens and a note i wrote tori and she went to the back of the building for me and ran into tori's tour manager and gave him the gifts to give tori. a security guard later came out and confirmed that tori had recieved the gifts. in my note, i had requested mother, so now i was just praying for her to play it that night. so, we continued to wait and wait until they finally opened the doors at about 6:45 i think. there was a mad rush in the front of the crowd to get inside the building. and there was a line all the way down both sides of the street. it was sold out i think. so we got in the building and got plastic bracelets on our wrists to be let into the floor area. once we were inside me and my friends eventually ended up just a few rows of people back form the stage. i had perfect view. so they made us all sit until the show started and finally it did. the unbelievable truth came out to the audience screaming "tori! tori!" ....the lead singer responded by saying "do we look like tori?" at least he was a good sport about it. they played and all their songs sounded the same and i really didn't like them at all. they finally finished there set and after what seemed like forever the curtain dropped, the band started to play and the goddess appeared.

Precious Things - Awesome as I expected , great opener, although i think it sounded better back in Cleveland in July.

Hotel - I had really wanted to hear this one!! And there it was, it was so great, Tori started to do a lot of hand motions and little dances.

Thoughts - This was beautiful, it was an intro to the next song but she played enough of it for it to count as a song on the setlist. her voice sounded very clear and beautiful.

Past The Mission - I was also really hoping to hear this one. sounded like there was someone singing back up during the chorus..tape i suppose to fill in for trent!

Muhammad My Friend - This was a complete surprise!! It's one of my favorite tori songs, but i didn't recongize it at all until she started singing.

Girl - This was one of the best of the night. It sounded exactly like the album version. It was perfect.

Bells For Her - Very good with the band. A lot of it just sounds like tori solo on the piano.

Take To The Sky - This was also a surprise. She said something about taking requests and then started this song and was keeping the beat by hitting the piano. at that point , some people started to clap which was slightly annoying.

Landslide - I had wanted to hear this so bad and her voice was absolutely beautiful during this song. It is one of her greatest covers.

Purple People - This was one of the other best ones of the night. It sounded very clear and perfect.

Cruel - Glad she played it, it was extended and was kind of long it seemed but very good. Tori was really going crazy at this point with hand gestures and things like that.

Tear In Your Hand - It was really good, but it didn't seem to clear at the very beginning...it got better as it went on.

Waitress - Good closer, really long. something about hang ten she kept on repeating.

She's Your Cocaine - good.

Raspberry Swirl - I hadn't heard this live before and it rocked. everyone really started to dance and tori did the coolest dance up on stage. she was standing a lot during this one and matt was going crazy on those drums.

Talula - I didn't know what this was until she started singing. She didn't sing the usual beginning of she's chasing tornadoes.

Black Swan - never in a million years did i think tori would play this. it is such an amazing song. big surprise.

Mary - i had heard this solo in cleveland and it was great with the band. it's one of my favorite Le b-sides. The "butterflies don't belong in nets part" was great.

Pretty Good Year - Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god. I was secretly hoping she would play this. earlier in the concert, i thought to myself, "it would be so cool if she played pretty good year." but then, what are the chances. she hit those first few keys and i about hit the floor, it was the best part of the show. it was so great!! it was the beautiful solo tori and then the band came in and blew me away. at one point she messed up so she sang pretty good smear and put her feet up on the piano. What a perfect ending to an excellent show.

After the show -

so, we treked outside to the meet and greet by the buses and waited an hour for tori to come out. i had a thing or two i wanted her to sign but they never got to her!! and i was so close!! it was kind of frustrating that all those people that you know have met her before and been to 30 shows were up there carrying on conversations like good old friends. but i did get to talk to caton and he was really nice. so just seeing the top of tori's head anyway was worth the wait. she stayed out there for quite some time before joel rushed her off to the bus. she waved goodbye once she got on and everyone went home. it was absolutey an amazing concert!! i never could have hoped for a better setlist. =)

oh yeah, tori was wearing gray pants and a dark red or brown shirt with a silver sparkly apron thing over that and black shoes. overall, an amazing and incredible tori experience.

From Marian ~The Sparkly Twinkle Princess"

December 1, 1998 - HI All!!! WHAT AN AWESOME SHOW!!!!! This was my last show of the tour (*sigh*, *sob*), but it was a great way to end it. The day was warm, the sky was bright blue, there was a warm breeze... it was incredibly nice.

Caton let me paint his nails, guys!!!! I sent a note backstage for Caton and it was in a bag of stuff that Phyllis, Nicole, Colleen, Ilya, and I sent back for Tori (this had my note reminding her that she said she would play Mary for me in Akron when i talked to her at IUP. *sigh*) . I saw Caton as he came out to ride his bike that afternoon and asked him if he got the note. He said he hadn't, and I reminded him of his promise that he had made to me at IUP and he said that i could paint his nails. It was great. He's an awesome guy. Phyllis took pictures of it for me and it was just so incredibly fun. After the show, I saw him again and got to talk to him some more. He told me that right after I painted his nails and everything he went in for the soundcheck and Tori gave him my note. LOL. So he did finally get it! =) We talked about how it was my last show and how very very sad that was. (i'm still crying over this one. now that i'm home it hurts a little more...) He signed my book once more for me, and then I got one last hug. While he was hugging me I said, "Thank you so much for everything, I just adore you." He said, "I'll miss you. You take care." He is such a flirt. LOL. But an awesome guy nonetheless. Hee hee..... I'll let Phyllis tell you guys about our new Joel organization. Hee hee.... WE LOVE JOEL!!!!!

Okay, now i'm gonna ramble about the SHOW!!!!!!

The Unbelievable Truth talked A LOT! It was almost frightening. YAY LANDSLIDE!!! These guys entertain me. Hee hee...the bassist just distracts me terribly. And the faces he makes make me laugh. he just entertains me to no end. Thus, he passes the test and is permitted to stay.

1)Precious Things-- of course! This was great (as always). I hope she doesn't get tired of playing this song, because it's AWESOME!!!!!! She didn't pull much energy from the crowd when she first came out, but she later proved that she had plenty of her own energy to keep us all going. =)

2)Hotel (with freaky long intro)-- Where did this come from?! =) Needless to say we were a little shocked to hear this one second. The energy during this one was really different...I don't even know how to explaing it. It was just....odd... but she performed it incredibly once again. *sigh* I love Tori...

3) THOUGHTS/Past the Mission-- EEEEEEK!!!!!!!!!!!! SHE PLAYED A LITTLE BIT OF THOUGHTS!!!!!!! KILL ME NOW!!!!! This was INCREDIBLE!! I just about passed out!! I don't really know why she played this one before Past the Mission, but it was REALLY COOL!!!!

4) Muhammed My Friend-- This was very cool. VERY cool. This one with the band just totally kicks. And the lights were really groovy.

5) Girl-- YAY DANICA!!!!!!!!! I was so happy to hear this one becuase we all knew how badly Danica wanted to hear this. And with the band, this song carries such intense power. I love it. It was fabulous.

6) Bells for Her-- I just love the way this sounds with the band. I need to get a boot of her Plugged 98 version of this song because I just adore it.

*~*~*~SECRET TIME

7) TAKE TO THE SKY (solo)!!!!!!!-- This was AMAZING!!! She was playing the accompaniment with her left hand and beating out the percussion line on Bosey with her right hand for most of the song. She said that we needed to bear with her because she hadn't done this one in a while, but it was incredible. My heart was doing little flutters....

8)Landslide-- Kill me again... this song is so wonderful. I never really liked it when I heard Fleetwood Mac perform it, but when TORI sings it I bawl my eyes out and my heart does cartwheels. Such perfect beauty....

9) Purple People-- YAY PURPLE PEOPLE!!! This was great!!!!!! I was just in heaven at this point, and of course things only got MORE euphoric!!!!

10) Cruel-- Yippy yippy yippy!!!! I like this one a lot. It's so keen. I just love the growling guitar hook...yeah baby.... hee hee...I love Caton. Tori just rocked on this one. This keetcha's got some MAD SKILLZ. (LOL)

11) Tear In Your Hand-- Oh this song is wonderful. Is it stupid that I cried when she sang, "maybe it's time to say goodbye" ? She sang that line and it suddenly struck me that oh my goodness this is my last show. *SOBBING UNCONTROLLABLY*

12) Waitress-- hang ten honey. aw yeah. what more can i say?!

*~*~*FIRST ENCORE*~*~*

13) She's Your Cocaine-- It took her a while to come back out. When the band came out before her people stopped yelling and clapping. Caton gave a sign to keep cheering and then they did. I had been yelping my head off and was taken aback when people stopped cheering. Tori came out after about 45 seconds and YEOW!!!!!! This song is as wild as a 5 chinchillas in a carboard box. I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

14) Raspberry Swirl-- What was I saying earlier about MAD SKILLZ? LOL. Well, Tori certainly has them, but so does Matt Chamberlain. This guy is so solid. He keeps this song flying. And the combination of Matt and Tori driving the audience into a rasberry frenzy is just AWESOME!

*~*~*SECOND ENCORE*~*~*

15) Talula-- this version has been much slower. I LOVE the lights and I love the percussion line. This song will always kick hard.

16) Black Swan-- eek. This song just floats in the air and falls all over us like millions of brilliant sparkles... the magic of this song is so brilliant. It's definitely the faerie's revenge. =)

17) MARY!!!!!!!!-- oh my god. oh my god oh my god. OH MY GOD!!!!! TORI PLAYED THIS SONG FOR ME! She got my note!!! she READ my note!!!! She knew how much this meant to me... she read my note...she had to know how much this meant to me. I'm crying just thinking about it. It was the most incredible 4 minutes of my life. She knew I was there and she was singing it for me. I am in such awe. I love her so much. I don't think I could ever thank her enough for that. That song just shot right through me. It's kept me alive. And she sang it for me last night. I am never going to forget this.

18)Pretty Good Year-- WOWWY. This was great. Congratulations to Phyllis for finally getting this song. This was brilliant. She made a little mistake and then sang "Pretty Good Smear". It was super cute. Of course it was TORI. This was an amazing way to end the last show I would be at on this tour.

I am never going to forget these shows that I have been priveleged enough to make it to. If I could, I would be at every single show. But being a poor starving college student kind of holds me back.

I just wanted to say to Phyllis, Alan, Zach, Jessica, Ilya, Colleen, Jen, Nicole, Becky, and Annie: You guys will never know how much you all mean to me. I am never as happy as I am when I am with you guys. You make my soul feel complete. Thank you so much for all of your friendship, your generosity, your wisdom, your kindness, and your MAD SKILLZ. =) I don't know what I'm going to do now that I have to be away from you all for a really really long time. I'll cry. That's what i will do. I love you guys so much.

I'd also like to thank Richard Handal and Mikewhy for being Richard Handal and Mikewhy. (Thank you so much for the Nutri Grain bar, Richard!!! You saved this poor little hypoglycemic from an attack. Much gratitude and many many thanks!!!!!!)

Okay, I think I'm done rambling now. that's it folks. show's over. go back to what you were doing, there's nothing to see here. =) Love you all!!!!!

From Phyllis Spiece

December 1, 1998 - TORI PLAYED PRETTY GOOD YEAR FOR ME!!!!!! Enough said. I am happy.

But you know what....you can call me a dumbass....read on and find out why.

Ilya, me, Nicole, Marian, and Colleen (I dont know how we fit into one little rent a car!) got to the venue in Akron Ohio around 6am and were numbered, but it really didnt matter because we had shitty seats anyway...no GA stuff (dammit!)

It was a car load full, but since we have MAD SKILLZ it was all good!

I met up with tons of people I hadnt seen since August and it was a wonderful reunion (i miss all of you sooooo much already!) So, we waited 12 hours just chatting away to pass the time. It was great. Marian and I also started a fad we never thought would take off so soon. We made ourselves buttons for the "We Love Joel Fan Club" the night before (because we started the club after PA shows) and turns out there were many many MANY more people who wanted to join! So now we have a We Love Joel mailing list and are going to start a webpage soon for him and make sure everyone in the club gets a button and also meet up with Joel while he is on tour with the band Live! If anyone else is intersted in joining the mailing list, email me please!

At 3ish Steve came out and socialized with some of us. Marian, Colleen, Ilya, Nicole, and I went over and asked Steve to give Tori the gift we made her the night before after a mad dash to Wal*Mart right next to our hotel. I also made sure to give Steve the Purple People book which I put together from purple people who sent me pages. (it turned out very nicely by the way) I placed the book in a manila envelope and wrote on the front "a special gift for Tori" One of the things I included in the book was a story I wrote for my English class called "Dreaming of a Pretty Good Year" which sort of explained my love for the song. I also put a note to her before the story explaining more in depth how wonderful of a song "Pretty Good Year" was to me. My hope was she would read the book and get the idea :)

Around 5pm, Marian and I spotted Caton and she finally got to paint his nails (he promised her she could do it in Indiana!) then as we were going back to stand in line, the wonderful Joel appeared and we flocked to him for a picture and a hug.

At 6:45 or so, the GA doors opened and everyone was pushed and shoved and the 5 of us went up to our crappy seats.

The Unbelievable Truth was pretty good tonight. They actually talked! woo hoo! "Landslide" WOW! We were so happy to hear this song! It was great....isnt it nice when you recognize all their songs???

Finally Tori came on and she was wearing a silver apron and purple pants. Even though we were far away, it was still a spectacular show!

Hotel began with "a freaky long intro" (hehe) and because it was was her second song, I was surprised to see it come so early in the set list, but all the same it was great.

Next to come was the most wonderful surprise of them all...THOUGHTS!!!! I grabbed on tight to Marian and thought I was going to die because it was so great! That song led into Past the Mission, which to me was a very weird segue, but whatever Tori wants I suppose.

Muhammad My Friend began with some freaky cool yellowish orange lights and we had no clue what was to come because the intro was different from the one I heard in Blacksburg.

Girl was absolutely FABULOUS!!! I knew it was going to be played because Danica was there tonight and I was soooooo thrilled she finally got to hear it (LOVE YOU DANICA!)

Next came Bells for Her. *sigh* gorgeous.

During Secret Time she was like "I want to take some requests..." and then TONS of people started yelling out songs...she just laughed and then went on to say "I havent played this in a while..." TAKE TO THE SKY! WOW WEE ZOWY!!!! OH MY GOD!!!! It was just perfect. Tori and her piano. And she kept tapping her piano, it was superb!

Next came Landslide. I nearly had a heart attack! Could she play anymore songs I had never heard live?!?!?! I was beautified!

When the band came back out, she played PURPLE PEOPLE!!!!!!!!! OH MY GOD OH MY GOD!!!!! She got our Purple People book!!!!! She played that song for all of us!!!!!

Cruel was fabulous as usual and during Tear in Your Hand I sobbed and waved good bye to Tori. it was a sad moment.

Me and Nicole proceeded to leave the audiTORIum at The Waitress (get ready to slap me and call me a dumbass...) You see we figured it had been such an amazing show already that we needed to talk to her and thank her and say our final good byes to her that night, so we left the building and went to the meet and greet area. We were in prime position to talk to tori.

While we waited more people came out and we learned more about the setlist. She's Your Cocaine. cool. Raspberry Swirl. cool. Then onto the 2nd Encore. Talula. cool. Black Swan. cool. Show's over, right? WRONG. Mary. yippee skippee! Marian got to hear her song! Wonderful! Good way to end the show!.....

Not but 10 minutes later someone informed me that she played Pretty Good Year. I nearly shit in my pants, but instead I burst into tears. I CANT BELIEVE I MISSED MY SONG!!!! (feel free to call me dumbass now) Everyone knew she played the song for me because of the lengthy letter I gave her and all the small reminders and hints at past shows. I should have known, but I needed to give tori my farewell, so i left. DAMN DAMN DAMN. Well, at least I can leave the tour knowing she ended the show with the song I asked her to sing. It was wonderful. I never like to request songs, but that one means the world to me (I will share the story in another email soon...) *sigh* Just call me dumbass and I will live with myself.

So anyway, that was the show. Steve Sanchez was in an unusually good mood last night before meet and greet. And Joel, well he seranaded me AND I QUOTE "I am going to do a little song and dance while you wait for Tori to come talk to you."

I got to say my final good bye to tori. I thanked her for Pretty Good Year and cried so hard. I got a "your welcome. I was happy to play it for you". She held my hand and told me it was wonderful having me on this tour and that she would see me again in a couple years. I could barely speak at that point, so we just held eachother and looked at eachother and had a moment. It was beautiful.

It was finally over. Waved good bye as the bus left. Thank you everyone for making this tour so special to me. It is the Toriphiles that make the show in my opinion. See you in a couple years!

From snorkel

December 1, 1998 - I just read your reviews of the Akron and Columbus show, and wanted to point out that Mr. Hanky was on Matt's bass drum at both shows. (In fact, during when Matt went nuts during Raspberry Swirl in Akron he hit the bass so hard that Mr. Hankey flew straight up and got caught inbetween the Bass and the snare (if that is what it is called) drum. I *sob* wasn't able to attend the Columbus show, and of course Tori played the one song that I have longed to hear live all year long, Jackie's Strength. SHOOT! ;) Oh well, Pretty Good Smear made of up for it.

From Charlie Nopper

December 1, 1998 - I just wanted to send along a couple comments on Saturday night's show. my fiancee got tickets and we were very happy to have reserved seats (with backs). I would not have wanted to be crushed in that sea of humanity on the floor.

I must start by saying that she was in the best voice I have ever heard her. She must have really benefited from the days off in between shows. It was so very different to hear her with the band. I was very impressed with all the other musicians' abilities. My fiancee had not seen Tori before. She really enjoyed the show, especially the solo piano moments and marveled at her talent.

All in all it was a great night and we both enjoyed a shared Tori experience.