Tori performed in New York, NY on Wednesday, November 13, 2002 at the Riverside Church. The show started at 7:30PM and Howie Day was the opening act.

Set List

Wampum Prayer
Pancake
Take To The Sky
Mrs. Jesus
Cornflake Girl
Lust
Little Amsterdam
Sweet Sangria
Crucify
Wednesday

Band leaves

China
Cool On Your Island
Cooling

Band returns

Strange
A Sorta Fairytale
Sugar
Scarlet's Walk
Bliss
I Can't See New York
Spring Haze

1st Encore

Leather (solo)
Amber Waves
Hotel

2nd Encore

Tear In Your Hand
Hey Jupiter (Dakota version)

Reviews

For more reviews, please check out the Dent's Tour Reviews Forum.

From Danica Knox:

Danica called me after the show with the set list and a report. She said the church was an amazing venue for Tori to perform in, and that the lighting looked fantastic in that church. Tori debuted China and seemed to really have a lot of fun performing Cornflake Girl. After the first encore, Tori did the little motion where she folds her hands together as in prayer toward the piano, and then did the same thing to the hanging cross in the church. Contrary to some reports, this concert was not taped for a DVD. (That will most likely be done the next day, November 14th, during a small, private performance at Sony Studios in New York.)

From Richard Handal:

Some technical differences were necessary because of the layout of the church. There was no curtain at the beginning for Wampum Prayer. Tori simply sang it offstage and then came on stage within a puff of smoke. The Roadside Cafe sign was also missing according to Richard. Tori's piano and keyboards were realy close to the edge of the stage.

From wild koba:

thought you'd like to know that the show was outstanding. rock concert lighting meets gothic architecture. nuff said. it was AMAZING to see the lights reflecting around the church

also, most well-behaved crowd i've ever seen at a tori show. hardly any cases of people being obnoxiously loud or anything. if it weren't for all the lights, it may as well have been a classical performance we were listening to. it was actually really enjoyable to listen to tori live again.

From Heather Singmaster:

Just wanted to say that the show last night was FANTASTIC! A perfect venue. I was in the 16th row (pew!) and had a great view. The acoustics and the lighting were amazing. After the show I walked by Tori's dad and he thanked me for coming and shook my hand. I said it was a great show and he said "One of the best ever." He was just beaming.

The only negative thing I have to say is that there was not a lot of organization to the will call/entry process. My friend and I arrived to the venue quite early in the afternoon and were towards the beginning of the line. At about 5:30 or 6 they took the will call people out of line and had them form a seperate line. They then let 5 people at a time go in to pick up tickets. At 7pm there was still a "will call" line, but people who already had tickets were also allowed into that line and let in first. So even though I stood out in the freezing cold for hours, people who arrived much later than me were let in ahead. But other than that it was a fabulous night!

From Susanne Bruno:

I was lucky to get two tickets to last night's show on Tuesday through ticketmaster.com. As the others said, it was an amazing venue for Tori! A detail that was left out that I thought was quite charming happened after the band left for the first time. Tori said how her and her parents were backstage - and she said well backstage, in the girl's choir room, and how her dad said that she was coming full circle now performing in a church. She asked him how much time he thinks she's spent in a church over the years and he said well at least 15 minutes a day at least three days a week and she said yes that comes to 21 YEARS...I've been counting. That's not verbatim, but I think that's pretty close. Tori also did a little dance in front of Jon (?) and Matt and acknowledged the cross on the alter in between the two. After Wampum prayer she deviated from the usual set list and played Pancake. My friend and I thought she would play God, but Pancake was really the perfect song to "start" with there! She looked up to the cathedral ceiling when she sang "I can look your god right in the eye." I just remembered at the beginning of the show she said something about all being in church together (maybe someone else can remember what she exactly said).

It was an amazing night and she seemed very happy, especially when she first came out. She seems to really be enjoying herself on this tour. When I saw her last year during the SLG tour, it didn't seem that way at all, but then again it was in October, in NY after a very harrowing September. Those shows just seemed to be cathartic for her and us (the audience).

There were definitely not 2500 people there. The church didn't have seating for that many people (couldn't say how many though) and no one was standing, at least not in the main church where I was. It makes sense now why it sold out so quickly.

And again, Mikewhy, thank you for your dedication to The Dent. It is always the first stop in cyberspace I make everyday. You rock!

From Andrea DiBlasi:

I just thought I'd give you my two cents on the show at Riverside last night.

This was my third show, the other two were last year at the Beacon Theatre in New York.

Unfortunately i was kind of dissappointed in the show last night. The least expensive tickets were for the balcony which was really high and really far away from the stage. There were no speakers up there so the sound was pretty bad as well. Strangely though, there were a lot of empty seats up there and down on the floor so they let us in to the more expensive section after the third song. We ended up getting within 4 rows from the stage by the end of the show.

Another problem I had was that the bass and drums were way too loud. I had a hard time hearing the piano over them. The bass echoed a lot as well. I think it had something to do with the high ceilings.

The crowd was really laid back and there were so many empty seats it just didn't have the same vibe as her other shows.

The lighting effects were great and the church was a beautiful venue, just not right for a Tori concert.

My favorite part of the show was when the band left and she played solo. She sounded amazing. I think Tori put on a wonderful show, it was just the other things I mentioned that took away from the experience. I'm going to see her in Lowell and Providence too so it's all good.

Hope this is some what informative to you.

From Lisa Zwick (posted to the Precious Things mailing list):

I just got back from seeing tori at the riverside church. I really wish I could say it was the most incredible experience ever, etc. But I just couldn't really get into it. There were some good songs, mainly the ones of just tori and her piano...or rather pianoS. The instruments were too overpowering, and they drowned out her voice. Seemed to hyped up. It did get better as the concert progressed, though. I got more used to it. And the Venus songs worked very nicely with the sound they had going. China also made an impression on me. I never used to listen to it much on the cd, I always found it to sound too...boring. This was the first time I really listened to the words.

So there definitely were some good moments, and I'm glad i went. I guess my expectations were just a little too high, this being my first time seeing her.

The church, tho, was really great for the concert. Very intimate, and the highest price range got to sit in the pews, so we were pretty close to the stage. I don't understand the whole point of blinding the audience with the lights, tho.

I was also hoping for tori to speak more, tell some stories...she only said like two sentences tho. But it was a solid 2-hr show, nice and long, even tho it seemed to end too soon.

Anyways, I'm gonna go to bed. I don't mean to complain about the show, I was just expecting more from it. I wanted to walk away from it with my mouth hanging open, but it just didn't have a strong effect on me.

From Kaizoelia:

I was at the Riverside Church show and just wanted to give you more info. First, the show was AMAZING - very little talking to the crowd (she just said that her father was backstage and, being that she was performing in a church, he had said she came full circle - hee, hee), but she just played and played (over 2 hours!). But, like I said, her parents were there! They were sitting across from me. Her father was talking to some of the record guys before the show. He was very chatty. Her mom, was just sitting and waiting. One of record guys went to talk to her and she was really nice. They were SO cute just sitting in the crowd watching their daughter. Mark, of course, was there too - doing the sound. It was a big family affair!

So, the show was incredible. When she came out and sang "Pancake" - it was just great. The record guys said that's her favorite song on the album. I think it's mine too! The b-sides were awesome - everything was great. The lighting was incredible with colors (red and purple - so pretty!) showing up on the sides of the church during songs, etc. The sound was also great!

From UnderWaterThing:

Tonight's show at the Riverside was amazing. After about an hour of confusion with "will call tickets" and where we should wait, we finally got it. I was lucky enough to win tickets from the Tori Street Team, and they were excellent seats. I was fifth row aisle on the Tori-side of the venue. It was such an amazing experience to hear Tori sing in a totally juxtaposing venue.

Howie Day was rather good, he did some interesting things with little foot pedals. He was ten times better than Rufus! Then Tori came on -

She was wearing a very cute little sheer top with sparkly snowflakes, and none of that horrible weave she had on during the TV stuff. Although her real hair has gotten really long. I think the whole image has been classed up a little since 98/99. Jon and Matt had on suits, and nice shoes. They weren't just the "boys in the band", it was a nice change.

The set was amazing, but I think the sound was off a bit because during some songs you couldn't hear the piano at all. I was shocked to hear "Lust"! I had never heard it live and it was so beautiful with the band. And I know most people hate "China", but it was so personalized for NY. I loved it. It was the best moment of the solo part. I also enjoyed how during "Mrs. Jesus" and "Strange" how the band sorta stops and Tori goes at it. All in all her performance was superb. And thank God for the Street Team! Without it I could never have seen it!

From Billboard Magazine

Read a review of the show that was posted to Billboard.com on November 14, 2002.

From Newsday

Read a review of the show from the November 15, 2002 edition of Newsday.

From the New York Post

Read a review of the show from the November 15, 2002 edition of the New York Post.

From the New York Times

Read a review of the show from the November 19, 2002 edition of the New York Times.

From Jennifer:

I noticed the absence in the reviews of Riverside Church of Tori slobbering both mics during Sugar. Nice to see a bit of spit dripping off the mic. Also, when she came out for the first encore there was a large security guy in front of the stage to keep anyone who rushed (only one person) back. When Tori sat down he began to walk up the aisle. Tori, watching him, smiled and with legs crossed put one hand behind her head to indicate feathers and with the other hand she played the same note with each step he took. A nice moment mocking security.

To those in the balcony, there were several pews that were reserved about midway back on the floor. I would say about 6 or 7. One pew on either side was for Epic. People in the second price level were let down and into those seats after Howie Day played.