Tori Fans Dew Drop Inn - April 1996

And then...

Tori did a third encore, and it wasn't just any encore. She came out again (I was really surprised, because lately she seems to be sticking with only two encores...) and said that she was going to play a song that she had never performed before in concert. (Of course, I couldn't figure out for the life of me what this mysterious song could be, but I was certainly very curious) She said it was a song off of Y Kant Tori Read.

And then she played Etienne!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was so beautiful!! I was simply in shock. It was the very last thing I expected, and I've been humming it all day. So here's the rest of the concert:

(The Professional Widow part was also a surprise. Does anyone recall her playing that in concert?)

Anyway, it was definately the most beautiful and wonderful of the four Tori concerts I have had the honor to see. It was almost like Tori had read my review from Friday's concert: She was chatty with the audience, talking before Cornflake Girl, The Doughnut Song (talking about trying to explain her songs to the British Press and asking them "Do you know what I mean?" Then she remembered that her mother always used to tell her that if she started saying that she should make sure SHE knows what she means... it was cute) and she talked before Marianne and also at one point she commented that she had the Greyhound Bus theme song in her head all day, and she sang it to us ("Grey hoooooooouuuuuunnnd" ;) And she held the ending notes of the songs for that instant before the audience bursts into applause. And she smiled and seemed to have a good time. And before Talula she was trying to make a few adjustments to her harpsichord and was saying, "Now, I think this goes here, and this goes....here... I'm just not very good with these mechanical things. I'd be great on my wedding night, wouldn't I?"

my friend and i drove back sunday to catch the last show too, we were able to get tickets 7th row center, very nice view! tori seemed much more relaxed and the crowd was a lot more receiving too.

this show was mindblowing! she almost started crying during both marianne and me and a gun, but held on. she came outside afterwards wearing a minnie mouse T w/ a litle mermaid sweatjacket, and once again talked to everyone (and this time i didn't freak out either :)

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Tori was beautiful live...
MY favorite parts of the concert were:
Son of a preacher man playing as tori came on
The end of Talula (tornado mix) that went Right into Me and a
gun--Never have i heard such respect from a crowd... if hearing
respect makes any sense.
Love Song(on the harpsichord i think) - Such a treat!
Doughnut song The last song placed on the album... after 4
months of mixing the guys were drunk off Guiness and she just
came up with this song...
To the persons who asked about Russians dying on ice... When
did Petrenko die? November minus 4 months puts us in August...
I also loved seeing all the fans there, from 12 year old girls
in their freaky clothes to the 40 year old men with their
girlfriends to me, an 18 year old guy and my relatively normal
girlfriend. She and i, i think are more normal than most
pinkies...
Did anyone else that went to the saturday concert get annoyed
by section G?
The top section where the little girls couldn't stop
screaming...
At least they were quiet during love song and MAAG
Did anyone catch what tori said to the guy who wanted to marry
her?
It sounded like "i do"
Also did anyone think her hair made her look like a muppet
U remember on sesame street that red guy who plays the piano..
She bobbed her head like him...
It was almost funny : )
It was a great night!
As it should have been

...............

So what does everyone think of her ending (most or all, i'm not sure) of her sets with Me and a Gun? It came right after Talula (tornado Mix) in the concert i went to. Talaula was Really loud and bassy(is that a word?) and then the place went black and she pulled out the mike and the place went silent. I was in awe. How can she shift gears like that? I was WISHING that Everyone in the place could have offered her a moment of silence. Of course no one did so i went along with them and clapped. Anyone else not want to clap after MAAG?

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What I remember most about Friday night's show is how I felt. I was calm all day and when I found my seat and sat I was strangely quiet and sedate (to know me is to know the true meaning of "high strung"). I also remember seeing Tori for the first time as she walked onto the stage. I had just commented to my friend that the piano and the Harpsichord look so small from our seats. Well, when Tori came out I wondered, but only for a second, what is that tiny woman going to do in between those two HUGE instruments.

She sat and started to play that note from Beauty Queen, she dipped here head and fluttered her hand at the audience, waving hello to us. My heart skipped a beat.

I absolutely loved the whole concert. I loved when she was "riding the bull" ---she kind of used the piano bench as a bull and was doing a little riding motion for a bit. Fun!!! Precious Things was very dramatic, everyone in the crowd responded at all of the appropriate places. "nine inch nails and little fascist panties tucked inside the heart of every nice---" she took her hands off the keys, curled them into fists and, starting from her thighs, she wiped her fists up her body as she growled for a VERY long time "Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrlllllllllll". In my section there was an audible collective gasp. I was floored.

My friends and I sang along as if we were sitting around the campfire with Tori. I must say that I loved it when during Sneeze she held this note from one mike to the next and people were screaming. I was still comatose at the fact that I was there.

MAAG was the most profound moment for me.

The show itself was incredible. Tori was in rare form last night. Before she started playing the first number, someone in the audience yelled, "Welcome Home, Tori" and she replied with, "It's good to be back." A neat touch...there were a lot of Richard Montgomery kids in the audience. Before Cornflake Girl, Caton played a guitar intro and Tori got up and danced. During CALS and Take To The Sky, she played some heavy duty percussion on her Bosendorfer.

After the first encore. when she left the stage, about thirty people in the upper tier stood up and lit lighters. They didn't sway or anything, just lit them, and it looked like lightning bugs in the hall. After the second, someone in the front row gave her four dozen pink roses. She opened the wrapping, and spread them on top of her Bosey. The female audience went nuts during Leather, and Tori did a bit of a riot grrrl thing during Precious Things. Her vocal gymnastics were amazing last night. She played hey jupiter on a pump organ. I really don't know what else to say. The show was just amazing. I have never heard a silence as quiet as the one when she sang Me And A Gun. That song made me shake when she sang, just the power and intensity in her voice.

Wow.

Tori is amazing.

And finally the moment came. Tori came out and waved at everyone, and sat down and played. Here's the set:

*Then she talked about the duet she did with Michael Stipe that was rejected because it wasn't "Bryan Adams" (laugh from audience) and went into

She then said something to the effect of: "This -isn't- China. Now we're riding the bull," and stood up and pretended to hold reins.

*then she said a few words about her classmates in the Audience who had sent her a letter backstage, and she said a few words about a girl named Mary who supposedly committed suicide

Then she walked off and the two chatty girls next to me decided that it was time for them to leave too. Two daring audience members from further back replaced them, but I didn't mind because they were certainly more devoted fans...

Encore 1:

Encore 2:

And then she left and didn't come back :(

And now I understand a little more what other people have been saying about Tori seeming run down in concert, and less connected to the audience. I could see this clearly. For one, usually there was no sustaining note at the end of a song, that split second on completion before the audience applauded. Tori would drop the song the second it was over, and push right into the next one. For another, she didn't have fun with the concert. Even during Leather, she wasn't very playful, and I missed that. All the little piano suites she played as intros to songs and things were very dark and low and stormy.

I know that the entire audience felt this vibe. When she finished MAAG and walked off stage to end the main part of the show, she left to deafening applause, but *no one stood up*. I know, because I looked around. I didn't stand up because I had this feeling of, "How can I ask this woman for more when the entire show she just played was already such an effort?" I just couldn't bring myself to ask Tori for more by standing up.

Still she came back and played the encores, and after both of them the audience was on its feet and people in the nosebleed seats were waving their lit lighters. Maybe it was the ending note of MAAG that discouraged the audience from asking for more after the main set.

Still, it was definitely apparent. This show seemed to take years off Tori's life, she put so much effort into it. The energy level she displayed was fantastically high, no doubt, but I didn't get the impression that it was very *healthy* energy. She wasn't feeding off the audience. It worried me so that I couldn't enjoy the performance as much as I would have liked to. If I had had the chance to yell a request I wouldn't have asked for a song, I woud have said,"TALK TO US! Tell us about Mr. Zebra, or about Neil making you a tree, or *Something*! We're not here to judge you or attack you, we're here because we love you!"

I hope positive energy vibes work.

To Michelle, who thought Tori seemed not sparkly at the D.C. show... I felt oppositely. If you recall, she danced before Cornflake Girl, and responded well to the "i Love you, Tori"'s in the audience. But I think it doesn't matter in the end. She's Tori, our red haired faerie, and we love her. No matter what, right?

And I apologize, for I left In The Springtime of his Voodoo off my set list. And it was one of my favorites, too. For those of you who are still to see her... Treasure the experience. Tori loves us, and we love her. She's in top form, kids. She's smiling alot.

This is a transcript of Tori's spoken introduction to Marianne from the concert in Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C., of Friday, April 26, 1996. I hope this answers those who had questions....

"Umm, something happened tonight--I got a letter backstage from a high school, and, umm, and it was signed, [audience yell], yeah, it was signed by about a thousand kids, and, uh, they talked about a girl named Mary, who had killed herself, and that, umm, she really liked the music. And it's very kind of touching to me because some people that are here tonight will remember a girl named Marianne who they say killed herself--we don't think she did. And umm, I think their spirits may just come.... "

[motions to all sides of the hall]

Washington Post Concert Review
by Mike Joyce.

Here's a review about the 4-26 Constitution Hall show:

Dusty Springfield's "Son-of-a Preacher Man" played on the sound system as Tori Amos, the daughter of one, walked onstage at Constituition Hall Friday night. The packed house erupting with cheers. She sat down in front of a Bosendorfer piano, straddled the stool and launched a 20-song performance in which sex and religion never seemed far from her mind. Not that it was always easy to discern the source of Amos's emotional outpourings. Some of her more recent songs are as amorphous as the clouds that swirled behind her on a projection screen. "Horses" and other tunes quickly lost their shape as the narrative flow gave way to a kind of rambling stream of self-consciousness.

Clearly, Amos views her music as a kind of therapy, a chance to exorcise some personal demons of her past. To accomplish this, she relies on the keening power of her voice and the exceptional dynamic range of her classical piano training. Unfortunately, the process sometimes leads her to write lyrics that are hopelessly self-absorbed and overwrought. While some attest to her flair for poetic imagery, others are inscrutable and tedious. By far the most interesting songs she performed, which included a vibrant "Cornflake Girl" and an exceptionally stark version of "Me and a Gun," expressed feelings of isolation, vulnerability, defiance and rage in compelling and concrete terms. A poignant cover of "Over the Rainbow," plus Steve Caton'd acoustic and electric guitar, added contrast and color to Amos's orchestral turns on piano and harpsichord.

If Amos indulged in melodrama at times, singer-songwriter Willy Porter confessed to a more practical concern, namely "the fear of being the opening act." He needn't have worried. He quickly won over the crowd with some dazzling acoustic guitar work and a wit nearly as quick. Indeed, the the combination was so impressive that Porter sometimes suggested a cross between Michael Hedges and Loudon Wainwright III.

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wow...it was really great. I honestly meant to write down a set list but after the first two songs I got so involved I didn't write anything else down. She had a lot of technical problems...in D-nut Hole she was so loud that she blew the mic out...she stalled a little, turned to the other mic and finished the song. A tech. problem caused her to stop after the first few words of Talula and turn again to the other piano to play "Flying Dutchman." Sorry I don't remember much, but for those of you who keep up with this stuff, the two b-side/covers she played were "love song" and "Angie." It seemed to me that she played a lot more from LE than in some of the other set lists...

Oh yeah, at the beginning she had trouble keeping the mic up while she was playing...she made a cute comment that now she understood how the guys felt...it's embarassing not to be able to keep your mic up.

Actually, it was on Caught a Lite Sneeze that she blew the mic.... I thought it was so wonderful the way she simply hopped backed to her piano, and fininshed her song without so much as a mistake (she blew the mic when she was switching over to the harpsichord from the piano).

The concert was absolutely magical. I have never been so happy as when she and I (and all those other people, of course :) ) were in the same room that night. She had these great blue shoes on. I don't know why I noticed that, but it just seemed like such a perfect thing. :) I had never seen Tori in concert before, and one of my friends, swore to me the next day that in my eyes I looked "enlightened". I tend to think it was eye makeup, but it's a cool idea.... ;)

I saw a little ad in the weekly free newspaper for the Upstate of South Carolina that Tori was coming to Columbia, SC, which is about an hour and a half from Spartanburg, where I was going to school. Tickets went on sale that Friday, so I spent the week gathering friends to go in together to get a bunch of tickets. I called as soon as they went on sale, and ended up getting five pretty good seats. Various world forces caused a rearrangement of the five folks who were going at the very last minute, but on that day, I left Botany lab and met everyone and we drove to Columbia, arriving at about 7-7:30. We ended up parking right behind the auditorium, only about 100 yards or so from the tour bus, a fact we all noted for the aftershow. We went right inside and got our seats, and waited. I was literally shivering with excitement and one of the friends who was along (who was my roommate sophomore year and had to listen to quite a bit of Tori, becoming a convert along the way) spent most of the evening watching me to make sure I didn't do anything stupid like faint.

The show was fantastic -- she did Sugar and Flying Dutchman and Silent and I cried through about half of it. When the show was over we tried to go back to the car, but they weren't letting anyone in the parking lot. When we said we just wanted to leave, they let us in. Of course, we just sat there, waiting for Agent Orange to give everyone the go-ahead to line up behind the barricade. As soon as he did, I sprinted (and trust me, I don't sprint for *anything*) over there, but ended up right behind some other people. Granted, I was still pretty close, but I was in the second row. So we wait and we wait (all my other friends are behind me because they know how important this is to me), and finally she comes out.

She starts talking and hugging people in the front row and a few in the second, so I didn't give up hope. When she looked at me and I opened my mouth to say...something, I don't remember what and I'm sure it would have sounded dumb...the guy right next to me got her attention by giving her a red airplane that he had made. It distracted her enough that she moved down the line and I didn't get to talk to her. I stayed at the front though, and kept waiting. Now, at this point, my friends are starting to call to Tori, that she needs to come back and give me a hug. Of course, she wouldn't, but eventually Caton came over and went down the line. When he got to me, everyone (including people I'd never met before) started trying to convince him to get Tori to come back and give me a hug. Needless to say, I was bawling at this point and he just looked at me and said he was sorry, but she couldn't come back. He also said that he could hug me, and since he'd hugged Tori lots, it would be close. So he gave me this big hug, and when I kept crying, he hugged me again. He really looked genuinely sorry that it was beyond his power to bring Tori back, so I forgave him. Now, unbeknownst to me, two of the people in our group had gone down to the end of the line and *did* get to talk to Tori, but at that point it didn't matter much anymore. We stayed at the barricade until she got on the bus and left the parking lot.

After it was all over, my former roommate had to drive back, since I was so emotionally drained that I was shaking again. It goes without saying that it was one of the most intense experiences of my life -- right behind getting married this summer. When I saw her in Charleston, I had to drive from Spartanburg again, and since that's a three hour trek, my husband and I just went home to his apartment in North Charleston, so there was no chance for an aftershow. So, that's my Tori saga, and I really hope I do get to meet her and let her know what an influence she's had on my life (I've been an EWF since I first saw the video for Silent on VH1...all the way back in 1992).

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The mystery song she did was Songbird by Fleetwood Mac and it was absolutely unbelieveable... truly incredible indeed. The set list above is correct except that Encore One was Winter and Somewhere over the Rainbow. Encore TWO was Tear in your Hand (stunning) Amer. Pie/SLTS, and Hey Jupiter. Just before she started Jupiter on the organ, someone yelled out "don't let this be the last song Tori. " She paused and smiled, then started Hey Jupiter. I figured this would be it but sure enough, after she finished, she walked off for about a minute, then came back, said "Here's one I haven't done in about 15 years so we'll see what happens with it." Then she launched right into Songbird. Wonderful... we saw it here first.

Knoxville. Bringing out the best in artists everywhere.

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Making our way along Interstate 40 to Asheville from our current home of Durham, my husband and I saw the signs for Newton, North Carolina--the town where her Poppa and Nannie lived and the site of Tori's most recent entrance into this world . We decided to make the trip a Pilgrimage and visit small town America. Let me tell you something about America. In this "City of Opportunity"--as it says on the water tower--the Hometown Festival was occurring. In front of the Catawba County Court House, local Baptist Churches were selling Raffle Tickets. Nearby, you could hear the sound of children laughing at a man performing cute magic tricks. Cute little old ladies were selling their crafts. It just doesn't seem like a place for Tori Amos. But then on the side of a pole was a sign that read "Woodland Nations Indian Festival and Pow Wow--April 12-14." Yes, there's the part of North Carolina Tori loved.

At the concert in Asheville, Tori mentioned Newton and when an audience member howled she said, "Yes, it's all still there, isn't it." But she went on to talk about her Poppa, who had told her stories about the Indians and who sang to her from the day she was born. She said that while she was being told at home that the music that she listened to was blasphemous, her Poppa said, "You listen to whatever you want girl."

Now, Tori sings whatever she wants, and we're all a bit better off because of that. At Sunday night's concert, Tori proved that she is no longer stealing even a little bit of anyone else's fire. She owned that stage; her voice and playing were more powerful than I've ever heard before. Although many in the audience seemed most interested in hearing songs from Little Earthquakes, Tori seemed most alive when performing the songs from her most recent release. Yet her most amazing moment was when she covered the Beatles' "She's Leaving Home." It was clear that being back in NC inspired her to bring this song to us. The emotion that shone from within her was second only to her performance of "Me and a Gun." I noticed that the lyrics, "You can laugh/it's kinda funny/things you think/times like these", returned to this year's performance, and I'm still pondering why they left and then returned.

The guitar players that shared the stage that night were quite amazing at their craft as well. Her opening act, Willie Porter (and a few friends at times) was one with his guitar as Tori is with her piano. I was extremely impressed with his Joe Cocker-like soulful vocals and his "Jesus on the Grill" lyrics. Steve Caton, who plays with Tori on her albums and who for the first time while touring joined her on stage, performed the supporting role with subtle intensity. He made "Little Amsterdam" into a creepy swamp and started the "Cornflake Girl" dancing.

The last but still very important player in last night concert was the audience. I believe they really helped bring out the best in Tori last night with their excited but respectful attention. The only thing that irked me was the young girl behind me who sang along with each Little Earthquakes song performed. She yelled out for "Happy Phantom." Well, what do you know, Tori played it. She was so happy, it was infectious, and I just couldn't be mad. Tori brings out the greatest sadness and joys in all of us, and sometimes you just have to relax and smile. :-)

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On Saturday, April 20, a huge firework event called Thunder Over Louisville took place in Louisville Kentucky. But the real fireworks took place 80 miles east of there, in Lexington Kentucky, at the Singletary Center For the Arts on the campus of the University Of Kentucky. That is where Tori Amos gave a truly hot performance, so hot in fact that she set off fire alarms!

In comparison to the Palace Theatre, where she was the night before, The Singletary Center is a recent, modern structure. It lacks excessive personality, but the walkways and seats were very spacious, and the sound acoustics of the place seemed fine.

After the opening act Willie Porter (who got a very warm reception by the crowd), we were treated first of all to old 70's disco hits, followed by Led Zepplin over the sound system. Then the lights dimmed, the crowd cheered, and out strolled Tori, looking once again very casual. She sat down between a piano that was on the right and the harpsichord on the left. The PA played Son Of A Preacher Man, which other than gender seemed quite appropriate. As she tuned her piano, she waved to the crowd playfully. She began Beauty Queen/Horses, and a night of music that I found even more satisfying than the Louisville show the day before.

There are some general things about this concert that I want to mention. One is the way Tori draws out some of the songs. She slows them down a little, and savors each word. It is a sensual, effective technique. Another is the fact that Tori was in good health, and did not make any serious errors. Third, Tori's technical ability on the keyboards takes your breath away. She is truly one of the great players of this century. Lastly, the crowd seemed to clap the loudest for the older Tori songs. I personally prefer hearing newer material, but the older stuff is what usually gets the majority excited (except for Caught A Lite Sneeze, which got an enthusiastic response).

I was extremely pleased to hear Yes, Anastasia. This is another Tori song I have been dying to hear live, and the experience was not disappointing. It was beautiful, and the lighting during this one was really striking.

Before Blood Roses she asked us how we were doing. She said she was fine, because she had her two friend with her on stage (the piano and harpsichord). When she heard some people shouting "I Love You", she replied rather humorously "Yeah, yeah, yeah, I love you too". I was really amazed at the intensity of her playing during Blood Roses. She hardly sat on the bench, and was really moving and twisting about.

Prior to Cornflake Girl she introduced her guitarist Steve Caton, as someone who has played on all three of her albums and on Y Kant Tori Read. The crowd cheered at the mention of Y Kant Tori Read. This prompted Tori to tell Steve, "Start this next song quickly, before someone requests a song from that one".

Precious Things appears to be a crowd favorite on this tour. The intro is really exciting, for she wails and sings with incredible passion and energy. Never does her voice and music carry more power than during this song.

I was mesmerized by the long introduction to Not The Red Baron. It is intensely gorgeous and haunting. For me it was definitely one of the highlights of the show. It was during this song that a fire alarm went off and basically rang for about 2 minutes. Tori did not miss a beat but kept on singing. However, she did alter the lyrics. In a brilliant and humorous bit of improvisation, she sang during the song, "I think that's the fire alarm, but I'm not stopping." Later, instead of singing the usual, "Just another pilot down" she sang "Just another fire alarm". It was really funny!

I have mentioned in my other review how different Caught A Lite Sneeze was. This was another favorite of mine during the show. The sound of this version is more sparse and simple. It is also quite hypnotic and ethereal. The crowd enjoyed her transitions from the harpsichord to the piano, and back again. When she returned to the harpsichord, she began a long note. and then sustained it as she pivoted around to the harpischord, where she finished the note.

Angie was another treat for me. It was very emotional and sad. It is difficult to avoid tears if you really get into this one. She also hit some pretty incredible notes. Tori really uses her voice well througout the entire concert, going from a whisper to a scream in an instant. She can sound angry and harsh one minute, and then sweet and fragile the next. Very versatile.

Before Talula, the crowd began to shout out requests. She told us, "You know, some of you are going to lose". Then after several requests were shouted, we heard one guy yell "Let her do her own show, okay?" Tori seemed to enjoy that comment very much. She then performed a really lively Talula, complete with background drum loops and Steve's guitar playing.

Me and a Gun was marred a little by some static that came from the speakers. It added a strange, eerie effect to the song. You simply can not hear this song and fail to be moved by it.

Somewhere Over the Rainbow really made my night! I was not the only one, because there were gasps of recognition and joy by many in the audience. She made the song her own.

At the start of the second encore, she told us that it was time for the harpsichord to leave (to make room for the organ she uses for Hey Jupiter at the end of the show.) She then wickedly added, "hopefully she (the harpsichord) will get a stiff drink and a cute boy, or is it a cute drink and a ......"

She paused then to pick up some roses that she was given by a fan. She took the roses out of the paper, put some on the instruments on either side of her, and threw one to Steve Caton, who attached it to the end of his guitar. She then did killer versions of Tear In Your Hand and Twinkle, both special moments during the closing minutes of the concert.

She finished with Hey Jupiter. I really noticed how effective the organ was this time, and Steve's guitar playing really made the song that much more poignant. Then it was over. As she was leaving a fan in the front tried to get Tori to come to her (him?). She paused for a moment, trying to be nice to this person, but her bodyguard motioned for her to go on, and she finally did. Those bodyguards always look so worried and overprotective, but I guess that is their job!!

The only negative tonight was again Tori's unwillingness to talk very much between songs. During the Little Earthquakes tour and to a lesser extent the Under The Pink tour, she would tell fascinating and/or funny stories as a preface to several songs. While Tori did say some neat stuff, the stories are largely gone, and the show is poorer because of it. But that is the only downside to an otherwise incredible evening.

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So where does one begin? How can you describe an experience that in some ways is beyond words; that must be personally experienced in order to be understood? The Palace Theatre in my hometown of Louisville is a beautiful, almost magical place, with it's bright colors, nicely lit statues and stars twinkling on the roof. Into this backdrop entered Tori, almost casually walking to the stage. She waved to the crowd, took her seat at the piano in her customary position, and began tinkering with the ivories. There were shouts of joy from the audience, and Tori acknowledged that by smiling and giving that "Come on now, You're acting kinda silly" look. She then begins Beauty Queen and a night of thoughtful, beautiful, and sometimes painful music.

She is a mighty powerful presence up on that stage, despite her small physical size. She really gets into her songs physically as well as emotionally. She tosses her red hair about, uses some of the best facial expressions I have ever seen, and moves her body to the music. It is a commanding presence. Most people watch in a state of awe, and the crowd is often quite silent while concentrating on her. However, there are happy cheers and claps from the crowd right when each song starts. The cheers before Silent All These Years and Precious Things were particularly deafening! Tori's GGGGGIIIIIIIIRRRRRRRRLLLLLLLLLL part when singing "the heart of every nice girl" in Precious Things really got the audience excited.

I found Steve Caton's contribution to be really good for the show. He often added flavor to the already tasty songs, and gave them more depth. It was really interesting hearing the new Boys For Pele songs performed live for the first time. Sometimes they sounded really different without all the instruments, but this difference was a strength, not a weakness. At first when she played Hey Jupiter on an organ, I thought it sounded a little too harsh and discordant. Toward the end of the song it began to really appeal to me. As fans who have already seen the show said, her concert version of Caught A Lite Sneeze was really great, and unique. She goes back and forth from piano to harpsichord, and she sometimes continues her note from one microphone on the instrument to the other. The drumming on the piano during that song was also quite spicy.

My favorite songs during the concert (though I loved them all) were Horses (more powerful than I would have thought for an opening song), Blood Roses (very strong and forceful, almost scary in its intensity), Springtime of His Voodoo (funky, with a cool guitar interlude from Steve Caton), Precious Things (Giiiiiirrrrrrrlllllllll!), Not The Red Baron (so gorgeous it was heart-breaking), Icicle (one of my personal faves), Father Lucifer (The interplay between Tori and Steve was really perfect here. The music seemed symphonic and flowing, and had a different ending), Landslide (First time I heard Tori do this cover, and I found it moving and poignant), and Upside Down (The song that first made me notice Tori and become a fan. This was another one that caused tears to fall)

My complaints? Besides the fact that it was too warm in the theatre (could just be me, seems to happen to me at most concerts!), I was again disappointed that Tori did not communicate more with the crowd. She did rush from tune to tune, though that is probably to fit in as much as possible into the show. I know she enjoys performing and I am quite certain that she loves her audiences and appreciates their devotion. My guess is she is just more comfortable letting the music speak for itself.

She did say a few interesting tidbits, however. She first of all thanked someone in the audience for a gift she received. She then went on to talk about guitars and how they were an "extension" for some people (Yes, we are talking phallic here), and then implied that these extensions were nothing compared to her piano, "Just look at her, she's nine feet".

Later, someone in the audience asked her to sing Waitress. She said "I'm not doing that one right now, but here's one that deals with the same thing, girls that fuck you over." She then began Cornflake Girl.

When she came out on the stage for the second encore, she was asked to sing happy birthday. She obliged, and at one part sang, "Happy birthday dear ... little happy birthday person, happy birthday to you." You had to be there to see how cute it was. She then told us that this was the part of the show where the harpsichord is taken away to make room for the organ. She said that it was lucky, because she (the harpsichord) gets taken by 5 men, "What could be better" she asks.

Lastly, I want to try to express the feelings and emotions that Tori's songs drew out of us in the audience. Everyone goes to a Tori show with certain problems or life situations. I think we kind of share those thoughts during the show. They can be really raw and painful, but very cleansing and good at the same time. There were times I wanted to shout with joy, and times I had tears streaming down my cheeks. Her shows are not passive entertainment. If you really listen, they draw you inward. This can be tough for some people. I left the concert drained but happy. I can only imagine how tired Tori must have been! The primary reason that I love Tori's music and performances is that they provide me with a little help in my journey to know myself.

After the show I wondered backstage with many others. I encountered some really nasty, power-tripping security folks who decided they wanted to herd us about like cattle even though we were already a safe distance from the door from which Tori would be leaving. Then Tori emerged from the building and chatted with the crowd for a while before leaving in the limo. When someone asked her to sign an autograph, she said very nicely, "If I did that, I would have to do it for everyone and I would never make it to Lexington honey." She then told us how wonderful we were as an audience and how much she enjoyed playing for us. She even asked those who would being seeing her the next day in Lexington to think of requests and give them to someone to send backstage to her before the show! I thought she was very nice for someone obviously tired.

The crowd at the Louisville show seemed a little rowdy, and they wouldn't get in or stay in their seats for the opening act, Willy Porter. It made it a little difficult to enjoy him. But when Tori took the stage, the crowd did pay total attention. I told the girls that I thought I was the oldest person around, although in the reduced light I didn't look to out of place. The woman in the row in front of us turned around and said "I, bet I'm older than you, I'm 36-no I bet my sister is older than you, she's 61." Well, her sister wasn't there, and since I already knew how old she was and knew people older than 61 who also weren't there, we terminated the bets.

Tori was much louder and started out much more active than when I saw here before. Although it did look like Tori had the same bags under her eyes that I had under mine from getting up at 5:30 that morning, her energy was incredible. Her voice was powerful and her keyboarding was accompanied by every move you could imagine while playing. She seemed to have total control and was directing this immense amount of energy directly at the audience. Her voice was perfect and her playing seemed flawless. She started with Beauty Queen and Horses, as in most shows. It was hard to believe how much better they sounded than on the cd. Unlike the first time I saw her when I thought she perhaps sounded better on cd, this time it was the exact opposite. She sounded by far better than on cd and she was by far more powerful.

We wrote down a list of the songs she played, about 20, like in most shows. It really didn't matter what she played, it all was perfect. I know the list is different for every show, but don't worry because you will enjoy whatever she does. We didn't get to hear Winter or Marianne, and I was hoping to hear her sing Over the Rainbow. My daughter was hoping for China, her favorite, but it didn't matter. About mid way through her main set she started playing Precious Things. If I had to make a list of the 20 or so songs I wanted to hear, it probably wouldn't be on it, although I do like it, as I do almost everything she has written. At that point in her performance, I think everything I had seen and heard started to catch up with me. Precious Things sounded better than on the cd and she was playing so well. Something happened to me that I don't ever recall happening from a musical performance. She seemed to be reaching inword and evoking so much genuine emotion, communicating with the audience so well, singing and playing so flawlessly and powerfully that I broke into tears, not at the particular message of the song, just that an artist could be that good. My tears lasted pretty much through her main set as she didn't let up. She seemed to really enjoy herself, and she was working so hard that I sat there in total awe.

During the encore, she played happy birthday as a request to "the birthday person." I, of course, told my daughter that I slipped Tori twenty bucks to play it for her. As I have seen from other postings, and hope it remains true despite the innards of each show being different, it ain't over till she sings Hey Jupiter.

In case Tori is anything like this at her other shows, I would suggest you not miss her, at any cost. I am suprised that so few people in the age 35-50ish group were there, because I know they would love her show. Hey kids, if you parents are in that group and used to like Joni Mitchell, please bring them along and tell them I said it was ok. We are starting to plot for tickets when Tori comes to town, and if we get them I'm hoping not to be the oldest guy there.

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Well everybody, it was absolutely amazing. It was my first concert and I couldn't have asked for more. Not a wrong note. Tori was in a great mood and seemed to be in perfect health.

...Nobody called out for songs. Not a single person. We just let her play whatever she wanted. Although someone near the end asked Tori to wish her friend a happy birthday. Tori paused and said, "What's your friend's name honey?" The birthday girl was Tara, so Tori actually played Happy Birthday for Tara. It was so neat.

She did the "extended I'm deep in the south and these guys can relate mix" of Little Amsterdam.

What a wonderful experience. I'm still floating.

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Amos Powerful, Passionate in Nashville Show
Passion. Sadness. Elation. Dissapointment. Hope.

It's hard to think of an emotion Tori Amos doesn't touch with her music. Judging from the varied responses of audience members at her sold out performance Tuesday night at TPAC's Jackson Hall that ranged from excited screams to intense silence to silent tears, her appeal shows no sign of abating.

Relaxed and refreshed after a manic first week of her U.S. tour (which included an appearance on "Late Show W/ David Letterman" and a taping of "MTV's Unplugged"), Amos wasted no time in sending the enthusiastic crowd into an almost hypnotic trance as she opened with a letter perfect version of "Beauty Queen/Horses", one of the key tracks from her current release, "Boys For Pele."

Although much of that afforementioned album formed the basis of her performance, Amos didn't forget the fans that put her where she is today treating them to gems from her phenomenal debut "Little Earthquakes" including "Leather", "Silent All These Years", and "Precious Things" performing them as though they were written yesterday; all sounded just as fresh they did on her maiden tour.

Although Amos' rightly deserves accolades for her impassioned, insightful and truthful songwriting, it tends to overshadow her impressive musicianship which really stands out in a live setting particularly on performances of "Cornflake Girl", "Bells For Her" and "Blood Roses" with the latter two songs showcasing her versatility on harpsichord, an instrument featured prominently on "Pele."

Only letdowns in an otherwise flawless performance were noticeable vocal strain during her cover of REM's "Losing My Religion" (perhaps performed too early in the show before her voice had a chance to warm to the task) and a radically rearranged version of "Caught A Lite Sneeze" that suffered from an undermiked harpichord but improved significantly when she moved to piano. A charming acapellla break followed with Amos banging the side of her keyboard for percussive effect enticing an otherwised concentrated audience to clap along for a bit.

Although some audience members expressed frustration at her lack of stage reparte' (Amos' shows tend to feature many a "Tori" soty scattered amongst the songs), she appeared to be on a mission...letting her music do the talking for a change, sometimes so intensely that mere seconds elapsed between songs hardly giving the crowd a chance to respond in earnest.

Heavy emphasis on lighting effects on this tour also jolted many long time fans, but this addition to Amos' stage set-up worked effectively and showcased tastefully on songs like the haunting "Not The Red Baron" and the driving "Talula"

Some of the evening's key moments came toward the end of the show with a heartbreakingly touching cover of "Over the Rainbow", "Honey" (one of her most requested "B" sides) and a stark rendition of "Hey Jupiter" played on a pump organ that gave it an even more etheral feel than its studio incarnation and capped an emotional evening fittingly.

How ironic that the song played on the P.A. as the house lights came up was the Beatles classic "Norwegian Wood." Just like the protaganist in those lyrics, Amos invited her audience into a room and gave them an evening they'll find hard to forget.

To paraphrase John Lennon, wasn't it good?

willie porter was so awesome...he was worth the ticket price alone...tori sounded and played great, but she didnt talk much, before losing my religion she talked about the song her and Stipe did and how lame the record company was that shelved it. besides that she only intoduced doughnut song as the last girl that barely made it... she looked great and did not make one mistake...she played a slightly different version of CALS that was cool, it was slower, and for some parts she just played the drums on the piano, which was pretty interesting. Horses and Losing my religion were amazing..Religion was so much better live than on the soundtrack.I saw her in '94 and I dont remember her being this incredible of a musician, but I have come to the conclusion that we are lucky to be living among one of the all-time greats

I am sorry if this is incoherent, its 4:00 in the morning and I just got home from Nashville, I live in Memphis...

But I thought I would tell you about my experience with Tori at the concert on April 16th, 1996. It was the first concert I have ever seen. She was totally incredible. After she sang "Me & a Gun," she started to talk to the audience for a brief moment. I had planned all night to scream I love you to her where she could hear me. I was in the second to the last row of the TPAC's Jackson Hall in n'ville and I just screamed at the top of my lungs "I love you!!!!" and she said "I love you too up there" and I went crazy!! I know people say that to her every night when plays somewhere . . . but that was one special "I love you" to me and to nobody else . . . it is a moment I will never forget.

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Wow. Let me just say that immediately. The shows last night were *fabulous*. I'm not going to post setlists, mostly 'cause I'm not sure I'd get them in the right order, but here's both shows . . .

First show: 7PM. The show started late, but I didn't care. ;) She started out with Beauty Queen / Horses, and then went into . . . Losing My Religion. God, that was *great*. I became a fan of Mohammed My Friend last night. Steve Caton was *wonderful*, and Cornflake Girl is so much better with him than with the loop from the last tour. Upside Down was sooooooooo good too. The encores were even better. I had been sitting there all night, wondering how to request Landslide from my balcony seat . . . and she played it!!! That has to be my all-time favourite cover that she does, and it was perfect live. Other songs: Winter, Space Dog!!!, Precious Things {complete with "grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrl".

Second show: 10:30PM. We didn't start until around 10:50, but again, no complaints. My fiance liked this show better, although that's not to say that the first show wasn't great! She did Cornflake Girl again {I was kinda expecting God since she did CG at the first show}, and it sounded better for some reason. CaLS also sounded better this time around -- it didn't take her nearly as long to switch between the piano and harpsichord this show. Other songs: Leather, Icicle, Precious Things again.

Highlight of the second show: the dwarves on the organ for Hey Jupiter. She explained it to us: the light and sound folks have some sort of contest, and they can put the dwarves {IE the Snow White and} anywhere they want to until New York. Well, last night, they showed up on her organ, complete with breasts and a penis. The caption under the whole ensemble read "Dwarf Envy". She kept trying to start Hey Jupiter but was laughing too hard to pull it off until she explained this to us.

After the shows: my fiance and I ducked out a side door {it was nearly 1AM at this point}, and were going to circle around the building on the way back to the car. Wrong answer! See, there's really no way to gracefully sneak out of the Fox Theatre, and her tourbus and everything was parked on the road. We hadn't been planning to stick around and meet her {I had asked if we could, but Rich cited that nasty work thing as a reason to get home -- not to mention the Calc exam I should be studying for right now ;) }, but they had fences erected between the busses surrounding the limo. So we waited.

And it was worth it! We waited and waited, and she finally came out. She went to greet the folks on the other side, and then she came over to us. I got to hold her hand and thank her for everything . . . The crowd was quite well-behaved -- the security folks had said earlier that we couldn't ask for autographs or anything 'cause she was way too tired, but she'd stick around for awhile as long as we were "good" -- no pushing, no shoving, and no autographs. I would have loved to have gotten something, but it was worth just meeting her.

Gutsy Amos rivets fans with wails and whispers

written by: Sonia Murray

You walk through the doors of the Fox Theatre, and in addition to the ususal programs and posters, you see a black T-shirt for sale with "Recovering Christian" emblazoned across the front in white.

Now you know you've arrived at a Tori Amos concert.

As if participating in some strange religious service, the near-capacity audience spent most of their two hours with Amos in respectful, almost stunning, silence. If they knew the words, they didn't sing aong. Maybe they mouthed a few versus. But it wasn't certain that Amos was connecting until the thunderous applause after almost every tune.

In between, it was simply Amos connecting with her piano. She melded such wide-ranging themes as religion, brimming sexual tension and everyday heartbreak into similar-sounding confessions that were seemingly thrust from her body.

Seconds into the opening song, "Horses," from her latest effort, "Boys for Pele," her curly red mane was lunging into the ivories. And her ivory mini-dress did little to restrict the rest of her tiny frame. When she bent her left leg under the piano and stretched her right leg behind her, only her black leggings prevented a clear view of her crotch.

Figuring out where her full-bodied wails and breathy whispers are going can be as much an exercise as Amos's contortions on her piano stool. But in the end it's very gratifying.

"How are you?" she asked in a rare moment of a stage banter, following her cover of R.E.M.'s "Losing my Religion."

The fans screeched their approval.

"Good," Amos said. "I love playing here. It's like--uh! [pelvic thrust]-- I want to take you all with me."

And she did. Musically, at least.

Against a mostly dark backdrop, this accomplished musician used the piano, harpsichord, organ and an occasional guitar to guide her congregation to a place where emotions are challenged and taboos are explored.

Here is my review of last night's second show at the Fox, which will include a setlist so turn away now if you do not want to see it.

Tori now started telling one of her classic stories/thoughts. She told the crowd that it was better to have three guys rather than one or two. And guys should think this way too, bec. than they don't have to think about the "other guy."

6)Caught a Lite Sneeze w/ Steve...ABSOLUTELY AMAZING...started playing it on the harpsichord and then went to the piano, and did a little drum pattern on the piano in the middle of the song, POSSIBLY the best song of the show!!!****

12) Love Song (Cure)***...Tori told the crowd that she was now going to play her favorite song and out comes a cure song. The screen showed a roller coaster ride.

EVENING****, talking to everyone after the show they all agreed. The version was different from the cd, but alot better.

****ENCORE*****

***SECOND ENCORE***

The stage crew took away the harpsichord and replaced it with an organ. Then tori started laughing and told the crowd that the lightening and sound people have a contest with tori...this was sort of confusing...anyway they had put 7 dwarfs and 2 eggs and a banana on the top of her organ with a note that said "What's the difference between alcoholics and drunks? The alcoholics go to meetings....weird....

19) Hey Jupiter on the organ w/ Steve...a great version...much better than on the cd.

Having Steve play guitar with her I think added a great deal to the whole show. His playing was very Pink Floyd type and completely added to what Tori was playing. I managed to grab her setlist from the stage, and she was supposed to play In the Springtime of Her Voodoo instead of Tear In Your Hand. I also heard from a friend who swore that she heard there was a major FIRE at the Fox last night...I did not leave till around 1:00 and everything was fine up until then...who knows...

This was the best Tori show I ahve been to, and I have seen her play 5 times before all of which were in D.C. or Baltimore...so I very pleasantly surprised.

i went to both ( ;-) of the tori shows at the fox on sunday ( yesterday) thay were very good, much better than the other concerts of hers that i have been to. She talked alot with the crowd, with muhammed my friend.... how she " didn't get any " on christmas eve. how having the harpsichord and piano was like having two lovers, you go back and forth and call the other the others name, and how she likes having three instead of two.

the concert itself was excellent, she did very long songs, stretched out everything to the last note, and to my suprise was everlasting in her singing ( during caught a lite sneeze she went back and forth to the piano and harpsichord singing and wouldn't stop.)

one of the more emotional songs was her singing me and a gun. she made ever note so personal that you could feel the sticky brown carpet in the car that she was raped in sticking to your back and have the little bits of crude making their everlasting impression on your back, and your soul. she opened with beauty queen and twinkle and then varied the songs.

i enjoyed the guitarist instead of the "fake band" the guy with the guitar was the guy who worked on little earthquakes. under the pink, and boys , and to my surprise also Y Kant Tori Read ( snicker snicker)

the lighting was very tasteful, not to much, and the faerie lights that she started with were excellent. the best part of the lighting was when she went into " blood roses" there were red roses in the lights.

with one of her talks with the crowd, right before she went into her rendition of "hey jupiter" on the pump organ, the crew put the seven dwarves dolls on the organ with a big banana ( or something i couldn't see very well) and she couldn't get into the song because they had put a caption underneath that said "dwarf envy" and she couldn't stop laughing... anyway the story with the elves is that whoever does the best lighting show between now and the last show gets this vintage bottle of gin or whiskey and they get the seven dwarves doll, and that is where that came from. it was very funny

...Then lala, it was time for the show.. and if anyone Saw me in my red princess dress and cat ears and didn't Say anything i think you very rude and unkind. Anyway.. so i went to the box office to pick up my reserved tickets and only when i had walked away did i realize that they were free (for you see, there were odd management problems and it had looked as though i would need to pay for them but i Didn't and it was so nice that i cried Again.) and they said "comp" even and i was so happy. and they were seventh row right-center which is a Lovely place to watch her.

Speaking of which.. someone from atlanta please describe the fox theatre. it was magic and unbelievable and i will give a go when i am less awed. it was the most wonderful place i have.. Oh, it was.. Yes. it was.

and the show.. (shows actually as several second show tickets came free and sascha and i bought them) was.. oh.. in the two shows she played all three neil songs and it made me feel comforted and loved. when she played tear in your hand for the second show encore i--you guessed it--cried. (get this in your head now and forever children, i am a waterworks. i cry when happy, sad, or upset which means Twenty Four Hours A Day) cornflake girl with steve caton was Delicious.. caught a lite sneeze..well, it is a song that makes you Miss The Drums but it made me realize how intricate the harpsichord is so i loved it all the more.. blood roses was delicious. OH, she played "lovesong" on the harpsichord and it was all i ever wanted and.. i am sure i will think of other things i want to say. it was so brilliant and wild that it made me want to dance in the woods.

but i was still terribly upset that i had bothered john witherspoon so i gave a really nice backstage guy a greek god action figure and a note saying "thank you SO Much for making hte complimentary tickets possible and sorry for bothering you and you are very kind."

so No, i didn't meet tori..well i did for three seconds but i will tell you that i can assure you she didn't remember me.. but.. i had a good cry with my friend lorraine tonight about various matters including that and in the middle she declared that tori needs to be my friend as we are much alike and we have the neil connection as parts of me are in his writing and same with parts of tori so we must be friends and she will see that we Will be. so i felt much more golden and much less sad.

for you see.. the most hurtful feeling in the world is knowing that That Person On Stage should be your friend but they Aren't because they're famous and you're not and it's so sad. and i said to myself and to sascha "if only i could tell her a story, Then she'd be my friend." but maybe now things shall work out. and here, i will tell you a funny story, during the last minute preparations for the first show one of the techguys came out and sascha said "hey, what is he wearing?" and damn if it wasn't those tiger ears.

so things are looking up i Promise and maybe i will get to talk to her in lexington? and maybe Not but i will just read books all day and sing songs to myself and climb trees in my pajamas.

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I was 4 rows back sort of on the side but she was facing me so I was happy. There was wonderful lighting that blinds the crap out of you but was cool. It started at 8pm with an opener named William Porter (?) and she came on at 9:40 and played till 11:45, give or take a few min. She had the piano, harspichord and the church organ. Caton was there to play guitar on a lot of the songs. I was quite amazed when I saw her parents there...I thought I was gonna pee in my pants. Tori looked so beautiful. The show was incredible. I'm still in shock. What a night. Well...I'll list the songs she played...

Well it was excellent, security had to stop some guy who ran on stage but it was not a disappointment...and I have wonderful memories to keep forever. In the tour book as was very happy to see that she thanks Greg Burrell and Peter Caira on the last page. The book is really cool. I hope all of you Tori fans get to see her perform.

INCREDIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tori is the World's Greatest Female Singer........

I sat second row.......... it seemed as if she were singing just for me.......... Her most moving song was definitly "me and a gun". I had never felt that way before... I cried, but their was this awesome feeling in my heart.. I seemed to be at great peace with myself................ Tears ran down my face.......... Just to know Tori would be an honor, I think that If I had 3 wishes one would be "To be Tori Amos!"

The triangular background in which special effects produced burning fire as if we were at PELE, then for "RED BARON" she had film from WWII... I was in awe....... Unfortunately, an audience member did run up on stage as she was saying farewell, but it wasn't that simple. . it was more than that..It seemed that Tori was quite frightened..... . I can still remember the look on her face because I sat so close to her.. He really seemed to make a memorable dent in the show.. Tori seemed so scared........ If this incident didn't occur the farewell would have most likely been a sweet one.

This was the second time that I have seen Tori..... Last time I saw her she didn't play, "Tear in your Hand" but she made it up to her South Florida fans at her Pele Show... Maybe next time she will perform the "Professional Widow"

I Wish I could see her over and over!

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NOTE FROM MIKEWHY: This taping/concert was done in the Majestic Theater at the Brooklyn Academy Of Music in New York.

Read about the broadcast of the Tori episode of MTV Unplugged and see screen shots in my TV/Radio Archive.

I'm still amazed and a little bit concerned at Tori's endurance on this tour. She went from Florida to NY. for the Letterman show. After the Letterman show she went back to Florida that night. The next two nights she played shows in Tampa and Gainesville, Florida. The next day she is back in NY for the taping of the Unplugged show. Next night she's playing in Fort Lauderdale. At this pace she's going to burn out very soon (Hope I'm wrong).

Here's my play by play review on Tori's MTV Unplugged performance as accurate as I can recall.

There were about 300 people on the taping. The acoustics of the Majestic Theater were excellent. This should be the way all Tori shows should be. It reminded me the intimate setting of her first tour. Here's the set list and my comments:

After this song she said "I can see you guys" and commented that this was a very weird performance, since she was able to see the faces of the audience contrary to her usual shows where the audience is in the dark.

On this song she played the harpsichord. Before the song, she placed a headphone piece on her right ear, which she did every time she played the harpsichord. Maybe so she was able to hear the harpsichord.

Tori went back to the piano.

Tori introduced Steve Caton to the crowd "as the guy who has played guitar on all of her three albums, well actually four (referring to YKTR)" at which the crowd responded with some laughter. Steve played an acoustic six string. Definitely an improvement to the back up tape version of the previous tour. After about one minute into the song, she stopped and said that "she had to start this one again". She started playing the song again and stopped again 2/3 of the way. She started playing some classical piece (for about a minute) that I did not recognize, kind of the stuff you will hear from a kid taking piano lessons. The crowd had a chuckle from this one. After the "classical interlude" she started again and finished the song.

She sang the "Come in Houston" line from the chorus at the beginning of the song as some other person mentioned recently. I think Steve played electric guitar on this one.

Steve played acoustic guitar on this one.

After a minute on this one, she stopped and told the crowd "I've playing for 30 years and I'm sucking pretty bad tonight. Give me a couple minutes to find the girl that plays the piano". Then she left the stage for about fifteen minutes. I did noticed that Arthur Spivak (her manager) left his seat and ran backstage, most probably trying to talk and make her feel better.

On this one she mentioned before the song that from an early age she was pretty good with her hands. Mentioned that this song started from some religious hymns. Then she started a religious hymn and segued into Icicle. After Icicle, Tori started talking about when MTV asked her to do the Unplugged. She asked them "well maybe I should do a plugged show since I'm always unplugged. So I'm going to cheat and bring Steve with the electric guitar. I always liked to cheat. When I was in Home Economics, I had to sew a skirt and I could not sew for my life. So I told a girl that if she sew it for me I will make a song for her. She did it for me and I made the song for her.

Went back to the harpsichord. Steve played the electric guitar. Kind of a spacey new age sound. The arrangement on this one was different and way better than the album version. At the end of the piano part she started tapping the piano like a drum for about 15 seconds and then went back to the final harpsichord part.

I did not notice but somebody mention after the show that she did the "kind of funny" verse that she had not done on the last tour. By the end of the song she left the stage. From my seat I could not see her face when she left the stage, but some people claim she was in tears. After about five minutes she came back.

After hearing from the reports on the European leg of the tour I wanted to hear this one. She did a great job. Definitely one of my personal highlights of the show.

Steve returned with the electric guitar on this one.

Tori left the stage again for about two minutes. When she returned, everybody was screaming their request which make her laugh at some of the requests. Steve was sitting standby at his stool with the acoustic guitar. She mention to one of the requests "that's a good one".

Steve changed to electric guitar on this one. The electric adds a lot to this great song. She forgot the lyrics in the middle of the song and while still playing the piano, asked the audience and somebody responded the line she was missing. I don't know if she is doing this on purpose since somebody mention that this also happened on one of the shows from this tour. At the end of this song one of guy from the MTV crew approach Tori and started talking to her and had her under the impression that she will have to replay Space Dog, but then she realized that everything was OK.

Steve played the acoustic guitar. There was a great bluesy guitar solo that he played on this one while Tori was "cooking on the piano". The best interplay between them on this show.

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"I am not saying that I didn't LOVE the concert, but her performance was far from flawless. I noticed she kept rubbbing her left hand whenever she had the chance.

She also had a conversation with the audience about her need for lip gloss. Audience members offered, but she didn't like the flavors... except white chocolate, but she said that was too fattening. Another amusing interaction was when someone requested "Still loving you." (I think they meant her cover of Thank You) She said "Wait, wait, did I ever PLAY a song called 'Still Loving You???' What the Fuck is that?" The audience laughed quite hard.

She started to play Samurai, but had no idea what the lyrics were and started improvising, like "I don't know this song, but I am gonna have a lollipop when I get off the stage." ...I loved the show... all the mistakes gave it personality. Tori is cuter when she is screwing up. =)"

Gainesville Concert Review

tori came to my school-town on wednesday, 10 april 1996. she donned a rather conservative outfit, as tori outfits go: pants, a tight shirt and a tank-top type number over it, and funky high-heeled strappy shoes.

the show opened with dusty springfield's "son of a preacher man" and thousands screamed as the red-haired fairy-eared one appeared and pushed that "g" we all love.... (oh my. i didnt mean it like that! i meant the piano key, silly!) "eeeeeee......eeeeeee....sheeeeee's a beauty queen..." and on into horses. her voice sounded EXtREmely clear and (ill try to express this without exclamation marks) loud. she was very in tune with the audience and funny and more chatty than i expected. someone asked for a story so she told us about a bedtime story neil gaiman had sent her in a package and how she hugs her big bear "fuzzy" every night in a different town. she also stopped the show at one point because she needed lip gloss--that floridian chilly air, i guess.

tori played a lot from _boys_ and _earthquakes_ but only 2 songs from _pink_, including a Raging Rendition of "bells for her" on the harpsichord and "cornflake girl" accompanied by steve caton(?) on the guitar, which was _much_ better (imho) than the light show/pre-recorded music she used on her last tour.

ah! tori... DUG the funky thing with "springtime" and "precious things" had the best and longest and most passionate and wonderful "girrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrL" imaginable, as she ran her hands up her body...girl...every nice girl...i think ill take from mine instead. "caught a lite sneeze" on the harpsichord and then the piano and then (right on time) back to the harpsichord, and even paritally a cappella, with some hand drumming on the piano, particularly kicked ass. everything stopped, mesmerized, as she stared into each pair of our (thousands) of eyes and sang "me and a gun." during "not the red baron," images of planes ran across a triangular screen above and to the left of her piano and the dutch pilots played in the background. "hey, jupiter" on an organ closed the show amazingly! she brought us "sugar" and "case of you" during the encores. early in the show, i became convinced that tori _is_ in fact psychic, as she went into the one song i wanted to hear more than any other: "little earthquakes."

what MAY have been the highlight of the show: during the encore, when hoards of people yelled requests at the stage, tori heard someone yell "still loving you" and she responded "did i hear someone yell 'still loving you'? what the fuck is that?" and improvised a silly song, which might be called 'still loving you'!

tori's musical creativity, breaths, passion, honesty, experimentation, courage, ETC, come through to a great extent on her albums and that is why we all buy the ep's and join silly mailing lists and make web pages and go to the shows in the first place, right? but, i feel like seeing tori Live captures more of what she is about...her energy...

what can i say, but thank you? if you get a chance to see her, in any town even remotely close to where you are, drop everything and drop in because....ahhhh....you Wont be disappointed.

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Tori thrilled the people in the Tampa Bay area on the opening night of her Dew Drop Inn Tour in the United States. Tori strolled on stage with the tune "Son Of A Preacher Man" playing on the PA, the same as she did in Europe last month. The stage was filled with little white lights like stars, and she slowly worked her way into the Beauty Queen/Horses opening song. She was dressed in a white leotard with sort of a white tube top covered with a blue garment, and black jeans.

Shortly into the set, during Crucify, she stopped playing and jumped from her bench, did a little dance and screamed to lower the noise level and whistles from the rambunctious crowd. She told the audience, "I want to take you on the ride of your life, let me sing for you tonight..." She was trying to quiet things down in order to concentrate better. She explained to the audience that she was not being mean, but that she can't concentrate when she loses the vibe. Later she started playing Leather and when nobody clapped at the opening notes she told the crowd "Well I didn't mean to intimidate you."

Later, prior to Muhammad My Friend, she talked about spending Christmas with her parents, and their attempt to have her sing Away In The Manger. She was unable to get into that song, but came up with Muhammad My Friend instead, which has the same opening notes.

Hi. Okay, so I went to the Tampa show and the Gainesville show. My friend wrote the playlist for Gainesville on his arm so I have that one for sure. The Tampa one I know I have all the songs for, but I'm slightly unsure about the order. According to what they did on AOL that night (you know, the thing where Matt Pinfield hosted, which my friend sent me a transcription of), this is the order. But I swear she played Leather earlier on, because I remember ...well, I'll just put it in here in a minute. First, the setlist (maybe in order):

There it is. Great show. Gainesville was better IMHO, though. Oh yes, and on one of the harpsichord songs (I guess it must have been Sneeze) she put on the headphone things (I guess to hear it better or something?) and gave us the Mork & Mindy sign and said something that sounded like "Nanoo nanoo, space warriors" in her "cute" voice, then told us she felt like she was working when she put the headphones on.

This is a review of the April 9 Tampa, FL show. I was not at this show, but I have an *excellent* bootleg called Sellout that features the entire show. I heavily recommend the bootleg if you can find it. It is supposedly an audience recording, but the sound, im my opinion, is almost identical to soundboard. Anyway, here is a review of the show and a word for word transcription of all the sTories.

BEAUTY QUEEN/HORSES- Tori belts out a fantastic version of "BQ/Horses." Very nicely done, im my opinion. But then again Tori always does a fantastic job of this.

CRUCIFY- Tori sings a little piece of this and while she is singing, the audience keeps screaming "woooo" and "aaahhhs" out at Tori and she can't focus on the song and stops after the first "looking for a savior in these dirty streets":

"Wooo wooo wooo wooo! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! I'm so excited too! Ah!! OK. It's so good to be here you guys, to be in the states. And you know what? [Response to I LOVE YOU] I love you too honeybear. And you know what? I wanna take you on the ride of your life. OK? So, let me take you...let me....let me sing for you...let me...let me...let me sing for you tonight, OK?"

LOSING MY RELIGION- After desperately trying to catch their attention, she just goes right into a STUNNING version of this song. It's really terrific. She gets really powerful during this song.

"So Christmas, not this Christmas but the last Christmas I was with my parents. Yeah, exactly. So I went to the little service, you know, and the kids were very cute. I'm not saying they weren't cute. And they do their little booger thing and they sing their song and you kind of love them--sort of. And you know, you love yours--your neice or whatever, "Isn't she cute?" And anyway, I'm sitting there and they're singing their little "down in a manger..da da ditti da.." And my father is going "sing tori ellen sing" because you were supposed to sing along. But for some reason, I just couldn't hear that song in my head. And it was like changing in my brain and he said "well, what are you hearing?" I said, "I'm hearing NA NA NA NA NA (like the Robert Plant noises from the "Icicle" stories) ..Away in a manger....away in a manger...Muhammad My Friend, said yes we both know, we both know it was a girl..."

MUHAMMAD MY FRIEND- Really great version.

BELLS FOR HER- On the harpsichord, Tori really seemed to be getting into it as she sang.

LITTLE AMSTERDAM- Long and very dark and slow....

"OK you guys this is Caton. He's, uh, played on Little Earthquakes and Under the Pink and this record and uh we were in a band together called um Y Kant Tori Read. Um, anyway.... Hey I didn't mean to give you a hard time before, it's just that when there is so much noise during the songs.... Hey i love getting excited with you, it's just during the songs sometimes I just can't hear what I am doing and then I fuck up and look stupid and you get bummed out. So do you understand? OK, Caton you start..."

CORNFLAKE GIRL- Particularly well done. Tori was very energetic it seemed and did an excellent job.

SPACE DOG- Starting off with the "navy girls" beginning, it was a terrific version. But then Tori forget her words after the first verse's "your feet are finally on the ground girl..."

"I forgot my words. Uh huh....How does it go? dum de dum....I dont know but I'll just keep going and so my shoes are feeling good oh so completely good. Yes and there goes that colonelfishydishydish. Oh I'm really sorry but I'll keep going and maybe soon....And to the one you thought was on your side.."

"Um this record was almost finished and this little song began creeping through. This meant the guys couldnt go and get Guiness. And they thought it was all over and I said, "Um um excuse me, but I hate to break the party, but this girl has to come now." And they went "OK, fine good...fuck..." But she came and she's like my favorite right now."

DOUGNUT SONG- I've heard more powerful versions, but this is still very nice.

LEATHER- She plays the opening note over and over again and when there is no audience noise she says "I didn't mean to intimidate you!"

PRECIOUS THINGS- Very powerful version, quite faithful to the LE version.

NOT THE RED BARON- Done particularly well.

FLYING DUTCHMAN- Beautifully done, but I think Tori forgot her words again because she skipped the entire last half with "keep the boys spinning in their own little world..." and finished after the second time chorus is repeated.

"Nanoo nanoo space martians. I have to wear this stupid little thing and I feel like I'm working [reffering to the headpiece she wears]."

CAUGHT A LITE SNEEZE- I guess Tori was hitting a wrong key somewhere because this version sounds a little sour, but for some reason that little error makes this my favorite live version of the song. Most people don't care for it as much as I do, but something about it. I just love it.

ME AND A GUN- Choked me up as usual.

ENCORE 1

PUTTING THE DAMAGE ON- Beautiful version.

WINTER- Very nice. Tori whispers "Bless you" to an audience member who sneezes midway through the song.

ENCORE 2

"[Response to Take to the Sky!] OK, That's an interesting concept. OK, we're gonna say goodbye to her now. Who knows why? This is when beautiful men come from all over and take her away. [Referring to the harpsichord]. See, I told you..."

TAKE TO THE SKY- Amazingly enough this has become my favorite live version of this song.

IN THE SPRINGTIME OF HIS VOODOO- Yep, yep, again...my favorite version of *this* song live too.

HEY JUPITER- On the harmonium, it closed a great show quite nicely.

The show was excellent IMO. I would have loved to actually been there, but Sellout is just as good. It's terrific.

"Just wanted to say that the Tampa concert was really intense, she was amazing, words can't describe the things I felt, and she played Take to the Sky just for me :) :)...but afterwards was my favorite part she came out and talked to alot of people which was really cool....she didn't sign anything but it was ok :)....anyway she talked to me and gave me a hug :)....she is so sweet :)"

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