Tori performed in Wallingford, CT on Saturday, November 16, 2002 at the Oakdale Theatre. The show began at 7:30PM and Howie Day was the opening act.

Set List

Wampum Prayer
a sorta fairytale
Pancake
Cornflake Girl
Lust
Sweet Sangria
Crazy
Crucify
Wednesday

Band leaves

Icicle
Baker Baker
On Saturday Afternoons in 1963

Band returns

Strange
Juarez
Another Girl's Paradise
Take To The Sky
Hotel
I Can't See New York
Spring Haze

1st Encore
Taxi Ride
Honey
Songbird (solo)

2nd Encore
In The Springtime Of His Voodoo
Past The Mission

Reviews

For more reviews, please check out the Dent's Tour Reviews Forum. Please post your own review if you were there!

From Richard Handal:

The show began at 8:44PM and ended at 10:51. This is the first time Tori has performed Songbird since 1996. She played it the first time in April 23, 1996 in Knoxville, telling the audience that she hadn't played this Fleetwood Mac cover in 15 years. She played it again on August 4, 1996 in Chattanooga, TN. (So both times she played this in 1996 it was in Eastern Tennessee.) Then she did not play it again until tonight in Wallingford!

From Danica Knox:

After Cornflake Girl, Tori said hello and told the crowd that she loved Wallingford, and that it was "cozy". Then she did an improv before Crazy with lyrics that included, "Sometimes I hear your voice. Sometimes I hear you in my head." I think she did that same improv or one similar before Crazy in Tampa. Crucify was extremely animated tonight. Before Icicle, Tori did an improv that at first talked about her sign lighting up (at which point her Roadside Cafe sign DID light up!) and with lyrics that talked about "old friends, new friends, and some who are gone. I feel him here..." Those are not exact quotes, but should be close.

Danica also told me that Tori had Never Seen Blue, Girl, and Happy Phantom the official set list, but she did not do those.

From Shiri and Isaac:

Hey Mikewhy, here is the official setlist that was supposed to be played tonight -

Official Set List (not what was played):

Wampum Prayer
Sorta Fairytale
Pancake
Cornflake Girl
Lust / Girl (two different setlists around)
Sweet Sangria / Take to the Sky (again, two sets)
Crazy
Crucify
Wednesday
--Roadside Cafe---
Icicle
Baker Baker / Happy Phantom (two diff sets again)
Never Seen Blue
Strange
--end cafe--
Juarez
Another Girl's Paradise / Lust
Take to the Sky / Sweet Sangria
Hotel
I can't see New York
Spring Haze

Encore 1
Taxi ride
Honey

Encore 2
Voodoo
Past The Mission / Hey Jupiter (two sets)

The two sets thing - There are two versions printed. We had the two different versions.

From UnderWaterThing:

I thought Riverside was amazing, but Wallingford tops that. Just one word: SONGBIRD. I couldn't believe it. I had always hoped to hear Tori sing this and then there it was. I was stunned!

But to back up, the show started out with the standard fare, I was kinda bored until I heard "Crazy." I was so happy to hear this, it was the first song I loved on Scarlet's Walk! Then came the solo part, and she did a really cute song about how she liked her sign (the Roadside Cafe one) and how it lights up, then she did eh solo songs and finished it up with "Saturday Afternoons in 1963". I remembered this from Tori Stories. It was such a sweet song! Following, she did "Juarez" coupled with the premier of "Another Girl's Paradise"!! I didn't think the show could get any better, then, I heard the first few bars of "Honey" and I knew it did. And finally, the ultimate, "Songbird" by Fleetwood Mac! I couldn't believe it.

Unfortunately, throughout the whole show I had two drunk women behind me who were chatting like it was lunch time. I, of course, screamed at them to stop at least twice, which they didn't. I don't get why people would talk during a live show, but whatever.

Oh yeah, Howie Day was also rockin' tonight. He broke out into U2 during one of this songs. I bought his album tonight and it's rather good.

All in all a completely historical Tori show that will talked about for years!

From Heather Singmaster:

I feel so lucky, I have only seen two shows on this tour so far, Riverside and Wallingford, and they have been incredible. One thing that has not been mentioned in the reviews yet is how this show really seemed to be for Kevyn Aucoin. The improv was about old friends who have been lost in the past year. During On Saturday Afternoons in 1963 she sang "years may go by Kevyn" at one point. And she also mentioned his name during Songbird (I think it was "I love you Kevyn" but I'm not positive). It was just a hauntingly beautiful song.

I only wish there hadn't been so many drunk people in the crowd who were talking constantly, especially during the improvs and covers, I guess because they weren't songs they knew. But I shouldn't complain, the crowd at Riverside was better than one could ever hope for!

From Chad Dexter:

....*sigh*......how can i sit here and type about the experience of seeing tori perform live??... the energy cannot be expressed in words, cannot be sent in an email, can't be captured on film.....tori takes me so high.... seeing her play and sing is something that captivates me... It's not just "songs" or "lyrics" or a "concert".... it's..... magic...

Special thanks and *hugs* to my friend Paul...he got the tix online... he drove us from his place in Albany, NY to the show, and back in a messy conglomerate of sleet and other precipitory foulness..he even let me play dj with his cd player allll the way home....

I also got to see my friend Matt, who, as per normal, is doing every show of the tour.....He sees all the shows, and was at the dvd taping thing in New York.... He seen tori more times than I've played her on my cd player, prolly......lucky.....I sometimes want to break his face.... ;)

The only other things I have to add are:

1) If you go to meetngreet...be polite...be quiet...no shoving our shouting at tori...... I didn't go to the one at Wallingford but someone in attendance described it as "ugly"........it's a shame that ppl have to act foolishly and aggressively...that's not what tori's *about*....

2) The fact that we all shell out our hard earned $ to sit and watch this woman play....and that we cheer loudly when she walks on stage and all that....is communication *enough* that we *love* tori... shouting it to her onstage is tacky.....

3) *SHHHHHH!!!!!!* When tori's playing....when tori's trying to tell a story...or say hi.....unless it's between songs.. don't talk.....don't take/make a cell phone call... don't yell out *ICICLE* over and over hoping she'll play it... that tori is performing for us all live is a privlige..... respectful, we must be.....

that is all i have to say about that..... I wish i could see tori again... maybe one of these times I'll just melt away in a tidal wave of tori energy...... one can only hope.

From bRi@N:

OK so, WOW. As if the show in Camden wasn't amazing enough, this one just bowled me over. And I just saw the setlist from the Providence show which just ended a couple hours ago and I think i really would have died if i was at that one. The setlist for the Wallingford show was very satisfying. Tori looked and sounded beautiful and the lights were a great complement to the music. Sorry, but I am going to talk about the songs in whatever random order they come to me. The highlights of the Wallingford show were definitely Songbird, Honey, and Juarez. Songbird: because I love Fleetwood Mac and I didn't know Tori ever even did a cover of this, so i almost died when i recognized it, especially since it came right after Honey, which I had hoped to hear the last 2 times I saw Tori. So yeah, i was very happy at this point. And earlier in the concert when she did Juarez, me and my friend were freaking out because we were listening to Venus on the way to the show and we had said how it would be awesome to hear Juarez live, and BAM we got to hear it =) Icicle and Baker, Baker were RIDICULOUSLY beautiful. The place was soo quiet and she played them so tenderly. I felt a definite connection between the songs at this show. I would say it was a dedication of sorts to Kevyn. I know there have been mixed reviews of the version of Crucify that Tori has been doing, but I really liked it. I think the beat that it plays to is really cool and it's just great to hear her still doing this old classic so beautifully, even though it's evolved over the years. I know I'm not alone when I say that I had no idea what song she was playing when she did "On Sunday Afternoons in 1963" I thought maybe it was a new song that i hadn't heard yet. But in any case it was really gorgeous. Another highlight was Sweet Sangria. I had only heard this song for the first time in Camden and I really really like it. The red and yellow-green lights give the song and the stage a really cool Sangria-like effect. The lights made the song so juicy, my mouth started watering. Tori told us how much she loves playing in Wallingford and I believe her, as if telling us weren't enough, she went right into Lust, which was also a favorite of the night, one of me and my friend's faves from Venus. We were really happy to hear Hotel, a fave from Choirgirl. There was a lot of power behind this song, and it was really cool how the green lights flashing behind Tori went right along with her keystrokes. I wish we could have heard some more Choirgirl songs though, Rasberry Swirl, Liquid Diamonds, or Iiieee would have been sooooo awesome. Cornflake Girl was also great to hear live. You can tell she really loves this one. She gets so into the piano towards the end. She had her face and head down towards the keys as she just pounded away at them, it was awesome, a reminder of why I love her soooo much. So, obviously this was a great show. I feel really lucky to have been there. Last year's show in Wallingford was also exceptional. So i will be sure to make it here if she ever comes back, and I advise everyone else to as well. I know this goes without saying and i'm sorry but i'm about to get really cheesy....TORI IS AMAZING.....i seriously sit there and watch her and think to myself, "how in the HELL does she do that" the lyrics, the voice, the awesome skills with the piano. it's just amazing, she is such a beautiful, unique individual and artist. And I'm so glad that I've been exposed to her music and that I've gotten to see her live THREE times now. I'm actually contemplating whether or not I should get some tickets to one of the Radio City Shows next March. I need to be as obsessed as possible.

From Cynthia:

I thought Tori was in top form....she didn't talk very much at this show..but her voice was great and seemed to enjoy performing at Wallingford. She would sip her tea as she grooved to the music which was humorous... I never had the opportunity to hear Lust live so that was a real treat... and Crucify..an oldie but goodie was an excellent performance.....Take to the Sky should also be mentioned because everyone in the audience was really getting into it.....It's a great feeling to sit there in your seat waiting for Tori to surprise you with her set list....for examaple, On Saturday afternoons in 1963 and Songbird..... I think everyone will agree that Songbird although unexpected, was absolutely beautiful.

I can't say enough about this show...I've always loved seeing her live and they're always too good-you never want it to end. I look forward to seeing her in Providence.

From Tara Crawford:

This was the fifth time I've seen Tori, and she did not disappoint. She looked beautiful (as far as I could tell from my only OK seats) and sounded heavenly.

One of my favorite things about seeing Tori live are her lighting effects. Whomever is doing her light design is really very talented... the lighting always looks absolutely beautiful, and it always adds to the music. Creates a real atmosphere.

Tori said she loves playing the Oakdale because it's "cozy." Maybe that's why we get such incredible set lists!

My highlights:

* Lust -- LOVE this live. The piano is so delicate and pretty...
* Crucify -- The arrangement on this was different but amazing. She did the verses really slow on the organ and the chorus on piano as it is on the CD. Awesome!
* Icicle/Baker Baker -- Classic Tori. Gorgeous.
* Juarez -- Awesome. Saw her do this on just the piano two years ago (she played the inside of the piano for a really cool sound). It rocks with the band, too.
* Take to the Sky -- I love this song and I've never heard it live...
* I Can't See New York/Spring Haze -- The airplane duo. Beautiful lightning-like lights here.
* Honey -- Just LOVE this one.
* Songbird -- Didn't recognize it right away, but it was beautiful. And rare!

That's a lot of highlights, I know. But this show was incredible. I brought a friend of mine who had only heard Little Earthquakes and had never seen Tori live and he really loved it. I think he's hooked! I do wish she'd done more songs from Pele and/or Choirgirl, but hearing the older songs was outstanding. Great show! I want to do it again!

From Ed Randazzo:

Hi everyone!

WOW it's been 2 days since the show and I still can't gather all my thoughts together. I am still in a state of shock. This was my 2nd time seeing Tori (My first was last year in Philly!)

So this show was very, VERY different and special for me in SO many ways. Having the band there was definitely an added element. And I didn't think I'd like this show as much... Well, of course, I was WRONG!!! everyone who was there knows how INCREDIBLE Wallingford was!

Most importantly, before I give any 'sorta review' (tee hee!) I have to say that I could not have asked for better company that night. I got to experience Tori with my 2 favorite in the whole world: Mary Ann and Dominique... And if it wasn't for Tori's music, we wouldn't have met. And I know that without them, my life would be SO 'Strange' ya know... Music is a powerful thing. It draws people in. And bonds are solid, and the love that grows from that is UNDYING!! So thanks to YOU BOTH from the bottom of my heart!

It was magic for us!

MMmmmmm so on to the show and the awesome surprises we got!

First off... Mary Ann, Domi, and I all got our 'signature' songs!!!! I seriously think Tori knew we were coming! I got to hear 'Crucify' what a rendition!! So achingly beautiful!

And Domi got to hear her 'Icicle' and 'Baker Baker' was next for Mary Ann! oh and she was thrilled for 'Honey' too!

Domi and I were sobbing the whole night! *sniff sniff* A lot of emotions were running high that for all of us, So Tori was definitely a HELP! The set blew me away really!

And 'SONGBIRD' WOW, WOW! I honestly forgot everything before that... With a doubt the best song of the night! WOW WOW! (ok I'm calm now LOL)

Our seats were great! The view was great... The night came together for us! Other stand outs were:

'Sweet Sangria' (naughty Ed!)
OMG!!! 'Juarez' !!!!!!! 'You go Tori!"
'Take to the Sky' 'Always fun!!!"

'Hotel' (Hey Mary Ann, remember room service?) 'Met me at a hotel, met me at a hotel - above ground..." HAH HAHAAAAAAaaa!!!! We love the holiday inn!!!!!

And '...Voodoo' "It's gettin' hot in here, so take off all your clothes..." nuff said! "Naughty Ed!!"

Past the Mission... An unusual way to end the set, but VERY COOL to hear this!!!

And we CAN'T forget about HOWIE!!!! God, Tori wasn't even on stage yet, and the tears started flowin'

Hey Domi, remember the tissue? LOL!!
Mary Ann - hey I warned you HAHA - thanks for the support! No more crying!!!! HAHA!

Love you gals! Boy, I am a lucky man!!!!!!!!

Oh and TORI...

Thanks for the music... No words can describe what you do for the world... Just know that because of you, I've find my soul mates!!!!!!!

Love to all!!!!

From the November 18, 2002 edition of the Hartford Courant