|
|  |
Tori performed in Las Vegas, NV on Saturday, December 14, 2002 at The Joint (in the Hard Rock Hotel). The show began at 8:00PM and Howie Day was the opening act.
Set List
Wampum Prayer
a sorta fairytale
Bliss
Black-Dove (January)
Siren
Liquid Diamonds
Sweet Sangria
Caught A Lite Sneeze
Wednesday
Band leaves
Toodles Mr. Jim
Cloud On My Tongue
Cool On Your Island
Cooling
Band returns
Your Cloud
Cornflake Girl
Amber Waves
Girl
Hotel
I Can't See New York
Spring Haze
1st Encore
Taxi Ride
Tear In Your Hand
Don't Make Me Come To Vegas
2nd Encore
Pancake
Putting The Damage On
Reviews
The latest reviews are at the bottom of this page. For more reviews, please check out the Dent's Tour Reviews Forum. (I will eventually move the forum reviews to this web page as well.) Please post your own review if you were at this show!
From Danica:
Danica called me after the Las Vegas show. She really enjoyed the show tonight! (And it was on her birthday!) The venue was really small and the crowd was boisterous. After Black-Dove, Tori greeted the crowd and said something like, "This is intimate, isn't it?"
Before Toodles Mr. Jim, she told the audience, "I was watching the news today, and it was crazy in the East." She was referring to the whole Trent Lott thing. Then when she sang Toodles Mr. Jim, she changed an entire verse to be about Trent Lott, singing at one point, "Toodles Mr. Lott." That was hilarious!
She started Cool On Your Island, but stopped just seconds into it, because she realized Matt Sorum was in the audience and she asked where he was. He stood up in the audience and said something like "I am here." Tori then restarted Cool On Your Island. For those who may not know, Matt Sorum and Tori were both in Y Kant Tori Read.
Tori looked really nice tonight in a black dress and a huge red choker that was glittering and gorgeous.
From Kari:
Apparently nobody out here in Vegas sends in reviews, so here's mine of last night's show, now that I've had a little sleep and perspective. (Forgive me if it starts to sound music-journalist-like-- I used to write for a local alt-weekly called CityLife and just recently dropped out of it, so I'm still a little crisp on the review thing.)
First of all, the gripes, the biggest being the way the seating was handled. A lot of us who got on the pre-sale bought floor tix expecting it to be General Admission like it always is at The Joint, only to be herded in the back by the bar, with people constantly walking by to get drinks and merch (why people need to be walking around at a Tori show, *while she's playing*, is beyond me). They don't usually do seating, but I suppose this time around they wanted to keep the crowd somewhat subdued. (Which confounds me because the last sold out show I went to there was Coldplay, which was General Admission, at which the crowd wasn't rowdy much at all. I shrug.)
There were a lot of newbies at the show, which was a nice thing but they weren't very quiet. And yes, there were the usual "comped" guests who got free tickets and showed up because they got free tickets, getting drunk and yelling out, "I love you Tori," even though they had no clue what was going on. (Although in line, a cowgirl in town for National Finals Rodeo came up and asked who we were in line for, and after our reply she said with a thick southern accent, "Oh, the redhead," and started playing air piano, which tickled me a little.)
The meet and greet was very well-behaved, though I showed up late.
Anyway, the show. The Joint is so small, her comment of "Isn't this intimate" I would say made the entire night; however, it's very difficult to get really good sound in there. There wasn't enough booty for my taste. Maybe it's something to do with the Joint's sound system. But Tori made up for it with her energy, which was just flowing all over.
What I've noticed is that a lot of the songs still have similar arrangements that they've had over the past few years with the band, and yet still stay fresh-- particularly the Choirgirl tracks. Bliss, Liquid Diamonds, Hotel. She shook during most of Black Dove.
Caught a Lite Sneeze was a personal surprise. It's my favorite song and usually while I don't like the band arrangement, there's something about being there with the vibe that turned it around for me-- the lights, Tori's head flailing, I was very happy to see it.
The new stuff is hit and miss. I'm sorry, but Sweet Sangria just didn't do anything for me. It's arranged too closely to the album version for me to really like it. Wednesday is a nice surprise, much better than the recorded track. Amber Waves has it's moments, but I'm pretty ambivalent about it. Taxi Ride was beautiful, as was Pankcake. Your Cloud had this ethereal, torchy feel about it that made me want to see a mirrorball and people slow dancing. (Don't worry, that's a good thing.)
It took her a few minutes to figure out the key to Toodles Mr. Lott. While most of the crowd were perplexed at it, some of us were giggling.
Cool on Your Island was just breathtaking. Just her on the keyboard, and there's something about her inflections on that song. Even though you'd probably imagine her on the cover of Y Kant Tori Read, something about the way she sings it, so broken, that makes you wonder if she should re-record it for a b-side.
Speaking of, there weren't many b-sides obviously, which made me curious about why some shows have more b-sides than others: does Vegas just not get it when it comes to her unreleased stuff? Cooling just *floored* me when she sang the "And is your place in Heaven" line. Definitely a highlight of the entire set.
She played songs from every album except for SLG, which made me wonder more, because it felt like she was spanning every era at this show. It seemed most of the crowd lulled until she played Cornflake Girl (which she shook her hips, facing the boys), and Tear in Your Hand (to which everyone remained standing during the encores, blocking us completely in the back).
One girl next to me didn't even know that Tori was playing Girl. This is why I go out of town for shows sometimes.
Spring Haze kicked ass, that's all I have to say about it.
And, of course, Don't Make Me Come to Vegas had to show up, though I was expecting it during the regular set and not the encore. It has more umph with the band.
Putting the Damage On was probably one of the best versions I've heard. A nice cool down from a great show.
As always, Tori was gorgeous, and the boys were looking sharp in suits.
While the show itself was memorable for me, it will always be marked by the unfortunate crap that seems to happen at every Vegas show. At least this time around, nothing was thrown at her.
Hope that isn't too long for ya.
From Melissa Christian:
First of all
WOW
This was my mom's first Tori Show and my 4th we were in left center 9th row at the joint last night.
I love that place, by the way. Perfect view except for Matt Sorum's head blocking me most of the time! He was right in front of me. My mom and I thought he was lying when Tori asked if he was here and he yelled and stood up - I was like...naaahh but maybe it was him *shruggs shoulders*
Ok, Howie Day is a frickin genius, he really blew me away and he said the audience was really nice...well because he's good and this crowd appreciates talent, I mean, of course we do, we were there to see Tori.
This was my first show on the Scarlet's Walk Tour (hopefully not my last) but I have to say it was the best show I've ever seen, with the band. I have only seen Tori solo once last year, but some songs just sound better with the band.
And to anyone who's said it before, I will agree with you, THE BASS IS TOO LOUD. John Evans is super talented and was looking super hot last night in his fancy burgundy/brown suit (yum) but...he's definately too loud, it drowns out Tori a bit, blah I don't like that.
I have no complaints about Matt Chamberlain...he's incredible
Ok so I kept my cool until she played Bliss...I cried like a baby that song reminds me of my father and he passed away in 1999 so...it was very emotional for me
That was the only time I cried during this show.
It was musically flawless and not really too emotional for me, besides Bliss.
I was really happy that she did Cloud on My Tongue, she did it so beautifully and I could see what everyone was saying about Girl
it sounds amazing! I really got into that one.
And everyone's favorite song off of SW is Taxi Ride...why?
But it did sound better live than it does on the album, that's a given but...Gold Dust is my favorite song from SW and I wanted her to play it soooo bad, but nay
And I was a little disappointed that she didn't play the real, full version of Toodles Mr. Jim - I love that song = (
The setlist wasn't what I would pick, but Tori and the band played everything perfectly.
Ok, so I guess the highlights for me last night were Siren and Caught a Lite Sneeze - just cause...um, they are great songs and they were done flawlessly
10 thumbs up
Tori looked sooo foxy and she looked back a lot when she was on the piano and that was great cause when she looked back she was facing me and then when she was on the wurly she faced me completely
what a great show, I hope to see her in L.A. on tuesday
thank you las vegas audience
From bee:
The show ended at 11:20 and consisted of two beautiful encores. I'm not sure how to beging but I want to say that Tori seemed very cute/playful all night and that came through in her performance. When the lights were all red on her, she looked at the audience and made little devil horns while grinning. It was a definite highlight.
Wampum Prayer - i believe it was recorded.
a sorta fairytale - this song didnt have the urgency and beauty it has when tori performs it alone.
Bliss - a lovely performance of bliss. tori was very much into this song tonight and performed it just perfectly.
Black-Dove (January)- one of the absolute highlights. tori was singing this from the gut and the whole audience felt it with her.
Siren - WOW. i was jumping up and down and tori delivered another hightlight of the evening. "never was one for a prissy girl..." that whole part of the song was sung by tori in a very passionate way. lovely. lovely.
Liquid Diamonds - at first i was almost peeing my pants, another Choirgirl song. but it didn't sound very good once the song was under way. in fact, it sounded very muddled and like fridgebuzz.
Sweet Sangria - a song that i once ingnored but now like very much. the performance tonight made me a big fan of sweet sangria.
Caught A Lite Sneeze - this was my least favorite performance of the night. i just thought that tori was not really into this song tonight and it sounded very bland. no emotion was felt during parts where she usually loses herself in the song. "the spire is hot..." sung in the same manner as the rest of the song. this is the only time i found my mind wondering to thoughts about my final exams during the whole show!
Wednesday - YES! a crowd favorite too. tori had so much fun with this song that it set the whole crowd "seat dancing." indeed, everyone tapped their feet and danced along. another hightlight!
Band leaves - [it was weird because tori got up to get water and she popped something in her mouth to swallow down with the water. my friend david and i wondered if she had a headache or somesuch. if anyone could confirm what tori put in her mouth..let us know. --- after that tori put on lip gloss and said....."it's just us for a few minutes..."]
Toodles Mr. Jim - GREAT SURPRISE. tori said something about forgetting how the song went! heehee,it was just super cute...then she continued talking and said: "things are crazy in the east, did you guys see the news"? <--something like that....and she broke into a fun version of "toodles mr. lot!" editing verses to apply to trent lott's situation. just super fun. was watching the news today, and it was crazy in the East."
Cloud On My Tongue - the absoloute best performance of the night. tori was completely in this song. out of all the songs played, her voice felt the most full on this song. i cried big, gigantic tears and quietly sang along. a few people in the audience waved back at tori when she sang ..."time to wave goodbye." you could hear sniffles and it made the experience a lovely one.
Cool On Your Island - before the song started tori said she was singing it for a friend. she said that he had played drums on this album and then she asked.....where are you matt? matt sorum was right in front of me and he waved and said HERE I AM. very cute. tori then said "hi" and went into a very pretty version of cool on your island.
Cooling - is there ever a time when this song is does not sound like magic? tori was genius. the audience felt it. a perfect moment.
Band returns
Your Cloud - i am not a fan of this song but this performance made me one. i can't believe how great your cloud sounds with the band. i enjoyed it very much.
Cornflake Girl - i didn't like this performance very much. it sounded just without feeling.
Amber Waves - GREAT! it's so neat to watch songs that tori is really into that evening. amber waves sounded perfect!
Girl - again, not one of my favorite songs....but the performace was tremendous. i found myself enjoying this song a thousand times more than i usually do.
Hotel - ONE OF THE GREATEST TORI PERFORMANCES EVER! i couldn't believe how GIANT the sound of this song was. tori sang it beautifully and with all the fire this song deserves. this was my friend david's favorite of the night, and truly it was a brilliant, full of guts, performance.
I Can't See New York - the lights during this song were incredibly beautiful. i'm not sure how much into this song the audience seemed to be, but i really liked it. The dark blue / red & white lights directly on tori was quite powerful.
Spring Haze - YES! tori came alive like a big volcano for this song...she erupted all these emotional impulses and i felt them all. a lovely way to close the show.
1st Encore
Taxi Ride - a crowd favorite! the audience all stood up from their chairs and danced along to this song. it looked like a school dance, great fun!
Tear In Your Hand - perfect performance of this song.
Don't Make Me Come To Vegas - Vegas loved that she played this. Earlier on in the evening I commented to David how funny it would be for her to play this song. ..and she did. It was great. She looked at the audience with playful, squinty eyes everytime she sang the -dont make me come to vegas part - Fun! Fun! Fun!
2nd Encore
Pancake - Amazing. I think tori is having a great time peforming the scarlet's walk songs and it really shows. she always shines extra bright on these songs.
Putting The Damage On - One of my most favorite tori songs of all time. i really can't put it into words, i'll try it with one word: perfect.
From Sean Hooks:
Tori's show last night at the Hard Rock was good, but not amazing. This is the first time I saw her on this tour, my 9th Tori show overall. While Tori was technically proficient, not a flub of a line or a chord to be heard, she wasn't quite as intense and powerful as I've seen her in the past. I like the length of the show(I wish her solo shows were two hours long every night) and the band had its moments, though I wasn't blown away by the band sound and there were just as many songs that sounded better on the album as sounded better live. The set was pretty diverse, covering all the albums, plus a few rarities, but no real show stoppers, and (unfortunately) no covers and not a single "improv." For those who are interested, she wore a sorta formal looking black dress and big blakc boots with red scrawling on them. She's still looking a tad skinny these days(as she does in the Scarlet's Walk art), is it me or has she lost weight since the last couple tours? Anyway, on to the songs.
Wampum Prayer: Crowd was pretty rowdy and loud. It was a Saturday night in Vegas after all, and I was worried that this might be a problem during the show, but it wasn't really. It wasn't a quiet, super-respectful venue, but as Tori herself commented, it is small and intimate, with a real "club" feel, as opposed to say a theater feel.
A Sorta Fairytale: Pretty good. It's one of the better songs on the album and works very well in recorded version. The live version was right around the same.
Bliss: Solid. The end section was somewhat intense but not mindblowing. Tori didn't have many intense moments, I thought it was a rather subdued show in that sense, and I can support that theory by noting that there was a lack of Tori's more visceral, vocally charged songs like Precious Things,
Northern Lad, Butterfly, Pandora, etc. And not much anger from Miss Amos in general last night.
Black-Dove (January): Pretty, but again, more subdued.
Siren: A surprise, and a tour debut. I heard this one on the solo tour and it was nice to hear a different tweak to it with the band. Nice end section. Enjoyable.
Liquid Diamonds: I hate this fucking song. I know almost every Tori song has somebody out there for whom it's their favorite, but if this isn't her downright worst song, it's pretty damn close. I was unpleased. It's a meandering, lyrically mediocre song.
Sweet Sangria: Eh, not one of the stronger pieces on the new album. The crowd reacted to it well though, especially the "Now what'cha think about that" line. Overall the crowd seemed excited by and familiar with the new album, which is always good to see.
Caught A Lite Sneeze: Slightly disappointing. A good song and I hadn't heard it since the Dew Drop tour, but I thought it was far too restrained. She didn't go for any big notes, not a one.
Wednesday: Fun. Crowd was bopping along. I liked this one a lot.
Toodles Mr. Jim: Another debut. A fun mini-song like Mr. Zebra. The Trent Lott lyric change was interesting. She mentioned earlier in the evening that "things are getting pretty sticky back East," and I assumed Trent Lott was the only thing she could really be referring to, and this confirmed it.
Cloud On My Tongue: One I hadn't heard and wanted to. Very pretty. Again, no vocal flourishes, but consistently good and such a pretty solo song that it's hard to criticize.
Cool On Your Island: Tori talked about how she recorded it with Matt(Sorum) who was in the crowd, up front in the middle. Another pretty but mellow one. I was hoping for something with a little grrrr to it at this point, and I have heard this before, but again, it's very pretty and technically Tori's playing and lyrics were on point, as they were all night.
Cooling: A little grrr here. The "Speed Racer" and "these kisses" sections of course. A song I've heard live/solo quite a bit, though. But still, a good one, nice to hear the rarities get a workout in the Roadside Cafe section, although the sign didn't light up until after "Toodles Mr. Jim." And the sing was on the side of the stage, to the audience's right. In some shows I think I read that it was above the stage or lowered down from somewhere.
Your Cloud: Well-placed in the set. Tori soared on this one, vocally, more than on most songs during the night. Crowd liked it a lot, which surprised me. Distinctly better than the album version, which is good in its own right.
Cornflake Girl: A little different than past tours, the absence of the guitar is pretty obvious here, but a fun crowd-pleaser as always.
Amber Waves: Pretty. It's sort of Vegas themed in some ways. I wasn't at all surprised to hear this. Same with Hotel and Don't Make Me Come to Vegas, how could she not play them given the setting? I was hoping Professional Widow might come out on that account as well, but my hopes were dashed in that regard. Wouldn't it have fit Vegas so well, though?
Girl: Finally a little Little Earthquakes. Again, the lack of the guitar is the first thing I noticed, but I liked this version, and it's a very good song.
Hotel: Fun, a lot different than the Plugged tour version. No little horn-sounding do-do-do-do-do notes at the end though :(, it just ends after the last line.
I Can't See New York: Didn't resonate as much as I thought it would(I'm originally from back East, North Jersey, and this is my first time seeing Tori outside of that region), and the crowd seemed bored and restless during this one.
Spring Haze: Good closer. I was curious as to why she chose this one out of her entire catalogue to be the standard closer to the regular set, but now that I've heard it, it makes sense. Well-done.
Taxi Ride: Crowd stood for the whole encore. All the encore songs were with the band, which is fine, but a solo gem in there woulda been nice. This song was similar to the album version. Upbeat tempo. Worked well as the first encore song.
Tear In Your Hand: Good song, but nothing spectacular. Felt like most performances of it I've seen.
Don't Make Me Come To Vegas: You knew it was coming at some point. Not one of the better songs off Scarlet's but live it was kinda cool, lively, the crowd dug it.
Pancake: Nicely done. Tori was into it. While these last two songs weren't show stoppers in and of themselves as songs, Tori was noticeably more "in the zone," so to speak(and if you've seen a few Tori shows, good ones anyway, you'll know what I mean), than she was most of the night. She was all over this one, the song was like a well-honed athlete, it's had its practice this tour and is really running on all cylinders, to use a cliche. She did a really cool vocal inflection on the last lines, stressing the 'Or' sounds in the word "ordered," to sound like a waitress's voice maybe? Orr-derrd you a pan-cay-hake. Really cool but hard to describe in print.
Putting The Damage On: One of my favorite songs off Pele and though I was hoping for something different because I've heard this one before and all that, and I was hoping for a tour premiere or maybe a cover, this song was thoroughly excellent, probably the best of the night. Which is sorta weird because when an artist closes with a song that appears as a non-closer during the tour(when was the last time, if ever, this song closed a chow?), it's usually a disappointment; like, yeah, this is a good song, but we know they don't usually close with it, close with a "closer." This was not the case for me on this one, though. The song was played a lot faster than the album and again, lyrically, Tori was exacting and precise, and with this one she could get away with it because it's so well-written and gorgeous. Very well-played, by Tori and the band.
So, overall, not amazing, clearly more measured and restrainted, and that section from Black Dove through Lite Sneeze was pretty uninspired, but a strong second half and a very good 2nd encore made it an above average show nonetheless.
From Jennifer Brodhagen:
The show was great. The venue was small. I mean so small, that we all sat in folding chairs. There wasn't even built in seating. It was nice. I was in the 10th row. Perfect spot!!
Tori was very animated throughout the show, & the energy level was high the whole time.
She went on a little after 9pm. After Fairtytale, she did Bliss, Black-Dove (January), Siren, & Liquid Diamonds. Four great songs!!! They were each a suprise and everyone around me, including myself, were saying, "oh my God!!." It was like we were looking around in awe!! Especially for Siren.
For the Roadside Cafe we got true Tori classics. Toodles Mr. Jim was a treat. She started out by talking about the "sticky situation" in the East. She didn't sing the entire song, but it was a treat just the same & she seemed to have a lot of fun with it. Right before she began "Cool on Your Island", someone yelled out a song title, I didn't understand what it was, & she said back that she is going to sing a song for an old friend of hers who is a great drummer. In another review, someone said the Matt Sorum stood up & said, "right here." Well, a man in front of me yelled that out, but it clearly wasn't Matt. It was some guy messing around. Maybe the real Matt Sorum stood up somewhere else in the venue, but I didn't see that. Cool on Your Island was TRULY a highlight. BEAUTIFUL!!! Worth the whole show just to see it.
When the band came back, they ripped through the rest of the set. Not really even stopping between songs. During Hotel, during the higher tempo sections, Tori was playing with her two index fingers. The keys during that part must be right next to one another, but it was so fun to see her playing with two fingers. She smiled, as if remembering playing Chop Sticks as a child or something.
During the first Encore, she of course played "Don't Make Me Come to Vegas." Each time she sang the word Vegas, everyone cheered.
Then, Putting the Damage On as the final song. It was gorgeous!!!!!!!! You could hear a pin drop. The venue was SILENT. Such a perfect Tori moment!!!!!!!
All in all, it was a GREAT show!!! During the intro of "Caught a Lite Sneeze", Tori was really getting into the beat, dancing & having a good time. Then, she just walked off stage & said something to someone off stage. I don't know what was wrong & she never said. Maybe someone else knows....
I have read this comment by others, and I agree, the bass is very overpowering. And last night, when Tori played the organ with the band, I could hardly hear the organ at all. It sounded like Tori, the bass, & drums. It was as if Tori was pressing the keys to an organ that wasn't on. Maybe that is why she walked off stage, but it never improved. During moments of songs with Tori alone, the organ sounded beautiful, but with the boys, the organ was like non-exsistent. (I hope I'm making sense here.)
The definite highlights were "Cool on Your Island" & "Putting the Damage On." Her voice was beautiful. She was very gracious.
The Las Vegas Meet & Greet was a great experience. I have never been to one. I didn't get there until 2pm, because I wasn't planning on going. I just though I would try my luck. The group wasn't big at all. Everyone was very nice.
After about 2 hours, the barriers were put up, & there was a bodyguard there that I have never heard an EWF talk about. He was bald & wore glasses. He told us the rules. No re-positioning. In other words, we had to stay put. So even if people in the front would have been nice enough to leave after they got to talk to Tori, we were told we couldn't move. No ball point pens. They had sharpies. All ball point pens had to be put away. No shouting when she came out. No shouting her name, no shouting of any kind, or Tori would leave. He said a couple of times that "we didn't have to do this," & they would cancel it at any moment. When Tori came out, she was so nice!!! Everyone abided by the rules, and everyone was nice to me. We helped one another get into good positions & camera angles. We all bumped into & elbowed each other a ton of times & none of us minded. We just kept saying, "that's okay."
All of the EWF we awesome!!! I was about 2 people from the front of the barricade. Tori reached through the crowd to take my hand when an older lady, 60's at least, behind me, yelled to her, "Tori, remember Stephanie & Don", "from the good 'ol days?" This distracted Tori, and she responded to this lady. Then, Tori moved down the row. I was so close!!!!!!!!!! I was bummed. :( But, having only stood there for 2 hours, & getting a ton of great pics was more that I ever hoped for.
It was a really good experience.
From Doug Smeath:
This was, I think, my favorite Tori show to date! I said the same thing last week about the Salt Lake show, and I've been to Vegas shows before where it seems like Tori doesn't really like playing there, but this was just amazing.
Danica reports that Tori changed one verse of Toodles Mr. Jim, but my friend and I heard the whole song as being different from the original. She said, "I was watching the news today. Things are getting a little sticky back East, aren't they?" I thought she was talking about the weather. :-) Then she starts playing something, and she says, "Let's see. How does that go?" Then, right from the start, she was singing "Toodles Mr. Lott." My friend &Mac247; who is even more politically obsessed than I am &Mac247; turned to me and said, "WHAT DID SHE SAY?!" (Of course, to be fair, as soon as she mentioned things being sticky back East, my friend thought about the Trent Lott ordeal, so he may have just made a good guess, but I don't think so. :-)) Anyway, at the end, she sang something like, "Sometimes you have to really think about what you believe."
An additional note about Matt Sorum being there: Apparently, so was Slash. Anyway, she had just started playing Cool on Your Island (I didn't recognize what it was yet), and people were yelling songs they wanted, and she stopped and said, "Maybe, but first I'm going to play this song for a friend who I am think is here tonight. Matt, are you here?" She did Cool On Your Island in Salt Lake, too, and this song live has got to be one of the most amazing things I have seen. People have probably noticed this by now, but in Tampa, at Riverside Church, in Salt Lake and in Vegas &Mac247; which are all the times she has played Cool On Your Island &Mac247; she followed it immediately with Cooling. So I guess if you get COYI, you can guess that you're going to get Cooling, too. :-)
Siren was an amazing surprise &Mac247; it's a song I've always wanted to see live, but I pretty much had long ago abandoned hope that I ever would! This song is a lot less funky live, but it's still a lot of fun.
All in all, what a great show!!!!!
From Arthur:
First of all, the venue was so intimate and close that it was the single best concert experience of my life. This is my 5th Tori concert and I loved every minute of it. Highlights for me were when she played "Cool on your Island" dedicated to her previous drummer Matt who was in the audience and played with her on the Y Kant Tori Read album. Also, for her last oncore she played "Putting the Damage On" and it was incredible. Tori is almost better live than she is on her CD's. I say almost because I both are different and a must experience. Tori also did several little improve dances before some of her songs; for Sweet Sangria, Caught a Light Sneeze, Cornflake Girl, and Taxi Ride. What a great show!!! Tori also did a 15 minute meet and greet about 3 hours before the show. She was very friendly, and joked and hugged and signed things. Very graceful. There's my input :)
From mr. periwinkle:
i was up on the balcony in the general admission seating so i couldn't see a thing except for the tv monitors which i preferred not to watch most of the time - it was interesting having to just focus completely on the sound, which was awesome quality up there. in the beginning the piano was drowning a bit, but that got better after a couple songs. anyway, the show was pretty dark and mellow which is not what i was expecting at all - not that i'm complaining! you could definitely feel her singing to, perhaps, the girls who were getting sick of being used, you know? because some of them are in control, of course, and know what they're doing, but not all of them, no...so you can see that in just the set list, but it was coming through in the undertones of the performance as well. ok, so here are some notes:
black dove (january): after the big "i have to get to texas" part toward the end where there are those lyrics that aren't written in the FTCGH booklet that go "the [something (i hear 'spaceman and cowboy' but who knows)] are my kin...are my kin..." she straddled the bench and held her hands together, palms out, in front of her body by her neck, chest, and belly in deliberate movements and then wrapped her arms around her sides before continuing the song. (i happened to be watching the monitor at this point ;)
siren: was absolutely beautiful. this is such a sandy desert song; that velvety black sky at night...so dark and gold. anyway, she had it written on her hand at the meet and greet, so someone had probably requested it. good idea, you!
liquid diamonds: what a delicious surprise! i've been wanting to hear this one live, the way the music flows and carries... i know she's playing poker...
caught a lite sneeze: the fire alarm went off durring this one! the people on the floor probably didn't even notice - you could hardly hear it - but the exit lights were flashing and all that. i actually thought to myself that i'd rather burn up in there listening to that song than leave. plus, working in a casino, i know the fire alarms go off for no good reason all the time, so it wasn't a big deal. i was just amused: the first pele song setting off the fire alarm...mm.
wednesday: really had that dark, something's-under-the-surface thing going on. i love how it feels so fun and then it gets to the chorus, and you know that there's more than meets the eye (transformers!). she tapped the inside of her thigh with the back of her hand durring those three notes at the end of the chorus. the crowd got a kick out of this one. which brings me to...
toodles mr. jim: or mr. lott as the case may be! i hear that your grave's a little warm you stickler! very wonderful. she ended it with "we have to think about what we believe".
cloud on my tongue: i really heard this one from the land's perspective this time. "leave me the way i was before/you can go now...but..." and the "i'll be wearing you tattoo" corresponding the the body map/land map ideas and the ghosts' paths and all that.
cool on your island: someone must have shouted a request before this one because she said, "maybe. maybe later. but now i'm gonna do this song for a friend of mine who i think is here. he played on this record, he's a very good drummer..." or something like that.
hotel: just so you know, las vegas boulevard (downtown) is exit 75 from the 95 freeway, and the nevada state park called 'valley of fire' is exit 75 from the 15 freeway. and anyone who comes to vegas should definitely visit both :)
i can't see ny: i really don't like the guitars on the album version of this song, so i'm jazzed to hear it without them.
spring haze: i like hearing the lines "why does it always end up like this" after 'i can't see new york'. the US needs to stop starting wars so very much, in my opinion. and, just in a general sense, a historical sense, when you let certain kinds of people have control over certain things, it tends to cause other certain things to happen... okay. enough of that.
don't make me come to vegas: she made us wait all the way until the end of the first encore to hear this one! we all knew it was coming at some point... she sang it very endearingly, i thought.
putting the damage on: a perfect ending song to this show.
her energy seemed to be pretty up durring this show, she was bouncing a lot, i haven't seen any other shows on this tour yet, so i don't have a solid basis of comparison though. she seems to be generally more present than on the strange little tour, in my opinion. anyway, i hope this was informative...
From Molly:
I saw that no one had posted their LV reviews so i thought i would email you with mine. This was my second time seeing her this tour, and my tenth time overall. The meet and greet went pretty well. The people who got there first ended up in the front of the barricade. I was on the side about 4 people deep. Tori came out and saw me with the Imagine lyrics in my hand from the night before and said "I know I know...She was coming I promise!" In reference to her having Imagine on the setlist and then playing Abby Road instead. I tried to give her back her lyrics but she said she already had them and that "she'd work on it" before the tour was over. So hopefully she'll do it by San Francisco. SHe looked darling in a little maroon corduroy mark jacobs jacket with a pink fuzzy beret! Ill send you a picture I took that is gorgeous.
Siren was a request by my friend Kelly.
on to the show. I was sitting 3rd row center so i had a pretty good view of things.
Tori was wearing a little black dress and a red choker. She was in a pretty good mood! :)
Wampum Prayer and A Sorta Fairytale were pretty much the same as in SD. I loved them.
Bliss was a nice surprise. She really gets into the ending "hot kachina...take it take it" part and shakes her head back and forth. very cute.
Black-Dove was fun. I love how she switches back and forth between the Rhodes and the piano. THe lighting for this song is my favorite of all the songs.
When she was done with black dove she smiled really big and made two little horns with her fingers and put them on her head...and began playing
SIREN!!! big cheer from all the people who were waiting to hear this one. jon and matt seemed to enjoy playing it. it didnt seem as fast as the plugged version, but it was rocking!
Liquid Diamonds, Sweet Sangria, Caught a Lite Sneeze and Wedesday kept the energy up. It was a great start to the show, and it seemed to flow a lot better than the SD show (even though i loved that show also).
Secret Time:
Toodles Mr. Jim. Ha! she said she had been watching tv the night before and said there was "a lot going on" in the East or something like that. she also said "Toodles Mr. Lott" during the second verse.
SHe finished this song and began playing Cool on Your Island. SOme obnoxious person yelled out "Tori play Tear in Your Hand" really loudly. She stopped and said "maybe later but right now Im doing this...." and then she said she was doing it for her friend who was in the audience who was there when she wrote it and so he might remember it. She said he used to play it with her and then she asked "Matt are you here?" and he replied yes. So she said "good...well this one is for you." Ive heard this song 3 times and it was the best version ive heard.
I forget when but at the end of one of the songs she ran off stage to Joel and told him something and pointed to someone in the audience and then she ran back on and sat down and played again. does anyone know what she wsa motioning to?
this is getting really long. the rest of the show was good, but i didnt think it was as good as the first part of the show. highlights: amber waves and girl.
sha danced around a lot during dont make me come to vegas.
great show. really flowed well.
From Rob:
so I just got back from vegas and I did watch the show, awesome...just wanted to say that I hung out with a few cast members from That 70's Show. They were Ashton, Wilmer, and Danny...they said that they had also went to the Tori show and that she was great. We hung out for a while until they started to get noticed and left the hard rock...just thought I'd let ya know that they were in the audience.
From the Las Vegas Review-Journal
|
