StrangeLittleTour
St. Louis, MO
October 27, 2001

Updated January 7, 2002

Tori performed in St. Louis, MO on October 27, 2001 at the Fox Theatre during the 2001 StrangeLittleTour.

Set List

I, Mikewhy, attended this show and recorded the set list. This was my final show of the StrangeLittleTour.

'97 Bonnie & Clyde
Sugar
Rattlesnakes
Yes, Anastasia
Take To The Sky
Josephine
Etienne
Jackie's Strength
Icicle
Winter
Bells For Her
Landslide
Me and a Gun
Time

1st Encore:
The Wrong Band
Hey Jupiter

2nd Encore:
Not The Red Baron
Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
Silent All These Years

Reviews

Latest reviews are added to the bottom of the page.

Be sure to check the Tori Concert Reviews Forum for reviews as well!

From Mikewhy

Added October 28, 2001 - This was the last show that I and my girlfriend Amanda (Novinha) would see, and it was an incredible day for both of us. We went to the meet and greet, which had roughly 150 people. Despite the huge crowd it was amazingly civil. I stayed in the back and did not meet Tori, but I did talk to many amazing people who have visited the Dent. Despite the cold weather, it was so much fun to talk to all of you. Getting to meet many of you became one of the highlights of all 10 shows I saw during the StrangeLittleTour. Thanks to all of you who introduced yourselves to me, and for the kind things you said about the Dent. It really meant a lot to me.

After the meet and greet, a bunch of folks from the Dent Forum gathered at an Italian restaurant named Farottos and we had a great meal and conversation. Then it was time for the show. After talking to more Toriphiles and Denters in the lobby, we made our way to our seats. Amanda and I had 5th row in the pit near the center, which was great since this was our last show. We could clearly see Tori's facial expressions during the show, which adds to the enjoyment of the show.

Here are a few comments about the show. The show started at roughly 9:19PM and ended at 11:01. Tori was a little more subdued than usual, possibily because she did not feel completely well. During the show, Tori asked someone back stage to bring her some medicine (Celebrex I believe). She took them and continued with the show. She altered her official set list quite a bit, leaving out Bachelorette and Black Swan, which were listed, and doing songs like Jackie's Strength, and Silent All These Years instead. Perhaps she was more in the mood to do those songs given how she felt? She did not seem sick at all, and her performance was still outstanding and very emotional.

After Rattlesnakes, Tori said hello and talked about all the sights in St. Louis she visited while she was there. She called St. Louis a "pretty cool place." Then she did an intro before Yes, Anastasia that was really beautiful. The lyrics in part were, "Sometimes I go back in time..." Tori's improvs are one of the most exciting things about her shows, and this one was really amazing. Once again, if anyone has all or most of the lyrics to this improv, please email me.

Tori began Yes, Anastasia with the 1919 line, as she has in the past.

Josephine was really effective today. Tori had this amazing, flower-like mandala design projected on the screen that really added to the song. I know I said it before but it merits repeating -- Tori's lighting and stage props on this tour are her best ever.

Before Jackie's Strength, Tori revealed to us that the following song "just showed up" and was not on her official set list. This was also the time when she asked for the medicine. After the song, Joel ran on stage and gave her the pills.

Landslide was wonderful to hear. The part about getting older really hits home for me. It was one of the more emotional moments of the show for me.

As Tori got up to leave after the main set, someone in the audience handed her a zebra beanie-baby that she placed on her head before she left the stage! When she returned, she sat down, smiled, and said, "Here we go," before launching into The Wrong Band. This is a song that Tori has played rarely in the past. This one was a lot of fun, and was another highlight for me.

The final encore was the most emotional part of the show. Doing Not The Red Baron, followed by Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas. I must say that this is a powerful combination of songs. Christmas seemed to last a long time because she seemed to sing it twice or at least repeat the refrain. I have always found this song to be so thought-provoking and sad, and tonight it was both. But the sadness seemed healing and helpful, not full of despair. It also seemed to Amanda and myself to be the perfect song to hear at the end of our part of the StrangeLittleTour. It was almost like Tori was saying goodbye, although of course she was not. We were both moved and will remember Tori's performance of this song for a long time.

I think I have mentioned it before on The Dent, but the 2001 StrangeLittleTour has been my favorite tour that Tori has ever done. Both the quality of the performances and the dynamic, ever-changing set lists have contributed to how I feel. I am so sad that I will not see anymore shows on this tour. I know that many more wonderful moments are ahead for the people seeing Tori in the west and in Europe. I envy you!

From Jim Garrison

Added Oct 28, 2001 - You may have noticed that Tori mentioned visiting Cahokia today before the show. The guy sitting next to me said something like "what for??" That would not be an unusual reaction among people from here. Mostly when people think of "Cahokia" they think of the modern town by that name--best known for rows of oil refineries, a copper smelter, and other such attractions. Tori, no doubt, visited the other, original, Cahokia--some miles away from the modern town. Here's a link to the official Cahokia Mounds site. But, briefly, it's the site of a prehistoric settlement of the Mississippian people starting around AD 700 and ending about 700 years after that. At it's peak, it was the largest urban place in the Americas north of Mexico. The primary features remaining from that time are the impressive mounds they constructed. I imagine you're familiar with mound builders along the Ohio River as well. Archeologists have also unearthed what they came to call "woodhenge"--a kind of solar calendar used by the Mississippians in much the same way Stonehenge may have been used.

St. Louis used to be known as Mound City before the Arch. Now we're the Gateway to the West or something like that. There was once a huge Indian mound located not far north of modern-day downtown St. Louis. Over the years of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the mound was hauled away to make room for construction. There's a monument to memorialize the mound--the bronze plaque on that monument has been missing for years!

Well--I loved the show. It's so nice to see her in a venue like the Fox again. The big, open air concerts have their attractions but the audience can sometimes be less attentive (that was my gripe in regard the last time I saw Tori, which was in Indianapolis during her last, short, tour). One certainly couldn't say that about the crowd at the Fox--"rapt" would be more apt. I thought Etienne was so beautiful. Remember how she'd refer to Y Kant Tori Read in such self-deprecating asides when introducing Caton on previous tours? One would think the whole thing stunk. I'm glad she's retrieved the gems. Notice the musical link between Joni Mitchell's River and Merry Little Christmas? I thought that was wonderful too.

OK--I just thought you might like to get the background on Cahokia if you weren't already in the know. Keep up the fine work on the Dent.

From Penny Koester

Added Oct 28, 2001 - Well, Tori was really good, her voice sounded really good, very strong, but it could have been the acoustics in the theatre. The show was a bit anti-climatic she preformed Sugar as the second song whenðI thought it deserved a spot at the end. Etienne was a treat and her voice sounded really powerful in this song, as well as Icicle.

We missed the presense of the Harpsichord, (have other concerts been getting this because we didn't have it?) which really disappointed us. Take to the Sky was fun and the audience began clapping along. But other than that we were a bit upset with the songs that she played. Such as Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas and The Wrong Band. Plus the fact that she made the comment about not feeling well and wanting a Celebrex. She didn't make much conversation with the audience at all, just a bit about going around the city.

From amanda lunacek

Added Oct 28, 2001 - i just wanted to share with you my complete enjoyment of last nights' show. for being a bit under the weather, tori didn't miss a note. this was my first and last show of the strange little tour. so sad! my friend michelle, who i think emailed you the other day about the meet and greet, and i desperately wish we could see another show. but being students, it is not easy to break away and travel to distant shows.

i was so happy that "jackie's strength" decided to stop by! also, hearing "the wrong band" was a wonderfully jubilant surprise! i must also agree with you that "have yourself a merry little christmas" was a truly poignant moment. my friend and i disagree, but i feel like that song took on a whole knew meaning. in light of the insanities of the past two months, "merry little christmas" was a comfort. i could go on and on about each song i adored-"rattlesnakes," "take to the sky" (i especially enjoyed the little piano dance), "not the red baron," "etienne" and "time" (oh how i love "time"). also the "major brainwave" adlib in "hey jupiter" put a little smirk on my face!

michelle and i went to the meet and greet as well. unfortunately, we were unable to have anything signed. it is always nice to go the meet and greet though! to be with people who really understand tori-people who get it and understand the power behind the words.

well i just wanted to share my thoughts. it sounds like it has been a wonderul tour thus far from your reports. also, thedent pretty much rocks the massive tori-website scene. there are so many great sites out there but thedent is really the best! i frequent it often. i can always find something knew to read! so thanks for all the time you put in to keep your fellow toriphiles informed.

From Amanda (Novinha)

Added October 30, 2001 - Mikewhy and I left Louisville, KY for our last show in St. Louis around 7:30 in the morning. I had to work during the night and only had two hours of sleep, but I was so excited. It only took us about four and a half hours to get ot St. Louis. We parked the car and walked over to the meet and greet. There were already a lot of people there lined up along the sidewalk, and we walked along and talked to people along the way. Getting to meet so many wonderful people was one of the most fullfilling parts about going to the meet and greets. I met so many great people who I am going to miss talking to so much.

Once they began to set up the barricades, we got a talk about behaving well, staying calm, and not acting like third graders. Then, as far as I could tell, people calmly walked up to the barricades. Mikewhy and I hung back until it seemed that most people were situated in the barricades, then we both went up and stood in near the back of the crowd. I never actually expected to meet Tori from where I was, I only wanted to catch a glimpse or two of her and maybe get some pictures. I did get to see her very briefly as she got off the bus and then a few times more as she was talking to people in the front. I was happy with that.

After the meet and greet, Mikewhy and I decided to join a lot of the other people at Farotto's, an Italian restuarant. Mikewhy and I were looking forward to this because it was not fast food. ;) We offered a ride to Mairie and CherryAllamanda from the Dent forums, and we all went to the restuarant. The huge crowd of everyone there filled many many tables. It was so wonderful to be sitting with such great people. We all had some great conversations and got to know each other better. I find it fascinating and incredible that a connection to Tori's music can bring strangers together like that. The day had felt so long and fullfilling already, and we still had the show to go to. :)

When we finally got to the venue, Mikewhy and I talked to many more wonderful people. You are all just so nice. We skipped Rufus (we had seen him twice in FL already). Since this was our last show, we decided to buy our t-shirts. That was an adventure all by itself...there was a huge crowd at the tables, and I did not think we would ever be able to make it to the front to buy anything. But it all worked out just fine. :)

At about 8:50, we went to our seats. I must say that I was incredibly happy with these. We had fifth row in the pit, only four seats to the right of the center. I was so happy to be seeing our last show with these amazing seats.

About the show: I thought this show was just so beautiful, calm and, mellow. She played many songs tonight that I had wanted to hear that I had not heard yet. I was so happy to hear Sugar solo. And Yes, Anastasia was a suprise for me, one of my favorites off Under the Pink and I really enjoyed hearing it live. I was really hoping to hear Etienne, and I finally got it at this show, and it was so wonderful, more impressive than I thought it would be. Bells for her and Landslide were a big suprise for me. I always thought Tori's version of Landslide was so nice, and I am glad I got to hear her play it. Not the Red Baron was another one I was hoping for as I have grown somewhat close to it recently. I had heard rumors that she might play The Wrong Band. So I was not too suprised, but it was amazing. I like this song quite a bit more now after seeing it being performed live.

But the main highlight for me was Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas. I was so shocked to hear this one. I did have to hold back tears during this song. So beautiful and elequent. Mikewhy and I were so sad about this being our last show but this song made it all much better. It was like a good-bye song for us. Now that the tour was ending for us, the holidays are the next thing coming up in our lives. It was like Tori was saying good-bye to us and wishing us happy holidays. It was such a closure for us and helped to ease our minds about it being our last show. So powerful and full of emotion.

After the show, we went to the side door ready to go backstage. I felt so incredibly lucky and privileged to be going backstage. I had not really met Tori since becoming a true fan, so I was excited and incredibly anxious. When our group was called to be able to go back, my knees were shaking really really badly. There were six fans total in my little group. We all went up some stairs and then into a room where Tori stood waiting for us. It was so amazing to be that close to her. I think my heart stopped for a moment. She went down the line and asked everyone our names. She gave me and handshake as I told her my name, and instead of making me more nervous, it actually helped ease me a little bit. She was really soothing. She talked to the people in front of us and signed autographs and took some pictures. Then when she got to me, I shook her hand again and thanked her for leading me to my soulmate (I then motioned toward Mikewhy). She looked at us both and her eyes lit up and a huge smile spread across her face and then she gave me a hug. My first hug from her, and it was such a wonderful feeling. Then she talked to us as a couple and asked us some questions about our meeting each other. I really really wanted to be able to thank her for leading me to Michael. It meant so much to me to get the chance to do that. This was an incredible experience for me and I feel so lucky to have gotten this opportunity.

From Mairie

Added October 30, 2001 - the meet n greet
I left Rockford, IL. at around 10am. After a long, fairly boring ride down to St. Louis, I arrived at the Fox around 2:45pm. Lots of people were standing along the sidewalk, and I drove past and parked. I came back and walked along the people, to the end. I talked to the people who were standng near me. Rufus' bus was already there, and soon he got off and walked into the venue. He's pretty good-lookin'. I had no idea about that mullet though. After a while, they started setting up the barricades, and one security guard walked down the line of people telling us that we were going to act like adults, and he'd treat us like adults. But if we acted like third graders, he said he's spank us like third graders. ;l Then we walked calmly over to where the barricades were set up. After a while, Tori's bus finally showed up, and backed into the parking lot. The door on the bus kept opening up, and then they'd close it again. Tease. But finally Tori got off. That was the only glimpse of her that I got. The split second while she got off of the bus. After that, there were just too many people in the way. I had no intention of trying to meet her again (I had my chance in 96), but I was hoping at least to get some pictures. Oh well. I met and talked to a bunch of cool people. None of them were from the Dent though. Tori was about for 20-30 minutes, and then (presumably because it was damn cold out), she went in. Most people started to leave, but I hung back, hoping to find the people who were going to dinner.

the dinner
I found Mikewhy and Novinha and Cherry Allamanda and Rainbush and Jodokaast, and some other people. They were going to a restaurant called Faratto's. Mikewhy said he had one more spot in his car, so I rode along with him and Novinha and CherryAllamanda. We met the other folks at Faratto's. We had a very big group, and not all of us fit into the room they had set aside for us, so some folks that got there after we did had to sit in another room. We had lots of great conversation at dinner. I loved meeting all those folks, and it was yummy food too.

the theatre
After dinner, we went back to the venue. It was just about 7pm, and they were starting to open the doors. There was a long line of people that went almost all the way to the back where the meet n greet was. But it moved pretty fast, and I didn't freeze. I went in, but they hadn't started allowing people to sit down yet, so I just meandered around, looking at this ornately decorated theatre. Part of me thought it was beautiful, and part of me thought it was garish and ugly. So many dark, drab colors. It was really neat. Soon they started letting people into the actual theatre. It was quite large. Larger than I expected. And so, of course, my seats were much further away than I had expected. Oh well. I can't complain too much. I sat and waited for my friend and her brother to show up. They had driven down from Macomb, IL. separately, and we were meeting there. They didn't show up till after Rufus started.

Rufus
Rufus came on and started with "Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk," which is my favorite of the songs that I've heard by him. He played it on the keyboard. After that, he played several other songs. I recognized them all, but don't know them well enough to list them. I liked most of the songs, though a few of them were too slow and boring. But overall, I was impressed with Rufus' performance.

the intermission
After Rufus finished, we waited around and talked while waiting for Tori. After a few minutes, I decided to go outside and have a cigarette, and possibly buy a t-shirt. There were tons of people in the lobby around the merchandise area, so I decided to wait till later. Outside, there were lots of people standing in a cigarette smoke haze just outside the doors. Even I, a smoker, was overwhelmed. I smoked quickly and returned to the lobby. Got up to the merchandise area, looked at the stuff, and quickly realized that I didn't want to spend that much on anything. (thinking back, I wish I would've bought the keychain. I need one anyway). I went back to sit down, chatted with my friends some more, and then...

Tori!!
1. "Bonnie & Clyde" - Tori came on a while after 9. Not sure exactly what time, as I don't have a watch. She started out, as she has all tour, according to other set lists, with Bonnie & Clyde. There was a black curtain at the front of the stage, with the B&C character's portrait hanging from it. There were decorative holes cut out of the curtain, but only at the top half. Lots of lights and behind the curtain. It was pretty neat, I guess.

I'm not going to comment on every song, but a few of them stood out in my mind.

2. Sugar
3. Rattlesnakes
4. Yes, Anastasia
5. "Take to the Sky" - I love this B-side, and was excited that she played it.

6. "Josephine," which is one of my favorites songs from TVAB. I love how she sang it.

7. Next was "Etienne," which is a song I love. It's beautiful, and she played it beautifully last night.

After that, she mentioned that she needed a stagehand to get her a Celebrex. Anyone know what is? I do! It's for arthritis. Poor Tori. I have thought before that she's probably got arthritis or carpul tunnel, from all that piano playing. After that, she said she was going to play a song that she "wasn't supposed to play tonight, because she wasn't on my list... But she just showed up."

8. "Jackie's Strength" followed, and was beautiful.

9. "Icicle"

10. "Winter"

11. "Bells For Her" - played on the Wurlitzer. Beautiful!!

12. "Landslide" - I love this Stevie Nicks song, and I really love the way Tori performs it. It flows so well from her lips and her fingers.

13. "Me and a Gun" - People cheered a lot at the beginning, but were pretty quick to shut up, and as far as I know, no one was rude and yelled or screamed while she sang. It was extremely emotional, as always. Sometimes I wonder why she puts herself through singing this song all the time. But it must be healing for her to do so.

14. "Time" is one of my favorite songs from SLG, and I'm glad she played it this show. It was beautiful of course, and it sounds great live. This was the last song of her main set, and then she ran off stage, after grabbing a little tiny stuffed animal (I couldn't tell what it was from where I sat). Tori placed it on her head as she jogged off stage.

Much clapping and cheering

Encore 1
15. "The Wrong Band" - I've never heard Tori sing this live before. In fact, I don't even remember hearing that she played it live, or at least not for a few tours. I'm glad she played it. It's an awesome song.

16. "Hey Jupiter"

Tori leaves, everyone stands and claps and cheers and a few people hold up their lighters

Encore 2
17. "Not the Red Baron" - This has never been a song I liked all that much, but it really did sound good last night.

18. "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" - Why Tori chose to sing this last night, I'll probably never know. Christmas is still pretty far off. So it seemed at least a little odd. But the song is so haunting and beautiful the way she does it, and so I am glad to have heard it.

19. "Silent All These Years" - I was hoping she'd sing "Mary" again like she did a few nights ago, since my name is Mary, but oh well. :) I LOVE SATY. It's one of my favorite Tori songs, and always will be.

overall thoughts
The show was great! Very intimate. It was sooooo lovely to see her completely by herself. No one else on stage, just Tori and her instruments. She played the Bosendorfer, a Kurzweil (I think) keyboard, and of course the funky Wurlitzer organ. The stage set up included a bluish background with black lines leading out from a central point. There were also 3 stand-up pieces just behind Tori that had this same pattern idea on them. Between those pieces and the main background, two different curtains were raised and lowered for different songs. Some songs had a black curtain up, others had a white curtain, and some just had the main background. There were lots of different types of light patterns that were shown on the stand-up pieces.

Tori wore her black see-through thingie over a red tank top (or something like that) and the black and red pants with slits up the sides. Pretty. :)

At some point she mentioned going to the Cahokia Mounds, and some Children's Museum.

After
I was so sad when this show was over. My one and only show of this tour. But it was a great show, and I am soooo happy that I got to go. It was nice to meet the folks I met (Mikewhy, Novinha, Cherry Allamanda, Rainbush, JodoKaast, Pagefire, squirdmnss....).

My friends and I drove over to the house of some of their friends, who had offered us a place to stay for the night. It was free, and warm. And the house was really cool!! It was an old Victorian style house on Park Ave. 3 stories full of really neat old stuff. It would be really cool to live in a place like that. The houses in that neighborhood lean. I'm not sure if it's because of the major fault line that runs under St. Louis, or just because the houses were built in the late middle-late 1700's. I saw two houses that were 2-3 feet from each other at their bases, but that actually touched at the very top. I'd be scared to live in a house like that!

the drive home
I left this morning at 10:30 am. I was supposed to leave at 9am, but no one decided to wake me up, so I left as soon as I got up. It took me longer (or at least it seemed that way) to get home. I was excited to come home and see my fianc», since I hadn't gotten to spend the whole weekend with him, like we usually do.

From Andy (Posted to the ToriNews mailing list)

Added October 30, 2001 - I can't begin to say what a great experience that the St Louis show was.

The m/g was great and I got some really good pics, even though I wasn't in the very first row. I would love to share the pics with anyone that wants them, I do not have a scanner but they are developed, so let me know if you want or if you can help me share with others. I was the last person at the m/g to get my item signed so I felt very lucky.

I was on the fifth row in the pit and T was beautiful and the set list was probably the best I could imagine. I did NOT write it down, so could someone email me with the list or at the very least, let me know where I can find the complete list. I have to say "Hi" to Mike...it was my first time to meet him...and also to the two blonde twins that I had a pic taken with in line at the m/g. I have a great pic of us, so if it was you...please email me and I will send... thanks for sharing the pizza. Again....it was the most INTENSE show I have ever seen....Tori or otherwise. If anyone is considering whether or not to go...GO!!!!!!!!! I was in tears during Me and A Gun and then...in the final encore...she did Have Yourself A Merry Little Xmas and there was not a dry eye in the place. Unreal....better than drugs...

From jilltink

Added October 31, 2001 - I thought you might want some insight as to why Tori sang "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" at the St Louis show. A lot of people have commented on the inclusion of this song, but no one seems to understand the connection, so I'll give you a possible explanation.

I wasn't able to be there, since I now live in Arizona, but I grew up around St Louis. I've noticed that at many of the shows, Tori has sang a song with a special connection to the city she's playing at the time. "Have Yourself..." is one of the big songs from the movie musical "Meet Me in St Louis" starring Judy Garland. THAT'S probably why she sang this song.

Added October 31, 2001 - Toriphile JB Anderton and Mia York sent me this review of the St. Louis concert, which appeared in the October 28, 2001 edition of the St. Louis Post Dispatch. You can read it online at stltoday.com or below.

Tori Amos
By Kevin C. Johnson
Post-Dispatch Pop Music Critic

When quirky singer Tori Amos last hit town with a 1998 concert at Riverport Amphitheatre, she came equipped with a full band, which was a marked difference from the more fragile Amos heard most often.

Now out with her new CD "Strange Little Girls,'' a highly conceptual collection of remakes originally recorded by men, Amos is back to her strongest element, and that is performing completely solo and alone.

Her full band did well giving fans a different side of the singer, but she's best showcased as she was during her sold-out concert at the Fox Theatre, surrounded by a trio of keyboards including her Bosendorfer.

The breathy-voiced Amos -- known as much for her piano wizardy as she is forher breathless voice, overstated, affected diction, and personal, soul-bearing tales -- is truly an acquired taste. Either you get her or you don't, and her St. Louis fans are as devotedly rabid as they come.

Amos opened with Eminem's " '97 Bonnie and Clyde,'' chillingly clever inher hands as Amos assumes the role of a woman addressing her baby girl as the woman is on her way to a watery grave. The song was piped in through thespeakers while colorful lighting flickered through a strategically-ripped curtain. It was difficult to tell whether the absent Amos was singing backstage or if the CD was playing (the latter seemed more likely).

At song's end, the curtain finally fell away and Amos appeared. She strenuously worked out not only her voice but her piano prowess on songs like "Silent All These Years,'' "Icicle,'' and "Horses.'' Fleetwood Mac's"Landslide'' and her own "Jackie's Strength'' were highlights, though she said the latter wasn't on the list and she wasn't supposed to do it.

The somber "Me and a Gun,'' an Amos signature tune in which she details herrape long ago, held the crowd in rapt silence. She performed it acapella while a single spotlight dramatically, though dimly, illuminated her.

Though some piano performers can be numbingly stoic in their presentation,Amos struck quite an image as she straddled her piano stool and played adifferent set of keyboards with each hand as she did in "Sugar'' and anumber of other selections.

Amos sang "Somewhere Over the Rainbow'' during some of her encores thesedays, she skipped it for St. Louis and instead performed the equally inspirational "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.'' The song sounded like a special plea under these stressful times.

Other songs skipped that would've been nice inclusions were "Crucify,'' "Caught a Lite Sneeze, "God,'' and "Cornflake Girl'' (some of them have been performed in othercities). Also oddly missing was a substantial focus on songs from "StrangeLittle Girls,'' though she did perform "Time'' and "Rattlesnakes.''

Folky singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright, son of Loudon Wainwright III performed a set to acoustic guitar and electronic keyboards, focusing onsongs from his "Poses'' CD like "California.''

The goofy Wainwright proudly wore his homosexuality on his sleeves. Before one song, he recalled a concert when some men shouted a slur at him. After the song, he said"pretty good for a (expletive)''

From Katie Dollins

Added October 31, 2001 - Thank you so much for posting all the reviews of the Tori show in St. Louis. I had the privelage to go and see it myself and it is really neat to read other people's opions of it. One thing I noticed though and I thought it might help, is everyone wants to know why she played "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas"? Apart from it being a wonderful song that she is REALLY good at performing, it is also from the musical "Meet Me in St. Louis". Pretty charming that she chose to sing it at the end of the show. :) Anyway, just thought I'd add that in case anyone was interested.

From Julie Patrick

Added October 31, 2001 - Rufus Wainwright opened for Tori. He played for approximately half an hour and was pretty good. But then came Tori...

1. 97' Bonnie & Clyde - Tori was not visible at this point, but rather the image of her as the character for this song as seen in the new album. A large, hole-infested curtain allowed light to penetrate into the audience, and the curtain fell dramatically at the end of the song. Tori's keyboards and set were revealed at this time.

2. Sugar - I was so happy she did this song. It wasn't the best live performance, but very nice to hear. After the song, she asked how we were and mentioned she had visited Cahokia and the Children's Science Museum today. She commented, "Pretty neat place, this place."

3. Rattlesnakes - This one is from SLG, and I didn't recognize it at first.

4. Yes, Anastasia - Beautiful! I panicked at first not knowing what the heck she was singing since she improvised some lyrics in the introduction of this song. "Sometimes I..." She often stradled her piano bench and played both the Bose and electric keyboard. She had this "threesome" during other songs, too.

5. Take to the Sky - Tori hit her right hand against the face of the Bosendorfer for a strong downbeat of this song. So good!

6. Josephine - This one was so pretty. Just her and her piano!

7. Etienne - Back to Y Kant Tori Read days. She really belted this one out.

8. Jackie's Strength - Before playing this one, Tori mentioned that she didn't feel so good, asked someone to bring a Celebrex to the stage, and said she'd get better. This song "just showed up." It apparently wasn't on Tori's original set list, but she felt the need to perform it. Okay!

9. Icicle - She popped her pill and started this song without trouble. Very sexy.

10. Winter - How appropriate for such a nippy evening! I love this song this time of year.

11. Bells for Her - She moved stage right to a wurlitzer and sang it sweetly.

12. Landslide - Good to hear her perform again. She sang it on her birthday when I saw her in concert in 1999. She seemed very reflective during the lines "I'm getting older, too."

13. Me and a Gun - A single spotlight illuminated Tori as she meekly sang this a cappella song. She seemed to really slow it down near the end almost to an excruciating point, just like the story she sings.

14. Time - I love this ballad from her new album. She brought out her beautiful soprano voice. Tori put her hands together and addressed the audience, then patted the side of her piano as if to say "good job, Bose!" Encore 1

15. Wrong Band - She returned to the stage very humbly, yet nimbly for her first encore. She jumped right into this one. Kind of ironic since there was no band...

16. Hey Jupiter - This was nice, but I was hoping she wouldn't end with such a slow number. She ad libbed something about "mega brainwave" during the chorus. I think someone gave her a beanie baby of some sort at this point. She balanced it on her red head and walked off stage with it. Encore 2

17. Not the Red Baron - Again, she walked on quickly. Ryan likened her to ___ from "News Radio." This song could have been in relation to the WTC attacks.

18. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas - A little early in the season for this one, but very sweet and honest.

19. Silent All These Years - The crowd went wild at the first running notes of this tune. I'm glad she closed with something from her first successful album.

That's my review. What a woman- almost 20 songs and admittedly not feeling well. A fourth Tori concert and I'm finally taking notes. Somebody stop me! After the show, Ryan and I stood in the cold with many freaks in hopes of seeing the feisty red head on her way to the tour bus. She did, indeed, come out for a visit, but I couldn't get close enough for an autograph or good view of her. However, I did see the top of her head over the crowd. Oh well. Hope you can catch her on this tour...

From Melissa

Added November 1, 2001 - I hope it's ok that I write you. I just wanted to let every one know that the reason Tori probably sang Have your self a Merry Little CHristmas was Because she was in St. Louis and Judy Graland sings it in the Movie Meet me in St. Louis which happens to be my favorite movie and my favorite moment is when Judy sings HYMLC. I'm so jealous!!! WHen I first heard Tori's recording I couldn't stop listening to it.

Also, I wanted to say that a lot of people at shows have been using flash photography which is disturbing. The flash only works within 15 feet. Since Tori is set back about 10 feet, unless you are in the first five rows the flash does't have any impact on the picture.

From Tonya Warmbrod

Added November 2, 2001 - I was at the St. Louis meet and greet and show and loved it!!! A delicious treat indeed. She sang several songs that seemed to speak to me (I guess every ewf feels that wayJ). My Dad died of Cancer August 18th and she played several songs that stirred up emotions, especially Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas. I would list my favorites from the show but of course that would be most, if not all, of them. Being there encouraged me to pull some CDs and singles I haven't listened to in a while. Keep up the great work with the Dent.

From JB Anderton

Added November 7, 2001 - Hi again. was looking thru the comments for the ST Louis show and just want to add the following...

you know how Tori always says she tunes into the audience each night before a show to put together her setlist?

well, i never really believed it until the St. Louis show. and I KNOW, deep in my heart, why she played "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas."

For me, the song really hit me hard, and it was something I really needed to hear to get all these emotions out of me that have been brewing for months.

you see, my mother loves listening to Christmas music, and she loves to listen to it any time of year. right now my mom is fighting a battle with cancer. she was recently operated on to remove a tumor and is currently going thru chemotherapy as a precautionary measure to make sure all the cancer cells are killed.

in the weeks before the St. Louis show, she was admitted to the hospital twice for being so sick because of the chemo - she had lost a lot a weight, she wasn't eating, she was getting dehydrated, and her white count was very low. she had to have four units of blood put in her. everytime I talked to her on the phone, her voice was much weaker and she sounded so upset even though she said she wasn't.

throughout all this, i've kept strong as best as I could, though even though I tried, i never was able to just break down and cry over this.

but when Tori played the Christmas song, all the emotions came flooding out - literally, and I wept and wept like I haven't done in a long time. and the tears kept coming as she went into her last song, "Silent All These Years" which is a track I usually don't think that much of, but I needed to hear it that night.

I got to meet Tori backstage after the show. I told her just what I said at the beginning of this - how I didn't believe she could really tune in to an audience like that before tonight. I explained to her about my mom listening to Christmas music all year round and told her of her current struggles with cancer. I told Tori that her music helps me get thru this difficult time, as it has done for the last ten years. I thanked her for playing that song at the show because I really needed to hear it right then.

Tori took my hand as I was telling her all this, her face filled with concern and kindness, and she told me to "be strong."

it is a moment I shall always remember.

From Michelle (MLA)

Added December 7, 2001 - I won't say much about my Meet and Greet experience as it was nothing too special for me this time. I didn't meet as many friendly people here as I did in Indianapolis, although I did meet some, like Cruelsugar (he was a VERY nice guy and I was very happy to see him get his book signed by Tori) and some other people whose names I never learned. I also saw Mikewhy and Amanda, who I had already met in Indy. I was once again with Anna, of course. We did not meet Tori this time, but then we weren't making a huge effort since we already met her in Indy and we didn't want to be selfish.

The Meet and Greet may not have been that impressive for us, but the concert was incredible. We were in the 4th row of the orchestra pit and we had the most wonderful view. Tori only played 4 of the songs she had played in Indy, so most of it was new to us and the others I was very glad to hear again.

The set list was as follows:

'97 Bonnie & Clyde

Sugar -when she sang "he used one on me" she hit her right shoulder with her left fist, then hit her wedding ring against the piano a few times to simulate the hammer.

Rattlesnakes-absolutely beautiful and I was so glad to hear it again. As before, she played the Fender Rhodes and piano at the same time in the verses and just the piano in the chorus. When she sang the chorus the second time, she said, "she says it's so hard to love you it's so hard to love you she says all she needs is therapy all you need is love is all you need." I suppose it was an accident, but I loved it.

After Rattlesnakes, she told us (while spooning tea into her mouth) she had gone to the museum at Cahokia Mounds and to the Children's City Museum. She said it was a pretty cool town and then went into an improv where she sang something to the effect of, "Sometimes I go back in time, like today, holding her hand. Sometimes I frighten myself, sometimes I get lost in myself, sometimes I don't know what to say, like today." It was absolutely beautiful and she went from that into

Yes, Anastasia

Take To The Sky -entertaining as usual, with Tori hitting the piano with her right hand. I had never actually seen this performed live before so I was quite amused. Also, she did a very funny dance when she sang the "take it take it take it" part.

Josephine

Etienne-The thing is that I have never really cared for Y Kant Tori Read, but this was one of the most moving songs of the whole performance. I did like Etienne at least a little bit before, but this gave me a whole new appreciation for the song she played it on the Fender Rhodes and it was just beautiful.

Then she said, "So I'm not supposed to play this song because it's not on my list, but I have to because she's just shown up. And I need a Celebrex, someone just bring it out on the stage, because I'm not feeling so well but I'll get better." (at first I kind of freaked out because I couldn't remember what Celebrex was for, but I later discovered it was an anti-inflammatory so I knew it was probably just her jaw bothering her as usual). Then she played:

Jackie's Strength -She accidentally said "Mama laid me on the front lawn and prayed for Jackie's strength" in the last verse when she was supposed to say "Mama's waiting on my front lawn." As soon as she finished the song, Joel came out with a flashlight and gave her a pill, which she popped into her mouth and swallowed with her water.

Icicle

Winter-This is one of my absolute favourite songs and I had always hoped she might play it for me some day, but I was still shocked I suddenly realised that on some level, I had been irrationally believing that she wrote the song especially for me (but we all feel that way about some song, don't we?) Anyway, it was very touching, and I swear she looked right at me when she sang "stand up for yourself cause I can't always be around."

Bells For Her-another one of my favourites. She played this one on the Wurlitzer and at the beginning she sang something like "She is with me, she is with me now she says you can't stop what's coming " and then she went into the regular lyrics.

Landslide-I always loved the Stevie Nicks version and wondered what Tori's version would sound like it was, like everything else, very beautiful and moving.

Me and a Gun

Time-interesting to hear considering we were west of East St Louis .

1st Encore:

The Wrong Band-When she sat down at the piano, she announced "here we go" before starting the song. I have always really loved this song, but I know not many other people appreciate it. In the first verse when she sang "there's something believin" the first time she must have hit a wrong note or something because then she said "Let's try that again" and sang it again.

hey Jupiter-I was surprised to hear this song since we had been listening to it on the way there and I had been thinking about how I could relate to it more all the time she played it on the Fender Rhodes and when she got to the part where she was supposed to sing "I thought I wouldn't have to keep with you hiding" she started to sing "a magazine" instead of "hiding," then caught herself and turned it into "a major brainwave." It made us all laugh.

2nd Encore:

Not The Red Baron

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas-I was very very surprised to hear this in October, but I heard someone yell out "thank you Tori" so I guess it was probably a request.

Silent All These Years-as beautiful as ever. Like before, when she reached the bridge she sang "years go by will I still will I still be waiting to understand years go by if I'm stripped if I'm stripped of my beauty and the clouds raining in my head years go by will I choke will I choke on my tears till finally there's nothing left one more casualty you know we're too easy easy easy "

On our way out of the theater, we had the extra bonus of passing by Mark (who is, by the way, at least as good-looking in real life as he is in pictures)! When I realised it was him, I told Anna, who said "hi Mark" as we passed him. Mark glanced up briefly and said "hallo." He seemed very shy, but that was ok. I was a bit sad that the show was over since I wouldn't be going to another one, but I still felt fulfilled.

The reviews below were taken from the concert reviews section of The Dent Forum and added here on January 7, 2002

Did anyone else find the signing interpreter chick extremely distracting?! I understand her purpose, but really. I felt sorry for the people that she was right in front of. She had that damn spotlight on her, and I kept seeing her out of the corner of my eye and I know Tori saw her at one point but just kinda eyed her and tried not to look back.

That's a Fox thing, and I HATE it. So distracting!

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Review by pagefire

Hey!
No review here, really. Maybe later.,and that I f'ing loved it..four Pink songs..my fav!!!
Also, the meet and greet was FANTASTIC. But that's because I seemed to have lucked out..twice..before and after the show. No, I didn't actually meet her, but she was less than 10 feet away the whole time, with no one blocking the BEAUTIFUL view, thanks to the layout of the barricades. I don't think she was sure who said it, but I said, "Tori, this girl got a speeding ticket this morning .". She looked over and said "Oh?". This gave the girl the courage to ask her if she'd sign it. "Oh, sure!"..then she did...so f'ing cool!!!!!!
God, I was bad about all this BEFORE! Now I'm just dieing!
Have yourself a Tori little Christmas!!!

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Review by Rob

This was an amazing show. It might not have been my perfect set list but it was close. I can't really go through all of it here song by song right now but I was overwhelmed at how great it was while I was there. I'm still mostly speechless.

There weren't too many flashes going off, actually. Security was much tighter than my experience in Boston. I got patted down by a woman who felt it necessary to go over every square inch of my body. I think there was one cell phone ring in the audience at one point but I don't remember exactly when it happened. The audience was better behaved than I was afraid they might be... almost as good as the people in Boston. I was pleased, since I'm originally from St. Louis.

This was just a great show with a great setlist. Tori was in superb form. I still need Siren and Juarez on this tour, but I've got Oakland to look forward to.

John, I'm sorry I didn't get to meet you. I couldn't get to the venue till about an hour before the show and it was a madhouse.

I drove past the back of the theatre afterward and there must have been 500 people waiting there for Tori to come out...huge crowd.

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Review by Dor

I thought the show was really beautiful.

You COULD kind of tell it was an off-night in terms of how she was feeling, just because it was more quiet and low-key. She seemed settled, calm, as opposed to angry or passionate. It was still excellent, though.

Yes Anastasia was the best version I think I've heard of that song. She did a nice improv-y ending that was unlike what she's done previously.

The Wrong Band was SO GREAT!! I'd given her the lyrics earlier that day. She was playing it based on the request of a friend of mine. I wonder if she needed to use the lyrics. I LOVED hearing the song.

But the absolute highlight of the night was Merry Little Christmas. This is one of the best performances I've seen her give EVER of ANY song. I was very, very moved.

I did peek at a setlist and she was supposed to close the main set with Blackswan, and was supposed to do Bachelorette (!! SUSAN!!) instead of Jackie's Strength.

Good show, though. See everyone in Houston!

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Review by memnoch693

oh dear...first Tori concert...I was very surprised with the intensity of the song selection for tonight.

After '97 Bonnie & Clyde, which was very involved and strong, with many different "non-album inflictions", Tori jumped right into Sugar! I thought that I would be waiting a bit to hear one of my favorites but she played those first few notes and...wow. I have only mp3's to compare but to me this definitely sounded intense.

Then came Rattlesnakes, which I was expecting and which was nicely done and touching. Yes Anastasia was never one of my favorites but I love this song now. period. The improv before this song was really good, something about finding herself and not knowing who she was, I believe but I may have just imagined that.

I was so very much waiting for Take To the Sky and at the beginning everybody was so into clapping! We would all stop when the part of the song that demanded the rythm stopped and resume respectively... However, it seemed that my sister, friend and myself were the only ones clapping through the entire song. I have no aptitude for concert ettiquette but I thought it was appropriate? And so those in front of us were very much annoyed by our enthusiasm but, well...fuck them right? I know Tori appriciated it.

Josephine. I nearly stopped breathing when I heard this. One of my favorites. Not slow but very full and confident.

Etienne....heart stopper. Full and beautiful. I had no idea that we would be treated so royally, someone once told me that Tori really likes Chicago & St. Louis...perhaps.

Jackie's Strength. This is so much more emotional live. When she said that "this girl is here tonight," I was thinking/hoping Marianne. I do not know if Jackie was there physically or figuratively, could someone fill me in on that?

Icicle was amazing, (running out of superlatives now) and the backround/lighting was wintery and well suited. The "getting off" line prompted some response.

WINTER. ohhh. The one and only song. Icicle was a wonderful prelude and the backround/lighting themes were similar with blues and beautiful patterns to match the songs. I can say nothing more except that I can now die happily in respect to Tori, for I have heard this song live. I'm sure it was no more special then any other performance but it' all I need and she made me happy, so it was worth it. She seemed really intense at the "my hair is grey" section, very into the music, lots of physical exhertion on her part i'm sure.

The following improve was very interesting, if even it was improve, I have listened to more live Tori songs lately than anything else so my idea of what was improve and what was merely different is hazy. But she played this on whaterver that wonderfully colored instrument is that she plays, some kind of organ/de-tuned piano/box with legs that makes long sorrowful sounds...could someone help me with that? Bells for her was just beautiful with the wildly colored box.

Not a fan of landslide but very appreciative.

Me And A Gun was exactly as I thought it might be but there were, unfortunately, some stupid people at this concert who though it appropriate to laugh near the end in an uproar of giggles in the orchesrtra section on the right. (as far as I could tell) This night it was very soft and different little nuances were added.

Time was beautiful and there were swirling things in the backround that separated at the end that made for good effects.

The first encore was good, Wrong Band and Hey Jupiter, both very good.

By the time of the second encore, many many people were holding out their lighters in a beautiful gesture and the scene was all very beautiful.

Not the Red Baron was incredible, yet again, another favorite. The audience was very respectful and appreciative, I think anyway, I know I was. "Are their devils with halo's bringing them into the flames," one of the most evocotive and vivid lyrics Tori has ever written was unimaginably touching to hear live!!! I LOVE this song, and it fit in well thematically with the recent events as well.

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas was, again, beautiful. With the same attitude as Somewhere over the rainbow, the same love for the song. The lighting in this song was goregeous, looking like foliage.

I think the theme for the entire show was plainly Winter.

Silent All These Years was the best concert experience that I have ever had! I am not even extremely fond of this song. Fist of all there were several little nuances that were a nice live touch.

By this time people all over the theater had coaxed Tori out onto the stge with immense praise and there were quite a few people with lighters, myself included, and this was such a beautiful thing to see! There were, I think, three standing ovations and there were all overwhelming. The best thing of all was the peace in the audience. The were a lot of people in the theater singing along to silent all these years! You could hear every syllabal echoed by the audience! Everybody was sharing this really good vibe and I heard no cell phones at all the entire night.

It was more quiet and low-key and I believe that Tori was not feeling well. It seemed longer than the usual hour and 40-45 minutes but that could just be me. '97 Bonnie & Clyde and Sugar were very intense but aside from those it was very relaxed.

I saw Father Lucifer, he was cool, I think my friend saw him at a system concert(?) The post show meet-&-greet was something terrible. Tori came out only for a few seconds, I was right at the door to the bus and did not even see her once for the small few moments before she went back inside the fox. I would have had an excellent vantage point for pictures too.

Everyone scolded the people who screamed bacause of Natashya, very sweet. And one girl screamed that Tori was "right here," prompting several hopful looks. Coincidentally, she was also the kind of person who likes to wake the sleeping babies of famous pianists.

Overall I would not trade this night for anything and I thought that we had one of the more polite audiences and best setlists.

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Review by Riotpoofgirl

Ok, god. Wow, so i just decided to go to this show this morning with my friend Amy, and got basically 2nd row seats (OPL2). Awesome. So it took us about 4 hours to drive from Indiana to St. louis, but was all good.

Once we found the theatre there wasn't much to do so we hung around outside. They let people in at 7pm, however, i guess they weren't supposed to because as i made a dash for the bathroom, i saw Rufus on stage still doing his soundcheck. Anyways, we didn't get to our seats until after 7:30.

I quite liked Rufus. He did a good job in info. I went out and got a photo w/ him (yes i snuck in a camera) and had him sign something for a dark hard friend of mine.

On to tori--

'97 Bonnie and Clyde-- Still creepy and powerful as usual

Sugar- Hellz yea. I wanted to hear this song. It was really good. It looked like she pointed to her breast when she said "when they find out you've got a little in here"

Rattlesnakes- God i love this song. It really is amazing with her there. Very powerful and cool.

So then tori says "Hi, hows everyone?" and talked about her day..she went to the Chaohkia (i'm butchering the word) something, and to the childrens museum.

IMPROV- "Sometimes i go back in time. Sometimes i go back in time, today with her hand in mine. " then it continued with sometimes i fret and lose myself and sometimes i've lost...etc..it was really pretty and nice

Yes, Anastasia- Oh yea. This is the 2nd time i've heard her do it solo and it was amazing.

Take to the Sky- Very cool. Some of the crowd was clapping along and watching tori hit the piano to keep the beat was just sooo cool.

Josephine- This was beautiful. Very powerful and tori seemed into it.

Etienne- Again, if there was any song i wanted to her this tour that i knew she was doing, this was one of them. I really liked it.

Jackie's Strength- So tori said that this girl just wanted to be played, but she "wasn't on her list" and then asked if someone could bring her some aspring (i think she said like celerex or something?) It was really good, flowed nicely. (see note about setlist below)

(joel brought tori some asprin afterwards).

Icicle- awesome. Tori stood up a lil bit more on the "getting off while they're all downstairs ' part. So cool.

Winter- So the crowd seemed kinda happy to hear this. Very nice.

Bells for her- Done again on the Whurly. Very good.

Landslide- I almost started crying. I love this song.

Me and a Gun- Again powerful and moving. Tori didn't seem quite as choked up as on thursday nite.

Time- very pretty. took me a minute to realize what it was. (see set list note)

ENCORE-
Wrong band- Tori was adorable playing this. She seemed like she was enjoying it.

Hey Jupiter- I think she messed up a few lyrics around in it, but seemed to cover herself pretty well

ENCORE 2-
Red Baron- very cool. i hadn't ever heard it live

Have yourself a merry little christmas- Ok, i'm not quite sure what brought on playing this one tonite, but it was still pretty as always.

Silent All these years- The crowd went wild. I liked it.

So I GOT THE SETLIST!!!!! (the one that is right in front of tori's feet at the piano). It's got some interesting things noted on it:

-Jackie's Strength was supposed to have been Bachlorette.
-Time, was supposed to have been Black Swan
- Silent all these years was not in fact listed and she was gonna end the show with time.
-Next to Josephine she has written "so strange victory" and "in the last extrieme". I guess she was worried about forgetting the words.

Theres also a bunch of the keys marked down for songs.

A great show overall. Seriously worth the drive (despite feeling very sick). The crowd i must say impressed me. They were very very good not much screaming or "i love you tori's!". And in between Encorse everyone held up thier lighters and when tori came back and saw this it almost looked like she blushed.

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Review by Branflake_Boy

It is now 7:00 a.m. (I think). We've just changed time zones, and then when you add on the daylight savings thing. I'm just too exhausted to figure it out. St. Louis and Oxford, OH aren't all that close together.

The trip was very much worth it. I saw Tori in Indianapolis the other night, and I can definitely say that these were two VERY DIFFERENT shows. I thought this one was better. The atmosphere of the Fox Theatre is unlike anything I've ever experienced.

The setlist was incredible. Tori seemed subdued, but I still saw no problems. Her voice was beyond beautiful, and she pulled some amazing girls out of the hat.

I won't do the song-by-song synopsis, but let me tell you some of the highlights/interesting moments.



YES, ANASTASIA: She sang the chorus several more times than what you hear on the CD. I've heard many MP3s....it's never sounded this good. She was on top of her game with this one.

TAKE TO THE SKY: Especially fun. I heard it performed one other time, and this performance was far superior. The best moment was when she gyrated while singing, "Why don't you....take it take it take it take it take it."

JOSEPHINE: My friend Lindsay requested this one at the meet and greet. It is our favorite track on Venus, and I listened to it with much appreciation. Beautiful swirling purple lights in the background!

THE WRONG BAND: We briefly heard this one during soundcheck and knew it was coming. As far as I know, she has not performed this song in over 6 years. Unless she played it at some point during Dew Drop Inn, the last time played it was during the UTP Tour. We were very blessed to hear this girl...she's been gone for a long time. Wait 'til you hear the MP3! Especially at the end....this song evolved into something more spectacular than I ever saw coming.

HAVE YOURSELF A MERRY LITTLE CHRISTMAS: HOLY SHIT! Has she ever performed this song live? With so many of my other favorites having been played (Etienne, Winter, Jackie's Strength, Josephine, Yes, Anastasia)....it's difficult for me to say that this was my favorite of the night. I've got to be honest though....this was a major highlight of the night. I was shocked at first, and then I settled down. She lengthened the ending quite a bit. She looked out at the audience with a genuine smile when she sang the lyrics: "Through the years we all will be together...if the fates allow." It made me realize that Tori is going to be part of my life for a long time to come. There are so many memories yet to be made. And I know how much she loves us...so nice!

Instrumentally and vocally, I thought she was better than ever. The setlist nearly made me collapse. I thought it was the best night ever. And now I need to be a smart Branflake Boy, and get my ass in bed. Much love to ya'll!

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Review by butterfly79

Seeing Tori live was one of the best experiences of my life! This was my first show (although I have been a fan for about 7 years).

When she came onstage I started bawling because I was sooo happy. I would get myself under control and then suddenly I would think "that's really tori. She's actually in the same building as me" and I would start crying again. It was beautiful.

Bells for Her and Me and a Gunn were the most emotional parts for me. I thought my heart was breaking. But when she did the grinding on the piano during Take to the Sky..... it was WILD!

I went outside after the first encore to wait for Tori so I missed Have yourself a merry little christmas and SATY but she did sign my Strange Little Girls album booklet so it was worth it. And to the sweet guy who passed it to Tori for me and spelled my name for her (i lost my voice so she couldn't hear me) Thank You soooo much! Oh and to the girl sitting on that guy's shoulders who screamed "TORI" after Steve told us all to be quiet because Tasha was sleeping--- you should be ashamed of yourself. I'm sure Tori wasn't very happy with you.

Well, off to bed to dream about Tori and myself singing duet---hey, it could happen!

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Review by SteveEwf

I really enjoyed the show. A well behaved crowd, a good setlist with a few surprises (Bells for Her, Wrong Band).

I really enjoyed Hey Jupiter and Yes, Anastasia.

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Review by Katie (lacuna)

She was going to play Black Swan!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

aarrgghh!

I was so hoping for that one! *weeps* wasn't I Kristen? dang! I was even chanting it over and over in my brain hoping it would reach Tori's brain, arg.

This won't be a long ass review, just short and sweet.

I was mostly impressed with Sugar (awesome!), Anastasia, and TTS. When she played Merry Little Xmas I was thinking what the...? But I guess now it makes sense since it's from Meet Me in St. Louis (duh). I know someone in the M&G gave her the music to the song Meet Me in St. Louis, but I guess she knows HYAML X-mas better.

That's kind of weird she didn't play Bachelorette because there were these girls during the M&G who were screaming for her to play it. i would have liked to hear it.

In fact i would have loved to hear the original setlist. waa

The mess up during The Wrong Band was a piano fuck up, she played the wrong chords. i remember thinking, "hmm, that sounds odd."

Rufus was great. I really enjoyed him. I kept hearing on the forums over and over again how he wasn't that good-----what are you people smoking? (well I know what some people were smoking ) He was incredibly funny. I might just have to buy his CD.

Katie (lacuna)

P.S. it was great to meet everyone at the M&G. Just a small note that me, Jennifer (hole_fan), and Kristen (cornflakegirl79) agreed that the M&G was great because we got hang out with a bunch of cool people (and maybe a few duds ) . Someone's dad was even dressed as Father Lucifer! heehee it was cute. It went pretty well and civil despite the fact that some of us ran to the wrong spot *shrugs* i think I got one good pic of her breezing to the stage door. but the point is, Tori is wonderful we all know, but we will get to know each other better than we will ever get to know Tori, and that's the most important thing. It's just not worth it to kill each other to get to Tori. IMO

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Review by TheSultress

All right, :iggle::, I joined this whole board just to give my little input on the St. Louis show.

I am a fan but not a phile if you see the difference. LoL, I get made fun of because I only own 3 other CDs by people other than Tori but this is only my second concert.

The most interesting thing about my adventure was that I was absolutely not going to drive myself to St. Louis (I have a manual!) so I talked someone into taking me with the offer than I would pay for part of their ticket. This boy happens to be rather Christian (hehe... a rendition of Precious Things would have been fabulous as I always think of him when I hear it.

Anyway... I was very very very far away from Tori I bought my tickets online and something about "Middle Balcony" doesn't seem to bad, until you realize you're about 10 feet from the *ceiling*.

No one knows me here but if anyone else was up that high I was the girl looking a wee bit embaressed as she sat next to the boy in the eddie bauer t-shirt who also happened to be asleep

People have done the set reviews but I have to add that this was my DREAM setlist, I couldn't have imagined it would be so good! I'm easily impressed though, I spent much of the early part of the show crying (Bonnie and Clyde sort of set me off...)

My complaints (and the people in the orchestra would have missed some of this)... The DAMN person yelling "TORI!" off and on throughout the concert. I could tell they were only a couple sections over from me... I was considering sending the boy out on some defensive action there. I know we love her but there are just times that are not good for that (like during Yes, Anastasta for example). The cell phone incident was also pretty close (which made it even more distracting)... There were also a lot of people getting up and leaving. I think the two guys in front of us left for a smoke halfway through the show and the people next to us left several times :igh::. I was also a little sad when people starting leaving during Silent All These Years because they knew it would be the last song

Also, I have to say that the light show thing was much more tasteful this time that it was at the last concert I was at (Plugged in Ames Iowa) but seriously, those colored lights make it *really* hard for the people in the cruddy seats to make out any detail at all. And personally, I don't need them to be amused Tori and piano on a dimly lit stage could keep me in a silent state of awe for days...

Ah, Rufus. He was pretty amusing although I found it pretty dull music. "Jingle, Jangle... I am a very gay man"... hehe.

I love St. Louis and I thought the venue was wonderful. It was kinda stinky that it cost $6 to park, but we were very close to the theatre so I didn't much mind. It was VERY cold! Then we saw the line and figured it would be quicker to run down the street a bit to find a place to go to the bathroom instead of trying to get in the theatre first. :rrr!:: Which was this very scary chicken restaurant with this guy trying to tell me that I had to buy chicken because I peed there! Ahh! Then we got back and the line was even longer... poo. But really, I wasn't all unhappy, hehe, I had just spent 3 hours in a non-smokers car, I need a little 'outside time'.

Anyway, the boy is not a convert but still said it was an amazing concert, so that's good. He really liked 'have yourself a merry little christmas' saying it was the best version of it he'd ever heard, very good I agree

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Review by Pippin

And well, Paris and I were there, but I think that everyone has pretty much covered ANYTHING that we would review here, except here's a little more detail on Wrong Band...

"She said, 'There's something (chord change on)believin'..."
That chord change is where she messed up...she went to a chord that sounded about one step up than it should have been, "let's try that again...", and this time she got it exactly right...and she hesitated on the chord changes for the rest of the first chorus...after that, she had it figured out and looked out at the audience with a big smile, like "I made it though that one! HAH!", and went into the instrumental break with a relieved fervor. The second chorus go-round she was right on.

I was pretty confused that she POINTED OUT that she was deviating from her setlist..."I'm not supposed to do this, but (the girl's here, etc)...I thought she usually just DID it without pointing it out. Strange.

The mood of the show was a little weird to me, like once she said she wasn't feeling well we were all suddenly watching her not feel well but playing away for us anyway. But I guess this IS the STRANGE Little Tour. All kidding aside, the sweetest part of the show to me was all the people leaving during the encore to go to the M&G turned right around when she played MerryLittleXmas, and couldn't leave. I got to hug my best friend through the song, and I saw A LOT of arms go around companions throughout the audience. A really nice moment to bond with the person you came to the show with...

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Review by Sarah (Garden Muse)

okay, i thought this was a wonderful show and Tori gave a few nice treats to the audience. i really don't have much to add about how well she played the songs or that. Her voice was stellar and she seemed happy in spite of having some discomfort while playing. My husband and I left the show very happy with her performance.

I expect to go to a concert and hear people scream and see camera flashes go off. I expect to hear some people talking away during the songs and getting up to move around. That's fine. And overall, the audience was quite polite to Tori and to one another, I thought.

There were two things that a few audience members did that were really quite annoying. I love singing along to Tori's music just as much as anyone else, but I went there to hear Tori sing. Not to hear the people in the audience sing. I should expect this, but that doesn't make it any less distracting.

"Me and a Gun" was distracted as well when a girl and her boyfriend in front of my husband and me decided that was the song during which they would finish their soft drinks. About a half-dozen times, I heard the slosh of the ice cubes sliding through the plastic cups. And they were aware of the noise they were making, not seeming to care if they were bother other concert goers.

Other people around them were getting annoyed and one guy in front of me actually said something to the couple when the song was over. I understand why the Fox sells popcorn and drinks, and it's not the theater's fault. These people who were making so much noise during M&AG were just plain rude. I mean, of all the times to make a bunch of noise, they had to do it during that tender song which means much more to people that anyone could ever put into words. I heard one girl say, "Well, they just wrecked that one for me. thanks assholes" I kinda felt the same way.

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Review by silent

The M&G--Me and my friend just got there right when the Rufus tour bus arrived...so we were in the back of the line and on the far left of the baracades--so no Tori. I got a picture of her going into the Stage Door, but I haven't developed them yet, and I think I just got the back of her head. And I wasn't about to go squeeze my way through the crowd of people on the right, because I was sure they had been waiting all day or something, and that would have been rude.

I stood at the entrance to the Fox for about an hour and half or so, I met a nice married couple! They were so sweet, he had seen her five times and it his wife's first time.

Rufus was amusing and he sang nicely--and the time between his last song and Tori's arrival felt like an enternity! I have been waiting to see Tori for the LONGEST time, this was my first show and I was so excited I couldn't take it. When Bonnie and Clyde was over, and the curtain fell down and Tori went on stage...I was trembling!

Everything about the evening was amazing--when she started with Sugar I almost died, and her intensity! I loved Take to the Sky, I was hoping to hear this one...Jackie's Strength brought me to tears, so did Landslide...Time was lovely and Icicle and Winter--I was completely captivated for the entire time she played.

When she started her first encore with the Wrong Band--I could have died!

Have yourself a merry little christmas was so sweet and beautiful, and SATY was a wonderful way to end the evening.

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Review by CherryAllamanda

Hello! It's four in the afternoon now, so I'm nice and awake and ready to go into my hue review. It's likely to be long and in depth, I took a lot of notes...

Pre-Show Meet n Greet and fellow Denters/Toriphiles

It was behind the theatre in the club parrking lot. The weather was a little chilly and it was in the shade because there was a big building blocking the sun. I was supposed to get there around noon, but on the way there, we encountered a bad car accident (at least one fatality ) and were delayed for an hour... so I got there around one. There was already a long line down the sidewalk of people. We parked and I talked to Rainbush who was at the front of the line and then went to the back, where I met JodoKaast, cruelsugar, NorthenLass, Anna (from Australia) and MLA (who posts in the Lyrics forum soley)... I eventually got to meet Mikewhy and Novihna and their freind Francine. I also met Mairie, spark0216, and cornflakegirl79 from the forums, and I saw Pagefire. Myself, JodoKaast, a girl named Heather, and some other girls went across the street to be in the sun. Around 3 o'clock I think, a limo came and Steve got out, and everyone cheered. A few minutes later, Rufus came and walked by and people cheered and he waved and stuff.

I am estimating, but I think it was around 3:30 when Steve and crew started moving the barricades. When they were set up we went back across the street... and people started running and then they shooed us away and some big guy with a beard gave us this speech about not acting like 3rd graders blah blah. It was a little bit much. Oh well. Maybe around 3:45, they let people fill up the barricaded area, and no one ran... We waited for 20-30 minutes maybe. There wasn't any pushing going on and things seemed peaceful. Occasionally someone would yell to Steve and he would say something funny. A few minutes before she came, Steve made what I assume to be the traditional speech... "If you act like maniacs, she won't stay long... I'd prefer that, but it's up to you.." *laugh haha*

Anyway, her bus finally came and Joel came out and everyone cheered again. The driver came out of the bus and got a little carpet and set it down in front of the bus steps for Tori, it was cute, and then she came out!!! Yay! (There was still no shoving, wooha!) I didn't even think to check what she was wearing, but I did notice her litlle blue and green striped scarf. It looked so pretty with her eyes. It was cute. I heard her talking to someone on the left of me and she mentioned that either when or after she was pregnant, she liked eating diet fried chicken, lol. I never heard of such a thing. When she got in front of me (there were 1 and 1/2 people in front of me...) I said "Hi Tori!" and she said "hi!" And I said... "I drew this picture of you... uh.. for you..." (allow myself to introduce.. myself, lol...) I had put it in a frame and it looked nice and everything. She said, "Oh! Is this to be signed or is it a gift?" And I told her it was a gift. Then I gave her a letter from Kristen (cornflakegirl79) and said "this is from this girl next to me right here..." and Tori asked "what's her name?" and peered through the people to see her.... she was crying and she said "Kristen." Tori said hi to her, it was so sweet. Tori signed something for my cousin and then I thanked her and she moved on. Silly me, though, I forgot to give her my letter, lol. So a few minutes later I gasped and was like, OH NO! SO when she had a moment I said.. "Tori, I forgot to give you my letter!" And she looked up and said, "Oh, it's okay! And she reached in my direction and I handed it to someone to give to her... " I was happy then. I think I got some good pictures and I would love to show them to anyone who wants to see.

At one point a group of girls yelled, "Tori, please play bachlorette!" And Tori said, "oooooh" and smiled and rolled her eyes a little, *so cute*... and then a few minutes later they did it again, but it was more like, "Tori, PLEASE play Bachlorette..." lol... I'd say she stayed for about a half an hour... so the person who said she stayed for 5 minutes or so was imformed incorrectly. Moving on...

*side note* Dinner at Forretto's (sp?) with everyone was wonderful! Thanks Mikewhy for paying for my Coke!

Ok... I am going to do a quick Rufus review, so skip over it if it is unimportant to you.

Rufus- He came out with, as someone said for another show, what appeared to be a Heineken. He either stumbled or tripped when he sat down at the piano or keyboard rather. He went into "Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk" (I think" and it was really loud and abrasive to the ears but it sounded good considering.

After this he spoke. Said something like, "It's good to be in St. Louis, I love St. Louis. It makes you wanna have a love affair in a... umm... an old theatre. *crowd laughs* I like Judy Garland... haha... (he says something, I missed it) But enough world history...." Plays a song on the guitar that I don't know (I only know a few Rufus songs)... if anyone cares some of the lyrics were "Don't leave me here, Don't..."

Make talking. "This song... has a little bit of french in it. You know I did that song.. for Moulin Rouge. *cheers* It went, like, 3 times platinum, it was the most records I ever sold... Unless you all get together and help... haha, okay, I won't do that again, but seriously, because of that song, I'm considering a French artist... I find that interesting." Into... A song that might be called Marigold??? Some lyrocs were, "I'm leavin' the Roosevelt's theatre, Marigold..."

Speaks. "I was thinking the other day... I think it'd be fun to move to Paris... make rcords and (in lispy voice) coffee... and be in a french film. I don't wanna be in one of those "Lars ___" movies... (mentions something about Bjork's movie and peolple laugh and cheer)...I'll be in some artsy movie... That's th eend of my career... Sorry Lars! hehe. Anyway, here's 'California.' " This song was fun and I really enjoyed this one. I had downloaded it a while before when I heard he was going to be the opener.

Another story. "I sang this song here before. Yeah, I was at this theatre before... with the Bare Naked Ladies... *cheers*... Yeah... Remember them? haha... *audience laughs* So I was playing this song, and I was really getting into and, ya know... the hips and everything, and these guys in the front starting yelling, "FAGGOT", and "You're gay!".. It bothered me! So... don't yell that I'm gay while I'm singing K?" *cheers* "Or you can, whatever, haha." *laughs* ... he went into a very pretty song on the guitar... lyrics included "in my arms tonight"... at the end he said... "Pretty good for a faggot."

He went in to this really annoying song on the piano and it sounded like he was saying "Taxi, oh, taxi, oh.." And I really didn't like this on that much. Yuck.

Speaks... "This song is about death and essentially (missed this part). I have to say I feel really good today, I usually just talk about what's going on, but I feel like we're all... HERE, so yeah... I wrote this on accident actually... in 2 hours.... *starts to play* It's kind of.. Scottish." *crowd laughs* He goes into a song on the piano... couldn't understand any of the lyrics but I picked out this: "where in this (fall?) of endless ___... her smile... will be back... one day." SOmething like that. Immediately he went into La Complaint de la Butte from the Moulin Rouge soundtrack, and he did this little "RAWWRRR" thing and it was sooo cute, everyone cheered. This song was amazing... I love that song.

ALMOST DONE I swear... he speaks. "This is my last song.. before... TORI AMOS!!!" *cheers* "Jingle Jangle (crowd laughs) I'm feeling very gay today. I dunno why." (more laughs) He sings, "Meeeet me in St. Looo-eee Looo-eeee... (stops singing) But Loo-ee wan't there. Um, I'll do a little signing... CD signing (cheers) so you can uh... lay your pies upon me... *pause* *looks at audience* Lay your pies upon me." ... goes into a nice little song .. lyrics included: "All these posies, such beautiful posies." The end of Rufus' set.

I went out to the lobby and got Rufus' signature... he seemed shy or unfriendly, I couldn't tell which... he just signed things and said thanks and then went on to the next... no one said anything to him, so I said that I heard of him cause of the Tori show and I was glad that I did and that he did a wonderful job tonight.. He seemed uneasy and just said thanks and I left. *shrug*

Arg, too much typing. I need a break. I'll be back with the Tori goodies in a few. I just don't want my computer to freeze or something and have to do that all over!

Ok, I'm really exhausted, this reviewing thing is really hard for me, but i really want to do it, so I am telling myself how easy it is to type. *yaawns* I'm okay... all right, here goes.

Quick note. The Fox Theatre was absolutely beautiful. If you've ever played Tomb Raider 3 or Revalations, its sort of like the most beautiful ornate settings in that game. Wow.

Tori's Clothes

She was wearing on of those one piece tank top/pants suits with the slits up to the knees. It was very bright red. On top of that she was wearing a sheer black thing with long sleeves and legs that had glitter on the wrists and the chest. (Much like the I'm Not in Love outfit thing.) She was wearing red high heels and some sparkly earrings that caught the light every now and then. Oh, and her hair was straight, and it stayed that way throughout.

The Show (Tori)

'97 Bonnie & Clyde- well, we all know the story on this one... it was really chilling. The lights were cool. At one point there was a light on th epicture and it was pulsating... and it was very creepy.

Sugar- This was amazing. She really belted it out. When she got to the "hammers he used one on me" she hit the piano with her fist clenched 4 times to the beat, it was cool. There were some extra lyrics in there, like "Think, girls, just think," and "What they did to you, oh my God, my sweet boy."... and she did the whole "just a pussy" thing... that recieved quite a cheer. When she sang.. "when they find you got little in here"- on the "in here", she sort of grabbed her chest with her arms...

Rattlesnakes- I agree with a lot of the people who say this is better live. It was great. She played the piano and the wurly at the same time... it was great. She sang "All she needs is therapy" really quiet and then really yelled out "All you need it love is all.."

----chit chat----- She said something to the effect of, "Hi!" (cheers) "How is everyone tonight?" (cheers) We went to (horrible spelling) Cahokia Mounds today... and to the uh.. some museum..." (crowd yells out various museums) "yeah, we went there too, but we went to the Children's __ Museum (aww)... anway, this is a pretty cool place.. sometimes I..." (into Imrpov)

Improv- It went something like: "Sometimes I go back in time, Today with her hand in mind, Sometimes I fret and frihten myself, sometimes I don't know what to say, Some days like today...." (I may have missed a line or two)... into....

Yes Anastasia- She was really into this one... kicking her free leg to and fro and stomping around to the beat and on powerful chords and such... she flipped her hair a few times. She held out all the "yeeeeeees" 's very long... and the one on the end where it changes pitch and gets higher, she (this will mean something to musically inclined people) held out a quarter tone before moving up to the half step! I was muchly impressed. She added a few lines... they were "We'll see how you run, we'll see how you fly, we'll see how you pick up and go."... she immediately went into

Take to The Sky- I totaly flipped when this started! ... she did the tapping and the mic picked it up well. I could hear her ring hitting the piano and I couldn't help but wonder how much abuse that ring takes, lol... anyway... I noticed on the first line she said Russia instead of Prussia. No biggie. And when she said "why do you take it take it take it..." they dimmed the lights and they were redish colored... and... damn, I can't say it better than Jogo, lol. I will quote him.. "at one point she stood up and started to gyrate like the piano. As in, if she had a penis she would have been fucking it. It was great." Lots of cheers.

Josephine- Oh wow. I met a guy who really wantd to hear this... so I'm happy for him. Um.. it was absolutely stunning. It hadn't occurred to me that this song is really THAT beautiful. I was in total shock. All I wrote down was... "beautiful. lulling. stunned."

Etienne- This was the only song that actual put tears in my eyes. I can not even begin to convey how beautiful this was. It was on the bosey and the wurly. Her voice was incredibly clear, soft, and pure. When she sang... "Maybe in the morning we'll remember..." I swear I got chills... in my opinion, the few times she sang that line were the high points of my evening. I even said to myself. "May this moment last forever"

----small talk---- Tor says, "I'm not supposed to do this cause this... cause its not on my set list...but the girl is here tonight.. (suddenly) Could someone bring me a celebrex? Just bring it right on the stage, I don't feel so well, but I'll feel better. *she smiled* Anyway... she wants to come.. so..." Into...

Jackie's Strength- Honestly... going with the flow of the show, I really didn't think this fit in for some reason. I started to change my mind towards the last verse and the last chorus... It was beautiful, mind you, maybe it's just cause me and my friend heard it so much that year.. when it was over I saw Joel come on in the dim lights and bring her a pill and she took it.

Icicle- This was sooo beautiful. Got me right back in the swing of things. She held out some of the words and phrases, and it fit very well. When she did the "feel the word, feel iiit." She held out the "it" and sort of... uhh.. rolled it.. like.... "ih-ih-ih-ih-ih-ih-it" yeah, lol, I hope someone gets that. At the end she was singing on the "eeee" sound to the melody of "I should have... I could have.." and she was swirling her hips around on the piano bench. It was cute.

Winter- For some reason I didn't expect this... I was glad to hear it. I was tired of it for a while, but I hadn't heard it for a few months actually, so it was new and refreshing, andd DUH- live Tori! The most wonderful part of the song was the chords she played during and immediately after "all the white horses are still in bed"... it was played all on a high octave and it was fabulous. She sang the "hair is grey" part up the octave for a while and it was intense... I could almost hear the orchestra that is on the CD playing along.

-= Tori gets up and goes to the weirdly painted piano. On her way across, some guy yells, (I think he said) "Beautiful!!" and Tori made little horn-like thngs with her hands on her head =-

Bells for Her- This was... phenominal. I love the sound that weird little piano makes. It was perfect for this song. The improv at the beginning was something like... "She... with me now... not even she... (things here I forget) not even you... can stop what is coming." (Everyon cheers cause they realize what is coming, lol) She added some words at the end of the she said... "There's nothing we can ever ever ever ever fix, can't stop, can't stop, loving you... now... not even you... can stop what's coming..." etc. It was beautiful.

Landslide- I was very happy to hear this. I love this song. It sort of has personal meaning to me. It was pretty standard... but none the less beautiful and memorable. Oh! When she said... "children get older, and I'm getting older too..." I just thought of her and Tasha, and.. man... It was very touching.

Me & A Gun- Of course, I knew this was coming... when I saw her pick up the mic, I sort of held my breath. People cheered after the first lines.. I thought that might not have been necessary, but who knows. Then someones cell rang right after, but it was somewhat quiet. but still. Of all times... It was really intense. I almost got the sense that... I dunno... we were just seeing this part of her that she wanted everyone to see. During some parts her voice seemed... I dunno... as if... it was trembling or something. It was so.. wow. My mom said it made her mad to think about what happened.....

Time- As someone else said, I expected this cause of the "St. Louis" mention. It fit in really well and it was hauntingly beautiful. Much better than on TV on Regis and Kelly, lol. There was a swirly background that came on during the chorus and it was really pretty. The piano and her voice were echoing in the theatre and everything seemed quite and it was just amazing. A wonderful (first) ending.

-= So she got up to leave and shook some hands... a girl gave her what appeared o be a beanie baby, and as Tori walked away she put the beanie baby on her head! Too cute! So then she came back on by the light of the flash light and... =-

Wrong Band- AAAAAAAH! I totally freaked and started bouncing in my chair! (Don't worry there was no one behind me!) It was great. After the first line of one of the verses instead of going "Uh huh" she sort of growled.. it was great! Woohoo! When she sang, "She thinks that she needs more hands" she took her hands off of the piano, that was cool... I have to tell you about the mess up. It was at the "ttheeere's something believin.." and as you know she said. "Let's try that again.." and kept going... " There's something believin, in her voice again, said, there's, somethin believin..... in----" *looks at crowd triumphantly, smiling* "----stead of just leaving.." It was adorable.

Hey Jupiter- This is just such a beautiful song... I don't know what I think of it on the wurly, it was nice, but I think I prefer piano. Anyway, she did screw up the firsct chorus... she said soemthing weird... like... "I wouldn't have to seee... with.... yooooo-oo-o-oou... a maaaaaa-- ajor brainwave.... then repeated... and I thought...." and got it right. It was kinda cool actually. I would have like to hear more of the "hooo-ooo" parts at the end, because she sounds so beautiful when she sings that.... anyhow.

-= She gets up and walks off again, and every cheers and flicks on their lighters *shrug??* and she comes back! Yay! =-

Not the Red Baron- I was very happy to hear this. I wrote about this song in my letter to her, and was actually playing with the idea that it influenced her decision to play it, I dunno. It was incredibly touching... in light of all the sad things that have happened... I really wanted to hear that. I wish the song was longer, I didn't want it to end.

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas- Initially, my jaw dropped, but then I just got a huge grin. I think it was great that she played this. In some weird way, it fit. It meant a lot to me, cause I plan to go back home (where I have lived all my life until August *sniffle*) right after Xmas... and... it fits so well... "faithful friends who are near to us, gather near to us, once more." Aw man... I'm getting misty. Anyway, the song went from soft and delicate to strong and passionate... it was amazing.

Silent All These Years- Somehow I didn't even realize what song this was for a long time. (gasp! I know! I mean, duh!) I was glad she played this. It's a classic, and I'm glad I had the opportunity to hear it live. It summed everything up really well.

-= Tori Leaves.. and doesn't come back. =-

Post Show Meet n Greet

I didn't actually go to this, but I happened to walk by on the way to the parking lot... so I stopped and watched from afar... I watched her come out and she looked happy. The crowd looked calm... the bus was all set up and the door was open and ready to wisk her away. I only stayed for about 30 seconds, I couldn't really see anything... but anyway...

The Crowd

I was really pleased with the crowd. There were two people who I think drank too much beer and had to pee a few times, but I didn't really mind they apologized for making us get up and thanked us for getting up after we did, lol. I didn't hear any singing, or have problems with drunks or fights. There was only one cell phone as far as I know. People were generally nice. I bumped in to these two guys... who were presumably gay and they just started talking to me, they were very funny.

Overall, I had a wonderful time. Tori seemed to be feeling okay, until she needed the meds.. *sniffle* I felt bad... I hope she's feeling better today. I am very happy to have met all the people that I met, I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. It seems to be the general consesus. Does anyone know what happened to Descend? I am worried! I don't know if she ever showed and there were lots of car wrecks that I encountered... so... I just want to make sure, ya know? Anyway.... I know this was incredibly long, but I am a detial kind of girl... I hope somewhat found it interesting. Bye bye everybody! *hugs*

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Review by Vanessa

Well, I knew I'd be a little late in this review, but just to throw my two cents in...

LOVED THE SHOW. I went to the M&G.Got some pics, probably not that great, but...however...she did sign my Laser etched box..my husband had to pass it up to her since he is like two feet taller than me. I think she opened it up and looked at it then signed the outside of it. I feel like the the luckiest freakin girl in the world. (Frostbite aside, ) I mean, how freakin windier could it have been out there?

ANywho...I was impressed with the show as always,

my highlights were:

Icicle

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas...which was beautifully sang

Hey Jupiter

Sugar.....goose bumps on top of goose bumps.

Lanslide...woah

Me And a Gun...I was in a complete trance.

I cant believe someone didnt turn their cell phone off. They were right acrossed form me, I think...anyways...

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Review by anaughtymouse

ok, when i got there i saw the line that wrapped around the building. i also saw the other 3 or 4 doors...so we went in one of those instead. all the security people in front of the building were talking about how they didn't know why everyone was in the huge long line to go through that one door........i dunno. just had to throw that out there.

rufus was funny. i think i might have gotten into his songs more if i had been able to make out what the words were.

tori was AMAZING. this was my first concert ever, and i can't wait to see her again. SATY brought me to tears! i didn't even mind being stuck up in the balcony, just that i was there was enough. i feel like i'm sounding cheesy, and i know there's nothing for me to say that hasn't already been said, so i'm gonna stop rambling now.

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Review by tart

hi all. this was the very first m&g i attended. i'm from kc, so i drove about 4 hours and left at 4 in the morning to make it at a decent time. i was happy to talk to the people i did get to talk to. i'm kind of shy, so... i met tear in hand sara and two sweeties from peoria, il. i'm sorry i didn't remember your names -- so the fab duo who gave tori the "mommy" shirt -- keep in touch(!) i'm the girl in the denim skirt!

i was pretty impressed with the m&g -- i was expecting the worst and it almost came to that if it weren't for this great security guy that treated us like 3rd graders, which most people there needed to be treated like(!)

i was in the 2nd row, near the far left side. i was totally surprised at how sweet tori was! i cannot believe that she makes it such a point to acknowledge everyone there. she is such a tiny little angel!

there were a few girls there that were really rude -- but what can you do? karma will take care of that.

i gave her a letter i had written and asked for pandora. she wrote it on her hand, but i guess maybe pandora was busy last nite tori also posed for a pic with me, which was a bit of a challenge because we both had lots of barricade to lean over -- it still made my year!! i love her even more!

personally, i fell in love with rufus. i went and bought his c.d. today because i couldn't stop thinking about him! he was so fun and i loved his songs! i thought he was such a compatible opener for tori.

the show was -- maybe not what i was expecting. it was beautiful -- her voice seems to have gotten stronger over the the years!! and her piano playing was gorgeous. it was probably my favorite show of the five times i have seen her. it just felt sad to me. i wonder if tori is feeling lonely on the stage during this tour?

97 Bonnie and Clyde - this song feels so powerful when done live. i love it.

Sugar - i cannot believe how intense this is without the band. i was in awe.

Rattlesnakes - this feels so much richer and more beautiful than the album version.

said hello, talked about st. louis.

Improv - o.k. this almost felt like its own song. it was pretty long and seemed to be about tash it was something about putting her hand in her own and going back in time. it was incredible.

Yes Anastasia - this song was my favoritest of the concert. just beautiful. lush and lovely.

Take to the Sky - powerful. fun! i think this was the point my boyfriend fell in love with her

Josephine - pretty.

Etienne - this was achingly gorgeous. i'm guessing that tori is just madly in love with mark. it feels like it in every song that speaks about relationships.

Jackie's Strength - pretty.

Icicle - this sounded a million times better than i would have imagined.

Winter - pretty.

Improv/Bells for Her - magical. this made my boyfriend cry.

Landslide - this is my favorite cover in the universe!

Me and a Gun - very soft and very sad.

Time - i was also expecting this song to show up. a lovely end to the main set.

Encore One:

The Wrong Band - the best gift!! this song makes me so happy -- and it was played gorgeously. you could tell she was having fun -- and we were, too!

Hey Jupiter - sad pretty. it sounds so magical when she plays it on -- whatever she plays it on. she messed up "i thought i wouldn't have to keep with you... a maaaaaaa - jor brainwave.... i thought i wouldn't have to keep with you, hiding." i giggled, but i swear i was the only one that did! so then i felt bad. but it was cute!

Encore Two:

Not the Red Baron - pretty and sad.

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas - hmmmmm. i guess i get it now -- the st. louis thing is neat. and it was a very powerful rendition. it's still a little bizarre. but good bizarre

Silent All These Years - this was just a stellar ending.

and that was that. my boyfriend and i woke up early to get the pics developed from the m&g. they turned out decent. perhaps i can scan them in at work(?) we'll see. in any case, i have created a toriphile from my boyfriend. yay!

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Review by ezelovr

Hello all...I am a relatively new Tori fan, I mean I knew about her stuff a few years back but really did't get into it much...

last night my wife, Mandy, and I went to the show...we drove up from the large metropolis of Joplin...lol...my wife is a huge Tori fan, so for our anniversarry I got us tickets, in fact it was me that turned her on to Tori several years ago...

to be honest I was not really expecting to enjoy the show much, but to just hang around and let Mandy have a good time...SUPRISE...I LOVED THE SHOW...I LOVED TORI...

she was just AWESOME...it was one of the best shows I have ever been to... I thought the song selection was great, especially, Me and A Gun, the way she sang it accapella, and the lone spotlight... it gave me chills...

to my wife's suprise I, yes me, asked her to play our Tori cd's on the way back home after the show... last night I gained a TREMEDOUS amount of respect for Tori as a performer and artist... I look forward to going to another one of her shows as soon as I can...I'm also going to make sure we get the rest of Tori's cd's...LAST NIGHT WAS TOTALLY AWESOME... THANKS TORI

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Review by Descend

ok, this was my first tori show...

and like... i cant really say anything else that anyone hasnt...

but, it was amazing...

i was 3 rows from the stage...

right next to Jamiepoo and Casey

but... this was just amazing...

i swear to god, i know everyone says this... but i swear she looked right at me during me and a gun, probably because i was making a hysterical racket, crying and what not, i knew she was playing it this tour, but i totally wasnt ready for it.... but really, it was amazing...

i didnt make the meet and greet, but i did stand out side for like 2 hours after the post-show m+g, just to see her run on the bus, i knew she was sick, so i didnt really expect her to stop again.

even though the trip was pure hell, it was definately worth it, i hope she goes on tour again...

weeee!

i hope she got my gift i gave her. i just put it on stage, and one of the sound guys got it...

the fox theatre was beautiful. i couldnt stop looking around.

i still cant believe i got such amazing seats.

anyway... im babbling, i dont even know what im talking about...

anyway. it was nice to meet those of you that i did meet

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Review by amk6ce

the meet and greet was way too cold. i spent over five hours jumping up and down with other people just as crazy as i am. :>

i want to say thanks to the guy who got my choirgirl lyrics thing from sneak peak signed for me and for the tall boy with the "mommy" shirt for taking pictures for me (he had a neato car too).

okay, i love rufus. he just seems to fill up everything. this is the third time i've seen him since the summer (twice now at tori shows) and this was a fab preformance. i met his mom who was really excited and in awe of the fox.

speaking of which, i don't know about anyone else, but the lobby freaked me out. granted it was beautifully restored, it was dark, up hill, hundreds of woodcuts along the walls, there were lions and monkeys and stuff with their eyes lighting up and if you look up into the clerestory levels you could see random people watching you. i don't know, but i was very upset by everything in that lobby.

we had good seats, VIP5 area, like the fifth row back -- it was neat seeing the way tori would get into her playing and stare off into someother place.

i've read a ton of the reviews already and i think that this was one of the best tori shows i've been to so far (i really really really had fun at the Davenport '96 show). For me the highlights were Yes, Anastasia with the impromtu she did at the beginning and the new lyrics and stuff she went into. I also really thought that Etienne was fabulous, she seemed really into it and I noticed that she played the whole thing as opposed to what she has done at other shows, and let me tell you, the closing "maybe i'm a witch" was very, um, like, i don't know, like she figured something out and was okay with it. i dunno. OK, but I really dug icicle, someone posted that it was 'as usual' or something -- i really enjoyed her added attention humming to the tune, it was so pretty. Oh, and of course, Merry X-mas, and Landslide. Landslide made Meaghan cry and I got all teary because Meaghan was teary, ah. I'm sure the couple sitting next to us thought we were crazy.

I guess this show was just fabulous even though tori said she felt sick, it was lower key, but it was really emotional and compared to the minneapolis show, it had more suprises, more flavor and more emphasis on the piano. (Bells for her on the whurley was *so* beautiful, i miss it on the harpsichord though.)

Okay, okay, anyhow, I hope all the great people I met are doing well and um, yeah. :> nighty-night.

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Review by Dawn (piano_girl76)

I got there at 8:15am and hung out with a some awesome people all day! FREEZING!!! Anyways I got up front at the meet and greet and met Tori for the first time! I was so nervous! I told her what and inspiration she is to me and she said awwwww and hugged me!!!!!!!!!!!She talked to me forever, signed my keyboard magazine, took a pic with me and then talked to me some more after that. Then she talked to the girl next to me! Sorry Missy don't know your dent name, then talked to me about having kids. I told her we didn't have much luck and she told me to not give up hope and she would be thinking of us because she knows how hard it can be. She said it's when you give up that you will get pregnant! I asked her to play Winter and she wrote it on her hand and she played it at the show!! I could have died! I cried during Winter because it's my favorite song and she played it for me!! I couldn't have asked for a more perfect day ever!!! I got some great pics and I will get those up when I get my scanner up and running soon!!!

The concert was beautiful but you could tell she was not feeling well. I'm guessing her hands were bothering her because she took celebrex. Which is something I had to take for carpal tunnel. It sucks when your hands ache all the time and I can only imagine what hers feel like after all that playing. The set list was amazing! I can't believe I hear Sugar, Winter, Icicle and Merry little Christmas in the same show! Oh and Jackie's strength! Wow!!!!! She is truly one of the sweetest most kind people I have ever met! Thanks for playing it Tori!!!! I doubt she reads here but just in case!!! TY TY TY!!! Meant the world to me.

And I met some amazing people!! You all know who you are!!! I can't wait to meet you all again!!!! woooo hoooo!!!

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Review by stephenia

This was a GREAT concert! I got there about 5:30 and met a lot of really great people white waiting up at the entrance of the Fox. Tori played all of my fav songs. Not the Red Baron and Josephine are two of my all-time favorites and I didn't think she would play those. Tori looked stunning. I was in VIP 3, RowB, so we were VERY close. The theatre had set up a seat section right in front of the stage with basic fold-up type seats you would sit at in a meeting or something. Those looked very uncomfortable. We were seated just behind that section in row 2, so about I would say 30 feet from the stage. I couldn't believe how great these seats were.

Tweek: As far as your question, I got my tickets off Metro-Tix, but, I signed in at 9:20 to get my tickets, even though they were not supposed to go on sale until 10:00! That is why I got such good seats, because I just happened to log in early! I guess they must have started selling them eastern time!

I thought Rufus was great. Did anyone else notice it seemed like he was a bit tipsy? It looked like he was drinking a Heineken or something like that and when he got up to leave the stage he kinda stumbled and sloshed his drink over the stage. He did keep saying he was really happy and he didn't know why.......

There was some chick behind me that kept singing through the whole damn concert. I went there to hear my beloved Tori sing, some some gal behind me....

Tori looked great. She wore blue satin pants (I think that was what color it was, but it was hard to tell with the lighting) with a red tull-type of thing over it (it looked like what she wore on david letterman) and she had a sequine bodice. She wore strappy red high heel shoes and her earings kept shining in the light. Everytime she would move I would see the light reflect off her earings.

Did anyone else think it was kick arse how she was playing two pianos at once on Rattlesnakes?

yes, that sign-language lady was VERY distracting. She was to our left, and since we were so close to the stage the spotlight on her kept distracting me.

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Review by JodoKaast

Well, like quite a few other people it seems, this was my first Tori show. It was really great, in my opinion. I won't add a review or anything, i mostly agree with what everyone has said so far. But a little bit of my story:

Lord knows when I got to the M&G, but I really can't remember. I sat around in the shade for too long before realizing how much more abundantly warm it was over in the sun across the street. So I stood over there for a while. When the baricades starting coming out, it started to be a rush to get a good place, but then the security guard (who did a really good job, i must say) gave us the 3rd grader speech. And everybody kind of cooled off, which was good.

So then we started calmly walking towards the baricade, and I ended up smushed up on the right side about 2 people back from the front. All in all a good position, since it was the first place Tori came over to.

After Tori got there, she started talking to the people in the handicapped area and signing stuff for them and whatnot. As she started to move on I just leaned out and said "Hi Tori. Can you recommend me a good wine for getting over a girl?" After I asked she knowingly rolled her eyes and gave me a little coy look that said "oh you boys and your girls..." and we went into a little bit of a discussion on good wines. After we had been talking about it for a little while, Steve said "How about some Mad Dog 20/20?" we all had a little chuckle and I said "Had too much of that already... Seems to create more problems than it solves" with a smile. I would have had her sign a cd or something, but all my stuff was still in my backpack and I was unable to move at all as soon as we were into the cow pen.

I listened to what she said for as long as I could (before she was out of ear/eye-shot) and then as Steve was more or less in front of me I asked him what kind of sunglasses he was wearing (they looked pretty good, and I'm in need of a pair) and he said Anarchy, to which someone replied "How appropriate."

Well, after the M&G we went to Farotta's (which was the meeting place Rainbush and I had organized and tried to get together) and were able to nearly fill two rooms with all the people. I must say I was very impressed with how many showed up, and the only thing I'm sorry for is that I didn't get to meet you all! Hopefull there will be a Spring Tour coming back to St. Louis and we can have another go!

So dinner was really good, and near the end I got a phone call that everyone joked was probably Tori (wow, that would have been great, eh???) but it was just one of my friends trying to arrange giving me the tickets she didn't need before the concert (which she actually ended up using) and so I had to finish dinner as quickly as possible so I could get lost again and somehow find my way back to Washington University and pick her up, and then get lost again as we tried to get back to the Fox. We almost missed Rufus!

And speaking of which, I thought Rufus was incredible!! If I had any money I would definitely go out and buy some of his CDs right now! Unfortunately I'm a poor college student .

Tori was great of course, and I really really enjoyed it. That's about all I can really say, as to try to put it into words would not accurately represent my experience.

So I suppose that's all the pertinent information. It was really great to meet you all! I hope I can see you all again sometime soon!

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Review by jimthecello

Sorry, I feel that Tori was not "on" in St. Louis. I am not saying that she completely sucked, but this one was the weakest out of the 3 I've been to.

Here's what made it worth renting a car to be there:

Sugar- Weird because I was thinking before the show that I really wanted her to play it and she ended up playing it first (ok, technically second) It ROCKED. She was totally into it.

Lots of UtP!- Anastasia and Wrong Band.....YES!

Landslide- I grew up with Fleetwood Mac because of my older bro and sisters.

M&aG- the best performance I've heard.

What needs to go-

SATY (NO!)

Rattlesnakes (Real Men or Raining Blood should've been there instead.)

Rude/unfriendly St. Louis Toriphiles

I was at first bummed out that I was on the right side (3rd row), but Tori frequently looked out towards our section and I swear we made eye contact a couple of times.

I still can't say this show was fully amazing because she was not completely on. I say this because I got that vibe, not because she admitted she was sick/ getting sick (?)

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Review by Raquel (ToVenusTori)

Anyways, you all already got the review of the songs, which i can add more to, but since it was a personal experience for each and every one of us, i will leave my review of them out. (it was to say the LEAST, the most amazing show I have been to)

I had some problems with tickets and such, Yada Yada Yada, but to make a long story short, the tour manager talked to Tori about my problem and SHE gave me PIT SEATS 2nd row center area and backstage to meet her afterwards....!!!!!!!!! she was soooo soooo nice and apologetic for the crap i went thru... she even wanted to contact me to make sure the person who did this didn't do it again to some other fans...

anyways, i got pics with her in her dressing room and she signed my cd's and i showed her a picture of my darling angle Daughter who is almost the same age as hers and she wanted to KEEP the picture. I was like ummm ok... and they had me write my info on the back of it (Phone, address, email, full name, etc.)... anyways Joel, Jerome and Tori were sooo soooo soooo nice to me. I was in shock. I moved up to the front row where my real seats were finally cause they were RIGHT in front of me empty... and they were rightfully mine, so I sat my ass there the rest of the show... LOL

The other highlight was, that in all the chaos before the show, me crying thinking i had no seats, this wonderfully nice and awesome guy GAVE me two fifth row seats.... i told him thank you and hugged him and i almost cried... when we got 2nd row and backstage, i went in got my seats and then went all the way to the top back of the balcony area and picked two people from there to give the fifth row to....

they were pleased to say the least. two very nice and interesting and pleasent people.

Scott and Amy(?) right? if you are on here... LOL

anyways, Jason (the guy who gave up those fifth row seats) was then sitting near me in the SAME row...

we then BOTH had backstage... We talked for a while and when i went to the bathroom and came back out he was gone out the backdoor already cause his meet and greet was over...

I hope to see them again... Two very nice guys...

Anyways, that is part of my show experience... the first stuff (the ordeal with the front row tickets is a WHOLE other story).... BUT in the end, I got more than I could ever imagine and Tori herself made it all possible....

Thank you .....

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Review by shannon (nannyanny)

st. louis show meet and greet:

surreal! it was my first.

my friend and i got to the theater at 9am and joined a pack of totally awesome, hard core tori fans. [the 20 originals!! hehe] (girl in denim skirt: hi!!! yay! i'm the girl with the mommy shirt. it was so nice meeting you and your boy. email me if you get the chance!) hi also to tearinhand (hey!! did you get a ticket?? email me!), the girls who ordered pizza: blonde twins and the girl with the cute hat and sunglasses , mikewhy and amanda, the boy who runs the videography at the front of the line, and everyone else we met!

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sightings before tori:

Tasha' crib

Mark Hawley (and he DOES have nice calves, girls, right?!) .... he winked and/or shot an evil eye at my greeting.

Rufus and his mommy.... very cute. Exciting to see her there, she's a classic folk goddess. he was.... shaggy, looked a lil tired. erm, what were all those empty Heineken cases, and was there some connection to the one he brought on stage? ;-)

Joel and Steve

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getting closer to tori time... things got a little tense when late comers started rushing and cutting ahead of the people that got there at 6am... ooh, such a nasty thing to do. :-(

I LOVED the camaraderie involved in being in the front of that line and trying so hard to hold ground, and be fair, and be calm..... and yet be SOOO excited.... hehe

we were all led like "a bunch of third graders" (hehe) to the barricades.

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tori:

cute little shoes-- adidas (white) with navy stripes up the side

Gap-esque blue&green scarf

Dolce&Gabana huge black bag with a big brown wallet inside (Joel was holding it)

famous teardrop wedding ring close up: wow.

songs all over her hands

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i was third back at the very fartheset left (hi to the girls around me)

i was a little jealous because my friend was so tall so he could see more, and also got all the glory for the 'mommy' shirt even though it was my idea (hehe)...

got over that when tori greeted the girl in the denim skirt-- it was a cute greeting!

my greeting:

"hi Tori." (this is all blurry here, because of nerves) i handed her a CD of me covering her songs and said something kooky to the effect of "its not a demo, its a tribute!" or what have you (embarrasing) and then asked her to sign my little earthquakes booklet. i think she said "thank you" and "how do you spell your name?" then i said "you're so beautiful." and she gave a little blushy face .... but, again, i'm really not sure. i really don't know if i was breathing, either. hehe.....

anyway....... is it just me, or is it very hard to remember meeting Tori just the way it was? does anyone else feel this way? its like...... a little far away dream, really.

concert was amazing. 'winter'...... wow...... the rest has been said. tori's voice was soaring mostly.... her piano brilliant.... i wonder if the celebrex was for her the bone deformation in her jaw, too? poor thing!

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Review by karmagirl220

Ok this was my third tori show overall...second SLG...and i have to say this was the best day of my life...

So we (2 friends and I) got to the M&G around 8:30ish and we met some wonderful and nice people. (you guys know who you are..Aloha here with the twins) It was so cold but hey pneumonia and hypothermia was worth.

I got to meet tori...i was in the first row on the far right so i was like the 3rd person she talked to...she asked me how i was and i couldnt talk cuz i was literally freezing, so she grabbed my hands and said: freezing, are you? so i said yes smiling and i told her something to which she replied with a smile and bringing her hands to her heart. then she signed my LE video and she made a comment about my name, then AWESOME Shawn took a pic of me and her and i showed to her (digi camera) and she said: we look so cute together, dont we? SHE IS SO FUCKING ADORABLE...

anyways..the highlight of the show was when we got in..we had Middle Balcony tickets cuz we decided to go to StLouis after the Nashville show...

well we were heading upstairs..i went to the bathroom and we I came out, my friends were talking to steve, who called them after he recognized them from the M&G and upgraded us to FRONT ROW CENTER! We were so excited and thankful...

About the performance, I noticed that this show was really mellow but after this whole day/night im not complaining...I think she did her best considering that she wasnt feeling well...I cant wait for the next tour and I want to keep in touch with these wonderful ppl I met..so hmm pianogirl_1976, mm missy, shane, shawn..etc (sorry im bad with names so forgive me if i dont mention someone)...keep in touch..you guys are awesome.

my last comment will be this...to the "CASUALLY WALKING GIRL"...people like you bring out the killer instinct in everyone...you are so rude ..i hope you enjoy your tori autograph, considering that there were people around you that got there early in the morning (not like you) and couldnt get one because you literally pushed them out of the way...next time...stay at home and watch a tori video. You give tori fans a bad reputation.

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Review by danica (spark0216)

ok, i'm sure everything i'm gonna say you've probably already heard like a dozen times.. but tori was absolutely magnificent at the fox saturday!! i've never seen her live before so it was such a treat to finaly get to see her!! i don't like to bring this up because i don't want to sound like i'm bragging or anything, but it really made it special that the first time i saw her i had front row seats!!! (my friend ian had a fit the entire time..)

even though me and my friend were unable to get close enough to meet tori at the meet and greet, it was such and awesome experience!! we met some great people there.. one in particular jen.. (WE LOVE YOU GIRL!! we had sooooo much fun after the concert!! thank you soooo much for the cd.. i love it!!! )

now on to the concert.

i can't say much about rufus' performance because my friend and i spent most of it in line to get tori goodies.. we got in at the last two songs.. but from what i heard he was pretty good..

but tori's performance was absolutely wonderful!! i've heard a lot of people are kinda freaked out to hear 97 bonnie and clyde, but i thought it was great.. i guess that means i'm weird or something.. lol.. anyway.. the set list was soo cool!! i loved hearing bells for her, and etinee (i'm sure i spelled that wrong).. and witner..

i nearly jumped out of my seat when she played hey jupiter.. ian really wanted to hear upside down, but was just as happy to hear landslide.. all of her music was beautiful!! anyway, for me the best part was after "time" when she got up before her first encore, she came up to the front of the stage and waved at everyone, and all of us front row people raced up to the stage in hopes for a handshake or something.. well, ian brought a zebra beanie baby to give to her and he handed it to me and told me to give it to her..

so i'm standing there with hands out holding the beanie baby, and she bends over and takes my hands in hers!!! oh my god i thought i would have died!!! it was soooo cute to see her put it on her head andwalk offstage with my beanie baby!! i really need to thank ian, he should have given it to her.. but he was standing right next to me, so he was happy to be that close.. i'm sure there is sooo much more i wanted to say, but my mind is like going in circles even two days after the concert so i'm sure i'm forgetting tons of stuff..

so anyway, now that i've rambled on.. i just wanted to say that i hope everyone else had as awesome of a time as i did.. and hopefully i'll be able to meet more toriphiles on other concerts. (we'll definiely look forward to seeing you again jen!!) love to you all!!
hugs and kisses

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Review by squirdmnss

i thought the m&g crowd was deceptively calm. i mean, i was fairly well smushed once she got off the bus. there was definitely pushing, even though no one seemed to, like, freak out. and as evidenced, while it wasn't chaos, and was very organized, i think lots of people were a little too uptight about losing their place in line, or getting butted in front of. get over it for pete's sake. your life won't end because someone got in front of you at a meet and greet, i don't care if you'd been there since last tuesday. such a sense of entitlement.

then again, i was close enough to talk to her, and i got some great pics (no scanner though, that's a pisser), so why am i bitching?

i thoroughly enjoyed the meet and greet, she was out for a LONG time i thought. did anyone happen to get a picture of her with the rubba duck i gave her? he was so cute.

about the setlist, most of it has been covered, but i honestly was a little disappointed at the main set, especially after reading all the phenomenal ones she's put together for other shows....i was sort of bummed that we got take to the sky, winter, and icicle and such. i mean, her performance was AMAZING, no question, but i think i had seen every song (except perhaps etienne) at other shows in the past....no real complaints though.

and then there were the encores. wrong band! eep! for paul! yay paul. you're going to houston, right? haha.

and then encore #2. red baron was awesome. and then, what i thought was the evening's big surprise, have yourself a merry little christmas. there will never be a more amazing moment in my life. 5 years of campaigning for an entirely different xmas song (little drummer boy), and she plays this! i was alternately bawling and laughing out loud, it was so amusing.

needless to say, her playing this song is ample proof that she reads the letters she is given before shows (if anyone needed it) and that she cares about her fans. i gave her a letter at the m &g....without too many details here, talking about how my grandma died last month, holidays are a big big deal in my family, and i'm worried about how my family - my mom in particular - are going to hold up. i didn't actually request ANY song, either at the m& g or in the letter. she just played it. *sigh* she's amazing.

well, that's all i care to say about that. i want to say hi to the people i did meet/see there (hole_fan, coolingboiMD, the girls with the pizza-yum yum thanks!, all my old friends - dor, mattpage, mikewhy {who i didn't actually say hi to all day, i'm such a putz. all of a sudden out of nowhere i get shy. wtf?}, cindy, francesine, denise, etc - , dave w/the cast, robert, the cute girl in front of us who got front row tix from joel in chicago...) i'm quite certain that most of you didn't know that THIS was ME, but oh well. if anyone cares, i was the tall redhead in the red leather jacket with the navy & white bucket hat on. apologies to anyone i stepped on, ran into, was shoved into, yelled at, cried on, or bothered. i'm kind of a spaz....

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Review by Sara (tearinhand)

the Meet and Greet hmm.. I don't think I'm going to go to another one or if I do I'm just going to meet people and such. The only reason I went to this one was to get a signature for my friend in Australia who can't make it to any of the shows. It was my 3rd meet and greet. I went to the side barriar because I knew I'd probably at least see Tori when she came down that way. Being short has its problems hehe. Anyways I'm like 4 people from the front which kind of sucked for getting to the venue at around 9am and fucking freezing my ass off for a good 5 hours along with those other people there. I got the signature I wanted and even asked her how she liked the faerie wings(stupid me didn't say from Nashville). So it was worth it. My pictures came out really well too. BTW ANYONE WITH PICTURES OF TORI WITH THE MOMMY SHIRT PLEASE POST IT. I know shannon and her friend(i forgot his name *hides head in shame*) would love to see it. hehe I'm so glad she got it for a little while I wasn't sure and kept telling him to hold it up near her.

I didn't go to the dinner because I had a flat tire and I needed to go to my friend's apartment and see if they knew any place I could go and get it fixed at. Well they weren't home so I spent the hour eating fast food and worrying about my tire. I drive back to the venue and go to the front. They just turned on the outside lights of the fox when i got there so you could feel the heat from the lights. it was very nice. Right before we went in I met Descend hehe they knew I was from the south because of my accent. I hope Tori got your present too. I bet she did they are pretty good at getting those things to her. It was soo cute.

When she started 97 bonnie and clyde I could tell she was sick. But then when she did sugar i had my doubts. Anyways it was amazing to see the show from almost center view on the floor. Something I noticed in Nashville she had a table with pictures of a couple of the girls on the stage and in St. Louis she didnt.

I just about flipped when I realized she was playing Etienne. Its the only thing from YKTR that i could stand to listen to hehe. Jackie's Strength was amazing completely surprised she played it along with Yes Anastasia (though she skipped my favorite part of the song) and Josephine. I didn't start crying until Winter. Then I cried during Me and a Gun and a little during Silent. I don't think it was as awesome as Nashville but it was a wonderful show.

At first when she started Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas I was like why is she playing this. Then I remembered we were in St. Louis and that song had been written for Judy to sing in Meet me in St. Louis. So it makes sense.

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Review by annie (myfeathers)

i'm here with a review!!!

OK, i did 16 hours of traveling this weekend just to see tori, and it was great!!! it's a close second to the chicago show on tuesday in my favorite concert list.

me and my friend ashley didn't get there until 12 because we got lost. it was ok though. i've said this before, but there's something about being small that works to your advantage. people just basically pushed me around at the meet and greet till i was right behind the people in the front. (this happened at chicago 99 also). i don't really liked getting pushed around, but i'm so tiny people forget that i'm there!!!

anyway, tori was a sweetie. i gave her another piece of art (to go with the one i gave her in chicago) and a card from me and a few girls in the meet and greet line. she was very grateful. i also told her about my dad coming to chicago and waiting all day with me, and he told me to tell her "hi". she seemed really surprised and said that it was cool that my dad went with me and to say "hi" back. i got some cool pix, but i don't have access to a scanner till next week.

the dinner was great!!! i had so much fun. Steve was laughing at me cause my pasta bowl was wider than my body (LOL!! it really was!!) and the food was excellent. thanks shane and missy for making a good choice in restaurants.

the show was so good, i loved it. we had third row and it was so intense. i ended up starting to bawl at eitienne and bawled pretty much on and off the rest of the show. it was very emotional for me!! i bawled to ashley in the car about how i would miss everyone and i hope i can still talk to them, yadda, yadda, yadda...

i dunno, my mind is a mess. i'm still tired!!!

well i gotta go. i love all you guys!! missy, shane, steve, mikewhy, amanda, everyone i met... oh god it was sooo fun...

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Review by saturngirl

Wow I was Totally blown away. I know she wasnt in tip top shape but the show was amazing.

THis was my first Tori show and it seemed like it took forever to finally see her (Ive been a fan since little earthquakes and have tried too see her on many occassions but stuff always fell through).

I almost didnt make it to this show because my friend was having car trouble the night before. id a taken the Greyhoung if i had to.

MEET @ GREET-
i got there about 2 oclock because we got lost trying to find Grand st.(to squid : Iwas the girlw/red hair who tripped over the crutches because i was walking around in such a days.)

I met so many cool people at the concert I asked many people if been on the dent and almost all said yes, ive been a lurker for quite sometime (hows that for shy).
BUt anyways it was really nice to be around people who feel the same way as i do about tori.Yaaaeh!

i was under the impession that there was no meet & greet at all , i only saw her on her way down the ramp to the door.

you all know what happened at the show by now
so i wont bther you by force feeding you anymore informatiion, but i will tell you that i am very proud to have been at the show.

If you remember who i am e-mail me please i would love to talk. most of the mmet and greet i had puppy dog earmuffs on, i have red hair and stand about 5-5. ok. i was also close to the fox club doors and the end of the barricades when we moved over. oh well
im off. hope everyone had a good time

i know i did!!!

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Review by Queen Grimson

*I originally posted this in the Classic Rock Forum -- GR refers to Grand Rapids, MI show -- sorry it took me a while to post it here*

This was an awesome show. After 97 B&C it seemed to take Tori a little longer to come out on stage, like she did in GR (and I would guess other shows). Maybe this was a sign that she wasn't feeling well. At the afternoon M&G she seemed all good and in good spirits.

Anyway it started out very powerful for me. Sugar was spectacular, always one of my favorites and this was a great performance. And then she did what I wanted to hear from SLG, 'Rattlesnakes' and I was thinking to myself, okay this is getting good.

She then took a break, took a sip (spoon) of her coffee-ice cream? and then mentioned about visiting Cahokia and a Children's Musuem (which was probably fun for her daughter Tash, but also Cahokia might have been fun too, cause they had games in the musuem, although maybe a little too complex for a one-year old -- but what a great mommy she is to take her daughter out on the town). Then she said, "Yes, we've been all over your Town here, its a very cool place", and smiled, from what I could see, making those St. Louians feel good about their city. Then she said visiting those places made her want to go back in time and sang like an improv to that effect to lead into a song where she does go back in time (1919 in fact) and then performed an eloquent 'Yes, Anastasia', one of my favorites and an incredible lead in, very powerful.

Then she did 'Take to the Sky' a B-side that I rarely listen to but love (Its difficult for me to get to the B-sides most of the time). And this was quite stunning song to hear, and she performed it with such intensity. At this point in the show I was thinking to myself one word for Tori's performance:

ON!

All these tunes I was really, really into, and just couldn't wait for more.

Then she did 'Josephine' which I never heard live before, since I didn't see her on the 5 1/2 weeks tour. This was very eloquently done and the lighting effects were superb and cool

And then Entienne, which I heard in GR, and again another intense performance. Love this YKTR tune, and done quite well.

And then, the mood of the concert changed somewhat as Tori then mentioned that she was not feeling well. This made me feel a little down, for her, and changed my mood a little. I wasn't thinking about the intensity of her performances or wasn't thinking of them that way. Jackie's Strength was a great performance, perfect for reaching for "strength" in her time of need, but I wasn't looking at the show in the same way as the first few songs.

Icicle was an awesome performance, so was the beautiful 'Winter'. 'Bells for Her' was good, but it was hard to pick out at first, because the effect of the off tune piano didn't seem to be there. She performed it on something other than her Bosey, a keyboard off to the side maybe?? (someone probably here knows what instrument it was)

Landslide is always good to here, an excellent Fleetwood Mac cover, also heard in on the second encore with Bachelorette and Lust at GR. 'Me and a Gun' was good, and as always, and very appropriate for St. Louis, Tom Waits 'Time' was awesome. People almost aplauded during the "East of East Saint Louis" line.

The first encore was highlighted with "Wrong Band". Its always good to hear tunes from 'Pink' and 'Hey Jupiter' was great also.

My absolute favorite of the encores was at the beginning of the second encore "Not the Red Baron" at this time, the two peeps that were sitting between me and Page left the show, and Page was very nice and offered me his binoculars for this song. Again, thanks Page/John, it was great to see her better during this great tune "Not the Red Baron...Not Charlie's wonderful Dog". This song typified the mood that changed after she mentioned about not feeling well, but it lead into more of a "Solace" feeling, that while down, was uplifting and therapeutic in a way.

It lead into Tori's surprising entry of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" like she was wishing us well and maybe her daughter other loved ones well. Even though I really don't like hearing about Christmas until Dec 22, and a cheesy song at that, I think this was very appropriate and I very much enjoyed it. She ended with 'Silent All These Years' which again added to the 'Solace' and reaching for an uplifting and was done very well.

Overall, I think that the GR show was more jovial and fun performance, but this was more spiritual in a way . I can't say that one show was better than the other but this one leaves me with a 'longing' and I am still in deep thoughts and a spirtual high about the show and I am suffering with 'withdrawls'

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Review by bellsforme

Hi All
I am a bit new to the dent, but It is becoming a home for this Toriphile. I finally got to see her perform this past Saturday and it was breathtaking to say the least. But before I get to that, can I just say one thing?

Rufus sucked. period.
I am sorry if that hurts people's feelings, but you know what they say about opinions....
I know that Tori would be a hard act to open anyway because her brilliancy is blinding, but Rufus was awful. It sounded like a Hawaiian Luau got puked up on the stage.
Uck. The sound system at the Fox agreed with me too.

ANYWAY.

The highlights of Tori's concert were - EVERYTHING>!

She came on way after nine which worried some of us.
I don't think she was feeling well tonight and the cold of St. Louis probably didn't help. She asked for a Celebrex during the performance and went on anyway.

I barely made it to the meet and greet, which was a ton of people and a barricade. I didn't get to see her sign anything, because I was at the end by the stage door. My man and I called out "Hey Tori" and she looked right at us and waved! I COULDN"T BELIEVE IT! That was better than a sig. After she went in and everyone dispersed, I talked to the security gaurd and gave him a little beaded blue box to give Tori, which he said after inspecting it that he would. Inside was a spark. Maybe when she gets it she will know how much she means to her fans.

She opened (of course) with '97 Bonnie and Clyde. The lighting set the tone and mood perfectly and when the holy curtain came crashing down I shuttered from the bare crescendo of it!

Sugar - This was beautiful and haunting as ever. When she said the line "Your just a pussy.... my sweet boy" a cheer went through the crowd.

Rattlesnakes - This song fit Tori like a glove and she wore it well.

Yes Anastasia - Tori did a beautiful intro with "Sometimes I go back in Time..." she had spoken about Cahokia. I wished at that moment I had been in Cahokia too, so that I could have told Tori in person how much her music has meant to my life.

Take to the Sky - She played this song with one hand slapping the Bosey as I have heard is her trademark move. I was blown away. I wish this song was on a tape or cd so I could hear it again as it is now one of my favs.

Josephine - I had never heard this song before, but it was beautiful.

Ettienne - I had never heard this song before either, but haunts me still.

Jackie's Strength - This one was interesting. Before she played it, Tori said something about how this wasn't on her set list "But she just showed up." Tori's songs are as alive to her as living breathing girls. Previously this was not a particular favorite of mine, but I respect it more now having heard it live.

Icicle - Chilled us both, no pun intended. Her voice seems to dance along the notes of the piano like a little fairy on the tinkles of the highs.... beautiful. Makes you float along....

Winter - haunting

Bells for Her - She switched to the star covered piano on the other side of the stage facing left, which is where we were sitting (Vip 2 orch, row J) She seemed to look right at us while singing it. This is the one song I wanted her so desperately to play as it is my favorite (If I could pick just one) and she did for the first time on this tour. I was beyond moved, to the point of tears.

Landslide - This was one of my favorite Stevie nicks songs, and I didn't know Tori covered it, but it was the most beautiful rendition I have ever heard in my life.

Me and a Gun- words cannot begin to describe this. The room was utterly silent. There was but a single spotlight on Tori, somewhat dim, while she sang it, a bit flattly which added to the emotion. It was as if we were all in a bathroom with her as she sang, and not in the gigantic theater. Not an utterance was heard. She got a standing ovation from some people who were thrown to their feet with sheer emotion.

Time - This song is just beautiful. I knew this would be the end, so I was a bit sad as I listened, but it was still as lovely as ever. This is one of my favorites from the new cd.

First oncore -

The Wrong Band - I was so happy to hear this!!! She has yet to do it and rarely does, but it was awesome!!! I got giddy! People sang along in my section and it was just so cool. She had fun with it even though she wasn't feeling well.

Hey Jupiter - The lady next to me had asked me prior to the show what my favorite album was and I had to say Pele, which she also agreed, and when this song began, that lady grabbed my arm and said "Yes, finally some Pele!!!" Which made us both pretty happy but I think she freaked out quite a bit. I love this song and Tori made it sound better live than on the album.

She usually does three songs for each oncore, so when she only did two, I wondered if she would even come out for a second oncore. But after Hey Jupiter, people were lighting lighters and screaming for her, so she finally came back. I thought that was sweet of her considering how she felt.

Not the Red Baron - This song sounded so forlorn, many were in tears. I was saddened, but it was lovely.

Have yourself a Merry little Christmas - I was surprised to hear this. I have been told she has done it before, but it was as if she really liked this audience and was personally wishing us all happiness. I was touched.

Silent All these Years - I was again surprised, but only because she hasn't done the really popular songs much on this tour. This is the song that started it all for me way back when. This is the song that made me a Toriphile. I felt a sense of overwhelming peace leaving the concert on that song, and therefore was not as sad that it was over as I thought I would be.

After it was over, I rushed out a side door and stood at the barricade, I was right in front of the bus door!! I thought I would be able to get an autograph for sure because of my location, but Tori was not feeling well as I said earlier, so she only signed a few by the door and then went back in. She told her security gaurd that the baby Tash was sleeping on the bus and she wanted the crowd dispersed so as not to wake her. THe nanny came out of the bus and was drinking a beer and someone in the barricade crowd yelled out that they wanted one, then the driver got angry and they dispersed us. I was so sad for the fact that I was right by the door and could have touched that bus, and I almost had the opportunity to tell Tori just what her music meant to me and how it has changed this strange little girl...

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Review by dividing canaan

i also agree about etienne. i was hoping she would do cool on your island. but was very pleased with etienne. it was a very good october-haunt song.

have yourself a merry little christmas made me imagine tori celebrating christmas with all of us. it was so sweet.

and as for the baby sleeping on the bus. now i finally know why everyone was being hushed outside. me and my friend were wondering what that was all about.

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