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Tori performed in Milwaukee, WI on Sunday, December 1, 2002 at the Milwaukee Riverside Theatre. The show began at 7:30PM and Howie Day was the opening act.
Set List
Wampum Prayer
a sorta fairytale
Little Earthquakes
Cornflake Girl
Scarlet's Walk
Caught A Lite Sneeze
Don't Make Me Go To Vegas
Black-Dove (January)
Wednesday
Band leaves
River
Mr. Zebra
Jackie's Strength
Never Seen Blue
Band returns
Purple People
Pancake
Girl
Crazy
Precious Things
I Can't See New York
Spring Haze
1st Encore
Sweet Sangria
Little Amsterdam
2nd Encore
Space Dog
Hey Jupiter (Dakota version)
Strange
Reviews
For more reviews, please check out the Dent's Tour Reviews Forum. Please post your own review if you were there! The latest reviews are at the bottom of the page.
From Mikewhy:
The Milwaukee, WI show on December 1, 2002 was my favorite of the 8 shows I saw on the first leg of the On Scarlet's Walk tour. Trying to explain why this was the case is difficult. Several factors combine to make the show so wonderful for me.
For one, Tori was extremely energetic and in a great mood, at least until the second encore when a drunk woman in the audience caused a problem that made Tori stop the show and angrily, but calmly, chastise the area of the crowd where the commotion took place.. More on that later in my review. But for most of the show, Tori seemed to be 100% present, and putting all her effort into every song.
Secondly, I loved where I was sitting. Amanda and I were in the second row of the lower mezzanine, direclty in the center. The balcony at Riverside went down quite close to the stage, so I could clearly see Tori's every facial expression. At the same time, the angle we were at worked really well with Tori's lighting. Sometimes during previous shows I would find myself temporarily blinded by the stage lighting, but that did not happen from our seat here. Finally, the sound in the theater, especially in the balcony, was rich and amazing. Being able to see from this vantage point really helped me get into the show. Add to this Tori's attitude and superb playing, and it made for a memorable concert.
There was also an emotional quality to the show that night that was very noticable. Even my girlfriend Amanda, who finds solo concerts much more emotional than band shows, was moved to say that this was the most emotional show with the band she has ever witnessed. I was riveted to the show the entire time. On some shows, I may find my mind wandering for a song or two, or I will be more into one part of the show than the other. This time I was fully enagaged the entire time, with my focus firmly fixed on the stage. The fact that I was tired and had little sleep the night before did not bother me. I was totally immersed in this show.
I was wondering toward the end of the performance, when I realized that this would be my favorite show this year, if I was unique in my feeling that this was a special evening, or if others felt the same way. After the show, as I talked to various fans in the lobby, I realized that I was not alone in my strong feelings for the concert. Some people on the floor near the drunken fools had a hard time getting into the show for obvious reasons. But for most everyone else, Milwaukee was a very special night.
The set list was good, but not overly surprising. The only debut for the tour was Purple People. The combination of songs was good and the performance itself mesmerizing. The show began at 8:44PM and ended at 10:57. Tori performed 25 songs. Here are my comments for some of songs.
During a sorta fairytale, which followed Wampum Prayer as usual, I immediately noticed two things. For one, the acoustics in the theater were amazing! For another, I thought Tori looked really nice. She had on a black "robe-like" outer garment that was tied around her waste with a red sash. Her boots were black with large pink flowers on them!
I also noticed that Tori pats the piano a few times before she mounts her piano bench and begins the show. She always shows the Bosendorfer such reverence.
During part of Little Earthquakes, the stage was extremely bright and filled with light. After Little Earthquakes, she asked us "How's it going?" Then she said something like, "Some of you know two of my favorite people in the world" and introduced the band. Tori then said, and I highly paraphrase, "I was remembering this town... Do any of you remember when I played Madison.." then she starts singing an improv while playing the piano. It had lyrics that included (again paraphrased), "I went to that ambulance, and a nice lesbian nurse gave me a shot of god knows what, but it made me feel grand" and then she began playing Cornflake Girl. Tori was refering to a 1994 show she did in Madison, WI where she had to be rushed to the hospital after the show. Madison, Wisconsin is located roughly 75 miles west of Milwaukee.
During Cornflake Girl, I noticed that a image of the woman with leaves coming out her head, which is on the Scarlet's Walk limited edition, was being shown on the screen behind the stage in different places every time Tori performed the "peel out the watch word" part.
Caught A Lite Sneeze sounded more powerful than usual to me that night. The drums sounded louder and more present. That is likely due to Riverside's excellent acoustics rather than a difference in the performance, but it was interesting.
There was a cute moment during Don't Make Me Go To Vegas when Tori messed up, I think by turning to the wrong keyboard for a second. She corrected her mistake rapidly, and said into the microphone, "Whoops" between the lyrics, along with a huge smile.
I really love how they have various images and designs swirling on the screen behind the stage, on the floor around the piano, and even on the walls of the venue. During Wednesday, they display these swirling leaves (or rather the shadows of leaves) that really go well with the song.
This is only the second time I saw Tori perform River, and tonight's was by far the best. This was her first solo song once the band left. I got chills during the song, especially when she would barely whisper the line, "wish I had a river". Amanda and I were both tearing up during this one.
Mr. Zebra was a lot of fun, and Tori pronounced the lyrics very clearly as she sang. Someone told me that this song was requested at the meet & greet by a 9-year old Toriphile. Tori played it and I am sure she was thrilled!
Jackie's Strength continued the beautiful and emotional flow of Tori's solo part of the show. The stage was often bathed in pink or purple light during this one, and it was easy to get carried away in the flow of the song. It was simply gorgeous. The same beautiful flow and strong emotion was present for Never Seen Blue. I love the lyrics to this one so much.
The band returned and I saw Jon Evans get the upright bass ready. Tori was having a little trouble and asks, "Mr. Jon, am I in the right key? B flat?" Jon immediately answered "Yes M'am" which caused me to chuckle some. The sound in the theater was so good that I could clearly hear Jon speak. Tori then did a short improv where she sang something like, "Sometimes I forget my key." There were many other lines that I can not recall, but it was great. Then she begins Purple People for the first time ever On Scarlet's Walk. This was an excellent song to end the Roadside Cafe on, and was beautiful as always. There was some nasty feedback during part of the song, and I saw Tori turn her head sharply to look at her sound guys on the side, as if to say, "What was that..." Other than that, her facial expressions were happy and adorable during Purple People.
I love the funky intros Tori has given a lot of these songs. One example is Pancake. Tori often dances on her piano bench or stands and does some interesting arm movements during these intros. That was certainly the case during Pancake. Tori is such a fascinating performer to watch. I would think that even a person who was not into her music would find her stage movements to be fascinating.
Girl was as good as it was the last few nights. The band sounds really good on this one, and the crowd obviously adores this song.
Before Crazy, Tori sings, "Gotta leave tonight..fly away tonight..leaving here makes me crazy..."
Jump ahead to the second encore. Tori begins with Space Dog, which has some interesting images displayed in the background. For some reason, it looks like brains growing and shrinking in size!
Tori then began Hey Jupiter (the Dakota version) with the stage filled with cones of white light. But Tori then stops almost immediately with a determined and somewhat pissed off look on her face. She looks at some people toward the center a few rows back and says, "Hold On. What's going on. Everybody relax. You guys are so much better than that. This is nonsense. All I am saying right now is I need to play this tune. If you have to take a picture, take it. We don't need security involved. Ok well you know what? I'm going to hold to this bit of info. A good friend of mine died this past year and I can't find him on Jupiter or any place else for that matter, and he used to take beautiful pictures. So you know what, take the picture, don't take the picture. who cares?. This is a love fest? I just wanna sing a song? . You can't bring these people back.." During this, Tori's bodyguard Joel walks out from the side of the stage and stands at the end of the stage glaring at the area where all this was taking place, which was the first row outside of the pit toward the center. I can not say with 100% certainty what happened, because I am getting many varying accounts. It appears that a drunk girl was trying to get closer to the stage a take a photo, and was disturbing people. (She had been bothering people during most of the show.) Some people say she was fighting with another fan who wanted her to leave and other accounts say she was fighting with an usher or security guard. An usher or security person did go to that area to get the woman to stop taking photos. Some combination of all that caused the commotion. One of the girls kept trying to yell things to Tori while Tori was speaking, perhaps to explain things. I think it was the person trying to stop the girl from taking photos. Tori just seemed annoyed at it all. At one point I remember Tori saying, "I know it wasn't you. You are trying to talk to me and you are trying to sort this out and we can have a private conversation later." It was a bizarre and unfortunate incident. It is sad that one of Tori's most amazing shows was marred by what Tori herself called nonsense. However, I can sympathize with anyone who had to endure that obnoxious drunk fan. There is nothing worse than being near a loud, drunk person at a concert.
Tori recovered well and did Hey Jupiter. Then she seemd to hold her hand up to both band members as if to say, "wait." Tori then did Strange. I think she may had added that song at the end so that the show would end on a more positive note.
This was an amazing and deeply affecting show, and an excellent way for Amanda and I to end our travels during this leg of the tour. We said goodbye to many of the wonderful fans that we always talk to and sometimes have dinner with before the shows. As usual, we will miss all of them so much. The social aspects of the concerts is every bit as important as seeing Tori. The only thing that kept us from being too sad is the fact that there will be a second leg to the North American tour in Spring 2003, and indications are it could be quite extensive. Until then, I will treasure the 8 shows we saw over the last month while On Scarlet's Walk.
From Jean (scooby):
Hi, I was at the Milwaukee show right behind the drunk girl Tori had words with. This tall, blonde drunk girl was hanging on everyone and causing a scene when everyone had rushed to the front for the encores.
During Hey Jupiter (which happens to be my fave Tori song) a woman with a camera came by the drunk girl and they decided the woman would take some pictures and then send them to the drunk girl. So the woman tried to take numerous pictures and the security kept blocking the pictures. So Tori stopped and said "so what's going on down there?" and the drunk girl began rambling about how much she loved Tori and how it wasn't her trying to take the pictures. So blah blah the drunk girl rambled and Tori spoke of her friend that had just passed away that used to take lovely pictures and ended with saying that the audience could take pictures and so on. Then she started Hey Jupiter over again.
I think I speak for the majority of the audience when I say that I was really pissed off at this girl, especially for interrupting one of the more moving songs that Tori performs. Anyway I just thought I would fill you in on the happenings.
From Joanne E Staudacher:
Wampum Prayer
a sorta fairytale
Little Earthquakes
(improv: a shot)
Cornflake Girl
Scarlet's Walk
Caught a Lite Sneeze
don't make me come to Vegas
Black-Dove (January)
Wednesday
band leaves
a Christmas song--I wish I had a river?
Mr. Zebra
Jackie's Stength
Never Seen Blue
(improv: keys)
band returns
Purple People
pancake
Girl
Crazy
Precious Things
I can't see New York
Spring Haze
encore 1
Sweet Sangria
Litle Amsterdam
encore 2
Space Dog
Hey Jupiter (started, interrupted by something happening in the front row that caused her to scold someone in the audience, then started over)
strange (held up her hand to keep the band from leaving--a bonus song that was probably meant to make up for the Hey Jupiter fiasco)
From Laura and Canton:
Here is the official Milwaukee Set List:
Wampum Prayer
A Sorta Fairytale
Little Earthquakes
Cornflake Girl
Scarlet's Walk
Caught a Lite Sneeze
Don't Make Me Come to Vegas
Black Dove
Wednesday
-------------------------------
River
Hello Mr. Zebra into Jackie's Strength
Never Seen Blue
Purple People
-------------------------------
Pancake
Girl
Crazy
Precious Things
I Can't See New York
Spring Haze
------------------------------
Sweet Sangria
Little Amsterdam
------------------------------
Space Dog
Hey Jupiter
She finished with "Strange," which was not on the official set list. She motioned to John and Matt and they added it to the end.
From Tracy:
I was front row, against the stage and was enthralled the entire show....... The incident happening down front involved someone trying to take a picture and was in the way of some other girl who was the one tori was speaking with. Tori handled the incident with total composure and Grace and I think it touched off some emotion in her for the second round of Hey Jupiter becuse she was in tears at the end. Meeting Tori after the show was beyond comprehension. I still can't believe it happened. Tori filled the room with her presence even though she was the size of Thumbalina! She was very kind and patient with us as we were barely able to speak or stand and took some wonderful photos! I'll send them in as soon as I get them developed. Joel thhe bodygaurd was a sweet heart!
From Erin:
I thought I would let you know what happened at the end of the show, since I saw most of what happened.
I was seated on the floor in the center in the 13th row. One row ahead of me a little to the left were a couple of girls, one who was especially obnoxious, and really drunk. She kept standing up and yelling, when everyone else was obviously seated. I think the girl behind her might have asked her to sit down, and she got really nasty and refused. This went on through most of the show. Towards the end, but before the encores, she got out of her seat and went towards the front. For a second I thought she was going to doing something crazy, like jump on the stage or something!
After that I didn't see her, but she never came back to her seat. When Tori stopped the show to ask what was going on, I was sure she must have been the problem. As soon as the show ended, I saw her again as were filing out, yelling to her friend who was seated many rows back, "Did you see what I did, and her friend said, "Yeah, I knew that must have been you!" Then this girl, who obviously was quite proud of herself, lit up a ciagarette in the middle of the theatre! She was standing by the merchandise area, after the show, where they refused to serve her until she put it out. Anyway, just about everyone who was seated around us knew it was her, and a lot of people were pointing at her and saying stuff. She should have been kicked out, but I guess it was late in the show, so maybe that is why they didn't bother.
Anyways, it was a great show! It was the only one I went to, and it was a wonderful experience!!
From Suzy:
i talked to you before the show with susan -- susan and i were very close to the incident in the front and from what I could tell there was a woman who was overly excited and had tried to break up a fight someone was having over taking a picture (or she possibly told someone she should not be taking pictures, I'm not sure which).
tori could see that there was a scuffle so she stopped jupiter as you know. the girl kept repeating that she wasn't the one who was taking pictures and all tori wanted to do was keep the show flowing.
luckily tori was able to keep things moving although she was obviously bothered that people would get so worked up over trivial issues when there are a lot more important things going on in the world.
we had the good fortune to talk to tori after the show and she asked us if it had been going on during the performance. we told her it seemed to be just that moment and not a continual disruption.
it was certainly nothing to overshadow the incredible evening and one of the top shows i've ever seen!
From Mairie:
Hi Mike, Here's my review of last night's show...
Ok..
1. Wampum Prayer
2. A Sorta Fairytale
3. Little Earthquakes
After LE, she introduced the band, "2 of her favorite people in the whole world." She talked about remembering this town, and what a weird memory it was. Then she talked about Madison, and how she was at the hospital and a nice lesbian doctor gave her "a shot, a shot, a shot of god knows what, but it made me feel grand."
4. Cornflake Girl
5. Scarlet's Walk
6. Caught a Lite Sneeze
7. Don't Make Me Come to Vegas - Tori messed up at one point during this song. She was playing the keyboard, and turned around to play the piano, and turned back really quickly because it wasn't time for the piano yet. And it caused her to miss the first word of (I think it was) the chorus, and she also sang "oops."
8. Black Dove (January)
9. Wednesday
Roadside Café (solo)
10. River
11. Mr. Zebra
12. Jackie's Strength
13. Never Seen Blue
end of Roadside Café
14. Purple People - At the beginning, Tori said, "Mr. Jon am I in the right key? Is this B-flat?" to Jon Evans, the bassist, and then did a little song about forgetting her keys. Jon played the upright bass during Purple People.
15. Pancake
16. Girl - I was glad that Tori did Girl again. I know she also played it in Minneapolis, so perhaps she's going to play it more often now. That's fine with me. It's a beautiful song, and it means a lot to me.
17. Crazy - with an improv about leaving him and leaving her and it's making her crazy. Someone at @forumz mentioned that Joel had told her that Tori's flying to NYC for a day tomorrow, so the improv makes sense: She's going to be away from her husband and daughter for a day, and it's probably hard to do.
18. Precious Thins
19. I Can't Seen New York
20. Spring Haze
Encore 1
21. Sweet Sangria
22. Little Amsterdam
Encore 2
23. Space Dog - Matt Chamberlain really rocks on this song.
24. Hey Jupiter (Dakota version) - This is when the now infamous fight occurred. I was in the 5th row off to the left, so I couldn't quite tell what was going on. Before the song started, I saw a woman come down the left aisle and talk to the security guard who was sitting there. She asked him some stuff, and he pointed to the middle aisle. So she decided to cut through people in the front row, and get over to the middle. She did this while Tori was playing Space Dog, I think. Anyway, then Hey Jupiter started and Tori played for just a minute before stopping to ask what was going on with these people in the pit. I'm guessing that it was that woman who was in the left aisle and cut over. I think she was trying to take a picture. Anyway, it lasted several minutes, and was rather humorous, although I'm sure it was pretty darn annoying for Tori. She started Hey Jupiter over, and after that she held up her hand towards Matt Chamberlain, and started playing Strange.
25. Strange - During Strange, Tori shot several strong looks at the people in the pit area.
And then it was over.
Here's some general comments about the show.
-I liked the venue. It was beautiful. My seat was fairly decent.
-On many songs, the bass was way too loud. I couldn't even hear Tori playing the piano. Luckily, I could see her hands perfectly from my seat, so at least I could see her playing, even if I couldn't hear it.
-It looked to me like Jon Evans was mouthing along the words of the songs a few times (that is, the few times that I could actually see his face through his hair). :)
-Tori and Jon had some smiling during a few songs that was really cute. You can tell they enjoy playing music together.
-The audience in general sucked. I was highly disappointed and the show quality was definitely inhibited by them. The people in front of me were drunk as soon as they got there, and they talked almost nonstop during the show (when they weren't getting up to get a beer). The peopel behind me were just generally rude, and frequently made fun of the people in front of me, and others. "Is that a guy, or a girl? OMG it's a GIRL! OMG! Eew!" Just stupid shit that has no place anywhere. Shut the fuck up and listen. I also heard lots of people screaming and hollering at inappropriate times during songs throughout the evening. And during the encore, the people up front never sat back down. Normally people stand up when she comes back out, but then sit down when she starts to play. Most of the audience sat back down, but because no one could see over the people up front, we had to stand up again if we didn't want to start at the asses of those in front of us. And then of course there was the issue of the fight during Hey Jupiter...
-The show was fun, but not as great as Friday. I think it would've been a lot better if people would be more respectful of those around them, as well as Tori.
From Jon Odishoo:
We were in the first row of the lower mezzanine at the Tori concert last night in Milwaukee, and we saw a little bit of the goings-on during the second encore, so I thought I'd share. Most of this was related by my girlfriend, since she saw more than I did.
It appeared that the trouble originated with a group of girls up near the stage behind the pit. One of them seemed to be gyrating and acting a bit strangely earlier in the concert, so perhaps she was under some sort of chemical influence (which may explain her behavior). She was also doing things like grabbing and shaking her friends who were standing next to her, and at one point grabbed the head of the girl guarding the door to the pit, for some reason.
At any rate, what I believe happened was that someone was attempting to move in close to the stage to take a picture, and in this girl's Tori or drug-induced craziness, she thought that she'd try and stop them from taking the photo (since cameras were supposedly not allowed in the theater). The security guard came over to see what was going on.
At this point, Tori stopped playing her song (Hey Jupiter) and said "What's going on here,
are we having a problem?" to the two girls. The crazy-ish one started hurriedly explaining what the situation was, and why it wasn't her fault, but Tori cut her off (after some laughter filtered through the concert hall) and said "Look, I know you're trying to sort this out with me, and we can have a private conversation about it later, honey, but right now...right now...I want to sing this song." Everyone started cheering, at this point. "You see, my friend died earlier this year, and he took these beautiful pictures, pictures that no one else will probably be able to take, and I can't find him on Jupiter, and I can't call him." The girl for some reason would not shut up, so Tori continued, "Look, you are all better than this. There is no need for getting upset, and there is no need for security, I just want to play this song." So she started the song again.
It seemed that everything was okay after that, but the security guard hung around for a few minutes to make sure that no one was acting up.
Kudos to Tori for keeping it cool and taking care of the situation!
From Amy (amykomo):
Hi there, I thought I'd give you some information about what was happening in Milwaukee and why Tori stopped in the middle of Hey Jupiter to see what was going on with the audience.
I was sitting in the pit section and there was a younger woman who works for the Riverside standing there not letting anyone go up into the pit unless they had a ticket. You know how people have been rushing the stage during the encores? Well, the lady wouldn't let anyone go any further than the first row, fortunately for us.
The woman who was having such a problem was really drunk. I thought it could have been the same obnoxious woman from the first Chicago show, but Elasia said that it wasn't the same person. Earlier in the night, the friends she was with were in the bathroom and one of them was so drunk that she could barely speak coherently. Must have been that Wisconsin beer!
Anyhow, the drunk girl kept trying to push the usher out of the way and then was yelling things like "Tori you're beautiful!" and kept yelling and screaming at the usher and would not shut up. Everyone in the pit kept turning around and looking at her. Then the drunk girl's friend who I saw in the bathroom came up with a camera and was trying to take pictures oblivious to the "no recording devices or cameras allowed" rule. So the usher was trying to block her camera view. In the meantime, a security guard saw this and came rushing down the first row and that's when Tori stopped the show and asked what was going on.
The girl tried to explain that they were just trying to take a picture and that the lady usher wouldn't let them and kept saying things like "I love you Tori" and stuff like that. I'm sure you heard Tori saying "yeah, I know you want to go into detail, but I just want to play this little tune". Then the rudest thing was when Tori was explaining that she had lost a friend that year and another girl yelled "Kevyn!" and Tori said "who took beautiful pictures" and the girl yelled again "beautiful pictures of you Tori, we love you" and then Tori realized that these girls just weren't going to listen to her. So then Tori made the comment, "take a picture, or don't" and then played Hey Jupiter. Steve told the security guard to go away and talked to the drunk woman who ended up being able to stand in the front row the whole time.
After the show the drunk girl came up into the pit and tried to talk to Joel and he looked at her and pointed his finger at her and very sternly said "No!" So I imagine she was trying to get backstage or something.
That was what I had seen. I can post a review of Tori's performance at Cities 97 in Minneapolis a little later. Nice seeing you at the shows!!
From Dave Kinnetz:
Just thought I'd fill you in on my thoughts of the Milwaukee show @ the Riverside Theater.
First, I was able to attend the first meet & greet and it was pretty cool. Even though it was freezing outside, it was well worth it. I was the guy in the orange Columbia jacket. Thankfully, they moved us up front, and eventually into the area between the outside and inside doors. I was able to meet Tori, have her pose for a pic, and have her sign a copy of the Women Who Rock magazine for me. I hope to get the chance to meet her again the next time she's around.
Now for my thoughts on the actual show. My seats were awesome. Row E, center aisle (seats 113 & 114). My view of Tori, Matt, and Jon was unobstructed and the sound was great. Now, I realize everyone is excited, but I really think the hoots & hollers could have waited in between songs&Mac183; not while they're actually being performed. I was also pretty disappointed that people were able to bring their drinks in with them. A bottle of water is one thing, but when every other person has an alcoholic drink with then and has to get up in between songs for a refill is pretty irritating. And like the first 11/27 Chicago show, I had some chick sitting behind me singing her lungs out for most of the songs. I didn't pay to hear her sing. I turned around to give her quite a few pissed off stares. I wouldn't really have anything else to complain about 'til the end of the show (which I'll get to in a minute). On a positive note... Howie actually did a song (don't ask me what it was) where he didn't do that guitar beating/loop machine thing. He seems to be a pretty talented guy whose music might grow on me if I give it a chance.
Tori's performance was incredible. She looked really good. Her hair was awesome. She was very energetic. Earlier, I had a feeling that she'd perform Scarlet's Walk. It turned out really well. I've noticed that people really seem to get off on Tori doing that purr in her live performances of Cornflake Girl. I have to agree it's pretty cute. Caught A Lite Sneeze was another one that I had wanted to hear live. River was a really nice song. I didn't realize what it was until the chorus. Never Seen Blue totally caught me off guard. This is one of my favorite Tori songs (if not the one). I was really disappointed when I read that she recently did it in Columbus, because I thought she wouldn't do it again so soon. When I heard the first few notes, I knew for sure what it was. I was completely blown away. (Thank you, Tori!) Purple People was nice, too. It's cool to see Jon on the upright bass.
Now, here's where shit starts to get really messed up. Just before the main set is finished with Spring Haze, a few chicks from who-knows-where behind me start moving up to rush the stage. I'll admit, since my seats were so close, I had planned on getting close to the stage during the encores, too, but I wasn't about to do it while Tori's still singing. Spring Haze is over and the crowd stands to applause. I move up front and realize that the usher with blonde hair in the gold shirt was blocking the spot so people from the main seats can't go into the pit. I'm cool with it and stand like (almost) everyone else.
One of the chicks that had moved up front before Spring Haze was even over would not stop talking. She kept grabbing her friend next to her and talking LOUD, and moving around too much. I "shhh'd" her a few times. Once, she actually shut up long enough to hear and look at me. Then she started standing on the railing and dancing around, which was just really rude.
Hey Jupiter (Dakota Version) starts, and here comes the girl's Mom. The usher in the gold shirt told her that she couldn't be there. The Mom (who was obviously drunk) told the usher that one of the security guards let her in so she could take pictures. The usher told her that she can't, but that didn't stop her from trying. The usher kept telling her to stop, attempted to block the camera with something in her hand, and even tried grabbing the camera from her. When the woman resisted, the usher motioned for one of the security guards. That's when Tori became distracted, stopped playing, and asked what was going on. One of the security guards in a white shirt starts making his way over, and Joel (Tori's blonde bodyguard) walked up to the front of the stage. She says there was no reason for security and started talking about a friend who had died this past year and couldn't find on Jupiter or anywhere else (I can only assume she meant Kevyn). She said that she really didn't care if the woman wants to take the picture. Tori just wanted to sing the song. The Mom leaves and the girl keeps talking to Tori, telling her that she's not sure what happened and that she loves her and thinks she's beautiful, etc. Tori said that they can talk about it later. So, despite the rumors, there was no real fight (unless you count the usher trying to take the camera away).
Hey Jupiter (Dakota Version) finally starts over and it turned out really nice. I was happy she didn't leave out the extra lines ("...I go from day to day, I know where the cupboards are, I know where the car is parked, I know he isn't you...").
When she's done, Matt and Jon stand thinking they're done, but Tori raises her hand, the applause dies down, and she starts playing Strange (one of my favorites from Scarlet's Walk). This was unexpected (even to the guys), but they chimed in at the right time and the song was beautiful. I know it wasn't planned, but it was a wonderful way to end such a great show&Mac183; even with the commotion from earlier.
Overall, the show was great (my third and favorite show) even though the audience sucked ass. I'm really looking forward to the Sping '03 tour.
From Amanda Morris:
The final show of the first leg of the On Scarlet's Walk Tour for me and Michael ended with a show full of intense emotion. There was something in the aura and atmosphere of this show that really gave Tori's perfomance a specialness that I truly did not expect to happen so deeply. In addition to this hightened emotion, this show had the best sound I have ever heard. Both the piano and Tori's voice floated throughout the air of the venue in a perfect and beautiful balance. At this point, I have seen 12 shows with the band and this band show far surpasses any other band show on emotional level.
After Little Earthquakes, Tori faced out toward the audience and said, "hi" and gave us some really cute smiles and waves using both her hands, stretching out her arms and curling her fingers to her palms. Then she followed that up by introducing the band as two of her favorite people. Then she talked about "remember this town" she asked, "remember in Madison years ago?" Some people cheered as though they did remember. Then Tori started playing the piano and sang something like, "riding in an ambulance, lesbian doctor gave me a shot of god knows what, it made me feel grand."
At a point during Don't Make Me Come To Vegas, she swiveled aroudn to play the piano, then without playing it, immediately turned back around to the Rhodes keyboard and played and sang a few notes. Something sounded slightly odd to me. Then a small "oops" escaped her lips and she picked up both her hands to play both the Rhodes and Wurlitzer at the same time. Tori rarely has an 'oops' moment and it was cute to see.
I had heard River last year (2001) in Indianapolis and it was one of the most beautiful moments of the tour for me. It was the same again when Tori played River for us this year in Milwaukee. Hearing River at our last show in 2002 was probably one of the most perfect ways to end that we could ask for. At the shows end, it is "coming on christmas" for me and Michael. There was one point in the song where Tori whispered a line or two, which for some reason, really hightened the emotion for me as well. I had tears brimming my eyes and chills running up through my body for the whole song.
After Never Seen Blue, the band returned and Tori started a few notes on the piano, then said, Mr. Jon, am I in the right key? B flat?" to which Jon causually replied, "yes, ma'am" Then Tori went into a cute little improv about "sometimes I foget my keys" Then began the tour debut of Purple People with the band. Jon played the upright bass. I do slightly prefer this song solo, but it was wonderful with the band.
After Girl, Tori did a small, cute improv that went something like, "Gotta leave tonight, fly away tonight, leaving here makes me crazy."
After Space Dog, Tori began Hey Jupiter. I began to look out over the the floor and see a bit of a commotion going on. I saw people walking through the rows of seats to get closer to center stage and others looking rather annoyed with people who were just moving about. Then Tori just stopped playing and said, "Hold on, what's going on?" Then some girl up front started talking to try to explain things, and she seemed kind of upset. Tori said something like, "You guys are so much better than that. This is nonsense." The girl in the audience continued trying to explain. Tori said something about they can have "a private conversation later, sweetheart." and, "I konw it's not your fault" Tori also said, "All I am saying right now is I need to play this tune." Tori seemed to be irritated and a little upset about the whole situation. She said, "One of my best friends in the world died this year...I can't find him on Jupiter....he took beautiful pictures...you can't bring those people back." Those comments made me draw a connection with Tori's really touching improvs about "you are not on this earth" (that she had done in places like Columbus and Chicago this year) with Kevyn Aucoin. Then Tori said somewhat irritated (and understandably so), "so take a picture, whatever" then she finished off Hey Jupiter. I thought that after that upset, she would not play Hey Jupiter as well as normally. But I think with bringing up Kevyn and opening up even slightly about that gave her an extra emotional level for that performance of Hey Jupiter. It just seemed like the whole audience was dead silent, afraid to move in order to allow Tori in her moment with that song. That is how it felt for me where I was sitting anyway.
I thought for sure Hey Jupiter would be the last song of the night. But when she finished it, she put her hand up to Matt and Jon in a way of saying, "wait." Matt looked a bit confused, but sat right there. Then Tori started playing Strange to finish the night off with. I was very happy about that. As many times as I have heard it, Strange is still my favorite song off the new album and I was so happy to end on that. The thought of leaving the tour and not seeing more shows or new places or people for this leg really took its toll on me and my internal organs shook with tears as Tori ended my last show of the first leg of the tour with, "now I must be leaving."
From Jenny:
don't know if this is worth mentioning, but i remeber
it well. i remeber this whole show from star to
finish, how amazing!
anyway- purple people.... the bit about finding the
right key, the part you forgot was...
"there's always another key, waiting next door, ready to sell herself"
i remember because it was sooooo tori :)
From Jody (Elasia):
i saw the whole drunk picture incident clearly. start version 2,876,8987 for you lol
it was an older woman fighting with a poor little security girl (who seemed a fan too! she was grooving;) but why they had such a skinny little thing do security for pit i don't know. the lady was taking pictures and the sec. girl was trying to block the camera with her little purse. the drunk lady was moving around still snapping pics. so the girl tried grabbing it, then they started a smal tug of war. the poor girl was looking around like "help?!?". a security guy rushed through my area of seats and that's when tori started arguing with the OTHER drunk (blond hair). she was arguing back with tori! saying "i love you..but..." when tori said there's no need for security is when steve rushed past my back and told the security guy to leave. i stopped watching after that because tori started HJ again. then during strange she was glaring at the drunks..i mean, glaring!
From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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