Josh came out...wasn't too impressed. The sun was going down, giving way to a spectacular sunset...you could see Canandaigua lake nearby. After a wait of total anticipation, and everything short of jumping up and down in my seat, Tori came out at about 8:40. She wore the grey stretchy-shirt (you know, the one she wore on 120 Minutes and the pictures on SNL) and blue jeans with yellow (I think) shoes. She did a violent intro to Beauty Queen that calmed the crowd down a bit. My head was spinning by then and after she finished Horses she got quite a big applause. Her second song, the one which totally surprised me, was Take to the Sky. I was like, Yesssss! This got the crowd into it, clapping along with the beat at first. She really emphasized "Have a seat while I take to the sky" and she kind of laid her hands out before her as if to tell us to have a seat. And, correct me if I'm wrong, but in the middle of the song Tori scared me a bit. She started screaming stuff like "You do(n't) know me" (I can't remember exactly) and pounding on her chest. It wasn't even into the microphone. Then she finished the song. Wow. Adrenaline rush, let me tell you.
Tim, from RMTA mentioned that he got the feeling that there was something "angrier and sharper". Now that I think of it, yes. One of the friends I came with brought her binoculars and I used them for a few minutes. Looked to me like Tori was upset. Maybe, I don't know. Most of the songs she played had a real sharp feel to them.
I can't remember the order of the songs...so I can't post a set list, unfortunately. But I will comment on what I remember, and please forgive the length. I just can't say enough of my Tori experiences.
Tori did her Cornflake Girl early on in the concert, complete with cute little dance and all. This got a lot of cheers. I was glad she did it, cause Tori didn't develop this little dance in time for the Syracuse Concert (May 18th) I went to also.
If I remember right, Tori prefaced Blood Roses with a little intro talking about her 250-year old harpsicord. Some people in back screamed "We love you Tori" (as usual), and she replied "I love you too" and something about tequila and the harpsicord. It was cute.
She talked a bit more in between songs. By this time the moon (full one, I might add) was out, and stars. It was perfect. And Tori mentioned (not exact quoting) "You know what you guys out on the lawn have that we don't have?" and they yelled Tori! and she said something like "No, no...you have the moon!" I don't know about her, but from where I was sitting, I could see the moon. Then again, she was lower then we were.
Tori prefaced Professional Widow with another story. She talked about when she was 8 and something about being the age where you have the braces and wet your pants all the time (God, I know I must be screwing this up, oh well...don't quote me on this!) And this guy who asked girls to marry him like 3 times a day asked her one day, and this song is for him...so she started playing this song. I had *no* idea what it was. Something about planting a loveseed. Then about midway in she starts in "Starf*cker..." and I went wild. I occasionally glanced over at the lady to the right on stage who was signing the songs to all the deaf people. I wondered if she censored this one...
I yelled *Yesss* when she started playing Pretty Good Year. It was so pretty. I almost started crying. My ears were ringing after she got done with the "What's it gonna take..." part. My friend, who hadn't been to a Tori concert before, commented "Boy, does she have lungs!"
Precious Things was absolutely *wild*! They had these circular overhead lights that spun around while she did her intro. The whole atmosphere was almost surreal. It looked like alien ships were swirling their lights above Tori. It was wild. And she had a nasty growl for her long Giirrrrrllll.
I held my breath through Me and a Gun. I thought for sure someone would yell during this. But, to my utter surprise and delight, the audience was *silent*. I was very impressed. The audience was much better here than at Syracuse.
Tori got a standing ovation after she finished. I was so amazed that it was over already. She came back out and played a BEAUTIFUL Landslide. I was very near tears. It was so pretty. And everything hit me. I felt so comfortable here--a place I don't find very often. Even if Tori was a little on the angry side tonight. Tori was speaking to me--telling me what I needed to hear. I had a dream a few days before about this concert--Tori whispered in my ear "Don't you ever let the bitches get you down...don't ever let them keep you from floating" And I finally heard that through Father Lucifer, which she sang at the beginning of the second encore.
Tori also played a beautiful Winter to finish off the first encore. She waved and shook hands with some of her fans in the front. Also, some girl leapt onto the stage screaming Tori Tori and Joel (I think that's his name) was out on the stage like lightning and grabbed her. At least there was only one ;-)
The second encore Tori sang Father Lucifer, and to wrap it all up was Etienne on the harmonium. She said "Some of you may know this...I don't sing it to often anymore". I absolutely loved it. I had never heard it before...I can still hear her sing Etienne in my head. A wonderful feeling.
I don't know, maybe I'm just looking too deeply. But I feel so strong when I listen to Tori. Some of you may think I'm crazy or obsessed...I know my family does. After I came out of the Rochester concert, I felt like I could do *anything*...I always have had a problem with self-conciousness, and Tori has helped me overcome it quite a bit. I owe her so much...one of these days I will be able to thank her.
Someday in the future I will.
From a posting to the Toirnews mailing list by Kimmy (jenkins@vivanet.com)
....several of you have enquired about the concert which I attended tonite. It was great. Heres the playlist while I'm here:
-Beauty Queen -Horses -Take to the Sky (at this point someone yells out "I love you Tori" while she is introducing "the girl" harpsichord and Tori repleys that is they really love her to go buy some tequilla(sp) for the "girl") -Blood Roses -Little Amsterdam -Cornflake Girl (dance included) -Pretty Good Year -Little Earthquakes -(Began with story of someone who one proposed to her...she said he was one of those guys that "used to make the young girls with braces drool and pee"...or something like that.)She went into an unrecognizible song, for me anyway and about halfway went into Professional Widow where she began at "starfucker..." -Putting the Damage On -Precious Things(only 27 second grrl tonite) -Caught a Light Sneeze -Tulula -Me And a Gun ( let me point out that the crowd was very very polite and I did not hear a peep during the song) Encore 1 -Some song I was not sure of...lyrics included "Saw my reflection in the hills...landslide rolling down.." Sorry -Winter...Beautiful Encore 2 -Father Lucifer (she seemed to be in a bit of a hurry) She pressed a wrong key during the intro and said "Oops" -A YKTR song, I'm not familiar with any YKTR stuff but it started out "Maybe I'm a witch"
Ok, that sounds right.
See ya'll soon. -Kimmy
From a personal email sent to me by Cara Waldman (mwaldman@vivanet.com)
Hi! I went to this concert on Thursday and read the reviews that you have posted. The song before Professional Widow is Whole Lotta Love. This concert was a lot better than the one I saw in Syracuse on May 18th. Tori seemed to sing with much more emotion. I heard from some people that she was feeling sick that night but put on a great show in spite of that. The crowd was polite during Me and A Gun. A lot of people were screaming out "I love you Tori" during the concert and it seemed like it really annoyed her at this concert. One girl climbed up on stage and Tori's bodyguard with the long blond hair picked her up and dropped her off stage. I was sitting about 10 rows back so I could see a lot of stuff I couldn't see in Syracuse. Tori put on some powder near the beginning of the concert. Also, I noticed her "Q-ing" in the tape loops for Talula. This concert was about an hour and a half which was about ten minutes shorter than the one in Syracuse.
Back To The Main Dew Drop Inn Index
Back to the Main Tori Amos Page
Tori's Performance In Buffalo New York, August 28
From a posting to the rec.music.tori-amos newsgroup by MAGGIE T. MORRIS (sebastian5@aol.com)That was just one of the BEST days of my life, I must say, Dan, Dina, and my lovely big brother Pierre came down to my hometown from canada to see her play. The four of us and stephanie (I think she's pretty much an honorary rmta-er) went to artpark for the soundcheck. We sat down with this nice guy who lurks around here with a t-shirt of him and tori (hi mr. sharpie pen guy, if you're here). Then the dark-haired bodyguard came out and told us the rules. My friend Joan Yin came over, too, and was just so excited to find that she would be able to meet tori. so tori comes out with joel, the blond guy, and i'm already snapping pictures. I was twitching like CRAZY, I couldn't belieeve it was ACTUALLY HER! she looked just like she did in pictures, she was wearing a pink shirt and striped jumper, or maybe the other way around, but I can't remember. But I'll see when we get the pictures developed. She signed one of my issues of take to the sky, and i gave her some birthday presents: a necklace, wooden letters that spell out t-o-r-i, and a butterfly puppet. She was very excited about the butterfly puppet. And I gave her a big hug, and I was just so happy. And then we went up to the top of the hill and watched the soundcheck through the bars. She did all sorts of improv stuff, some of sat. afternoon 1963, and cornflake girl. Pierre and I bought matching blue tour t-shirts, so we're "twinkies" OH and we got a group picture of all of us with Tori that will be sent to the homepage when it's developed and uploaded. So anyway, some of my stupid spastic friends see me and freak out and start shouting my name and i was just like, shut up! I had this sinking feeling they would be some of the woo-ers during the concert. The crowd was very adolescent; even though I'm adolescent I can still say that. We went in, finally, after standing around for a while. The opening act was good enough, good generic guitar rock about sex and getting stoned. So we sat there and waited. She was late coming out, what was it, maybe 9:15 or later when we finally heard son of a preacher man and the crowd flipped. SEt list is as follows:
1. beauty queen/horses. She collected our cheers with her arms, like she was feeding off of them.
2. crucify! I was so psyched. She doesn't seem to do this one much anymore. It was right after this I thinkt hat she told us that she's been dreaming about crocodiles eating her hair. then went into:
3. blood roses, which was very cool.
4. butterfly. OK, listen, BUTTERFLY!! What did I give her? A BUTTERFLY PUPPET!!! This was very definetly a nod in my direction. And it was gorgeous. Then, I think it was bout this time that she told us that the last time she was in canada she was 5 and her brother wrapped her head in dirty socks. this was the last time she talked until the very end of the show, because this next song REALLY got her going.
5. Cornflake Girl. She did a REALLY long dance. LAst time I saw her, she just did the dance from where she was standing, but this time she got up and danced all over the stage. Then she just RAWKED!! She was ad-libbing between "rabbit" and "and the man with the golden gun", saying something about "baby i know that you're mine and you're coming right for me...." She was punching the air, she was tossing her hair, she was kicking ass, and she knew it, she was just ROCKING.
6. TEAR IN YOUR HAND! I started hopping up and down, Pierre can vouch for this. It was such a mellow and beautiful version. And she KEPT smiling at Caton, right after the neil reference. And that made me smile. I was smiling like an idiot all through the whole thing.
7. LITTLE EARTHQUAKES!!! I could NOT believe this was happening. She seemed just SO energized. Caton's string broke during the second bridge, right when she was kicking some serious ass. She said "I can't reach you, I can't...you're off. Did you break a string? OK. I'll just keep going. I'm just nursing some juice." And then she just went on,and he got a new guitar and came back in. But her voice was just so powerful, and she was just so full of energy.
8. smells like teen spirit. "sometimes the ghosts come back, I think you know what I mean. It's rare that I do this one." This was very nice, very pretty.
9. FLYING DUTCHMAN!!!!!! Pierre gaveme the biggest hug when we realized what this was, I had asked her to play it in the birthday card I gave her. It was amazing. She ad-libbed the cutest little thing about "marky mark said are you in the house?" after the line "are you out there" and I giggled. I was giggling like a school girl...wait that's actually what I am...
10. "this is for you guys on the lawn." PRESCIOUS THINGS! This is when I said to Pierre, "is this actually happening?" it was like I had always DREAMED! It was PRIMAL! she growled, panted, screamed, chanted "these prescious things, wash them clean, wash this thing daddy," it sounded bitter, angry, AMAZING. (28.28 second "girl", pierre had out the stopwatch. It was unbelievable, as P said about halfway through it: "primo.")
11. Caught a Lite sneeze. She was going SO HARD at this point, Pierre and I at the exact same second thought "can you BELIEVE how fast her hands are moving?" She was pumping her legs, writhing, she did that cool rhythm thing where she pounds on the piano and the switchover from piano to harpsichord was awesome.
12. Talula. She kicked all sorts of ass with this one. The whole place was just dancing. You know how sometiems she just kinda plays along with the backing track,a nd yeah it's funky but not all that. Well, this was ALL THAT AND A BAG OF CHIPS to use a silly expression. And it ended. And I thought "oh god no, please keep this up, please do more before me and a gun, it's gonna drain all that energy!" but it was coming. can't stop what's coming. :)
13. me and a gun. Her voice quivered. she was very close to crying. She skipped an entire verse. She RAN off stage and got it together,a nd came back for an encore that just rocked my world.
14. WRAPPED AROUND MY FINGER!!! I've always wanted to hear her do this,a nd it was just gorgeous and lovely. She was so mellowed out and gorgeous, just ethirial at this point almost. But she did seem a little bit rattled for this next song.
15. BAKER BAKER! I don't think she does this one too much, does she? IT was great, but she forgot the words after "if truly his heart was made of icing". She started giggling and said "I forgot my own words, I'm sorry," but then just played and picked it back up.
16. This was the beginnign of the second encore,a nd people were throwing all sorts of flowers and stuffed animals at her. These chicks in the front row freaked out and started screaming aomething at her and she had to say, "ok, one girl talk at a time." Some guy took the opportunity to scream "happy birtday tori" and she said thanks,a nd then the gir screamed "IN FRONT OF YOUR RIGHT AMP THERE'S A TUBE OF GRAPEFRUIT SOAP FOR YOU!" And she said "Oh thank you, you guys on the lawn, if you want any grapefruit soap there's a whole tube up here." Then she started FATHER LUCIFER, which is one of my favorites off of BfP. Pierre and I swayed and mouthed the words for "nothing's gonna stop me from floating." Then, Pierre's night was made, even though she didn't play doughnut song, with this next song:
17. London Girls! Has she played this before? Pierre and Dan were psyched! They started bringing out the pump organ, and I was still hoping maybe for Etienne or Purple Rain, but I knew it was gonna be
18. Hey Jupiter. Which was fine. I really love this song. But I knew that it menat, OK, the end. And I didn't WANT it to end. She said "You guys have been really great, we've got 70 more shows, if you get bored cut school and come find me." to which everyone screamed. Hey Jupiter was beautiful. It was the original, not the dakota version, I was kinda hoping to hear the spiffy new lyrics somehow worked in, but I think she was getting too tired for that. She works damn hard on the pump organ, I had forgotten that she has to just keep her legs going. But anyway, it was a beautiful ending.
In closing, I must say that this was closer to tori unplugged than anything else. kinda "tori raw." tori with all the scabs ripped off. It was amazing, it was spiritual, it was so powerful.I would love to hear a tape of it, if anyone taped it, but don't try to rip me off, I won't spend too much because the first verses of most of the songs will be obliterated by frantic "WOOOOOOOOO"s. But contactme if you wanna.
From a posting to the rec.music.tori-amos newsgroup by Pierre (cayden@idirect.com)
I just had the most excellent of all excellent Tori days yesterday. And you'll probably hear this from the people who shared it with me; Dan Wolfe, Dina, Stephanie (A lurker even if she doesn't know it) and of course my lil' sister Maggie.
We all got together to go see the show at Artpark on wednesday. First we hung out in Maggie's neighbourhood and raided a music store where I got the Hey Jupiter single and Dan and I had trouble with your stupid american ATM's and I had a wild cherry Pepsi and before we left, Maggie gave us some of her extra Tori stuff she had. GOOD stuff, too! I got me More Pink!!!! And Maggie wrote me a lil' dedication on the back of the booklet where it looks like tori's on a big planetary snowflake... and then I got Tori to autograph the front and so it's doubly special.
We got to Art Park early and were among the small group that got to say Hullo. Me met a lurker from down South who's name is Jess and who lent us his Sharpie pen and who has to say hi now. Then Tori got here... Maggie, who's such a darling, brought her gifts. She autographed our stuff for us, and told me three times she loved me (yes, I'm leaving a part out but she really DID say "I love you" three times to me. That's my story and I'm sticking to it) and then we got a picture of all of us with her (all of us as in our lil' group, not everyone who was there. They weren't cool enough to be in the picture, which will be up on the rmt-a page sooner or later). So we fluttered away all hyper from our close encounter of the Faerie kind.
We climbed the hill in back of the venue, 'cause artpark is one of those in/out door jobies with lawn seats. So we layed there taking in the scenery and listening to Tori do soundcheck... she even did a full version of Cornflake Girl, just for us.
Kay, fastforward through us hanging out and taking pictures and dining on five star cuisine and telling silly jokes at the storytelling place and right into our 2nd row seats. Damn, they were good. We were seated so that Tori was looking straight at us for all the Bosendorfer songs.
Tra la la la la, opening act. Guy in the mold of Willy Porter who had a very
up and down show Then it comes... Preacher man. She's on her way. We give the evil eye to
the guys in front of us who we thought would be rowdy "WHHHHOOOOO"ers hoping
to give them spontaneous laringytis, but they turned out not to be a
problem...
Maggie kept track of the setlist for us, so she'll post it eventually. The
show was just soooooo awesome. She was so into it, you could tell she was
just gonna let it all hang out tonight. Every note, every riff, every word
and scream of every song tore through us like wildfire. I won't do a song by
song breakdown, but I'll share with you the parts I loved the most...
When she did Smells Like Teen Spirit for us, and you could actually feel the
loss in her voice, the "ghosts" that come visit, as she said.
When she rocked out on Cornflake girl after doing her lil' dance and drawing
all our power and energy and then giving it back to us tenfold
When she got absolutly PRIMAL during precious things, screams coming from a
place so deep within her that they no longer had gender. Only power... and a
28 second grrrrrl.
When she did CaLS and Maggie and I just stared at her hands and fingers which
seemed to magically know where to be for each note, at a speed that
mesmorised us. The entire song was a trip, that went from being totally lost
and wandering to the empowerment and her lyrics just got stronger and harder
as it proceeded, like she really was getting her big loan from the girl zone
When she did Talula and it was just a total swirl of notes and lights and her
voice
When she forgot the words during Baker Baker and whipered to us, like letting
us all in on her secret, that "I forgot my own words"
When during Wrapped around your Finger, you could tell she was having FUN
doing a song she loved so much
When she did London Girls and Father Lucifer and Mags and I bopped a lil' in
our seats...
When she did hey, Jupiter on the organ, and her voice was so strong and
powerfull and the organ was just there, but the voice was everything... even
if Caton added a nice touch here and there with a note...
Speaking of Caton, I also loved his additions... the way he coaxed harmony
out of his guitars and gave 'm to Tori so she could do with them what she
will... he was absolutly awesome, and I'm now SURE that he and Tori have
something going.
And of course, Tori did an amazing, amazing MaaG... even though she skipped a
verse, every part had it's raw emotion. The sadness, the resentment, the
pain, the fear... the spite, the irony, everything. It was all there, and
she gave it to us.
After the show, we all parted and Maggie and Stephanie met their ride, and we
Canadian headed for the border, we all knew Tori must have thunk we were
really special, 'cause she gave it ALL to us. I'm positive this was one of
her best shows this year. Well I am another satisfied concert patron. Yah like that was ever in doubt.
Second time seeing her this tour and the best ever. What a day !!!
I managed to sneak out of work early, Ok there was begging involved but
I'm not proud, it's Tori. Enough said.
So its about 4 PM and I arrive to find a couple people milling around. I got the
"yes may I help you" from Mr. Security. " Yes I am here to see Tori, get
her autograph..." I said. "Sorry but she isn't in until six and she ain't
signing
today" he replys. Well now that sucks, but there are a few people on the
by the buses hanging out, I'll go over there. Good choice Tim. This was
the meeting spot. Steve comes out and explains the procedure to the 25
faithful diehard
fans. I'm forth in line and don't want to take up her time so I have her
sign my All These Years book and ask her to play Wrapped Around Your
Finger. Her hand was getting pretty covered with requests. The original
security guard was a local goon on a power trip.
I met up with Julie from Ithaca College, I was getting worried when it was
7:15 and she hadn't shown yet. Eight PM was panick time and 8:45 was
hysteria.
Now going to our seats was pretty neat; "May I help you ? " they asked "No we're
in the front row" ... I loved saying that. Actually the ushers were
really happy for us. So twelve hrs. of concrete camping does pay off in a
big big way.
No heads in the way, just an empty orchestra pit between me and Tori.
Well first there was the opening obstacle, I mean act. Clayton Josh Felt
or was that Josh Clayton... he was cool, I think he has a fetish for
trees or at least it was a common theme in his some of his songs.
Tori takes the stage and it becomes a blurr. The usual line up, some one
will no doubt post a proper song list. I actually saw Tori shed a tear
during a song.
It was an actual tear and not just a glob of sweat. Yes we got to see her
sweat, slobber and drool, you could see the bugs flying around etc.
I wanted to yell "INCOMING" as people lobbed things from the audience to
the stage. Mr. Potato Head (in the box), bars of soap, a dozen bouquets of
flowers that propelled like missles and a stuffed baby gorilla. What does
she do with all this stuff? Maybe I'll ask her tomorrow.
Tori talked about dreams of crocodiles eating her hair and her memory of Canada.
As a five year old, her brother wrapped her face in his smelly socks.So
when she hears of Canada she thinks of this. Overall she seemed in a real
good mood.
Superb concert experience except there a loud drunk insulting obnoxious
person sitting next to us. The group tried to reason with him but he was
content to be an asshole. However his drunkness caused him to leave midway
through to releive himself and didn't get let back in for three or four
songs.Bonus. So he either really HAD to go, or he had another beer on the
way or they wouldn't let him back in during the song or all of the above.
He left before the second encore, good riddence asshole. Two from the
second row quickly occupied his seats.
Now Tori comes out during the first encore and plays the song I asked her
for hours before. Awesome. Wrapped Around Your Finger sounds incredible
with the auditorium acoustics. Wow ... she played my song. Okay.....here is my concert review. Last night was my first Tori
concert (my first concert in about 2 years- actually). Opening was a
guy that I had never heard of Josh Clayton Feldt (I believe that is his
name) and he was pretty good. Good humor and good guitar playing. He
opened the show at 8:00 and did about a half hour set. Then about 45
minutes went by before Tori came on while they were playing "Son of a
Preacher Man". During this 45 minute time, I noticed some girls going
over to the bodyguard (blonde Crocidile Dundee looking guy) and writing
some stuff down which I guess was their phone numbers!?!?
Tori came on...went straight into Beauty Queen. Sadly, there is no way
I can give a complete Tori list from the concert as I was more
interested in her performance.......
She did a cover of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and one
spectacular one of the Police's "Wrapped Around Your Finger."
She did a little dance while the guitar guy was playing the intro to
Conflake Girl. She sort of came up right close to the front of the
stage and was doing this little jig.
She did "London Girls" in which she substituted "They will darn your
socks and wash your.....(at this point she used her palm to gesticulate
a washing of your "private" parts while she let out a growl." Actually
there was a lot of growling going on last night.
In "Precious Things" she let out a howl while dragging out the "Girl" in
"the heart's of every nice GIRL" that went on and on. It is
unbelievable that she can perform this intensely vocally and physically
night after night.
Yup...I was a happy camper!
Ooopss....I forgot to mention that she did come out after the show and
talked with about a 1/10 of the people waiting for her. It was obvious
that she was tired. And she is so TINY! I couldn't believe it! She
hugged several people and asked them their names etc. She didn't do any
signings.
So there ya go!!!!
: )
Anna
Artpark was a gracious audience with no hecklers during "Me and A Gun."
Thank god!
Some girls in my row through up a Monkey on stage which she picked up
and it made their day. They also got to meet her after the show and
were shrieking with delight in the parking lot.
Also...she told a story that went something like this:
We are real close to Canada...are their any Canadians in the house?
(Screams). I was staying real close to here when I was a kid on a trip
with my older brother. I think I love him but I am not sure. You know
how awful older brothers are....well, you know how you take your socks
off at the end of the day? He wrapped them around my face so when I
think of Canada- I think of that."
Also that she has a dream about a crocidile eating her hair and wants
to know if anyone will interpret her dream for her. Ok, so here I am sitting in the audience watching Josh Clayton-Felt and I feel
something hit me in the forehead.... Yeah.. for those of you who were at the
show, the PICK HIT ME IN THE HEAD! But hey.. now I have another souvenier. =)
Tori was AMAZING!!!!!!!!!! I cant stress that enough... I saw her at Shea's
also, and this show blew me away! She threw in some covers I havent seen in
other setlists, "Smells like teen spirit" and "wrapped around your finger" by
the police! She also threw in this kewl story about how she dreams of
crocodiles eating her hair, and her brother wrapping dirty socks around her
face in Canada... *huge smile* it was very awesome. Everyone says some of the
best highlights of her shows are when she talks to the audience.. and this
was no exception.
Hell, she did about a 5 minute dance to Cornflake girl too... talk about crazy!
The audience on the whole behaved fairly well.. your typical screaming here and
there, but nothing outrageous like some shows I have heard about.
Overall, the show was toooooooooooooooo awesome for words.. and i cannot
express that all in here, even if i tried. I would attempt a setlist, but
i dont think i could get it right.. (im still in shock). I will say though,
that she did a TON of stuff from LE.. wowowowowow! IN A CHATTY MOOD, TORI AMOS REVISITS 'TEEN SPIRIT' Buffalo News (BN) - Thursday, August 29, 1996 "Sometimes the ghost comes and visits you know what I mean?" The audience at Tori Amos' Wednesday night concert didn't have a clue what she meant.
But so it goes with Amos: Even if you find some of her lyrics
unintelligible, you can't ignore the passion with which she delivers them.
Intrigued, you follow. The following on Wednesday night hovered at
about 4,000, with 2,000 of them redheads -- or so it seemed -- just like
their ragamuffin goddess.
The ghost Amos referred to eventually came into shape as she tinkled the
opening notes to "(Smells Like) Teen Spirit."
It was Kurt Cobain.
In Amos' sensitive rendition of "Teen Spirit," Cobain's anthem is wiped
clean of grunge and transformed into a torturous ballad. Where Cobain
deliberately garbled every line, Amos painstakingly enunciates every
syllable.
Only rarely does she perform "Teen Spirit," Amos told the audience. This
was only the second time she had done so during the tour, which began in
February.
But rare was the kind of night it was.
Less than a week after celebrating her 34th birthday, Amos was in superb
form. The Artpark show hangs a few notches above her compelling performance
at Shea's this May.
While the Shea's Amos was reticent, Artpark's Amos was eager to chat.
She revealed that she's been dreaming about a crocodile that eats her
hair. She invited anyone with an interpretation to drop her a line.
She reminisced about a childhood trip to Canada during which her older
brother -- "whom I think I love" -- removed his dirty socks and wrapped
them around her face.
Maybe the open-air venue at Artpark had something to do with Amos'
uncanny spiritedness.
Maybe she was overcome by the piousness of the crowd, only ruptured by
the hoots of those apparently uncomfortable with the dramatic pauses so
characteristic of Amos' music.
Perhaps the faeries that she acknowledges in her CD's liner notes were
hovering over the Bosendorfer grand piano.
Whatever the factors, Amos was fully engaged as she blended favorites
from her first two albums -- "Cornflake Girl" and "Crucify," among them --
with covers and a handful of new material from her third full-length CD,
"Boys for Pele."
Moving back and forth between the piano and a harpsichord, Amos writhed
on her bench. She spread her legs at a 90 degree angle, pounding the
piano's underside and patting herself on the behind.
As a prelude to "Cornflake Girl," a bouncy tune about betrayal, Amos
walked to center-stage, dropped her head to her chest and pretended to
cradle a baby. Then she danced through a series of Samurai-like poses.
Songs such as "Cornflake Girl" are more about confession than just
communication. Such confessions are Amos' catharsis, and she does
everything in her power to make them a group release.
With a single breath she can show more emotion than some singers can
muster in an entire album.
Constantly tinkering with her material, she venomously spits out words
she once whispered piously, using every corner of her voice to express
herself.
Wednesday's concert was no exception.
Tori came. She moaned. She sighed.
One wonders whether parents chaperoning their teen Toriphiles expected
such eroticism from the daughter of a Methodist minister.
In "Precious Things," Amos' growled for about 30 seconds as she pushed
out the word "girls" ("No one cared to tell me where the pretty girls
are/those demigods with their nine-inch nails and little fascist panties").
Clearly comfortable in the realm of the personal, she sang "Me and a
Gun" -- an account of her being raped by an acquaintance -- with her legs
crossed and one hand draped on the piano.
In turn, throngs of idolizing fans made it known she was Tori-adored.
Roses, carnations, cornflowers, a stuffed gorilla -- even two bars of
grapefruit soap -- had landed on stage by the time she returned for her
encores almost two hours later. For the final songs of the night she chose "Baker Baker," "Father
Lucifer," "Hey Jupiter" and two covers: Chas and Jeff's "London Girls" and
The Police's "Wrapped Around Your Finger." CAPTION:
Mike Groll/Buffalo news An Animated Tori Amos,seen during her Artpark sound
check, was in Superb form.
Copyright (c) 1996, The Buffalo News Back To The Main Dew Drop Inn Index Back to the Main Tori Amos Page I just got back from the concert, let me just tell you, the show was
amazing, but with a few strange surprises that make it different than any
other show on this tour.
Well I went early, I got there at about 2:30 hoping to meet her before
soundcheck, but it turns out that she didn't do the meet-greet thing
today(doesn't that suck!), and I was disappointed, but I understand, because
I mean you can't always do that, it's very out of her way. But I did happen
to see Caton, he was riding his bike and I saw him through the fence. My
sister and I and two other people who we met who were from Europe(one was
from Amsterdam, the other from Belgium; they had met her several times
before and Tori kind of knew them). We said hi and he came over. We talked
for a while. I gave him a note that I had for Tori and the Europeans asked
for a request "Honey", then we thanked him and he rode away.
I met some people on the internet(hi brian, alvin, mike : ) and I booted
up my seats to 6th row, which was amazing, my parents did however get really
pissed at my "lack of concern" for money, but ya'know what, that's OK,
because, fuck them, they don't understand.
Soundcheck, I couldn't hear it very well. She played Josh Clayton Felt was pretty good, I didn't like some of his songs and
thought that some of his lyrics weren't too great, but a few of his songs
were quite good. Some people were rude and shouted for Tori, and I thought
that was really uncalled for.
Then, Tori came out. She was wearing a lime green spandex type of top,
jeans, and these 4-inch heels that had a snake like type of pattern.
Heres the set list:
BQ/Horses(kinda Sugar, I'll explain later) She played a very long set list, and it's weird because a LOT of the songs
that I heard in the NYC May 14th show were also played tonight, but that's
OK, I did hear a lot of new stuff too.
Horses is very different, it's changed since I heard it in may, and in the
middle of it, she blended into Sugar for a little bit, then switched back to
Horses. It was very graceful and subtle so I don't think many people noticed it.
Tori talks #1 Cornflake Girl was amazing, I really love this song, and to see it in
concert is great. And on the dance she does, it reminds me of a tribal sort
of dance, "spritual" in a sense( and I hate that word because it's SO
overused, but I can't think of anything else to describe it) It's very
powerful to see her grabbing energy from the audience then pushing it back
again, then pulling it towards her. It's like she once said in an interview,
any performance goes both ways, the audience has to give, in order for the
performer to give and it's a wheel that turns. She really displayed that
metaphor physically here.
Tori talks #2 I've never really heard Butterfly before, I have the sheet music, so I know
what it sounds like, but I don't have any recordings of it, it was very
impressive. I especially love the line, "they like you better framed and
dried", it's a beautiful song.
Little Earthquakes was very different, she changed the opening and it had so
much emotion and power, it was just simply wonderful.
Tori talks #3 Cloud on My Tongue was a treat because I've never heard it live before. She
added some lines to it near the end, " you don't see me and I don't see me.
You don't hear me and I don't hear me. I forgive you" or something to that
effect. It was a very good version and I'm glad I got to hear it.
Precious Things was so full of raw, powerful emotion. She kept on repeating,
"bleed, let them bleed, wash me clean, daddy, wash me clean, wash this thing
clean" It was one of my highlights.
Tori talks #4 Tori talks #5 Me and a Gun It's weird, even though I was really disappointed at what happened. I
felt like I added something to the show when I spoke and told those assholes
to shut the hell up. I felt like Tori appreciated me doing that, and I
don't know, maybe I'm being overly sentimental, but it felt like I was
really a part of something.
Mother was beautiful, beyond what my words could describe.
Tori talks #6 I'm glad I got to hear Springtime in concert, I've been wanting to and it
was amazing. Around this time things started to get a little hectic down
front because when Tori left for the encore, she walked down and shook hands
with some people in front, so everyone was trying to push foward to see her
and security was shitting a brick, telling everyone to get back in their
seat. Prof Widow, i'm sorry to say that I didn't get to enjoy this one
completely because of all the chaos that was going on. Same with Hey
Jupiter, which is one of my favorites.
So after Jupiter, instead of walking offstage, she came foward and kind of
motioned for people to come foward towards the stage where she was going to
shake hands and meet people, but one girl mistakenly thought Tori meant up
ON the stage so she jumped up, then 3 other people did and it was absolute
mayhem. Tori knew that the girl didn't mean any harm, so she told her to
quickly get down before she got in trouble. Then, Tori was briskly(and
rightly, I might add) wisked off the stage. But I'm pissed, because I was
right up there and WOULD have gotten the chance to say HI, at least. Ah,
well, such is life.
I'd have to say that even though some of the audience members were so
obnoxious, it was a really great show, even though I've only seen two. It
was much better than the May 14th show, I can tell you that. But I don't
know if that's because the show was better or if it's because my seats were
so much better than in May. I felt so much more there. In May, I was
physically there, but I don't think I experienced anything really. I don't
remember how I felt while listening to most of the songs. But at this show,
I do. I felt so much and I was really happy, yet sad at the same time.
Actually I feel emotionally drained after seeing this show. All in all, it
was a wonderful experience.
Thank you for the memory, Tori. Terri then sent me this addition/clarification! Could you please post this to clear everything up, in case there is any
misunderstanding.
In my review of the Holmdel show, I said what happened during Me and a Gun,
I just want everyone to know that when I shouted "Shut up" is was not
directed towards Tori, it was directed to those assholes who kept screaming
during the song...I remanined quiet at first hoping they would stop, but
they didn't, so I felt like I HAD to do something. But I now realize that
Tori might have thought I meant it towards her even though I turned my head
around as I said it, I know she heard me and that makes me feel awful, but I
assure everyone that it was not directed towards her, absolutely not. But I
do regret saying it. It's incomprehensible to me how people can be so cruel
and heartless and how they can lack so much in respect. They cannot, in my
mind, consider themselves to be Tori fans. I arrived with my cousin Kelly, her husband Brian, my sister Monica, and
cousin Lauren at the Garden States Art Center. I was shocked by how many
girls I saw on the corner trying to scalp tickets. When I got to my seat, I
was kind of far up, but I could see Tori (although she looked small down
there) and I could see both big screens above her. Josh Clayton Felt came
out. Brian told me he was from School Of Fish and he wasn't too bad.
Unfortunately, my anxiety for Tori to come out was so strong I didnt enjoy
his set. There was also a group of girls behind me screaming and talking and
I was getting annoyed. I heard one of them say, "When its his last song, lets
go nuts for him." Unfortunately, they thought ever songs was his last, until
Kelly
had to turn around and tell them to shut up. They attempted to tell us it was
the two old men behind them, but we werent stupid.
The Tori came out. I almost died. I saw her wearing, I think, a green shirt,
and some zebra striped shoes. She waved to us, and the crowd went nuts. I
have never been to any other shoes, but from my bootlegs, I must say this had
to be one of the rudest crowds. They screamed through nearly all the songs.
It was a nightmare.
Beauty Queen/Horses
I'm On Fire (Tori went crazy as she started to rock back and forth like a
cheerleader, with her arms crossing over her chest. It was wild!)
Caught a Lite Sneeze (Tori told us about her new shoes and how she had to get
new ones from the NY show because we Jerseyans dont like anything from NY!)
Cornflake Girl (She started to do this weird dance that excited and scared
the crowd; it was really crazy, and afterwords, she warned girls never to
jump up and down with those heels!)
Butterfly (at first I didnt recognize it, then I remembered HIGHER LEARNING)
Little Earthquakes (before this she talked to someone who chased her in NY
with a Winne The Pooh doll; this was so unexpected. The crowd went wild)
Crucify (Another surprise, the crowd loved it)
Precious Things (amazing....that grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrl was inhuman)
Love Song (on the harpsichord; it was nice)
Space Dog (yes, yes another surprise-for me anyway)
Talula!!!!!!! (I was so happy! Talula is my favorite song and it was equipped
with the Tornado Mix and the lights went nutso! It was awesome)
Me And A Gun (Ok, no one likes this song. Its depressing. But Tori was
toughing it out very nicely. Then, I wanted to shoot the audience. People
were on the lawn screaming for her. People were shouting for her through the
song. And when she said "Does that mean I should spread?" someone shouted
"Hello no Tori! Hell no!" Then like 50 people all turned around and screamed
"SHUT UP" and Tori said "Its ok guys." and smiled. That calmed things down.)
Encore 1-
Mother (We all went nuts, it was an amazing shock)
A Case Of You (very beautiful)
Encore 2-
In The Springtime of His Voodoo (the crowd loved it)
Professional Widow (by this time, I couldnt hear or enjoy this song. The
girls behind me were being pains in the asses again, and the crowd was rudely
talking and shouting and the lights were beginning to turn on; it was on the
organ)
Hey Jupiter (on the organ, people were getting up and being rude.)
The concert was amazing and I hope to see her on the next tour. But I pray
the crowd isnt that rude again. Another Evening With Tori Amos Tori didn't take the stage until after 9pm, which was good... I was running
late (as usual). She was wearing a 3/4-sleeve, tight-fitting green shirt,
and I only mention this because I notice that she wears these often, and I
wonder if she's trying to hide or reveal (?) something.... it was, after all,
warm outside, and most people were wearing short sleeves. The backdrop was
lots of little white lights, looked very pretty, and reminded me of R.E.M's
new video for E-bow the Letter (ok, elements of my other favorite performers
is coming through here, maybe...)
She started the show with Beauty Queen & Horses, of course.
Is it just me, or does Tori tell fewer and fewer stories during her shows?
Well, she did make mention, at this point, of her new shoes. "After all,"
she says, holding one foot above the piano, "I can't wear the same shoes that
I wore in New York!"
the remaining setlist:
I'm On Fire She also prefaced the Cure cover by saying hi to all those people with
lawnseats (beyond the pavilion), and that she always got stuck sitting in
such seats.
And then she said "You are in the perfect spot to get warmed up....this is a
song that I like to get warm with...."
During Me and A Gun she even whispered midway.... "It's okay guys".... but
I'm not sure who she was talking to, or if she was even responding to someone
from the audience.
But I do know that the infamous "Frankie" from the NYC shows was in the
audience, and when Tori found this out she stopped to say hello to him and
held their own "how've ya been" conversation with the rest of the audience
listening in.
At the end of the show, Tori was "confronted" by a few fans rushing
onstage... and I could tell that the rest of the audience was concerned, as
the security staff removed the offending audience members from the stage, and
Tori abruptly left.
I do feel that Tori is getting tired, as there seemed to be less energy put
into many of the songs, compared to the last time I saw her in May (in NYC).
While there were no real Toristories, the show was still wonderfully
entertaining and solid, with a varied setlist hitting mostly on Little
Earthquakes and Boys for Pele. And, I finally got to see the Tori dance! I didn't know if you received a copy of Tori's set list from last night at the Garden States Art Center in New Jersey so here it is!!!
August 26, 1996
Beauty Queen/Horses (Here it got crazy with a lot of funs rushing to the front of the stage and Tori came to the front of the stage and shook hands and I saw one lucky person get a kiss on the cheek... Tori came out for her second encore then) 2nd Encore (Again fans rushed foward toward Tori...one girl jumped up on stage and ran towards Tori...Tori looked a little scared and they rushed her off)
The concert was fabulous...another sparkling experience of Tori...and I will never forget her black and white striped 5 inch heal shoes (which she remarked to the women in the crowd to never jump up and down in)
I believe I got the main points of the concert...also want to add you do a great job on your page...I enjoy keeping up with all the latest Tori info directly from your page!!! After waiting anxiously for Yvette to get out of work, we jetted out to the
Garden State Arts Theatre for the show, where of course fans seemed to have
been waiting all day. Nonetheless we assimilated ourselves to the mass
wandering until the gates allowed us to pour into the theatre. After Josh
Claton Felt's performance (No Willie, but still impressive -nothing
insinuated here) it was no more than 20 minutes when the lights went out for
the second time. "Son of a preacher" was played on cue, and during which
Tori did her entrance... also on cue. She silenced us with a chord and the
first notes of Beauty Queen followed by Horses. This being my first show
east of the apalachians I've never heard a crowd so enthused and
impressively loud (or maybe it was because this is the furthest forward I've
ever sat -row7) [note: this was a indoor/outdoor ampitheatre with a lawn!]
when the applause died down, a belated b-day was shouted (missed my chance)
and Tori took a moment to show us the new shoes she had just bought that
day. an astounding pair of Zebra striped heels complete with enthusiasm and
energy she commented on why she got new shoes by saying that she didn't want
to wear the same shoes she did in New York. The concert continued with "I'm
on fire" which recieved a loud and praiseworthy response. Further into the
show, came Cornflake Girl, where Tori did her pixie dance to the left, then
to the right. During the dance, an unprecedented number of fans threw
bouquets of flowers on stage, and those who weren't within throwing distance
came down from their seats. After her dance she jumped, literally, into
Cornflake Girl, and played the song as well as she has ever played the song.
Aferward, as normal spotlights opened up on her, as I noticed that she was
sweating, she said "girls, don't try dancing in new shoes." Later in the
show, she talked to the audience a bit, dedicated a song to the crowd on the
lawn, turned to the harpsichord and played the Cure's "Love song" to keep
them warm. ME and a gun unfortunately was a shattered experience. It was a
lot like seeing a horror movie in a loud theatre where "knowledgable" fans
were yelling "don't do it" and "no" to lines like "as he buttoned down my
pants" and "does that mean I should spread... ...Mr. Ed." Finally, after
someone shouted one of her many "shut ups" Tori shushed the audience, told
us it was alright and continued without skipping a beat.
The lights went out, welcoming to the stage dozens more bouquets, and Tori
who seemed to have just left the stage for just a split second returned. I
love encores, but never have I heard my favorite song played en encore, let
alone any concert! "A case of you" followed "Mother" in this encore, which
concluded after two songs as usual. and not so usual, fans from the first 20
rows rushed to the left side of the stage to reach out a hand to Tori some
of which were lucky to touch her hand. She will return for a second encore.
On cue, Tori returned, and it seemed noone on the right side of the theatre
sat for this one. it was almost like being at a pop metal concert where
everyone was just aching to get on stage. eventually, theatre security was
able to get everyone to sit down as Tori played PW on the harmonium.
Hauntingly beautiful. and definitely is a must see. If you missed her for
good this year, check it out on the Hey Jupiter CD's released in the latter
half of this summer. Finally, the bookend to virtually all of her shows was
put in its place as Tori played Hey Jupiter. as the song ended, Yvette and I
were rudely bumped and before I knew it, at least 50 or 60 fans were halfway
up on stage when Joel hauled of some guy who realized the error of his
actions on moment too late and as Steve hauled off a girl who made it up on
stage as well. the rest of the crowd backed down as Tori and Steve [Caton]
waved a final farewell to the audience...and a final one it was.
We hung around after the show and security guarding passage to the rear of
the theatere was EXTREMELY strict. We retreated into the parking lot, hoping
to approach again when a limo appeared. but unfortunately never was it to be
seen. Later Pat Kochie came from the rear of the heavily guarded theatre
with word that Security-especially Tori's, were in extremely fiery moods
because of the audience's behavior beforehand. apparently there was
absolutely nothing to see anymore. Without notice, the security guarding
passage to the back of the theatre suddenly put away the modular fencing
then told us to go home. It was 12:40 a.m. tuesday morning.
Although there was no Tori to meet and greet, I still enjoyed a fantastic
show, but keep in mind, that excessive behaviour during the show affects
what Tori may or may not be able to do afterward. Here is a recap of what took place last night at what used to be called
the Garden State Arts Center...
Tori came out in jeans and a yellow shirt, and black and white striped
shoes... (She told us she bought them for us cause she didn't want to
wear the same shoes she wore in NY)
Little unusual notes:
I'm On Fire - In the middle of the song, she stopped playing, kinda
stood and sang/yelled, "Baby I know - You said you know me so well... So
well... You said I'd never, never hurt you... No, no, no, no..."
Cornflake Girl - She danced on the stage, first on the left - then she
danced to the right, and then went back to the piano... Towards the end
of the song - after "Rabbit, where'd you put the keys girl?" she sang,
"Rabbit, my baby, you know... (word after word after word - I can't make
them out) She did that twice...
Cloud On My Tongue - After "Circles and circles and circles again..."
she sang, "You don't see me and I don't see me... See me... You can't
hear me, I can't see - You said I can't give... You can't, you..."
Precious Things - At the end she sang in her lower register, "These
precious things, let them bleed, let them wash me clean - Said go on,
wash me clean... Let them wash me clean... Wash this thing Daddy..."
Then she switched to her upper register and repeated those lines and
ended with, "Wash me clean Daddy, Wash this thing, Dad."
Before Love Song she talked to the people out of the lawn and said,
"Now, you guys, this is one of those moments when if you take advantage
of your good fortune then you can, like, get a little warmer right now
during this song... This is a song I like to get warm on..."
Me And A Gun - people were yelling, "Tori!" throughout the song - very
annoying... At one point she whispered, "It's alright guys"
Professional Widow - It was on the harmonium and at the end she
whispered, "Give me peace, love and a hard cock"
So that was the show, I managed to get the set-list from a soundboard
guy and in place of A Case Of You was Tiny Dancer and in place of
Professional Widow was Upside Down... Just thought I'd share... I have heard everyone else talk about how amazing her shows were, but I
never believed they could be that good -- she is so awesome live! She
doesn't even need back up instruments or *anything*-- she can mimick any
sound or beat with her piano. I don't exactly remember the order of all
the songs she played, but I do know *what* she played. Here is what
happened:
That Josh Clayton-Felt guy was pretty good-- his set lasted for 40
minutes. I think he would have sounded a lot better if he had a band with
him. He has a great voice though.
At around 9:10, Tori came out on stage to a song from Pulp Fiction-- I
can't remember the name-- I think it was something like "Daughter of a
Preacher" or something like that.
1.) BQ/Horses 5.) Me and a Gun (there was this hilarious part in the middle-- everyone
in the audience was so silent and serious, and this *one* girl kept
screaming "I Love You" *really* loudly over and over again-- it's like, we
know, OK? Now just shut up! But she did it once during the song, and
everyone "shhh'ed" her, and during a pause in the song, she sensed the
somberness of the crowd, and she said under her breath, "It's OK guys!"
which lightened the mood. 6.) Precious Things I may be forgetting a song or 2.. I know there was another one that I
never heard of. Overall, the show came out well-- she didn't seem to make
any mistakes like at any of the other shows. She also didn't speak too
much, but that was all right. At the end of the concert, 2 girls jumped
on to the stage, and her blonde body guard darted out on the stage, and
hefted the girl over his shoulder and took her away as she screamed and
reached out for Tori! It was hilarious-- she seemed really young too.
Anyways, that was about it-- I am sure someone else will have a more
perfect set list later on. (yeah, sorry.. mine is sort of pathetic, but
it was hard to keep track of everything in all the excitement.) Addendum emailed to me personally a few days later! First let me tell you that your web page is by far the best one around on the
net-- it is comprehensive and always up to date, which is what all web pages
should be like. But one thing... I wanted to add something to my little
review of the 8/26 Holmdel concert because I didn't want to give anyone the
wrong impression.
I wrote under "Me and a Gun" that there was a hilarious part in the middle
where Tori said "It's OK guys" to some overzealous fans. I sat in the lawn
seats, which probably contributes to the reason why my perspective of the
whole scene differed from everyone elses.. I did *not* think it was funny
that fans interrupted Tori during such an important song, but I though Tori
said "It's OK" to lighten the mood. I was probably wrong-- it was just my
first guess, and reading the other reviews, I realized that I probably
misread the situation. Either way, I don't really condone fans being rude at
all. (BTW, one of the offenders was sitting a couple of feet away from me,
and obviously just wanted attention, and everyone around us kept "shh'ing"
her and giving her dirty looks.)
(g) But I *did* think the end was funny when the fans darted the stage -- it
was really just 2 girls, and from what I saw, I don't think Tori was
threatened by them. I just thought it was funny how far some people would
go! (I would never have the nerve to get on the stage...!) Well...you've read the setlists and you've heard the stories... so now
I'll just tell my version of it....
First of all...it's a good idea to check with the boxoffice what kind
of seats the have the day of the concert...I wound up getting 6th row
seats for only $35 last night.... so there's a word of advice. :)
Second... the audience was aweful. I met some really nice people from
Holland at the concert...and they were telling me about how the
audience is real quiet in Holland and wait until the song is finished
to clap, etc. I agreed that Americans can be sort of "rude" when it
comes to concerts... but boy did we prove it last night.
First of all...while Tori was singing Me And A Gun people were
screaming back and forth...the song sounds kinda like this:
Tori: 5 AM, Friday Morning So you can see how the song went. And the thing that REALLY bothered
me was that it ruined all of Tori's concentration to the fact where
she had to "leave" that song and "It's okay" to stop all the bickering
in the crowd. In Tori's interview on Primetime Live, Tori said that
each night when she sings MAAG, there's a point that she reaches and
sometimes she gets there and sometimes she doesn't... Now how do you
expect her to get to that special place if everyone is so busy
screaming?
Okay... THEN, during the encore the whole middle isle became filled
with people who wanted to get a closer look at Tori... which made
things hard to see... but security did nothing about it... the only
time that security actually did something was when some girl jumped up
on stage and went to hug Tori...followed by two or three other
girls.... then they were all dragged off and Toriw was taken off
stage... and there went my hopes of meeting her after her show.
So... the music was AMAZING and the energy that Tori gave was
AMAZING... and I loved the show and it was the best that I've ever
seen...I just think that these audiences of 5,000 or whatever are
getting our of hand... it's like noone has any respect for Tori
anymore... they're too busy wanting to say "I love you" and not really
caring it her music and her message is that important... do people
become so obsessed that they forget about the music behind the person?
Oh well...there's my thought of the day... (and what a long day it
was). :) Hi to all the people that I met at the concert... the doll lady...
(who got to go backstage :P) and to the girl who played guitar... and
everyone else who was nice enough to sit around and talk at 2 o'clock
in the afternoon. :) My First Tori-Going Experience My sister, her two friends and I left our house at 2:45 pm and headed
our way to the Garden State Arts Center, playing a mix of stuff from
_Under the Covers_, _Y Kant Tori Read_, and _Hey Jupiter_. At about
3:30 pm we arrived at the center and spent the next two hours trying
to determine whether fans were lying, newspaper men were lying, or
security was lying about whether Tori had arrived yet and where she
was coming in; at around 6:00 pm we gave up the fight. According to
many reports Tori did not even greet her fans before the show; it
could be due to the high heat and humidity that day.
However, the lady who modeled dolls based on Tori who was mentioned in
the _Entertainment Weekly_ magazine was present, and showed us her
latest creation, a little doll of baby Myra Ellen with her stuffed
purple monkey, Clunky. She also shared with us her photographs of Tori and of her other Tori dolls, and that was *almost* as good as
meeting Tori herself, because the works were certainly very beautiful.
About 6:00 pm we heard the strains of our Red-Haired Goddess wafting
out of the ampitheatre, and all 300 or so people waiting instantly
shut up and listened to her music. [Not an exaggeration -- total and
absolute silence in a split second.] During her sound check, Tori
performed two improvisations, Happy Phantom, Cornflake Girl, Space
Dog, Caught a Lite Sneeze, Honey, and the Tornado Album version of
Talula.
At 6:30 pm the crowds were let into the theater, and the next half
hour was spent by Security steadily searching everyone's bags for
cameras, pot, etc. We then checked out the concessions stand, where
you could find four Tori T-shirts running at $25 and a long-sleeve
Tori T-shirt at $30. They also sold a program for $10, and a cross
pendant with "We both know it was a girl" on the longer post of the
cross and "Back in Bethlehem" on the shorter, and the "Dew Dropp Inn
'96" inscription on the back as well. This ran for $10. Josh Clayton
Felt (the opening act)'s CD was available as well for about $15.
At 8:00 pm, Josh Clayton Felt came on. I didn't really enjoy his
music, although his style reminded me of a friend of mine. His lyrics
did not seem that deep to me, just surface material about emotions and
drives that were sort of cliched; and the melodies didn't seem that
remarkable either. There was one song about hurting an "artistic boy"
that was sort of good, though.
Josh got off the stage at 8:40 pm, and Led Zeppelin was played over
the speakers for the next twenty minutes. We saw vague bumpings in
the white curtain on the stage, the lights dimmed, the curtain was
swept aside, and we saw the telltale light of Joel's flashlight
leading Tori onto the stage. The crowd ... of course ... went wild.
As the lights came up, you saw a background of lights that to me
looked to be in the shape of a volcano erupting. Tori walked on, as
she usually does, to "Son of a Preacher Man", and went right into
"Beauty Queen" and "Horses", followed by "I'm on Fire".
Tori then greeted the audience and showed us her new shoes. "I got
new shoes for you guys! I mean, don't take this wrong, but I couldn't
wear the same ones I wore in New York." Closer examination via
binoculars proved her shoes to be zebra-colored. :) She then began
"Caught a Lite Sneeze".
Steve Caton came on and performed "Cornflake Girl" with an extended
opening, during which Tori did a very cute dance that definitely
reminded me of a rabbit -- but it definitely included the arm motions
that you will see her do on occasion when she performs songs live on
television. Afterwards, she sat down heavily, and said, "Girls, don't
jump up and down if you get new shoes."
To my sister's great happiness, Tori's next song was "Butterfly",
followed by "Little Earthquakes". (I loved how she pounded the words
"give me life, give me pain, give me myself again" in such a rhythmic
way.) After that song, a guy in the audience stood up and yelled
"Frankie's here!" Tori turned, delighted, and said, "Oh, I love
Frankie!" and promptly told us about how he chased after her down the
street with his "boots and his Winnie-the-Pooh and his steel-tipped
things". Then I believe she asked who was the girl next to him, and
she yelled "Carol" ... to which she responded, "Oh, hi Carol! I'm not
trying to move in on you dear!" And with a devilish smile she segued
right into "Every finger in the room / is pointing at me" (Crucify).
After that, she performed "Cloud on my Tongue" and "Precious Things"
(a definite crowd favorite) during which she held "girrrrrrrrl" for
over half a minute without taking a breath (wow!). After "Precious
Things", she said, "This one's for the people out on the lawn. That's
where I always sat at these gigs." She mentioned that around this
time in the concerts, she'd want to get After this, she said, "I love Mork! I always did!" And went straight
into "Space Dog" (also to my sister's definite delight). After this,
she played "Talula (Tornado Album Mix)", which was simply
*incredible*. She radiated all this energy out, and the crowd picked
it up and threw it back at her, and we had this total synergy thing
going that just made the song absolutely incredible.
After this, Tori performed "Me and a Gun", and the thing I had been
dreading happened. Tori couldn't get through a verse without some
stupid drunk schmuck (of both genders) yelling "whoooooo!" in the
background. People kept saying, "Shut up!" as loud as they could
without interrupting the song; and finally, Tori, sensing that her
*true* fans were getting mad at the disrespect, whispered "it's okay
guys" in perfect rhythm in one of the pauses during the song. This
not only quieted down the people yelling 'shut up' but it also shut up
the drunk whoopers.
A standing ovation followed, and Tori came back out for her first
encore, in which she performed "Mother"; and then, to *my* delight,
she played "A Case of You". I hadn't gone into this concert with
certain songs I wanted to hear from her, but if I *HAD* picked it, it
would have been this one. It was absolutely amazing to hear that
wonderful voice sing that wonderful song ... live.
Another standing ovation followed, and Tori came back out for a
second, extended encore, in which she performed "In the Springtime of
His Voodoo" (and Steve absolutely *rocked* on that song). She then
performed the Merry Widow version of "Professional Widow" which just
strikes to the raw heart of the song -- it's an amazing raw version of
the song. After that, she performed "Hey Jupiter".
She *might've* even come out for a third encore if some schmucks
hadn't jumped up onto the stage. (Security was out there in quite
literally the blink of an eye, and carted them off.) One person Tori
actually had to wave off herself.
All in all, it was an absolutely amazing experience. It renewed my
love of Tori's music and of Tori's voice, and brought me new
appreciation to each one of her songs. Not to mention that it gave me
a chance to meet new Tori fans. (One RMTAer, Terri Yuan, brought her
9-year-old sister, who said she liked Tori. Continuing the fandom
from generation to generation, *yes*!) :)
I wish I had had a chance to meet Tori, yes. But perhaps her next
tour I can catch her. :)
Sound Check:
2 improvisations Back To The Main Dew Drop Inn Index Back to the Main Tori Amos Page I attended last night's Tori Amos concert at Jones Beach without the
intention of writing anything about the concert. However, I thought
that the following event that took place might be of interest to you, as
it was extremely moving and unique:
In the middle of singing Little Amsterdam (accompanied by Caton), Tori
seemed to depart from the lyrics and loose Caton completely, as she sang
"Kelly (?I believe that was the name she sang), I read your letter and
you gotta stay with me girl, you gotta hold on" (or something to that
effect). She then went on to sing the "round and round..." part of the
song. It appeared that Tori was singing to someone in the audience,
perhaps someone who had given her a letter expressing deep distraught.
This interaction must have truly overwhelmed that person, as I myself was
moved by Tori's kind gesture to reach out to this person in such a
public, yet intimate way.
On a separate note, the songs played were (though I did not write them
down, so they are not in order and may not be complete) - Beauty
Queen/Horses, Leather, Blood Roses, Little Amsterdam, Cornflake Girl,
Little Earthquakes, Precious Things, Silent All These Years, Frog on my
Toe (she told a story about how the song was written for a boy that she
had a crush on when she was little named Kevin Craig? who passed a note
to a pretty girl in class that said 'I don't like Tori-Ellen at all, she
sings like a frog'), Father Lucifer, Talula, Caught a light sneeze,
Mariannne, Mr. Zebra, Pretty Good Year, Winter, Me & A Gun, Purple Rain.
Sorry if I forgot anything.
At the end of the concert, Tori exclaimed, "You guys have been amazing --
don't be angry if I didn't play your favorite song". Overall, it was a
great concert.
Mike, thank you for maintaining such a terrific page. I really
appreciate it, as do many other people, I'm sure. I saw her last night at Jones Beach and I was skeptical that she could
amaze me yet again- I'm mean, it seems even harder to pull of an outdoor
show- there tends to be more distractions and she doesn't seem quite so
large when she's up on a strange infront of the entire night sky. She
came out and did beauty queen of course, but the way she started it- I
had no idea it was beauty queen. She was banging away some crazy thing
and I thought it might be a new song. The first couple of songs were
fine- she seemed to be rushing a bit- especially through blood roses, and
it seemed like she was going through the motions a little, which is to be
expected when you've been on tour sooooo long. The other change was that
she was jammin' a lot more and improvising, songs would go on forever and
she'd make up stuff that I hadn't heard. It made it a little bit harder
to enjoy the songs because they were all over the place, but it was still
fun to watch because she looked like she was having a great time. The
other weird thing she did start running around the stage doing her
cornflake girl dance- she even shook peoples hands during the intro.
After that, she focused and blew me away with Silent all these Years
during the encore. And I'm sure you know that she mentioned not always
having something to say- during the beginning of the show Caton had to
tune so she asked the audience to talk to her because "sometimes I just
get shy and just don't know what to say- you guys really saved my ass."
And as far as her not talking much during her shows- how many times can
she tell a story? And sometimes she might not play songs that she feels
like explaining or giving an intro to- she's only human. And even after
saying that she gets shy, she told us a story about some boy she had a
crush on and wrote frog on my toe for. And she spoke to a member of the
audience that offered her weed and she said,"Your very cool for
offering... Smoke some for me. I can't right now, I've got work to do."
Then someone must have expounded there love for her and she replied,
"well, if you were my boyfriend maybe I would, because then you get what
you get... [In that case]I wouldn't be doin all the work, you'd be
rubbing my back and massaging my feet." I left in love as ever and I'm a little frightened at my obsession.... The show was not sold out. I ordered a ticket via Ticketmaster from Montreal, Canada. Now I know why everybody is complaining about Ticketmaster. The ticket had been sold twice... Together with the other guy with the 'same' ticket, I went to the House Manager and after checking the payment he gave me another place (6th row left side instead of about 20th row center).
Before soundcheck, I was third in the line of approximately forty people waiting to meet Tori. The girl of about 15 years standing before me was completely in tears when Tori turned to her. She told Tori her story and Tori took quite a long time to whisper her answer into her ear. Then Tori wrote down for her the name of a book that had helped her a lot in the past as she said. She cares, yes she does.
Then it was my turn. Although Tori did not recognize me personally, she obviously remembered that she had already seen me somewhere, which really surprised me because I only met her four or five times for a few seconds during her German tour in March and she sees such a lot of faces.
"Hi Tori. First of all happy birthday." As you already could see in the setlist, Tori did not play 'Alamo' at Jones Beach.
Maybe this little girl was not ready to show up yet...
But maybe she will do it on one of the next nights - please keep me informed. Tori fans are just one big family. I met a lot of people - if you read this: "Hi."
The woman who made the Tori fairie doll; and Mea who was happy because Tori knew where her name came from. And Erik (with a 'k') from Belgium whom I first met after the concerts in the London Royal Albert Hall. The girl from Uruguay who wants to become a musician and the boy from the Philippines, who lives in Queens.
During the show I noticed that many of the songs have been changed more or less compared to her European shows in March. She did a short intro to 'Beauty Queen', maybe just to check the piano. For the first time I saw the dance of the Cornflake Girl. 'Little Earthquakes' was superb. Before the harmonies of 'Frog On My Toe' she told a story that was different from the Marguarita story: When she was nine years old she was interested in a boy called Kevin Craig. Considering her description of him, she does not like him too much anymore... She told him that she liked him at school, and he wrote a letter to another girl which said that Myra Ellen was ugly and looked like a frog. Maybe somebody else remembers this story better than I do...
'Precious Things' was different from the way I heard her playing it before, especially in the end of the song.
After 'Silent All These Years' Tori broke the distance to the audience for the first time. She went to the edge of the stage and shook some hands. A few seconds later about hundred people were trying to get to the stage in order to shake her hand as well. Joel Hopkins (Agent Orange) did not seem to be happy with this procedure which repeated after the very intense "Purple Rain" ("This girl normally does not show up, but today she does."). "Purple Rain" is brilliant on the organ and it seems somehow related to "Hey Jupiter": Everybody enjoy 'your' shows. Back To The Main Dew Drop Inn Index Back to the Main Tori Amos Page On Saturday morning, July 24th, my friend Jenn and I hit the road to
Providence, to the Performing Arts Center (we were coming from MA, about 2
hours away) cause we wanted sooooooo badly to meet Tori. As I've already told
Mikewhy, I did, and it was the most AMAZING experience of my entire life. To
make a VERY long story short, she got off the bus, and I gave her a "Happy
Birthday" crayon drawing that I had done of her, Steve, Joel, Johnny, Arthur,
and Caton, some very yummy recipes for pasta and cream sauce and such, and a
special little thing that will remain secret between me, Tori, and the guys!
All I can say is that the little creation made it on the bus! So, after
hugging her like a million times and getting her autograph ("Just For Angela,
{heart} Tori Amos!) Aye! and our picture together, which I'm blowing up to
poster size, I couldn't help but ask a request. I said, "If you hear 'Angie'
knocking, Tori, could you let her in?" She takes my marker, and doesn't write
it down the side of her hand like the others, but right on the top! It pays
to give her wacky presents! She goes, "I sure will. I really want to. Keep
your ears open, babe!" That was all I had to hear. I'm set for life!
So, after meet and greet, all of us philes hung around the theatre until
about 6:30, when the doors opened. We shuffled in like dutiful little fans,
and anyways, Steve ended up coming over to me and telling me that Tori loved
the gift and that they played with it during the soundcheck and now it's on
the bus. I was sooooo thrilled! Well, we finally got to out seats, waited
patiently through Josh Clayton-Felt (because honestly, who comes to a Tori
show to see the opener?) and then "Son Of A Preacher Man" came on, and we all
strapped ourselves in for what was to be a wild night. Here's the setlist! Beauty Queen/Horses (surprise, surprise!)
Take To The Sky (perfect, very, very strong and Toriesque)
Butterfly (absolutely gorgeous - I've never heard this one live, so it was
just phenomenal!)
Space Dog (the second Neil song of the evening, I was waiting for Tear!
Anyways, it was magnificent, of course, and very very beautiful during the,
"Deck the halls" section)
Tori Story 1#
Blood Roses (she didn't seem angry with the headphones, which was good...it
was very charging and powerful, loved it!
China (WOW!)
Little Earthquakes ( I had always dreamed of hearing this, but never had. It
didn't disappoint me, gorgeous lights, and her voice was like HONEY or
something! It was soooooooooooo beeautiful I will never forget it!)
Tori Story 2#
Angie!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (For ME! What else can I say? This was obviously my
favorite of the night! She mixed up the verses a little, which was very nice
indeed!)
CALS (gorgeous, even more ethereal than last I saw it!)
In The Springtime if His Voodoo (very gyration-friendly on this one, of
course, an dit was very cute indeed!)
Cornflake Girl, complete with dance and adoring, screaming fans!
Precious Things (the grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrlll lasted 25 seconds, good
thing for my Indiglo!)
Talula (This was GREAT! I didn't hear it last time, so it was even more
special! The red light she has got shining in the back makes it even better!
It was very hypercharged and happy!)
Me And A Gun (The most perfect song. Tori was perfect, the audience was
perfect, it was a perfect moment. I think some have taken cues from the
stories they've heard about other shows. And I thought the guy next to me was
going to turn blue from not breathing! :)
Encore 1 She walks out soooo cutely, and then just taps the keys, and starts into:
This Old Man! It was adorable! She sounded like such a little girl! Right
into:
Putting The Damage On (on the harmonium, it was more sparkling than words can
coonvey, very sprightly) and:
Then she bowed her adorable little bow and walked off, but we knew what was
next...
Encore 2! Frog On My Toe (gorgeousetherealperfectsparklingbeautiful. The gyrls in front
of me asked for it! Hi Bridget and Kathy!)
While this was going on the boys brought out the pedal organ, for what I
could not imagine...imagine my surprise when she sang...
ETIENNE! (I was like sobbing, it was wonderful. Never did I figure I'd hear
her sing the words, "Maybe I'm a witch..." live.
~Tori Stories~
#1 - Before she launched into BR, she tells this story about this guy called
John Middleton, and she said, "I was talking to one of my gyrlfriends about
this boy I used to like, John Middleton, and I asked how he looked. She said
he looked fabulous. That's just not what you want to hear, you know?" Then
she started talking about Robert Plant and she starts singing, "Black Dog"
and how she wishes that they could go to see John Middleton, and Robert could
sing it to her. It was VERY cute! Of course...
#2 Right before Angie! I can't believe my song came with a story! Lucky me!
She starts tinkling the keys and saying, "This song is always what I wanted
to hear when I made out with my boyfriends. It's very cuddley and when I sing
it, I think of making out." I was like, Wow, what song could this be?
Yippeeee! It was Angie! :)
It was tremendous, I couln't have hoped for a more perfect concert, what with
meeting her, which I never in a million years believed would happen!, Angie
for me, all of the beautiful LE and B-sides and such, and just the fact that
it was Tori. She didn't play as many BFP songs as she did in the beginning of
the tour, probably because they're tired and having a margarita! It was also
very different than the shows I saw at the beginning of the tour, much more
fired-up and happy and pow! than the earlier shows, which seemed a bit more
introverted and quiet. Either way, it was Tori and it was perfect. Back To The Main Dew Drop Inn Index Back to the Main Tori Amos Page Hello! You have quite a comprehensive page! I was at the War Memorial
Auditorium for Tori's birthday show, and it was great! During her
Cornflake girl mime dance thingie the guitarist (I forget his name)
stopped playing. Tori stopped dancing, looking rather stunned, and
turned to see a whole group of people (I was told one person was her
father, although I couldn't tell) holding a cake, a ballon with arms and
legs, and a sign that read Happy Birthday Tori that was signed by a
bunch of people (when you have great seats such as I did, you can notice
these things Just a small post to say what a fantastic day yesterday was, I still
can't believe I got to spend some time with Tori on her birthday. I feel
like I was the one having a celebration. I don't have the set list with me
now but some of the highlight's were London Girls, Butterfly, one of the
most beautiful renditions of Winter that I've ever seen her do, and for
the first time ever Madonna's Live To Tell. Her Mom and Dad were in atten-
dance as well as her brother. The crew all came walking out as she and Caton
began Cornflake Girl and before Tori saw them Steve had stopped playing and
was picking up a mike to tell everyone what was going on. Tori realizing
something was up (she was already into her dance) ran over to her piano
and stooped down and was hiding. The crew brought out a cake complete with
candles, roses, and a giant balloon(which got tied to the piano and which
Tori later serenated a bit). She already had been wearing her customized
headset which had been fashioned as a Royal crown complete with jewels. The
crew led the audience into singing Happy Birthday. A magical show indeed! --------------------------------
From the posts I've been getting I guess I should tell the story of
how Tori came to do Live To Tell at yesterday's show (Aug.22). On Wed. when
Tori arrived for soundcheck at the Charlotte show she was asked to play the
Madonna song. Tori explained that she had never played it but asked the re-
questee if she would be at the Greensboro show(Aug.22). Finding out that she
would be Tori told her she would try to work the song up. Tori sent someone
out for the sheet music and did in fact learn the song and played it beauti-
fully. In fact when she played it(which I believe was during the last set
of encores), she walked out on stage with the music in her hand. After the
first couple of verses though the sheet music was on the floor and she was
playing from memory. Like I said before, it really was quite a moment. This
is what shes all about. No one else like her. _The "Live to Tell" Tori Story_ In 1991, I was a HUGE Madonna fan. I mean obsessed, really. It was scary.
Then, I saw Tori's "Silent All These Years" video on MTV and was captured.
I immediately bought _Little Earthquakes_ and my life was changed. But I
still loved Madonna. I read an interview with Tori in _Glamour_ magazine
in which Tori said she liked Madonna and would cook her a plate of
spaghetti anytime. Cute. I had this fantasy of Tori singing certain
Madonna songs... namely "Live to Tell" and "Like a Prayer." As time went
on, I stopped being a big Madonna fan and switched to Tori. I'm not as
weird about Tori as I was about Madonna. Probably because Tori effects me
on a deeper level...anyway...
After seeing Tori in Atlanta at the Fox theatre, I realized that if I
asked Tori to sing a song...she might actually sing it! I asked her to
sing "Space Dog" in Atlanta, and she did. I asked for "Father Lucifer" in
Raleigh...and got it. However, I was VERY nervous and shaky when asking
for those songs. Before the Charlotte show, I got the idea to ask her to
sing "Live to Tell." I thought out how I'd ask and everything. And when I
met Tori before the show, I inhaled deeply...and it all came out
smoothly...I told Tori that I used to be a BIG Madonna fan, but that when
I heard Tori, Madonna got put back. Tori smiled. Then I said that I read
the _Glamour_ interview in which she said she too liked Madonna. Tori
nodded (though she made an expression like she wasn't really a fan--oh
well). Then, I told Tori that it had always been a fantasy of mine to hear
her sing a Madonna song. So I asked her to sing her favorite...then I
suggested "Live to Tell." Tori then began to very quietly sing a few words
of it under her breath. I asked her if she knew the song. She said yes,
but she'd have to try it out first. (I was getting hopeful!) She asked me
if I'd be at the show in Greensboro the next day. I said yes. She said,
"Well, if I don't do it tonight, I'll do it tomorrow." I was ecstatic and
said thanks, etc...
The next day, before the show, I gave Tori her B-day gift and said "Did
you remember my request?" She just grinned and said, "You just wait and
see..." OK, we hugged and I waited....
Of course, she sang it that night. I was floating... It was the 1st
encore. She even brought out the sheet music. After the show I told her
thank you, and she said "No, Thank _You_, for opening my eyes to the
song." Wow. Caton told me that after soundcheck the previous day, she got
a CD w/ "Live to Tell" on it so she'd know the words/music. They wrote
stuff out and Caton was gonna play in the song, but Tori decided to do it
solo...
Months later, in Roanoke, VA, Tori told me she'd received many requests
for "Live to Tell," but she'd only sing it for me. It was a one-time
thing.
_The End_ Before I read the review before me, I wanted to post my thoughts on The
Greensboro Show.
I LOVED IT!!
I also loved that there were no more than 25 people getting autographs and
what not before the show so she spent a little time to talking to
everyone. I got three CD's autographed and about 10 pictures....tell me
I'm not excited. Gave her the birthady presents (at least she was polite
enough to accept them and was very gracious, but then what can I expect?
I don't care where you were reared, or where you live, if you were born in
the South, you are Southern, and that's the only way to act!)
MIstakes were made, but take it from me, a theatre and movie person, these
things happen. Especially with a, basically, one-person show.
Great show. Loved it, mean it. Well, everyone at Greensboro's War Memorial Auditorium got quite a present
from Tori on her birthday. The show was absolutely brilliant. By far, the
best we've been to. Lots of b-sides, older songs, a new cover, and Tori's
mini birthday celebration. We lucked out with front row center seats and had
what must be one of the best nights of our lives. Tori seemed as happy and
excited to be there as the audience did. She was in the same breath playful
and powerful. Here's the setlist (hopefully in the right order): Beauty Queen Here's an almost complete set list for the B- day G- boro show: A mistake ladden show , no doubt, but the emotional intensity more than
made up for the cosmetic errors.Out of some 30 Tori shows I've seen over
the last few years this was one of the best/sloppiest.Just proves a bad
note played with intensity is better than a good note that's just played. I had a little tori encounter. I saw her play in Greensboro,NC
on the day of her birthday. It was great, of course. Her parents were
there. I had front row seats, she looked & sounded beautiful. She
forgot the words to Talula, stopped in the middle of the song and
apologized, for having such a wierd day, and went on. She played Live to
Tell and London Girls as well. She started to do Cornflake Girl, but
Steve and her crew stopped and came out with a cake, a dozen roses, and
some balloons. Everyone in the audience sang happy birthday, it was so
neat. After the show, a bunch of people ran out the side door, and I
followed them (much to my husband's chagrin, who reluctantly followed me)
We waited about forty minutes at the barriers, and chatted with Joel,
who seemed to be in a good mood(Although it's hard to tell, you know) It
was about a 100 degrees out on an August night down south, but it was
worth it. Her parents came out from the entrance, and everyone clapped,
they were embarrased but waved. Steve came out and chatted with us for a
few minutes, then TORI came out, she looked so little and tired. She
signed a few autographs, posed for some pics,and talked to Greg(I'm
pretty sure it was Greg) I shook her hand, thanked her for putting on
such a great show (what a dorky thing to say!) and wished her a happy
birthday. It was such a wonderful experience. Anyways, that was my
boring little tori stori but I thought you might be slightly amused. I had the luck of being at the birthday show in Greensboro, NC. The
following will tell you a little about how and why I ended up there:
It all started with a quest for more Tori cd's. This is quite hard to do
when you live in a town the size of Asheville, NC. I was at a music store
that I frequented, and was on yet another mission to find cds that I did not
own. So I asked the sales clerk what Tori stuff they had gotten in (at this
point they knew me as "that tori guy"). I cannot remember what cd's I walked
away with that day, but what stands out most is the answer to the question:
Well, she is going to be in these parts this month on tour. I was
ecstatic....and then the question of money came into mind. It did not
matter...I was going to see a show if I had to eat bread for two weeks. Keep
in mind I had never seen this wonderful lady perform live. I then asked what
dates and locations were....and the lady spilled out about 3 cities...all of
which were about 3 hours from me regardless. She said..well there is
Greensboro on the 22nd...and I said give me two (I wanted to surprise my
boyfriend).
Little did I know what piece of history I had in my hands. I rushed home and
called my boyfriend and informed him that he was going with me, that there
would be no debate, and that he better appreciate me greatly since he was
seeing all of this for free Well, about a week or so later, I picked up the interview book (without cd).
One night when I had time to sit down and read it, I glanced through and
what caught my eye??
Her birthdate...August 22. WHOA!!!! I would be at a Tori show on her
birthday. This was all seeming a bit surreal for someone who was seeing her
for the first time.
The morning we were to leave, two of my tires had been flattened by someone
that really had it out for me -- considering they knew I was to leave that
morning and what I was leaving for. I had made three mixed tapes of live,
album, and bside material from all of her solo albums (yes I am obsessed...).
So after the tire situation was fixed, we got on the freeway with no delay.
It was all soooo unbelievable from that point on. For instance, traveling
from the part of North Carolina that I was living in at the time to where the
concert was, we passed the exit to the town where she was born. We got to
Greensboro a day before the show and stayed the night with some friends.
The night of the show, we get ready and decided that we should leave in order
to hear the opening act. We got to War Memorial Auditorium and payed to
park...blah blah blah. I told my boyfriend (at the time) to bring the camera
along so that afterwards, if we got to meet her we could take some photos.
Well, the security at this show was weird. I had to empty my small waist
pack and everything. So needless to say, my boyfriend had to take the camera
back to the car while I went inside. He came back and heard a few more songs
from Joshua Feldman Clay. Then the show..which you have seen the set
list..so I will keep this as short as possible.
After the show...actually while she was playing Etienne..I made him leave to
run to the car to retrieve the infamous camera. Right at the second she
finished Etienne, I ran out of the auditorium to wait behind the barricades
for Tori and the camera. Thank god he got back before she came out. When
she came out, we had managed to wedge up in the far left corner...right up
front on the side nearest the stage door ...but nonetheless trapped by the
barricade, some bushes, and other anxious admirers. I was floored -- this
woman was sooooooo short. I had not envisioned having to stoop down. We
were the first guys she spoke to after the show that night...and to be quite
honest, I was sooo nervous that what I exactly said to her eluded me right
after I said it. I do remember this though -- while I was trying to talk to
her, my boyfriend was trying to snap a picture. I was trying to talk to her
and also tell him how to take the photo. FLASH!!!! "Jeeze I hope it turned
out" ran through my head. Then I look back at her while she says "Is this
for you silly?". She grabbed me and pulled me close into her and then held
my face next to hers while I smiled the biggest smile ever. FLASH!!!!
Right after, I told her that I did not want to take up anymore time, but
that I wanted to give her a small birthday present. It was a silver
moonstone encased in silver. She actually dropped it when I first gave it to
her -- but thankfully it was quickly recovered. I was beaming. We turned
and walked away so that others could have room to get as close as possible.
It was quite magical -- my brief but wonderful encounter with someone that I
had admired intensely. Back To The Main Dew Drop Inn Index Back to the Main Tori Amos Page I wish I could even begin to convey how juicy this show was, but these
quite inadequate words will have to suffice. Tori sometimes manages to
allow herself to open up and tap into some enormous musical river as it
flows all around her, and the Charlotte show was the best demonstration
I've ever seen of what can happen when great waterfalls of ideas flow
within her and without her.
Tori continues to reach new pinnacles of performance on this concert tour.
I honestly didn't think she would be able to improve upon the Portland,
Oregon shows, and frankly, I wasn't sure I'd want to be there if she did,
lest I be completely overwhelmed. For this Charlotte show I was shaking so
much that holding my opera glasses still was difficult about a third of
the time. And for some of the show--especially towards the beginning of
it, when I was so totally blind-sided by the intensity--tears filled my
eyes from the sheer beauty and artistry of her playing.
Steve Caton is playing more inventively as the tour progresses, too.
There's one point, I believe it's in Little Earthquakes, where he comes up
on a note just as she's fading out on the same note vocally, and he
manages a smooth transition from her voice to his guitar. Pretty swift.
And wherever she goes on the piano, he's right there with her. Always.
We're talking some pretty radical tempo changes, here. And playing in an
increasingly dialogic manner with her, too. Good stuff.
I expect that by now Tori's getting tired of starting all the shows with
the same medley of Beauty Queen/Horses, (she doesn't even play Precious
Things all the time anymore, and that had been one of her touchstone songs
of these Dew Drop Inn Tour shows), and she's been experimenting with ways
to embellish Horses a little bit to provide herself and us with added
interest. She continued to do so this night.
The version she performed of Silent All These Years outshone even the one
I'd seen her do at the earlier of the July 21 Portland shows. Ever so
slightly slowed down, and astoundingly well articulated--pianistically I
mean, mainly--and heartfelt. My best ever, for sure. During the line
"How's *that* thought for you" she opened her eyes wide and tilted her
head toward the audience with a knowing smile. That touch alone was
glorious.
Just recently she's begun to make all these little vocal sounds during
some songs. I wish I could make better notes during the shows, but this is
beyond my ability, I'm afraid. Just sort of scat humming/singing. Nonsense
syllables and sounds which express musical concepts. She did a lot of this
during Little Amsterdam at this show.
She's turned Little Amsterdam into a true show-stopper--what with the
long-held, loud vocal notes accentuated by hitting the backboard of the
piano with her left fist before the final verse, leading into her almost
crying the words "Little Amsterdam" for the final time, all to a big round
of cheering and applause. And chills down one's spine.
She's also been turning the line about Rabbit into a repeating energetic,
driving, segment of Cornflake Girl, and has been experimenting with
different variations of doing that, and it's a good time for musical
dialogue with Caton, too. She does this for the last time the line appears
as a way to increase the momentum of the song before wrapping it up. It's
more dramatic that way when it ends.
On this night, her white lace hair tie had been slipping down more and
more during Cornflake Girl, and just as she finished playing the song it
finally fell out completely, and she left it on the floor behind her, with
her hair remaining down for the rest of the show.
It's always lovely to hear Past the Mission in concert, and this night's
rendering was especially delicate and moving. Gorgeous. As was Little
Earthquakes, in which a stream of drool slipped out of her mouth toward
the end of the long, continuous vocal part where she can't control it and
keep it in her mouth.
She's clearly made the decision to go for musical purity over sanitary
behavior, as surely to interrupt her long vocal phrasing would not give us
the shifting canvas for vocal expression she wants in such instances. I
expect she's somewhat embarrassed when it happens, but I agree that not
that many people notice the drool, whereas all of us benefit from the
musical decision to arrange to have those long, seamless vocal passages. I
love that woman.
One example I can give from this show to describe how much she was opened
up to allow the music to pour through her was something which happened
during Take to the Sky. At one point she was playing a slowly repeated
chord in the upper register of the piano, when she lifted her head
slightly, as if to listen to her muse, and heard a brief musical quotation
of the old Fifth Dimension song Up, Up and Away, and it came out
translated through her fingers and voice. I almost felt I could see the
wheels turning in her head. How much that made me feel I was being carried
along moment to moment during this concert I can't tell you.
That's what the main goody was for me at this show--how much she was able
to be in one moment after the other, and to convey this so well as to
bring the audience along with her. This is one thing that made Sinatra so
great in concert during his heyday. The audience had total familiarity
with the recordings of the songs, but he would hold notes longer than on
the records, shift his textures around, delay coming in for a vocal line
here and there, run one line into another, etc. Compelling stuff. Tori's
coming into a place where she's able to do this herself with increasing
facility and musicality, and the results take one's breath away.
But there's much more to her than that. Such as when during Crucify she
was singing some textural notes which were lovely, but which didn't convey
the melody when it came time again in the song to do that. What did she
do? To maintain the sensibilities of what she was doing vocally but still
convey the melody, she inserted just a few notes on the piano in an
accented manner right in the middle of the piano accompaniment she was
playing for her textural vocal painting. The way she did this so
effortlessly and gracefully told me I was watching pure musical genius at
work. It was like three layers going on at the same time. Once again, my
jaw dropped open, as once again I was lost in amazement. Wow.
But then, soon thereafter during the "Please save me" part of Crucify, she
found herself standing near the upper register of Bosey--tuning in again
to an unseen muse while looking skyward--and she began playing and singing
some completely different song. I didn't recognize it, but it was clear to
me that it was an extant song, not just something being constructed on the
spot. She was singing such that I could hear her back in row R with her
head turned away from me, (nothing wrong with row R--her parents were in
row R the next night in Greensboro), even though she was nowhere near the
microphone until the end of this musical digression, when she finally
leaned down over to it, finished this song within a song, and did a
masterful segueway back into the chorus of Crucify, proper. I was totally
blown away. The floor and my jaw were best buds at that point.
Later, just before Pretty Good Year, some girl asked Tori if she would
sign her program, and Tori said that she would. I think Tori meant in a
more generic sense, not that very second, but the girl threw the program
up onto the stage. Tori went over and flipped it to the wings offstage,
and it was then that others thought they might try to follow suit, and the
head security guy Joel raced to the front of the stage and put a quick
stop to such behavior. Tori cringed when he did that, partly in sympathy
for them, I expect, and partly because she knew she'd played a part
herself in bringing that on. Early on into this concert someone asked if
Tori would give her an autograph, and Tori said that "now's not the most
appropriate time." Demanding people there that night.
Joel is totally devoted to protecting Tori, takes it very personally, and
he's very competent in doing so. It's no small relief to me when I see him
leading her onstage and off with his flashlight, and standing just off the
main part of the stage all show long in case anything happens. We all owe
him a huge debt of gratitude, I can assure you of that. This tour would
not be possible in its current form without him there. I wish I could
think of something nice to do for him if I actually manage to make it to
another show, but he's probably already got all the palm oil he needs.
;-)
I told Tori the next day in Greensboro that I thought she did better shows
when her parents were in the audience, and she thought that was an
interesting insight that she hadn't heard before. I know I always feel
lots of love and parental pride from her folks flowing out to her when
they're in the audience, and it seems to be reflected back out into the
theater. And her mom sits there with the most enormous grin on her face
all show long.
Hey Jupiter wrapped up the evening. I've enjoyed all of the other
harmonium organ pieces she's been doing on the tour, but there's something
about the sweetness and sense of longing that comes with Hey Jupiter
that's special for me, and I've missed hearing it when the show comes to
an end.
I almost didn't come to this Charlotte show. I wanted to make a point to
see the birthday show, but when my new boss told me he wanted me to start
the week after, (I told him in the interview that I'd need to have off
August 22 and 23 if he hired me), I couldn't help myself but to leave for
North Carolina a day early and go to Charlotte. I felt an amorphous earthy
intensity surround me as I was driving deeper into North Carolina on
Wednesday: the mists of the Great Smokey Mountains becoming more and more
dense as I continued to push south and westward. I shouldn't have been
surprised to have experienced such an intense and miraculous show.
Richard Handal
TORI AMOS AT OVENS AUDITORIUM IN CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA 8/21/96
Love the site. Lots of info in a concise format. Our area didn't show Prime
Time last night - they showed Baywatch of all things!
I'm not really surprised she felt like she was at fault. I understand what
she says about the healing and not forgetting. She played Charlotte, NC last
night and she just about broke down into tears when she sang Me & a Gun.
Maybe she almost lost it because she was 'home' and her family was there.
I don't know. It was very moving. It didn't help that I was sitting next to
Dr. Amos of all people.
The show was the best I've seen to date. Songs included Mary, Take To The
Sky, Mother, Little Earthquakes, Let It Be and others.
After the show when Tori was ready to get into her birthday limo - she
came over to the mob to say hi. Everyone sang "You are my sunshine, my
only sunshine..." and then went into Happy Birthday. I think she really
enjoyed it.
Love your page! I couldn't wait to be a part of it by submitting to
you this set list. This concert was very special for me. I got to meet
her before the show. I requested "Take to the Sky" and SHE PLAYED IT!
I also gave her a birthday card, a rose, and a small stuffed frog
that I told her was named Jethro. She loved it and thanked me with a
hug. (I'm never bathing again ;)) Beauty Queen/Horses (who knew?) Back To The Main Dew Drop Inn Index Back to the Main Tori Amos Page i guess i'll start from the beginning. We got to Chrysler Hall around
3:30pm and saw Libbey and Matt (see 8/17), i'm so glad they made it
okay, and the dogs are still well. we were there for awhile, and finally
Steve came out and told us that she'd be coming in on the other side, to
go around if we wanted to see her, so we did of course.Josh Clayton Felt
peaped out the door and we said hi, he smiled when he saw Rodney and i.
the bus arrived around 5pm and Caton came out first, he reckognized me
right away and said "hi", i told him i had something for him and i'd try
to get it to him during the show, he smiled and wandered inside. Tori
walked up and my friend Rodney said 'can i get my first tori autograph?'
she signed his past the mission 7inch. then she said " did you miss
hearing something the other night that you want to hear tonight?" he
said 'sugar or anastasia, cuz i heard that you wrote anastasia in
richmond'. she wrote them both on her hand and hugged him and said "it
was good seeing you again". Then it was my turn. i said 'hi again' and
gave her a hug. she touched me and said "what a nice dress" i said 'oh
thank you, would you sign this for me?' (my uk crucify single), she
signed it huge! then i said 'and if by any chance Mary is here
tonight...'she said okay, and wrote it on her hand. i gave her a big hug
and as i started she leave she said "i did play Crucify the other nite",
i smiled and said 'i know, i cried, thank you. we waited for Matt and
Libbey to see her cuz i told them i'd take their picture with her. they
told her they were looking for jobs, she said "i'd love to, but our crew
is pretty tight." then they gave her these two humoungous wild mushrooms
they'd found nearby and tori said "oh these are great! i know exactly
where they'll be tonight, you'll be able to see them." after killing the
next couple of hours we headed to our seats. front row left!!! Josh C
Felt was on, he seemed to be a little more used to the audience here.
(oh and here we were sittin in the front center cuz the people hadn't
gotten there yet). one neat thing about his set, he said 'it's good to
see some familiar faces (looked at me) and he also played Rasberry Beret
(another sidenote: my dress was rasberry colored, maybe only a
coincidence). Then it was Tori time. another standing ovation when she
came out. set list: beauty queen/horses then, when they were walking off at they end we waved, they waved back
and caton looked at me and mouthed "thanks". we then waited to try to
get the set list. the only person who's attention i could get was steve
(oh well) so i said 'can i get a set list?pretty please? he went back to
the sound guy and brought it back and i said 'thanks' and grabbed his
hand and said 'no hard feelings' and he said 'no, you no hard feelings,
okay', i said 'nah'.
the little barricade was set up, and we got a spot up front, there was
another guy from richmond next to us. First, caton walked by, saw me,
and came over, gave me a hug, and said "thank you, that was so sweet"
i said he was welcome, then he asked if i was gonna be at any more
shows? i said 'well, did you read my note yet?' he said he hadn't had a
chance yet and asked if there was an address in there where he can reach
me? i said yes. then i stopped him and said "i dunno if you can help me
or not, but steve has this role of film in his pocket, i didn't use a
flash or anything, is there any way you could get it from him? he said
"oh i don't know, they don't like that because they don't want anyone
selling them or anything". i told him i knew, but there's no way i would
ever do that. he then said "i know, well, i'll see what i can do, i
can't get it now, but i'll try to get it to you somehow."
(i'm not expecting it, but it would be nice), and i thanked him. he
walked away for a bit then came back, and i asked if they were leaving
tonight. he said 'yeh, but you're coming to another show aren't you?' i
said we were gonna try to make it to baltimore or roanoke, but that i
just graduated so i'm out in the real world and finances are kinda....
he said "yeh, me too", then he leaned over and whispered in my ear, but
i can't reveal what he said until after the baltimore show. i thanked
him again and gave him another hug (and we kissed each other on the
cheak). Tori came out a little while after this. she talked to 3 or 4
people before me and she shook their hands, when she saw me she said
"ohhh" and gave me a hug. i thanked her for playing Mary, she said
"that's okay" i then said "i've really had a rough few weeks" she said
"i know, me too" then she saw rodney and said "i have to give this boy a
hug! (and did)" then i asked if she'd gotten a chance to look at the
pictures i gave her with her on the mushroom?
she said "oh yes, they're terrific!" [note to mike w.: i'll try to send
you one of them]. i thanked her and got another hug, she started to
continue on and i got her attention and said " oh, libbey and matt got
in again" she said "libbey got in, great" (smile).
tori weekend '96, summer edition, was over, but baltimore isn't too far
away, i can't wait. i would post the "official" set list here, but i
believe rodney has it in his possession at the moment, but the only
thing on it that she didn't play was Summer of '63. Back To The Main Dew Drop Inn Index Back to the Main Tori Amos Page i'm back from another show and ready to write another review of yet
another fabulous tori show. Richmond is my home town and was the first
place i saw her back in '92 so i was looking forward to it especially.
My friend, Rodney, and i got to the carpenter center around 3pm. While
hanging out we met Libby, Matt, and their two puppies (chaos & little
anastasia). they're from oklahoma and had just decided to start
following tori, but didn't have any tickets. Andy Solomon, the
production manager, came out and saw the dogs and went wild, he likes
hounds. we talked to him for a bit. Matt asked him about eric rosse and
he said that she's sorta having a rough time now, but sometimes what can
sound like hate (such as in lyrics) is really love. Josh Clayton Felt
(the opening act) was also wandering about and he stopped to chat with
us for a little bit too. and then finally around 4:30 security steve
got us to line up (about 10 people there now) and her tour bus arrived
shortly there after. i was first when she stepped off the bus, she came
up and said hi, i told her my name and gave her the gifts i had (a
punching nun puppet, some photographs i had done, and a lipstick case).
i also thanked her for playng "mary" in portland, and then she said "oh,
i remember you now" (wow) "did you want me to play it tonight too?" i
said if she wanted to, either way. then she said "well, if she doesn't
come is there anything else you want to hear?" i then told her about how
i'd just found out today that we may have to put my cat to sleep (she's
20), so "crucify" (cat reference and more) would be okay. she seemed to
really like her gifts and gave me a hug, and rodney took our picture.
after killing a couple of hours, it was time for the show to begin. The
crowd tonight was so amazing! the best i've ever seen. everone stood up
and clapped as soon as she stepped onto the stage. There were also a few
new films on the screen which really personalized the show.
here's what she played:
beauty queen/horses the stories in as much detail as i can remember: after the show was over we went up to the front and were able to get
the set list from the stage again (at the end of this review). we waited
outside for a bit when steve caton came out. i walked over to him and
said hi, he turned and said "hi!" i said "do you remember me from
portland?" he said, "yes!" and gave me a big hug. we talked for awhile,
he signed some autographs, and i got my picture taken with him. then
tori finally came out and caton got in a car and waved to me as he drove
off, such a sweetheart. i only had a chance to stick my head through the
crowd and say hi to tori, but it was enough. i'm so excited for the
norfolk show now. here's the "official" set list for your enjoyment:
BQ Back To The Main Dew Drop Inn Index Back to the Main Tori Amos Page Well, an overall great show. The opening act was not as impressive as
Willy Porter, but his blues song was OK. Tori played for 99 minutes.
Personal favorites were Iím on Fire (as someone said before, sheís very
haunting in her lower voice range), a rockiní version of Cornflake Girl
(preceded by the longest dance Iíve seen...it lasted well over two
minutes....she went to the edge of the stage, over to stage right, back on
over to stage left, and just kept on jammin before launching in), Little
Earthquakes, and a very different Precious Things. At the end she added
new lyrics and the arrangement was much different...the grrrrrrrrrl of
course was long and great, but afterwards she was shrieking in this very
low guttural, almost slurred voice that Iíve never heard come out of her
mouth. The bridge was repeated, the lights were whirling, it really was an
amazing version.
She played God by hammering her hands against the back and sides of the
harmonium. I think this was the first time she played this on the Dew Drop
Inn Tour. It was great.
Tori seemed very happy to be at Wolf Trap. She said that she would often
come and sit on the lawn for shows as a girl, and the people that brought
her were in the audience. She said that the boys always promised to bring
her but always backed out -- they wouldnít even pay for the lawn. So, she
said she was playing for everyone out on the lawn.
She held her notes longer and seemed more into the performance than at the
three shows in April at Constitiution Hall.
On a personal note, this was my 8th Tori show and I heard 5 songs live for
the very first time. It was a great evening. Today began as a beautiful day, then the thunderstorm hit, along with
the tornado warnings (which made talula a little predictable), but it
stopped and tori ended the day by lighting up the stage!
We arrived pretty early, and knowing that our seats were not in prime
territory, we decided to rent binoculars there (a great decision!). we
were in the back balcony, but with our new "eyes" we could even see her
bottle of evian on the stage. Josh (middle name?) felt opened the show
tonight, another guy with a guitar. he was alright and didn't play too
long. Tori came on a little after 9pm wearing the most adorable Annie
t-shirt. She was all smiles tonight, almost beaming. Happier than i've
seen her in awhile. Well, here's the set list: Beauty Queen/Horses an aproximation of some of the stuff Tori said: after the show was over and everyone had scattered we wandered up to
the front and pursuaded one of the employees to grab the set list for us
from the stage, that said the following: BQ spacedog woulda been nice to hear, maybe tomorow in richmond. we're
going to get there early and try to see her, check back for my next
review to see how it went! Dedicated to Gracie and Katherine; may they end up in Richmond
and Melinda and Amy; may they get their keys out of their car
Blame It On The Rain
We arrived at Wolf Trap around 3:00, very much hoping to meet Tori, I had
some gifts for her, and me and my friends wanted pictures or autographs. We
waited an hour, and it started to rain, so Steve, her head of security, said
that she wouldn't come out if it was raining. Her bus came at about 4:00,
and we did not get to meet her :( We decided to get out of the rain, and
listen for soundcheck to start.
Since Wolf Trap is an outdoor venue, we could hear her very long soundcheck.
she played: After soundcheck, still drizzling, Caton came out to see us all. We gave our
Tori gifts to him, assured that he of all people would get them to her.
After he went in, we all just stood around, waiting for the rain to stop,
and the concert to start.
A Night Of Surprises
Tori's opening act is no longer Willy Porter. This new guy is awful. He
really stinks. I think his name is Josh Clayton-Felt. After he left, and
after intermission, Tori entered to "son of a preacher man" as her usual
entrance. Here is what she played, and I was able to tape the show, so these
quotes are pretty accurate: After the show we tried everything we could ( us and some other tori-philes )
to meet Tori. Wolf Trap is in a National Park, and the Park Rangers were
nasty and cynical and mean. We think that they were not used to having such
a big show, and not used to such devoted fans. We were pushed further and
further into the parking lot, and in order to remain there with an excuse,
two girls locked their keys in their car. That just goes to prove : Tori
fans are the most loyal in the world. In the end, we did not get to meet
Tori, the bus sped by our little group, and so we went home.
I think that half the fun was meeting and talking with other Tori
enthusiasts, my friend got a warm hug, just because this was her first Tori
concert!
And also: I noticed last night that many BFP songs that have been played all
tour, are nowhere to be found like: Not the Red Baron after Precious things,
Donut Song, and Hey Jupiter. I guess Tori just got tired to playing them Tori comes home to wolftrap
Here is an setlist?
I think... Strangely there were a lot of people, mostly the older ones who left after
the regular set ended, missing the last four songs of course. It's not like
it was a weeknight or anything. Oh well it's their loss.
Tori seemed to really be on tonite, better than the first time i saw her in
DC. It was great cause she talked about when she used to come to wolftrap
herself. Course she dissed the boys who used to say they were going to take
her and then dissed her. She said something like. " cause now my ass is up
here playing the music"
She also dedicated the show to the people out on the lawn.
Some guy said "I Love You" she replied, " I Love you too but i think i love
margaritas a little better."
She seemed to be having fun and she talked a lot to the crowd and waved and
did her dance before cfg and she was all smiley and she hugged caton a lot.
But i was wondering if it's been anyone else's opinion that she doesn't tell
many stories about her songs anymore? I have been to two concerts and
haven't really gotten a story. She used to tell them before PgY and Icicle
especially but that was only one recordings i have of previous tours. I have
heard that she tells a story before marianne and sometimes NTRB but other
than that i haven't heard much about it. It's not a big deal but it's the
one thing i really was looking forward to from the concerts but haven't seen.
My favorite tori line ever is "Fuck Annie" that i have on The Dreaming before
she plays Icicle. I just love it.
Anyway that was my little review of the concert.
If anyone has a copy of the show i will do ALMOST anything for it, and most
certainly if you have any corrections to the set list you are probably right.
Well to sum it up Her concert tonight at Wolf Trap was so good it is beyond words. I didn't
have a pen nor do I have a good enough memory to remmber a set list, but
some of the highlights included I"m on Fire, God which she did on her
second encore totally acousticcally while drumming the pump organ, and
Purple Rain.
Her dance before Cornflake Girl tonight was so cool. She started out real
small and made bigger and bigger motions with her arms, the got off her
bench and walked to downstage stage right and started dancing and it was
weird, then she wwent downstage center and did it then stage left and then
ran back to her piano to join Caton. The crowd was wild.
Precious things was especially powerful tonight. She started to scream,
very hoarsely and very scarily, "wash me clean, let it bleed" It actually
made me cry.
Me and A Gun as very powerful, and I started to cry a little bit during
that, but when she came back for her first encore and did Let It Be, I
almost lost it. I felt like she was singing directly to me. It was a
very powerful evening. Someone with a much better memory and a better way
with words really needs to write about it.
Another highlight was when Caton first came out adn someone yelled Happy
Birthday, and Steve started playing Happy Birthday on the guitar. It was
so cute.
The whole night was just so powerful for me because of all of the problems
I have been having lately, and I felt like everything was going to be
okay. There was just some kind of energy there tonight. It was sign or
something to me that things are still going to be hard, but I will make it
through. it gave me a lot of hope.
...Oh speaking of techinicans, I decided that I want to go on tour with tori
and be one of her techies. It's waht I do now for a living and it would
be a dream come true to tour with her and do hard manual labor for someone
I really respected as opposed to the people I do it for now. Plus I don't
think there are any women techinicians, and I think she could use a good
female lighting designer ro sound engineer or just a plain old girl to
move stuff. I'm good at that really..I can coil a cable pretty damn
fast....ok I"m rambling now I'll shut up. Someone posted the set list to the Wolf Trap show, but left out a couple
of things. During "I'm On Fire", she interpolated another Bruce song and
sang part of "Dancing in the Dark". Also, during "Precious Things", she
sang all the words the same, but played "Closer" by NIN from the line
"with their Nine Inch Nails" to "Girrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...rrrrrrrl". Amazing.
Also, I didn't think she ended on Purple Rain, but I couldn't figure out
what her last song was! Aiieee! Anyone know? Help!
Totally Amazed,
Brian From a review printed in The Diamondback, An Independent Student
Newspaper-University of Maryland, College Park, on August 22, 1996. (Thanks to Richard Handal for sending it to me.) By Tom Madigan Sometimes rock fans will get the idea that the essence of our music
and the essence of all music somehow related is immediacy and rough edges.
As if no emotion is pure unless it comes off the top of your head, as if
no artist-audience bond is meaningful unless it involves alienation, like
the 'we couldn't join your frat but now we're playing for your frat'
aesthetic played out by so many alternarockers.
Sometimes I've been like that. Sometimes you go to a concert that
jangles white-noise chatter out of your head for two hours and replaces it
with something that justifies whatever cliches you like to drop about
Music Saves.
This is about Tori Amos' show at Wolf Trap last Friday. I'm going to
try to not gush, because as everyone knows, music critics are legally
bound to hate any product that sounds premeditated, as if you check your
superego at the studio door and plug your guitar into your soul, man.
Yeah, well, I'm going to turn in my 'Free Bad Religion' button tomorrow,
but before I do that, I have to say I'd never been to a show that put me
in such a mood of constant anticipation, and I've never reached that
private woodgrain, cinnamon-scented inner thinking room before at a
concert.
Sometimes I need to suspend my rock-cretin belief that self-
consciousness kills art. Where would art be without self-consciousness?
As if the Ramones didn't put thought into 'Sheena Is A Punk Rocker.' Did
anybody call Bruce Springsteen pretentious when he wrote 'I'm On Fire,'
or Prince when he did 'Purple Rain'? Amos illustrated that point Friday--
she covered both those songs and sounded great.
That ties in to Amos' gift for reaching people, which comes before her
status as one of the most talented musicians in the business (signature
piano and harpsichord style, plus a lovely, expressive voice). I wish I
had more time and room to explore this, but she reaches so many people on
their own terms especially through the story of her own rape, 'Me And A
Gun.' There are so many people who see Tori as a spiritual, sexual,
societal guru, meaning they need her, which is one key difference between
a Green Day crowd and a Tori Amos crowd. A 16-year-old might think moshing
before Billie Joe Armstrong is a pass into a world friendlier than his
big-shouldered high school community, but what indication is there that
even a punk idealist like Billie Joe is trying to single you out in that
crowd, you as opposed to the faceless flannel next to you? Whereas Tori
does interact, and does listen. When someone shouted something about how
in-shape Amos is, she went off on this story, I wish I could remember all
of it, about her resistance to health food, and then she started talking
about relationships and then sang a new song vaguely about her love for
her gorgeous Bosendorfer grand.
Amos is personable at the same time. It's a lot easier to take such an
introspective artist on her own terms when she takes the stage to 'Son Of
A Preacher Man' (she is the daughter of a Methodist preacher man); covers
'I'm On Fire,' 'Let It Be' and 'Purple Rain' with straight-up Tori fervor;
humps the bench all night long, which is kind of unusual for a navel-
gazer; and lets her guitar player roll the intro for 'Cornflake Girl' for
about a minute while she does a goofy marionette dance that turns into the
Frug or something before she returns to the bench to pound away the piano
intro. When's the last time at a concert you laughed at something that
wasn't an in-joke?
The point is, sometimes you believe a performance is not a sham. I was
almost expecting this china-doll woman wearing that same peppermint smile
and freaky-but-cute demeanor presenting a crash of introspective music.
But even at her most searching--a stark a capella rendering of 'Me And A
Gun,' a painfully beautiful 'Pretty Good Year'--Amos never makes the
listener feel sorry for her. The music is the conduit. Back To The Main Dew Drop Inn Index Back to the Main Tori Amos Page "Thanks" from a grateful Tori Amos fan (8/20/96)
By Kelly Woo We had come to see her. The teens with baggy pants and nose rings. The
40-somethings with children in tow. The couples. A few loners. Some of
us looked like we stepped out of a corporate office; some looked like
we were in a tattoo contest. But we had all come to see her.
The solid opening act, a young man by the name of Willie Porter,
played the guitar, joked with the audience and sang several tunes. But
the people slowly filtering into Memorial Auditorium were quiet with
anticipation.
And when she pranced onstage, we erupted. We can do nothing else, we
self-proclaimed Toriphiles. What else can we do but pay tribute to a
woman who has changed most of our lives? A woman whose songs are a
safety blanket to millions. A woman who does not have the largest
following, but perhaps the most devoted. Tori Amos, for those
unfamiliar with the flame-haired banshee.
She began with "Beauty Queen/Horses," the first track of her latest
album, "Boys for Pele." It was achingly beautiful, her voice breathy
and throbbing. The Toriphiles screamed, clapped and cheered. And when
she broke into "Silent All These Years," the piano ballad from her
first album "Little Earthquakes," you would have thought every person
in the auditorium had won a $22 million lottery. Even to my practiced
years (it is my personal favorite), she sang it with such different
inflections that it unfolded itself anew.
Tori sang many favorites from "Little Earthquakes" to "Putting the
Damage On" to "Caught a Lite Sneeze." She was at her best singing
"Leather"; the song showed that her voice is truly an instrument of
its own. Tori wailed, whispered and smirked. She growled, moaned and
screamed. At the end of "Precious Things," she uttered a noise --
something so gutteral and primal that it cannot be named -- that made
me grip the arms of my seats. In "Me and a Gun," the song that won me
over to Tori, she sang with such depth, with such simple, clear, raw
emotion that I could hardly breathe.
Her lyrics drew us in, but her presence entrapped us. Tori was the
definition of passion, throwing her head back, rapping on the piano,
pounding the floor with her bare feet and spreading her hands out to
... something. Perhaps us. Perhaps God. Perhaps the "particular
faeries" Tori often mentions in interviews and her album credits. But
what captivated me was the way she transported me to a small club with
low lights and a few people, the way she sang directly to me, the way
she seemed to be one of my dearest friends testing out her new songs
for me.
A fan of loud concerts with mosh pits would probably be disappointed
in Tori's concert and fans. But true Toriphiles know that moshing and
dancing would have distracted them from the real focus, Tori herself.
Her lyrics are so complex and her inflections often strange to the ear
that even her most devoted fans must strain to catch the words of the
few unfamiliar songs she sang. I could do nothing else but sit,
mesmerized, and listen. But whenever the spell broke, the audience
would erupt again; and hush when her voice echoed across the stage.
The only complaint (and it is a trivial one) was the lighting, which
often would blind me. The lighting was best at its simplest state; my
favorite was when three dark blue lights were focused on her alone,
silouetting her. I also wish she had done a third, possibly a fourth,
encore (I can't get enough of her, so sue me).
Not much was said in the stairwell on our descent back to reality. The
Toriphiles had quieted again, content to savor the lingering echoes of
our heroine's voice.
Kelly Woo is a senior at Broughton High School. yes, I was very surprised at how little she chatted with us, but the
show was absolutely incredible...the setlist was almost perfect (though,
personally I would have preferred maybe Icicle instead of Baker Baker).
Her version of Love Song on the Harpsichord was astounding and I cried
when she played Purple Rain on the (damn, what's that pump organ called
again).....it was simply amazing
If anyone recorded this show, please email me...I would love to have a
copy. Or if anyone else has good recordings of the two songs I
mentioned above...
I also, finally got to meet Tori...WOW...she is so beautiful...and it's
simply amazing that she always takes the time to meet her fans, even
when there are over 40 of them waiting for her.
Back To The Main Dew Drop Inn Index Back to the Main Tori Amos Page The Florida Theatre in a extraordinary place to see a show. Built in 1928
and redone ten years ago, both sound and design fit Tori's beautiful, if
very unusual performance very well. Security was tight. They were checking
every single person thoroughly and even opening women's purses which I
hadn't seen before. They allowed no bags, no excess material, even if they
were searched by security. It didn't matter.
The show was special. It was also one that I feel I had some impact on
myself per a brief conversation I had with her in the afternoon. She also
wound up leaving the stage briefly four times but I wouldn't call any of
them the usual "encore." You'll see what I mean.
To quote Tori, "tonight is one of the most unusual shows I've ever done. But
you just have to flow with it." She also confused Steve and the lighting
crew so much that the equipment broke down and marred the last half dozen
songs with inappropriate lighting. But that didn't stop Tori's odyssey. Miss
Amos also hinted at why she doesn't tell stories as often. "You know all my
stories. And if you haven't, they're documented. I only need to tell them
once nowadays."
Josh Clayton Fet opened his second show with her and seemed more comfortable
. Much better than the previous night in Pensacola. Some females in the
audience seemed to like him as well.
Beauty Queen It appeared briefly that she planned to come back out but I believe the
technical problems led to scrap any more songs. Or they just had trouble
turning on the lights.
Like I said Mike, strange but wonderful nights indeed. Both nights were the
usual 1:50 minute length.
- I was listening to the crew talk earlier about how it's pretty much timed
at 1:50 "play time" everynight. I wonder why.
- I heard them say that every show has officially sold out but one. The
Springfield show because it was so close to Peoria, IL.
- And listen to this, some radio guys were there, supposedly to give away
tickets to ten people to the soundcheck. The guy tried to sell a ticket to
me for $100. He said "other people pay it." I couldn't believe it. I wanted
to tell Tori the next day as I'm sure she would not approve but completely
forget (like I forget my name around her). I watched a girl pay the dj and
come out less than ten minutes later. The soundcheck was a song and a half!!
Serves 'em right, I suppose. It's still a disturbing sign of greed which I'm
sure happens all the time I am an avid Tori Amos fan who just got back from seeing my second Dew Drop show (3rd Tori show overall). The setting for this latest experience was the Florida Theatre in Jacksonville, Florida. I drove 135 miles from my comfortable dwelling in Orlando to see Tori and all I can say is "Wow!".
Thanks to the helpful information from my fellow Toriphiles I was able to plan my arrival perfectly. My wife and I arrived at the theater at about twenty minutes to five. The weather was horrendous and I was afraid Tori might skip the "meet and greet" session due to the rain. You can imagine my joy when at about ten to five, one of the road crew members came out and told us and about twenty-seven other people to line up against the wall outside the theatre and to prepare whichever one item we would like to have signed. A few minutes later a bus pulled up alongside the theatre. One of the road crew members then ran out to the bus with an umbrella, and next thing you know, Tori emerged in a short sundress. The crew member, holding the umbrella, walked her to the side entrance of the theatre which was protected from the rain. One by one, the fans received their autographs and accompanying hugs. We were near the end of the line, but I didn't mind at all. I had prepared many things in my mind which I wanted to relay to Tori. But like many other fan accounts, once I was there standing face to face with a goddess, the words were nowhere to be found. I had even promised myself to wish her an early happy B-day. All that came out was, "Hi, Tori. Please sign this!". How pathetic is that! She signed my Under the Pink CD and then posed for a picture with me (taken by my wife of course). Something I'll never ever forget though, was just as I was getting ready to walk away, I heard Tori slowly start to sing, I quickly turned back around and she was looking straight at me. I did not recognize the song, and the only word I could make out was the word "beautiful". Could it be she was serenading me? Only in my dreams, of course! Still unsure of why she had started singing, I grabbed the camera from my wife and snapped a picture of them together. My wife, never being short of words, told Tori how much I adored her and asked her if she would sing "Icicle" for me later at the show. Tori responded by telling Cindy (my wife) that she was very understanding to put up with someone as fanatical as I was, and also said she would try to play the song at the show (which she did of course). What a sweetheart that Tori is!
Well, onto the performance. When I last saw Tori in concert, it was early April at the UCF (my alma mater) arena in Orlando. I must say the show certainly has evolved since then. For one thing, she had a different opening act. The name of the new performer is, I believe, Josh Clayton Phelps. He said that this was only his second show on the tour (first being Pensacola I assume). Actually he proved to be a worthy successor to the last gentleman (whose name escapes me right now). He did a great cover of "Raspberry Beret". I don't think Josh was quite as entertaining as the last opener, but I believe his lyrics were more insightful. Anyway, on to Tori's performance. When I last saw her in April (two days after the MTV Unplugged taping I believe), I had much closer seats (sixth or seventh row from the stage). This time I was exiled to the balcony seats. They still were not bad as the Florida Theatre is a small, intimate turn of the century style theatre (this added even more grandeur to an already fabulous show). Tori took the stage about 9:20 pm to thunderous applause. She was dressed in jeans and a tight, brown (I think) shirt. My view of the screens behind her was partially hidden by part of the theatre's equipment. That didn't matter as Tori alone was able to keep my attention focused. After the standard "Beauty Queen\Horses" intro, she followed with my requested "Icicle." Aaaaghh, I was in heaven. She did an incredible introduction to this with a variation of the "Onward Christian Soldiers" verse. Totally different however than the MTV unplugged version. This one included about a minute's worth of additonal adlibs accompanied by dancing in front of the piano. Amazing! Like another review I read, I agree that the aspect of her dancing in front of the stage adds a whole new dimesion to her performances. She did none of this at her April Orlando performance or at the 1994 UTP concert I attended. After the length of this tour so far, I have no idea where she obtains the energy for these high octane performances of late. At one point of tonight's concert, she even said something to the effect of, "You know when you're tired and your lover asks you to slow down. Well forget it, we're getting faster." What charisma. Even her reendition of "Love Song" by the Cure sounded quicker than when she did it at last April's Orlando show. She also seemed more playful tonight in her interactions with the crowd. She relayed the story of the genie's lamp she had sitting on her piano. When an female audience member yelled out, "Put me in it!," Tori responded by saying she would have to share it with a 6' 4" Dutchman. Before that Tori also mentioned something about almost having to do a love scene with Nicolas Cage for some movie. When members of the audience hooted about this, Tori responded by saying, "Oh no! He's too heavy for me." This brought out a roar of laughter from the audience. She took several requests during the course of the show. When "Precious Things" was requested, she said, "I do that every fucking night! So let's try for something different." She also said she would melt if she sang "Winter". Although not one of my favorite Tori songs, I must admit I was impressed by the version of "Talula" she presented. She gave it a flavor that I hadn't seen before. In fact that was one of only three songs she did from Boys for Pele (the others being "Beauty Queen/Horses" and "Caught a Lite Sneeze".) I was surprised so few from BFP decided to show up.
Towards the end, Tori did say this Jacksonville show was really strange for some reason. Caton seemed to agree with that statement as he nodded and smoked a cigarette while he waited to accompany her on "Past the Mission."
Some of you too will probably agree judging from the set list below.
Anyway, from beginning to end, the concert was incredible. I just hope the pictures of me and Tori together come out OK.
To the best of my memory, here is the set list from the Jacksonville performance:
I'm not that familiar with "Famous Blue Raincoat", but I believe that that is the song she messed up on during the first encore and repeated during the 2nd. (NOTE FROM MIKEWHY: I believe this song was "She's Leaving Home" instead!)
Beauty Queen/Horses NOTE FROM MIKEWHY: I think this person is only talking about the Jacksonville show here, but it is possible that some of this is from the previous night in Pensacola. this show was just awesome with lots of banter between tori and the audience.
someone yelled out, "tell us a story" and she goes, "okay what do you want to
hear?" so a few things were yelled out like, "tell us about your
grandmother" and stuff like that, and she's like "no i've already told you
that" so she goes "okay, so they wanted me to audition for a movie starring
nicolas cage and there was a kissing scene" and people go "woo!" and she's
like "no, he's too hairy" so then she whips out this little genie lamp and
starts talking about it and this girl in the audience screams out that she
wants to live in it and tori says that she'll have to share it with her
nudist monitor man cuz he's gonna live in it too. during one of the songs
she got up and was doing all these motions with her hands and was playing the
piano keys with her butt. it was so cute. and i love when she barks!
people yell out *i love you* and she's like, "woof!" and of course the
cornflake girl dance is just the kookiest little thing. people also kept
yelling song requests, for winter she goes "if i play winter one more time,
i'm gonna melt" and for precious things she said, "i play that every fucking
night! she's in the bathtub tonight, you got crucify instead, she came with
all kinds of wood and nails" and she changed the song she was about to play
a couple times, according to what people asked for or what she was in the
mood for. like, someone yelled out "save me from the balcony tori!" and she
goes, "is it eating you dear?" and then says "i just love condiments,
mayonaise, mustard..." so she starts playing a song and then stops, saying
something about having mayonaise on her mind so now she has to play something
different. anyway, all of that's to the best of my recollection so if you
were there and remember other stuff, please add to the story! also, if you are on a different tori list that deals with the taping or
trading tori shows, could you please forward this email? or just email me
and give me the info. i heard of a tori-boot mailing list but i don't know
any info about it. i'd really like to find copies of these shows, i'd
appreciate any help, thanx!!! my second show was a bitch to get to. i ended up wearing everything
the same except my fairy wings. we got to jacksonville early enough but
without my car which got stranded in niceville, fl (whereever that is.) we
got a ride from a trucker with no teeth to tally. i then had my other friend
(with jax tickets) pick me up somewhere in lake city. it was all a long
mission. lisa and i had balcony tickets but i never knew how close the front
balcony was to the stage until we walked in. i was so happy to see i was
just about as close, but up and over, as the night before. i felt a strange
company inside the theatre, maybe it was the black, trench coat look of many
people, or maybe it was the beautifuly colored inlaid wood on the walls and
arc in front of the stage. i could feel the uniqueness and tori sure showed
it with her playing and her songs. she had great energy and almost couldn't
sit down for too long. she played some of the oddest songs all in one
concert. who would've guessed butterfly, flying dutchman, london girls,
here. in my head, beatles, the cure, joni mitchell--all in one night. her
intros (esp icicle) had more than energy-- they had bit of an insane appeal,
which is always great to see in tori. she even commented on the feeling of
the night and was so talkative to the audience. she got out of her chair
numerous time compared to the first show and even danced for more than
cornflake girl. i can't say which show i enjoyed better. both of them were
completely amazing in so many different ways. if anyone went and got audio
or video, please e-mail me because i want a copy so badly, i'll give any
amount to money for them. i will always remember meeting tori and seeing the
most incredible shows of my life. i hope everyone gets to see her
someday--she is not to be missed. Back To The Main Dew Drop Inn Index Back to the Main Tori Amos Page I live in Tennessee, and have seen Tori here twice, but some of my
friends that live in Alabama and I went to see her in Pensacola, and boy
was it a dream trip.
We arrived at the venue Tori was playing at really early, and just by
chance her tour bus pulls up along the side. Sooooo, we jump out of the
car and line up behind the people that were already there. This would
be my third time to meet my faerie princess, and I was utterly excited!!
So, Tori gets out of the bus and walks over and starts talking to each
person in the line...as she does this my camera is going nuts and I'm
taking every picture that I possibly can. When it's my turn to talk to
Tori, she hugs me and asks how I'm doing and I do the same with her. I
then ask her if I can ask her a question about some hidden lyrics. She
smiles and tells "sure!" So, I ask her, "What are the lyrics behind the
vocals 'She said 1 + 1 is 2 but Henry said that it was 3..' in talula?"
Tori then (as I begin to almost pass out) get about 4 inches from my
face and sings to me...."Maybe I'm a happy girl...Maybe I'm a honey
dew...Maybe it's a bad job (where she pokes at her boobie)....Maybe it's
what you are....". At this point I think that I've died and gone to a
supremem place, cause TORI JUST SANG TO ME!!!!! *sigh*. After she sings
that she goes on to talk about 'talula' with me telling me all about the
song and where it came from, etc. We got to chat for a good bit, which
mad me really happy. And then she looked at my shoes (red plaid mary
janes) and goes "love the shoes!! Joel? Arent these great shoes?" and
i was like, "thanks! they are kinda old" and Tori said "hey! thats the
best kind!" Then she signed my UTP cover and hugged me again, and took
a picture with me. As I thanked her and walked off she asked me if I
would remember the lyrics, and I said yes, and then Tori and I recited
then together. When I walked away I had tears in my eyes. *sigh* What
a lovely moment.
Now, on to the show....The place was sold out (as usual) and it was the
biggest place that I had seen her in. We had great seats on the left
side of the stage, so that when she played the harpsicord we could see
her perfectly. I snuck in a tape recorder and I recorded the show:). I
have to say that this was one of the worst crowds that I have ever seen
at a Tori show. They were quite loud and applauding in the middle of
songs. Not only was I mad cause I was taping it, but I think that Tori
deserves the respect to have it quiet when she is singing. The set list
was incredible and was in the order that follows: Beauty Queen/Horses,
Silent All These Years, Tori chat: Someone shouted something and Tori
thought that they said something about a frisbee and she said "I was on
your beach today, and well, I'm sorry I dropped the frisbee...you'd
think that if I can play this fucking thing (bangs her harpsicord) maybe
I can catch a frisbee" then she pats and strokes the harpsicord and goes
straight into Blood Roses. After that was Little Amsterdam (quite
long), Tori chat: "This is Caton, this wonderful thing. We have know
each other forever, and ever and ever and ever, both when we both had
big hair like this (puts hands way over her haed) but his was bigger
than mine. And we were in Y Kant Tori Read. It's okay that you don't
know that really, it's just a things and thats why it bobed into a
horrible death." Then Tori gets up and does the 2 minute Cornflake Girl
dance, and then sings it the best that I think I have ever seen her do
it.
She goes straight into Doughnut Song next, and then to my suprise
(yay) Little Earthquakes, Tori chat: "So, um, some of you know that i
looooove Margarita's. And, I didnt get into this till very recently,
like on the last on the last record, and uh, well. There's this theory,
rite, that girls have a hard time saying 'no'. Well, I have broken this
theory, just because, when I want a Margarita girls, I can't do
anything! (Tori sighs really big) So this song can out, and it may not
make any sense, but i was havin a ROARING good time" Tori starts to
play a little piano the gets up and puts her hands over her head and
does a ballerina twirl, then sits down and plays, Frog On My Toe. Next
is Muhammad My Friend, Precious Things (with the looongest girrrrl growl
ever, and while she growled, her hands went slowly from her knees
feeling up to her neck. Also at the end lyircs went as "wash me clean,
daddy, wash me clean" over and over). Caught a Lite Sneeze was next
follwed by the tornado version of Talula, and then the somber Me and A
Gun. That was untill the first encore where Tori came back out and
preformed Cloud On My Tongue, and Mother....walked off stage and
returned again. Tori sits down, rolls her tongue to make a wierd noise
and sings "Dopey, and Grumpy and Sneezy and Sleepy, I think that Dopey
is (something i couldnt understand)" then jumps right into Father
Lucifer, ETIENNE!!! (yay), and finally Hey Jupiter. Tori blows kisses
and leaves the stage. *sigh* Tori was wonderful again, and was in
really high spirits, and I was glad to see that she was talking a bit
more than an earlier show that I attended in Nashville. I was a great
night. Tori was much more upbeat, talkative and energetic than she seemed at the
beginning of the tour. The best show of the nine I'd seen since my first
back in early 1992. At the same time, this was the worst audience I've seen
as far as getting up, coming and going non-stop. There were also many, many
camera flashes. Too many flashes which was reflected the next night in
Jacksonville.
Josh Clayton Fet opened for the first time with Tori. The former
singer/guitarist of the rock band School of Fish, seemed to please the
audience, although he seemed a bit nervous. He played accoustic and electric
guitar. He has a new solo cd and a song on the Kingpin Soundtrack. Not a bad
opener.
Beauty Queen my journey to the shows started out friday night. i drove from gainesville
to tallahassee, got there at 8pm, unpacked my boxes and some furniture into
my new house, picked up jeremy, and rested. the next morning we awoke around
7am to drive as early as possible to pensacola. we had no tickets and faint
directions but we made it to pensacola perfectly fine (maybe a little
starved.) looked at our watches and had eight hours to kill. the auditorium
was surrounded three sides by the gulf bay. the breeze was beautiful for our
sweaty bodies and the feeling was exciting. we killed time by bugging the
security and going to the pensacola museum where we saw a pele chair, fairy
paintings, and other tori related art. we knew something great was going to
come out of this.
around 3pm, a really nice security guy came up to us and
said he had tickets waiting somewhere else--10th row in the center. our
mouths dropped at the thought of being that close to the goddess. suddenly
we were all smiles, not tired or hungry anymore, just filled with happiness.
around this time we put met eddie and heather (hi friends--did you enjoy?)
they kept us company for a while until the show. jeremy and i decided to
start our theme show. we went to my car, conveniently parked next to where
tori's bus would be, put on our fairy wings and walked around until the show.
about 20 people were crowding aroung a little door after we heard tori was
coming soon. security told us to line up single file and tori would be able
to sign autographs and take pictures. 'wait a minute', i thought,' you mean
i'm going to actually meet tori--this is not a dream.' after waiting for
what seemed an eternity, a brown and silver bus parked in front of us. after
about 2 or 3 men walked out, tori daintily floated onto the concrete. she
walked over to us, looking so cute with her pated down wet hair and
mixmatched clothes. i kept my eyes on her purple eyes and pearl lips until i
was suddenly standing in front of her. there i was, face to face with the
one woman i would give any part of my body to. i had about a zillion things
to say to her, just little things. until she instantly flashed me her grand
smile all my thoughts were in my head. the actual size of her smile, her
petite body, the sparkes i saw from her eyes, everything left me speechless.
i felt like an ant compared to a splendid oak tree even though she was about
my size. all i wanted to do was hug her--so i did. i practically fell into
her arms, kissing her cheek. she smelled like wind during springtime and
felt as soft as a rose petal. i never wanted to let go and i hope i didn't
squeeze too hard. i handed her my paper and helped her spell my name. she
handed it back to me with another mile smile. jeremy went up to her, handed
her a note, and i took their picture. she leaned up against him and called
him babe. it was the first time i wished i were a guy. we walked off
feeling a glow as jeremy said "we are your fairies forever," causing a little
giggle from her. i know i forgot so much, it was all so quick and suprising.
she looked so perfect in her pink plaid jump suit, black and white checkered
t-shirt, and brown plaid shoes. i wanted to stand by her until she went
inside but security pulled us away. i feel like the luckiest girl ever and i
wanted to cry but i was too shocked to do anything except sit on the hood of
my car and watch the others meet her.
after a while of listening to tori
stories on my radio, we headed inside. tenth row center was so close which
made the concert incredible. she sang every song as if she were the actual
instrument. blood roses and little amsterdam rocked and i almost
hyperventalated when she started dancing and then played cornflake girl.
every song was a new treat, especially frog on my toe and the mix with
talula. she really got into it. girl on precious thing really did take
forever and the crowd went bezerk. she sang me and a gun with so much
feeling, her face tranformed into a lion and i could barely get it out of my
head until she ended the song. i loved her movement of her hands back and
forth, around her back, up in the air. she rules the world of performing by
miles. Back To The Main Dew Drop Inn Index Back to the Main Tori Amos Page ok, i waited my whole life to see her, well, years at least... and now
i've seen her twice in one week! i could only ask a little more, and
that is to meet her.
i trekked to atlanta for this one, without tickets, and with a prayer
that i'd get some once i got there. we luckily got there, not only in
time for the entire show ( i had a 3 hour drive ) but we also got some
amazing seats... i was thrilled. the show was outside, and though many
people felt the need to walk around during the entire show, it was
incredibly brilliant and worth the drive there and back.
it was wonderful to hear different songs... so many touring
groups/artists sing the same things night after night... she's so
refreshing in that tori changes her set lists. 'china' by far made the
night for me. that was the song that originally made me the fan that i
am - 5 years ago and i am still going. i really needed to hear her sing
that, and i hope she someday knows what a difference she's made, for me
and so many others.
so overall this show was great. one funny thing she said after looking
into the audience was "ya know, i'm kinda nervous cause you're the
biggest i've ever done." her microphone by her harpsichord didn't work
at first either... so she expressed the feeling that that gave her by
comparing it with "guys when they go *funny noise with downward hand
motion*" - she made us laugh, and hopefully all of her nervous crew
members. i do wish she'd talk a bit more, but i'm satisfied with
whatever she chooses to give me.
i had decided on the way over to atlanta that i was going to try with
everything i had to meet her. so, after me and a gun, which, by the way
people pissed me off by hooping and hollaring during this song, i took
off running and made it back to her buses. a rather rude man told me i
couldn't hang around, so my sister and i decided to run around and see
if we could get a closer place, one where we could see her, but not get
ourselves into trouble. in a nutshell, all i got from this was extremely
muddy feet and shoes ( this is why i'm unsure about that one song in her
first encore - hardly an excuse, i know. ) so we went back to where we
were before and stayed. we listened to the finish of her encores and
kept our fingers crossed. after about an hour and a half, and many
encounters with security, we saw her come out of the building. there
were only 9 of us left waiting, so i hoped that she would come over to
us, but we really only got alot of waves from her and i think she blew
us a kiss. it seemed she was motioning to us to come down, but perhaps
we were all too stunned to move. regardless, i'm kicking myself now for
not running down to her. we made a valiant effort and i'm waiting
patiently for the next time that i can get that chance.
my life has been dramatically changed by this timy woman and seeing her
with my own eyes just once, much less twice in one week, has changed my
life just that much more. i know i am not alone when i say i truly love
tori. it's perhaps more than i can explain and because of the complexity
of it all i think i'm glad that i cannot explain it. i know many of you
reading this will understand exactly what i'm saying. all i know is she
is here in my heart and will doubtfully ever leave.
i will personally thank her for everything one day. and for that day, i
anxiously await. on thursday august 8 , i got the emence pleasure of getting to go see
tori amos again. but i also had a very good experience before that
i had read of all the encounters of people going to wait for tori when
she entered the stage to meet and greet her, so i had been planning to
do that for some time, so me and my sister jennifer got to meet tori!!
it was so exiting and i was so nervous!! it was amazing becasue we were
talking to one another and then there she was! i got to give her a
letter and some chocotate cookies ( which she handed to steve the moody "
hey gettout of that tree security guy) and a book called lady cottingtons
pressed fairy book, she seemed so happy when i gave it to her.
so jennifer and i waited untill the show, which was fun becasue we got
to hear her suondcheck which was amazing- i was so suprised that tori
did so many things to make sure, she played a little of yes, anastasia,
caught a lite sneeze , mariane, and a little blood roses, it was so
exelent, but what was funny was taht the two girls that we were standing
by climbed over the fence and went and sat down in the front row!! and
tori let them stay their, and kept on having to tell the security guys
that the " girls" were okay.
but the concert was absoulty amazing!! by far the best concert yet. she
opened with horses and beuty queen, but she did a little diddy before
that which she ecitedly shouted " hey " during and then went into beuty
queen.
and then yes anastasia appered, which was so emotional. i never really
noticed that on the recordings how sad that that song is and how angry it
is at the same time, truly beutiful.
it was at this time that tori wanted to do blood roses, which is when
she discovered that her microphone for hte harpsichord wasn't working,
so she started talking with us about that , she said that " this is all
quite funny yknow, becasue right now my crew is peeing in their pants"
and she also said " guys i can really understand what you go through
when your thing goes ( downward motion) becasue theis is happining to
me, so i totally realize that dificulty" tori also said that she was
quite nervouse becase " we werer hte biggest she had done".
then she launched into blood roses, which is an ecelent song, but so
much better live, there are really no words to describe it to justice.
then up stepped butterfly, one of my all time favorites. it was so so
so good, she was really getting into things a lot more in this concert.
you could tell that she wanted us to understand her and she was doing so
wonderfuly, and had so many songs that arent ont he usually list.
she also did little earthquakes, which was so good. it was beutiful
with her improvizations and how she held the " i cant reach you" part
exrta longer and more gut wrenching.
then cornflake cam i beleive ( i'm sorry i don't remeber the ecact list,
but htis has most of the songs ) it was cool becase i have heard how
tori will do her dance and i have seen in just on her stool, bu thtis
time she got into it so much more. she took a good two minutes to dance
around the stage and caton, grab the energy from the crowd and pull it
towards herself, then she did her cradaling baby sort of dance, which i
though was very cute.
then came little amstardam, which was keen because she did a little of
he rown thing before it, and ssssshhhiit, was better that on the cd.
when she started singing about " playing that oprgan must count for
somehting" it was so sad,.
preciouse theings also came up, which was better than before, the
gggggggiiirrrrlll part was extra long and growaly, but the ending was
extemly good, she was obviously tormented by these things, and wanted
to get away from them, so she was screaming " these preciose thing them
them break let them wach me clean daddy these things" over and over.
then it was me and a gun, which annoyed me a lot ( not hte songa t all
it was beutiful asd always ) but the people in the open aur amiptheatre,
were screaming " i love you tori " over and over and you could here
people laughing to themselves, which both i thought was very rude to her
as a proformer, becasue if they really loved her they shoulf have shut
up so that they might understand what tori was talking about.
becasue of that unfortunate icedet i thought that tori might not come out
again, but thankfully she did and played pretty good year. the more
gurngy part at the end was much more enhanced with caton being their,
and a lot better i think
talula anso showed up, which was good, but i personally don't liek the
fake band behind tori, it covers her up so that you can't hear her a
swel.
then the guys brought in the pump organ and she went into cool on your
island, which i especially wanted to hear. i think that it is good that
toei is embracing the y kant tori read days, becasue it is a part of her
and always will be,so she shouldn't cover it up and pretend that it is
not their.
during cool on your island she segued into prple rain, which i had never
heard before, and it was so beutiful live!! i never knew that a song
was so beutiful like that onw is, definately one of the hig points.
then she went of and took a long time to come back on to the stage for
the second encore-
the first dong was london girls, which was so cool!! i love the wayt
that she does that song, becasue it is such a twist on it and i
thourougly enjoyed it live
then the girl winter showed up, and what a treat, tori now rarely does
a set like this and to finish it with one of her best songs was so good.
so it was an absoultly an amazing day gor ma and a incredible night for
tori, i will never ever forget this concert, becasue it was wonderfully
fully of bee sided and songs that she doesn't really do. tori seemed
much more focused on the show that on any other that i have seen, which
was very good . maybe the cookies did something for her!! NOTE FROM MIKEWHY: This posting affected me for some reason...there is a sweet honesty here. Okay, since everyone else will be providing set lists, what Saw my 2nd Tori concert last night at Chastain Ampitheater in Atlanta.
Tori told us that we were her "largest ever" -- but that didn't explain
the absolute rudeness of the crowd. During "Me and a Gun" somebody yelled
"I love you Tori" and then some one else (all guys) yelled "but you can't
have her Bud Light" that was followed by some drunk guy who proceeded to
laugh very loudly through the duration of the song.
I am the lead singer of a band and I understand how difficuly audiences
can be, but if I had been Tori and I was singing about something as
intense and of course as difficult as Me and A Gun, I would have said
something to those asses and left stage for a bit. For some reason I
think that songs deserves respect.
Otherwise, great show. 1st encore was "Pretty Good Year" - one of my
favorites. She seemed very deliberate last night and removed from the
audience. Who can blame her after that crap? i attended the chastain park show as well and i left with mixed feelings.
when i first heard that tori was playing in an amphitheatre, i was
frightened because i know how those venues can hold an overwhelming amount
of people. but an outdoor show does have advantages. i loved staring at the
purple sky while listening to her voice, which seemed to be amplified
louder than usual. i liked the idea of those few people holding candles.
and i also just liked the feeling of hearing the music outside.
but i feel terrible that tori had to
sing in front of so many assholes. almost everyone was drinking beer and
smoking, talking about irrelevant things, taking pictures, and they were
just running around so ignorantly. i am embarrassed i was sitting in that
audience. i feel so grateful to be able to hear tori perform live, i do
everything to respect her. i wear a dress, sometimes bring flowers, and i
sit very attentive. i would never shout anything at her and i certainly
would not leave my seat for a moment while she was singing. at chastain she
sang yes anastasia AND little earthquakes. to me these songs are great
epics, and it was so frustrating to see a good bit of the audience not even
realizing how special the music is. after the men's catcalls during me and
a gun, i was horrified. tori left, as she usually does. then there was that
one minute's time and she comes back to do an encore. i hoped she would not
do an encore that night. most of the crowd at chastain park did not deserve
it. when she came back and sang pretty good year, cool on your island/
purple rain, london girls, and winter, i couldn't understand why but i
appreciated those gifts so much. i can't go after all of the rude chastain
park people, but this incident just verifies that tori is best suited to
smaller audiences. indoors. where there are ushers and security whom look
out for distractions, and the atmosphere makes everyone feel a bit more
civilized. thank you tori for your wonderful energy at chastain and at all
of your concerts. i and everyone at rdt admire and respect you. i apologize
for the bad times that sometimes happen.
love miss rachel. Back To The Main Dew Drop Inn Index Back to the Main Tori Amos Page Hi Mike!
I sent you the set lists for the two Houston shows back in June.
I saw Tori in Jackson, MS, last night, and figured I would send
you the set list for your great Tori site!
A couple of noticeable changes in Tori's show since I last saw her in
June: a neat little dance and chant while Caton plays the Cornflake
Girl intro, reminiscent of a spirit summoning--I was very surprised
to see her get up off the piano bench and run around on the stage,
away from the instruments; also, they kicked on the Leslie during
Little Amsterdam, which, with the way it was so dramatically lit up
from behind, created a whole new, different effect for that part of
the song.
Wednesday, August 7, 1996 @ Jackson, MS
Beauty Queen Okay, I knew Tori would be in Memphis and New Orleans, but never did it
occur to me that she would be in l'il Jackson, Miss. (Well, it is a great
setting for her Southern angst song, "Little Amsterdam.")
But she came. We saw. Her music conquered.
In other similarly cliche words, she fucking ruled last night!
My hubbie and I saw her in Memphis and she was terrific there, but last
night, a full three months later, it seems like the touring has just made
her better. Her songs were richer and her voice was even stronger.
Some highlights: "Space Dog," her lively jig before "Cornflake Girl," a
beautiful intro to "Icicle," which included one of her "Heee!"s, and the
naked pain of "Me and a Gun."
Oh! She told a great story about her Christmas card. She said her dad has
been bugging her for a while to send one out, so finally at 32 years old
she does. The Tori/pig portrait from the "Boys for Pele" booklet. "How's
that for Madonna and child?"
Willy Porter was terrific. His last song was pretty free-form, created from
ideas from the audience -- sex, smurfs, vegetables, and a Pentecostal church.
I think Willy said it best after he was through: "That was rad." :)
Tori didn't talk much last night, but her playing was *excellent*. I wonder,
is that a sign that she still felt a strong connection to the audience? Does
the strength of her playing reflect the strength of the bond she feels with
the audience? Hmmm....
-Lucy
(Oops, I just realized that I said the Memphis concert was 3 months ago. I
think it was more like 5. My brain's a little fuzzy from lack of sleep.) Back To The Main Dew Drop Inn Index Back to the Main Tori Amos Page First off, here's the set list for the august 5th show in birmingham,
alabama -
Beauty Queen I wish i knew where to start... i'll try anyhow.
a fan of tori, i have been, for years now. i told myself time and time
again that when it was meant for me to see her, i would. i finally got
my chance. but i didn't just want to be one to sit idly by, i wanted to
do something different, something that perhaps would make me stick out
of the crowd. so i did. i work for a worldwide retail company, and i
wanted to do something for the show that perhaps, had i not been part of
this company, i wouldn't have been otherwise given the chance. every
year we have a campaign, and this year the focus is on women, their
social/political issues and how women's voices can reach the
presidential candidates, with our help. i thought that tori's show would
be a great place to reach women, and to give them the chance to speak
out about their beliefs. after calling place to place, and speaking with
person to person, i finally reached tori's management office and pitched
my idea to them. finally, the morning before the show, i got the ok from
tori and her road manager. we were given a space in the theatre to set
up our table and to get as many women to fill out our cards that wished
to do so. i have yet to count, but we probably have near to 100 cards
completed, which i think is fabulous. i chose not to say which company
that i work for, as our aggreement with her management specified no
advertisment on our part. i stick to that agreement even now after the
show is over. we were simply there to offer ourselves to the women that
want their voices heard. the effort was truly successful.
as for her show, it was beautiful. she surprised me with a few of her
songs, such as Space Dog, and one that she said 'was probably the first
and last time she would sing it,' Oh, Susannah. She was precious in
every way imaginable, she performed a show that i waited years to see,
and i wouldn't trade it for the world. it was, to me, perfect.
there were a few assholes, however, sitting directly behind me, making
lewd comments about tori, belching, name-calling and laughing,
reminiscent of the disgusting cartoon that i believe we all know too
well. my sister was with me, and she more or less told them to shut
their stupid mouths. i was proud, as were all the people around us. it
simply amazes me that someone would take the time and effort to make it
to a show, and then sit and patronise the entire time. i was thoroughly
disgusted, but managed triumphantly to enjoy the show for what it was: a
masterpiece. i was not about to let two assholes ruin tori for me. and
if their aim was to do so, they failed miserably.
i wanted terribly to meet her, but given the fact that i cannot be in
tight crowds i stood back while she spoke with the non-claustrophobic
fans. i felt a bit let down as i watched her bus pull away, not because
the show was any less than magnificent, and not because tori had failed
me in any way... i think the disappointment came from knowing that what
i had waited so long for was over. tori is my mainstay. she makes me
cry, she makes me laugh, she gives me goose bumps and even more so to me
now, she remains to be the greatest artist out there, male or female. i
can only cherish my first show in my heart, and wait for the next time
that i am given the chance to experience such magnificence.
i went for the music. i went to see my personal goddess. i got both, in
far greater proportions that i ever thought could be received. i am
mystified. i am in awe of what i was a part of, just a few hours ago. i
love that girl more than i did just an hour ago and i have no doubt in
my mind that tomorrow will only permit me to let that love grow more
strongly.
and to you mike, i thank you for this brilliant page that you keep so
well maintained. your efforts are far greater than anyone's i've seen.
please, keep up the good work. i rely on you to keep me abreast of the
latest tori news ;) if i could audibly applaud you, i would. just close
your eyes and perhaps you can hear me cheer. Here's the setlist, not completely in order, but
some are (sheepish grin):
BQ/Horses Tori was in excellent form last nite, playing
only a few of the songs she played in Atlanta,
where I saw her last. I had a small number of
songs I was hoping she'd play, including TTTS,
PGY, and Purple Rain. She really reminded
me how strong her voice is, with her beautiful
shrieking and wailing as she improvised on
some songs. She seemed to be searching for
a rythmn when she first came on, but she found
it about the time she started Blood Roses. She
told the crowd that she was going to do something
new for us, and that she'd probably never do it
again and, smiling, she played "Sweet Caroline"
(I think that's the name...anyway, it has "I Come
from Alabama (with a banjo on my knee)" in it.
I'd never heard her sing Let It Be before, and
the crowd roared with appreciation when
she started into the chorus. She introduced
Honey as her (current) favorite song from
Under The Pink, but that it wasn't on UTP.
Did it get cut?
The Alabama Theatre in Birmingham was
designed and decorated similarly to the
Fox Theatre in Atlanta, but wasn't nearly
as big, modern, or maintained. I didn't
care, tho, since i had 2nd row seats in
the balcony. Y'know, I don't think I'd
like to be on the main floor up close; I
prefer looking down onto the stage.
Tori did a little dance as Caton played
the intro to Cornflake Girl, coming close
to satisfying my desire to see her as
a performance artist (grin). It looked
spontaneous; does she dance at all
her concerts?
Willy Porter was good, and he even did
a ditty about Alabama too. He played
for a half hour, then they took an hour
to finish the stage for Tori. Lord knows
why she didn't come on sooner; it wasn't
like they had any serious work left to do.
She got started at 9:30, and finished at
11:00. Definitely worth my money, but
I sure didn't need the wait in the middle.
Kind kills the "warm up" for the crowd,
which is what I thought opening acts were
for...
They had this cute beer maid at the
Theatre, as well. If you're reading this,
babe, I'm the writer you met before the
show. Great to meet ya! Back To The Main Dew Drop Inn Index Back to the Main Tori Amos Page I saw Tori in Chattanooga, Tennesse, at the Tivoli Theatre. It was
her first show in Chattanooga.
She was in between songs and I yelled out "Happy Birthday in two
weeks." She giggled and said, "you guys." Then broke into Blood
Roses.
She talked about it being her first time in Chattanooga, "My mom was born here. It's her birthday today." Someone shouted out from the audience, "what did you get her?" Tori responded, "Did she call you and tell you to ask me that?" Tori said that the NEXT DAY was to be her mom's
birthday. And I thought the best thing about the "mom's birthday" exchange
was the next part of it, which the dear, confused Ms. Wessels left off--
Tori's response after a several second pause as she began chording the
next song was, "Mom's goin' to Rio." Those are the main memories I have of that Chattanooga show. I remember
little else about it other than how gorgeous Songbird was, and how Tori
went back to the piano from the harmonium to perform it. The lone review on your site of the 4/23/96 Knoxville show didn't state it outright, but Tori must have gone from harmonium to piano for the performance of Songbird at that show as well. Back To The Main Dew Drop Inn Index Back to the Main Tori Amos Page Tori Was Totally ON in Dayton
Tori's performance at Memorial Auditorium, August 3, was one of my favorites during the Dew Drop Inn Tour. Tori seemed in a good mood, and remained that way, despite some very irritating and rude people in the audience. She fulfilled (or at least seemed to fulfill) many requests. It felt like an intimate party where Tori was at your house and asked, "Well, what would you like for me to play?" I attended the show with my Tori buddy Lori Keaye, who was with me previously for Tori's epic Cincy show. Our seat was in the balcony this time, but we were exactly in front of the stage, and it turned out to be a great location to get an overall view of the show and really concentrate on the music. And what a night of music it was! B-sides, and other songs that had not been overly prevalent during the tour, showed up at the party. It was a classic Tori show, where your jaw hits the floor, you compose yourself, and as soon as the next song begins your jaw falls again. (Yes, I am gushing as usual....hey I never claimed that these reviews were objective! In fact, I think it is IMPOSSIBLE to be objective with Tori's music; it is too personal.)
Tori took to the stage looking energetic and ready to rock. BEAUTY QUEEN/HORSES opened the show, followed by the fun LONDON GIRLS. Tori was obviously having a blast with this cover/b-side. She used her sensual deep voice in the song, and made the audience laugh as she made fun of the lyrics. At one point during the song when she sang "They will darn your socks and wash your..." she used her palm to simulate a washing of her 'private' parts while letting out a growl.
She then talked to us. She asked a person in the front if their grandparents were there. She said, "During Horses, you shouted 'I'm here with my grandparents'...so are they here or not? Did you say grandparents or something grand?" Then after listening briefly she said either "You have a brand new outie? You poor thing." or more likely, "You have a brand new Audi? You poor thing."
She started playing the harpsichord and the familiar Blood Roses lights came on...but the song was NOT Blood Roses but BELLS FOR HER. This was a pleasant surprise, and I enjoyed the fact that the song was really different on the harpsichord than it was on the last tour with the old rigged piano. It seemed faster and more powerful. She did some strong vocalizing that she did not do when she sang it during the last tour.
LITTLE AMSTERDAM came next. I still say this song has one of the coolest openings in the show. The stage almost looks scary, with the patterns swirling on the triangular screen in the background and with the strong red lighting. I also love the loud part she does toward the end when she belts, "Playing that organ must account for something" and then she holds the note a long time and flows back into the main song with the words, "Little Amsterdam..." You have to see/hear it to appreciate it.
After that, the audience bombarded her with requests and 'I love you's. She said, "I love you too..Okay, heard you...guys, I love you, but look at this..." and she pointed to her body, "It ain't a jukebox." She then introduced Caton, blew him a kiss, and CORNFLAKE GIRL began. The dance she does has grown even more elaborate and exciting. She is really impressive! This is NOT the romp she did in the Big Picture video! (And those of you who have seen this video from Y Kant Tori Read know what I am talking about!)
Tori then began to tell the story of how Honey was her favorite song from Under The Pink but did not make it on the album. But she barely got a few words out of her mouth before she was interrupted by requests, especially from an extremely obnoxious (and probably drunk) guy on the left side of the theatre on the main floor. He shouted requests at her and would not shut up. Tori was very nice to him, despite the fact that he was quite rude and irritating the hell out of the people sitting next to him. I think he shouted for Winter and Tori said, "If I play Winter, I'm going to melt..If Winter comes out, she is going to be Frosty the Snowman and melt." Sadly, Tori's words seemed to make the shouters even more persistent with their requests. Tori then said, "Foreplay boys..." and "You just might get lucky girls..." and then finally, "none of you have mentioned Honey, but she's coming anyway." She played HONEY.
The funky and exciting IN THE SPRINGTIME OF HIS VOODOO was next. The background screen was very colorful, and since I was in the balcony, I could see the patterns and designs that the lighting made on the floor around Tori, and it was very cool.
Tori finally made one of the loud-mouths happy and performed WINTER. I believe she even blew one of the requesters a kiss. This song is perfection. Enough said.
I nearly jumped from my chair in excitement when Tori shifted from the father-oriented Winter to MOTHER. Hearing this song brought back memories of the first time I saw her do this back in Louisville KY in 1992, during the Little Earthquakes tour. It has developed considerably since then, but it is still touching.
Her signature PRECIOUS THINGS was next. Cones of white light twirled around the stage. The GGGRRRRLLLLL part was dramatic as usual, and almost sounded like a scene from the Exorcist. Of course, that is, in a way, what she is doing, as she pleads at the song's end, "Let them wash me clean..."
Around this point of the show, I suddenly heard a small group of people clapping down below as security threw out the guy who had been shouting and causing such a stir. He was not missed, and things were considerably calmer after this germ was removed from the body of the audience.
My heart missed a few beats when I heard her start the next song, ICICLE. She glowed while singing this. That piano intro gets to me every time!
CAUGHT A LITE SNEEZE danced on stage, and then Tori did Me and a Gun.
The first encore began with Tori bathed in beautiful blue light and the song HERE IN MY HEAD. Unfortunately that beautiful blue light sometimes blinded me! Nevertheless, this song is one of her most poignant pieces. Then I grew excited as she did the rare WAY DOWN. TWINKLE rounded up this very satisfying encore. Twinkle was so sad, and I fought back the tears...
The second encore brought us TEAR IN YOUR HAND. Caton was quite effective here. This caused more tears to fall, especially during the heart-breaking "Maybe it's time to wave goodbye now" part.
Tori then said, "This is for that special guy that always brings me 1800..." and she began to play FAMOUS BLUE RAINCOAT. She also said to someone, "You didn't think I'd come through, did you?" Along with Way Down and London Girls, Famous Blue Raincoat was a live first for me. It turned out to be even more impressive than I thought it would be. It flowed well and really set the mood, and I grew kind of sad, for I knew this night of music was almost over, and I did not want it to end. After the song one of the shouters did manage to say something that applied to most of us in the building, "Thank you Tori, You stitched my soul!" Tori said, "I stitched your soul??" She looked perplexed for a moment and then got it, "Oh OH, THANKS" looking happy.
She turned to her recently rolled-out harmonium organ and began playing. The requests were once again yelled out. I was once again amazed at how rude some people could be. Tori was apologetic, "To be honest with you, I've had 20 requests..I'm sorry...Sorry, Jupiter's having a margarita with China." She then gave us SISTER JANET, complete with powerful singing at the end. She then waved the last time to the audience and danced off the stage, obviously pleased with her fantastic performance that night.
After the show I had the pleasure of meeting some of the people that post regularly on the RMTA newsgroup. I am a chronically shy person most of the time and did not talk much, but it was great to see other people who shared my love of Tori and the Net. We all witnessed one of Tori's best shows that night. A show that despite its greatness was also intimate enough to feel like a private performance. I am not sure if I will see more shows at this point, so I am glad this one was so enjoyable. I have been reading the posts about how wonderful the show was
(except for the screamer), so I thought I would post about it.
First of all, I was wondering if anyone there got a tape or saw
someone taping the show? I was sitting in the balcony towards the
front, but could not see the soundboard or tapers. I must agree that
this was a WONDERFUL show. Both Willie Porter and Tori were on that
night. Tori touched me in a special way because of everything going on
in my life. As one person said "Thank you Tori, you stiched my soul." I
think that applied to a lot of people there that night.
Now on to the screamer(s). The first half of the show was bad in
this respect, but people calmed down (or were calmed down). This
allowed the energy to flow. But screaming (and talking during the songs
people don't know) is going to be a reality whenever a person or a
performing group becomes popular (as Tori is). This is also true when
fans get so plastered they just don't care. But I believe that "we're
all supposed to be about higher conciousness, not drunken stupidity."
Meaning that I feel the Tori concert experience should be a time of
reflection, catharsis, and pure musical enjoyment. Fans there to here
the latest single and leave are not going to be open to this and may
hinder the rest of the group. That has become the case with such great
musical acts that I can very rarely enjoy a concert any more as the
bands I love have recently become popular. Screaming sucks, but it is
something that is going to be hard to stop if Tori continues to become
popular.
After all of that, I must admit that my mouth as open with awe most
of the show. The set list was awesome and the performance itself was
classic. I would love to see tapes or CDs (whatever happens to come
out) circulate widely.
Willy Porter did a great job. One of the best as far as I am
concerned. He did the lyrics to Free Bird set to Stairway to Heaven.
Later he did A Day In The Life and the theme song to the Jackson 5
cartoon. It was just total fun. I also loved how both he and Tori
talked to the crowd. It always adds a feeling of intimacy to the show. Back To The Main Dew Drop Inn Index Back to the Main Tori Amos Page A night of many b-sides and covers.
This review is a little shorter than usual for me, but that is not because the concert was in any way inferior. It was an exciting show, where I found myself eagerly awaiting to hear what song she would perform next. My sense that the show would be special turned out to be true, because the set list was so varied in Columbus! The concert also seemed more subtle to me than my previous two. The energy level was still pretty high, but Tori appeared more contemplative. She was also a little more quiet than usual, but still had some great things to say.
Beauty Queen/Horses opened the show once again. It always seems different to me every time I hear it, so it always stays fresh. It is fascinating to watch and hear how Tori pronounces her words, the little noises she makes between words, and the way her body moves in relation to the music.
Then came the Springsteen cover, "I'm On Fire." Even though I saw her do this on VH-1 Crossroads, I was amazed at the passion she shared. She used a slight gravelly low voice during much of the song that sent chills coursing through me. It was my favorite cover of the night. It was sexual, sensual, and really emotional. You must see her do this!
She then said, "Hey there, how's it going?" Then some people in the audience thought it would be cute to see who could say they loved her the most. One shouted "I love you" and another shouted, "I love you more!" Tori just sat there and smiled a lot. Then one dude shouts, "I wanna marry you", to which Tori replied, "You know you don't wanna do that. No you don't," she shook her head and did a no-no wave with her finger, "Just listen to these words sweetheart; you don't want to go there." She then played Blood Roses!
I was pleasantly surprised to hear Father Lucifer next. Early in the song she messed up, and then briefly banged on the keyboard and said ,"Excuse me, I'm sorry." Someone in the audience must have said something like "it's okay", because she then added, "Well, that's good. I'm glad I'm not a gymnast or I'd be fucked." The audience roared and she started the song again. I adored the ending of the song, when her last words were, "Run away, turn away, you never looked so sane."
I noticed throughout the concert that Tori would look up while playing, close her eyes, and just smile. She always looked so happy and into it when she did this. Just a random observation.
People then began calling out requests all over the place. She chastised the audience, "Hey hey" and then heard someone say Little Amsterdam. She looked at Steve Caton, shrugged, and said "Why not?" and did Little Amsterdam. The song was haunting as always.
Afterwards, she did a few signals to her sound crew and then told us, "I'm doing my little signals up here." She introduced Caton, who promptly launched into Cornflake Girl. After chalking her hands, Tori got up and did the longest version of the mime dance that I have seen. It was longer and more elaborate than the one I saw in Indianapolis. It was really quite impressive, and the crowd loved it, especially when she moved to the very edge of the stage. Then she danced her way back to the Bosey, shouted "One, two , three" and threw herself into Cornflake Girl.
The next three songs were all surprises. She did Butterfly, a slow and pretty Upside Down, and the Cure's Lovesong on the harpsichord. Before Lovesong she said, "Some of you may know this one, it is one of my favorite covers." It was terrific to hear these b-sides and covers, especially Butterfly, which I never saw her do live before.
The audience went wild as Tori began Precious Things. It is simply impossible NOT to. It is a very dramatic opening, with that intense piano intro and Tori's silhouette against the lights. It is one of the high points of the show, and not only because of the girrrrrrrllllll part. Speaking of that part, I noticed with a mixture of amusement and sadness that some people were screaming so loudly during it that you could almost not hear Tori finish it. I think staying quiet until she finishes it and then going crazy would be better, but maybe that's just me! She ended the song again with the heart-ripping "Let them wash me clean daddy" At the end, her voice was just a whisper when she sang 'daddy'. A most cleansing experience for me.
The gorgeous song China followed. It is too beautiful to describe. Caught A Lite Sneeze stepped up next, and then the always special Me and a Gun.
The first encore began with another of my favorite covers, A Case Of You. Then she did This Old Man. I never thought I would hear this tune and find it so powerful! She used This Old Man song as an intro to Putting The Damage On. Damage live swells yours eyes with tears. Incredible.
When she emerged for the second encore, people once again began shouting requests from every corner of the theatre. She said in response to one (I don't know which), "If I sing that song, I'll blow my lite bright out." Then after hearing one song title she said, "Well, at least one of you is telepathic," and played Pretty Good Year. The loud part toward the end was even more exciting than usual. She just cut loose and belted out the lyrics. Her ability to go from a whisper to a scream and back again makes my head spin.
The fun Mr. Zebra came up, and then she turned to the harmonium organ and finished the night with Etienne from Y Kant Tori Read. This song really comes across well on the organ. It really is a great song, and I am thrilled that Tori is embracing it.
Every Tori concert is different. I can hardly wait until Saturday, August 3, when I see her again in Dayton. There is no telling what may happen there! Back To The Main Dew Drop Inn Index Back to the Main Tori Amos Page Back To The Main Dew Drop Inn Index
Please give me feedback, comments, or suggestions about my site.
From a posting to the rec.music.tori-amos newsgroup by Tim (tmsub1@niagara.com)
From a posting to the rec.music.tori-amos newsgroup by Anna (bumblebee@microagewny.com)
From a posting to the rec.music.tori-amos newsgroup by Chaz (cstewart@acsu.buffalo.edu)
A Newspaper Review Of The Show Found In a posting to the RDT mailing list by Will Elefante
By: NICOLE PERADOTTO - News Staff Reviewer
Edition: CITY Section: ENTERTAINMENT Page: D7
Tori's Performance In Holmdel New Jersey, August 26
From a personal email sent to me by Terri (ROBB.YUAN@worldnet.att.net)
1) some piano, harp improvs
2)a song that I don't know, but had the line " ride out to the city"
repeated a lot, does anyone know what this is?
3)Happy Phantom
4)Cornflake Girl
5)Space Dog
6)Caught a Lite Sneeze
7)Honey
8)Talula
It's a long list, but it wasn't continous, and none of the songs were
complete. I enjoyed hearing Happy Phantom.
I'm on Fire
Caught a Lite Sneeze
Tori talks #1
Cornflake Girl
Tori talks #2
Butterfly
Little Earthquakes
Tori talks #3
Crucify
Cloud on my Tongue
Precious Things
Tori talks #4
Love song(I think, that was just my guess when hearing the lyric,I could be
wrong, someone correct me)on harp
Space Dog
Tori talks #5
Talula
Me and a Gun
Encore1
Mother
Tori talks #6
A Case of You
Encore2
Springtime
Prof. Widow(merry widow version)
Hey Jupiter
"Hi, how is everyone?" HUGE uproar. "I got a new pair of shoes for you guys
today" raises her leg and shows them on the piano, " because, and don't take
this the wrong way, but they're good because they haven't been to NY, so
they're brand new and this is their wedding day." Keep in mind that was
paraphrased, so I could be off a little on the quote, but that's basically
what she said
After hopping around all over the stage she said, "And I have some advice to
any of you girls out there, If you ever get these shoes, don't jump up and
down in them." I'm sure those 4 inch heels do hell to your ankles.
Then, just as she was starting Crucify, someone yelled something out and she
stopped suddenly, "Frankie's here??" he yells in response "Frankie came to
all of my New York shows. Why weren't you there yesterday?" he answers
something, "well, anyway, Frankie was chasing me down the street with a
Winnie the Pooh bear, in his thick metal heeled boots, chasing me and it
was...it was actually quite...pitiful. But I love you Frankie." A girl
from the audience yells, " I love Frankie" with an accent on the "I"
And Tori's like, "What your name?" Carol, repeats, "I love Frankie" Tori
says" Ok, Sorry Carol, I didn't mean to invade your space."
"For you guys out on the lawn, I want you to know that that's where I always
sat at these gigs, so don't feel bad. But if you're cold, I'm going to play
a song that will warm you up. I always got warm on this song."
This is where I think she played Lovesong, it had the line, "I will always
love you" repeated several times.
She said, and I don't understand what this means, " I love Mark. I always
did" Then she went into Talula, which was very good live. I really enjoyed
this one and it was great how she was playing off the energy in the audience.
I have to say that this has to be the biggest disappoint of the show, not
because of Tori ofcourse but of the obnoxious people who kept on screaming
and hollering during this one. I was so mad, finally I yelled "Shut up"
They stopped for a little, then continued and I screamed again, "Can you
people shut up?" Then Tori said, "It's Ok guys" in the middle of singing a
line, which I took to mean, 'It's Ok, people who understand and respect what
this song is about, and fuck all the other people. Just ignore them because
there's nothing you can do about them.' I can't believe people can be so
disrespectful and so horrible, don't they know anything? I was really mad
and disappointed and I felt really bad for Tori. You know how she said on
Primetime that whenever she sings this song, she's trying to reach a place,
sometimes she gets there, other times she doesn't, well this time she most
certainly fucking did not. Sorry, Tori.
" I wish I could just take you and put you in my back pocket and take you
with me"
Then she played A Case of You. I'm not sure what she meant, but it was very
endearing. A Case of You was beautiful, i heard it in NY, but I didn't know
what it was then so it was a treat
From a personal email sent to me by MetroJoe82@aol.com
From a personal email sent to me by Gina (PezzAngel@aol.com)
and the Dew Drop Inn Tour
Caught A Lite Sneeze
Cornflake Girl (prefaced by the "toridance")
??Running Girl?? (I didn't recognize the song....)
Little Earthquakes
Crucify
Cloud on My Tongue
Precious Things
I Will Always Love You (on harpsichord)
Space Dog
Talula (tornado)
Me and A Gun
Mother
A Case of You
ENCORE:
In the Springtime of His Voodoo
Professional Widow (on harmonium)
Hey Jupiter (on harmonium)
From a personal email sent to me by Jaime Cser (mecser@fast.net)
I'm on Fire (with a verse of Icicle)
Caught a Light Sneeze
Cornflake Girl (Tori came down to the front of the stage and danced!!!!)
Butterfly
Little Earthquakes
Crucify
Cloud on my Tongue
Precious Things
Lovesong (Tori talked to the people in the grass telling them thats where she always
sat- and this was her favorite song to get warm too..)
Space Dog
Talula (tornado mix)
Me and a Gun (some rude fans kept yelling in the middle of the song and another
audience member yelled SHUT UP- Tori, in the middle of the song said its okay guys)
1st Encore
Mother
A Case of You
Springtime of his Voodoo
Professional Widow
Hey Jupiter
From a personal email sent to me by Alvin Alcid (aalcid@tir.com)
From a posting to the RDT mailing list by Kim (silverk@world2u.com)
From a posting to the rec.music.tori-amos newsgroup by Nesh (neshx@aol.com)
2.) I'm On Fire -- (is this a B-side or a cover?)
3.) CaLS (she had this cool projecter type thing where she showed ocean
currents behind her)
Here she said hi, and talked about how she got new shoes. They were black
and white striped-- sort of like a Zebra. But she said that there was no
way that she could wear the same shoes here that she wore in NY, so today
was like their wedding.
4.) Cornflake Girl (and she proceeded to do the dance)
After this song, she panted, "Never do the Cornflake Girl Dance with new
shoes!" ;)
I am not sure of the order for the rest, but here were the songs that she
played:
1.) She did a cover of a CURE song, "I Will Always Love You"
2.) Little Earthquakes (which came out amazing!)
3.) Crucify
4.) Mother
7.) Cloud on My Tongue
8.) Space Dog (she professed that she loved "Mork"
9.) Talula (torado) which came out *awesome*.
10.) Some song that I didn't know-- one of the lyrics was about a Red
Kitten?
11.) Springtime of His Vodoo
12.) Professional Widow on the harmonium
13.) hey Jupiter on the harmonium, which is what she ended with.
From a posting to the rec.music.tori-amos newsgroup by Brian (Brian994@ix.netcom.com)
#1: I LOVE YOU!!!
Tori: Thursday Night
#3: WOOHOO!!!!
#4: SHUT UP!!!
Tori: I'm still...up and driving , etc.
From a posting to the RDT mailing list by Mike (jharris@cybercomm.net)
==============================
(or, a glowing review of Tori's appearance at the Garden State Arts
Center in Holmdel, NJ on August 26th)
Happy Phantom
Cornflake Girl
Space Dog
Caught a Lite Sneeze
Honey
Talula (Tornado Album)
Tori's Performance In Wantagh New York, August 25
From a personal email sent to me by Lauren Charles (lacharle@ix.netcom.com)
From a personal email sent to me by James (jstirl@ix.netcom.com)
From a posting to the RDT mailing list by Eric with a 'C' (EricThelen@t-online.de)
"Oh, hi, how are you?"
I gave her the picture of her and myself that had been taken in Munich to sign.
"What was your name again?"
"I am Eric - with a 'c'."
She gave me a very nice signature which already made me happy.
"Do you remember Germany? We were hoping that you would be coming back in
September."
"Oh I really thought we were going back. I am sorry."
"Maybe next time. Have you ever played 'Alamo' live on stage?"
"No. But I will. Let me see - are you going to be there again tomorrow."
"Unfortunately not - I have to go back to Germany tomorrow."
"Well. I will try to do it for you tonight."
"Thank you. Bye bye."
"It is only such a shame that our friendship had to end."
"I think we both could use a friend to run to."
Tori's Performance In Providence Rhode Island, August 24
From a personal email sent to me by Ang Russo (Torichick@worldnet.att.net)
**********
***********
Tori's Performance In Greensboro North Carolina, August 22
From a personal email sent to me by Justin Doub (justind@nr.infi.net)
(Her Birthday Show!)
From some postings to the torinews mailing list by Patrick Varker (ptv@scm-metals.com)
From a personal account written by Toriphile Jason Hinson (the guy Tori sang Live To Tell for) and sent to me by way of Richard Handal
by Jason Hinson
From a posting to the rec.music.tori-amos newsgroup by miasma226@aol.com
*BQ/Horses (not much to say here, good)
*London Girls (instead of breathing the word cock she made a funny little
sound and touched her hoo-ha. She is so cute!!)
*Bells For Her (I love it on the harpsichord much better than the upright)
*Father Lucifer (lots of ad-libbing which I appreciated)
*Cornflake Girl (As soon as she was up and dancing, Caton stopped the
guitar for the surprise Happy Birthday Thing. The look on her face when
he stopped playing, before she knew what was going on was perfect. Her
face read, "Damn, I look like a big fool right now! Where the hell is my
music?! Then the cake came out...)
*Butterfly (one of my favorites...very nice)
*Little Earthquakes (great with Caton)
*Frog on My Toe (preceeded by a sweet story about her Poppa and missing
him and keeping his spirit with her)
*Caught a Lite Sneeze (we've all heard this version, but I still like it a
lot)
*Precious Things (this got REALLY violent. I am so impressed with the
different ways she interprets this song everytime I see it. This time
around there was the subtext of "oh, please". Sarcasm turned to
bitterness and anger. Not quite the exorcism that song once was....this
time it was a "look back in anger" Very nicely done. A liitle scary, but
that's part of the ride.
*Winter
*Talula (which she stopped and started a record of 5 times. Once to pull
one her Happy Birthday Balloons down that was shaped like a little man,
she played him like a puppet, like he was singing the intro)
* Me and a Gun (on PT LIve she said, about this song, sometimes she gets
there and sometimes not. I would like to know what she thought about this
night. I thought at moments, she was there! She was on her stomach
again, it was very moving. Other points in the song, I didn't feel this,
she was merely reciting words. But the times and phrases where it looked
like she was connected....it was chilling)
ENCORE
*Live to Tell (yes, the Madonna Tune. I loved it. She came out and said,
I'm going to try something I've never done before.(tell me this didn't
excite me). I figure, I've fucked up so bad, what can it hurt?" The song
was stunning. Not a big departure from Madonna's original, but beautiful.
The most dramatic part (I'm sure it was not done for drama, but it still
worked me) was when Tori snatched the sheet music off the piano and threw
it down stage.
*Baker Baker
ENCORE 2
*Space Dog (one of my very favorites!! Just cause...)
*Etienne(on harmonium. Very nice.)
From a posting to the RDT mailing list by Alan & Melissa (alan23@msn.com)
Horses
London Girls
Bells for Her
Father Lucifer (with snippets of Tubular Bells and Smalltown Boy)
Butterfly
Cornflake Girl (interrupted by Caton and the crew for flowers, a big balloon,
a card, and a cake)
Happy Birthday (Caton, crew, and audience)
Cornflake Girl
Little Earthquakes
Frog on My Toe
Winter
Precious Things
Caught A Lite Sneeze
Talula (Tornado Mix)
Me And A Gun
---------------------
Live to Tell
Baker Baker
---------------------
Spacedog
Etienne
Truly unforgettable...
From a posting to the rec.music.tori-amos newsgroup by RevSmiley ( revsmiley@aol.com)
Beauty Queen/ Horses
London Girls
-missed this one-
Father Lucifer
happy b-day
Cornflake Girl
-missed this one too sorry-
Little Earthquakes
Frog on my Toe
Winter
Precious Things
Caught a Lite Sneeze
Talula
Me and a Gun
encore 1:
Live to Tell
Baker,Baker
encore 2: Space Dog
Etinne (sp?)
From a personal email sent to me by Callie Stuhler (cystuhler@juno.com)
From a personal email sent to me by Casperben (Casperben@aol.com)
Tori's Performance In Charlotte North Carolina, August 21
From a personal email sent to me by the one and only Richard Handal (handal@access.digex.net)
==================================================================
Tori hit the stage at 9:19, left at 11:02
Steve Caton on Guitar indicated by +
Beauty Queen/Horses
Silent All These Years
Blood Roses
Little Amsterdam +
Cornflake Girl +
Past the Mission +
Little Earthquakes +
Take to the Sky
Mother
Crucify
Caught a Lite Sneeze +
Talula + (with much backing tape tracks)
Me and a Gun
************
Let it Be (Beatles)
Mary
************
Pretty Good Year +
Angie
Hey Jupiter + (Tori plays Harmonium organ)
From a personal email sent to me by Andrea N. Ross (aross@charlotte.infi.net)
From a personal email sent to me by DEENAS@mail.clemson.edu
Silent All These Years
Blood Roses
Little Amsterdam
Cornflake Girl (with dance)
Past the Mission
Little Earthquakes
Take to the Sky
Mother
Crucify
Caught a lite Sneeze
Talula
Me and a Gun
Encore 1
Let it be
Mary
Encore 2
Pretty Good Year
Angie
Hey Jupiter
Tori's Performance In Norfolk Virginia, August 19
From a personal email sent to me by Lisa Street (lisast@bznet.com)
leather
caught a lite sneeze
(she says "i can't stop now, hold on")
pretty good year
(tori story1)
cornflake girl
(tori stori2)
honey
little earthquakes
Mary (tears were streaming down my face)
icicle
precious things
doughnut song
(lisa story1)
talula (tornado)
me and a gun
--
putting the damage on
famous blue raincoat
--
(lisa story2)
father lucifer
past the mission
(tori story3)
etienne
Tori Stories:
1. "how's it going, this is Caton. (points to mushrooms which are taped
to the top of her piano!)these are saying 'i'm not a salad', i've never
put mushrooms on my piano before."
2. "this is one of my favorites that shoulda been on under the pink, but
all of my favorites seemed to get the boot" (honey)
3. "some of you may know this, and some may not, but she's happy to show
up." (ettienne)
Lisa Stories:
1. alright, i know, no cameras or recording devices, but i got my camera
in anyways, no flash though. so anyways, i was trying to be careful
(very difficult when i could see steve watching the audience).so i got
busted. he came over and told me to come outside, he told me to give him
the film, so i rewound it and he put it in his pocket and gave me a
little lecture, i apologized and showed him i had no flash (of which i
did see some go off, poo on you if any of you flahers are readin this),
then he told me to go back to my seat. :(
2. right before the second encore she came out with caton and we held up
our gifts. Tori got the flowers (pink gladiolas) and i gave caton a
boxing dog (to go with the punching nun i gave tori, but i covered up
the package where it said "boxer" and changed it to "space", so it was
spacedog. caton reached down and gave me a hug, i gave him a kiss on the
cheak and his cigarette fell from behind his here (he'd already stood up
so i grabbed it, camel filter). after they'd sat down i saw caton look
at his present and he looked over at me and grinned :)
Tori's Performance In Richmond Virginia, August 17
From a personal email sent to me by Lisa Street (lisast@bznet.com)
take to the sky
(story1)
blood roses
little amsterdam
(story2)
cornflake girl
tear in your hand (she messed up near the end, but it was still great)
spacedog (with a bluesy intro.)
upside down
silent all these years
crucify (i cried)
caught a lite sneeze
talula (tornado)
me and a gun
--
(tells the audience how wonderful they are)
a case of you
baker baker
--
(story3)
in the springtime of his voodoo
cool on you island intro./hey jupiter
1.she pauses and says "Libby, did you get in ok?" she shouted back YES,
and tori says "did they let you bring your dogs in?" NO. tori replies
with something to the effect of "oh, well i sure have seen a lot of dogs
at shows before, but no offense to you guys."
2. she asks "so, what should we talk about?" and someone screams -
what's on your hand? tori says,"songs i need to remember." then someone
throws her a present, it was a little bag and she opened it and said
"mmm, oreos, and a nutter bar, wow, breakfast."
3. i couldn't hear to well over clapping here, but when she sat down she
said "so, who's the next player in the jeopardy game?" and then she made
a comment about a story in the Bible where a guy has to pretend that
he's married to his sister to get the girl he wants, then she went into
"voodoo".
HORSES
SKY
BLOOD ROSES
AMSTERDAM
CORNFLAKE
TEAR
SPACE DOG
UPSIDE DOWN
MOTHER
CRUCIFY
CNEEZE
TALULA
GUN
***
SUMMER OF '63
CLOUD
***
VOODOO
TORI'S CHOICE
JUPITER
From a posting to the rec.music.tori-amos newsgroup by Spork (sporkman@pop.erols.com)
well, what a great show!!! but hey, ain't that said about them all!!!
the opening act was pretty good, i'm still partial to willie porter
myself (what happened with him?? did anyone else pick up his album??
oh man it is so good!!!, but i digress....) let's see, i guess what
yall want it know is what did she play.....well, let's see....
1. Beauty Queen/Horses
2.Take to the Sky
(one of my personal favorites which she also performed at constution
hall in Washintington, DC back in april)
3.Blood Roses
(I believe it was before this song that someone tossed up a birthday
present for Tori, Oreos and a NutterButter and Tori was like
"Breakfast, she gave us breakfast!!!" she also asked if a girl,
Lidia i believe the name was, was there, there came back a reply of
yes and then tori asked if she had her dogs, Lidia said that the
guards wouldn't let the dogs into the show....it turns out that
before the show, Tori ran into this person walking her dogs outside
the Carpenter Center and gave her a pair of tickets!!!)
4.Little Amsterdam
5.Cornflake Girl
(This was great b/c before the song could start, the guy with the
guitar, i'll be damned if i can remember his name, had to tune it so
she was just like, "So, what do yall want to talk about" and when he
did get it tuned, she did this great little dance number all over
the stage, it was absolutely hillarious!!!)
6.Tear in Your Hand
(Another one of my personal favorites,...Man did she ever totally
screw this song up...but still turned out really great as she just
turned out lyrics about how she "really fucked this one up")
7.Spacedog
8.Upside Down
9.Silent all these Years
10.Crucify
11.CLS
12.Talulah
(The tornado mix i believe)
13.Me and a Gun
14.A Case of You
15.Baker, Baker
16.Springtime of his VooDoo
17.Cool on your Island
(i believe that is what this one was, at least that is what i was
told it was.)
and of course to end it all off.....
18.Hey Jupiter
When she first came it ou, it looked as though she had been crying,
she just plopped her self down on the bench and her eyes were all
puffy and stuff like that, but that all soon went away as she started
to really get into the show......oh it was great!!! And we also found
our way to Tori's bus after the show and got to meet her and talk with
her breifly, that was great as well!!!!.....all in all, i really
enjoyed it!!!!! can't wait for the next one.....
if any of this is wrong, please go ahead and correct me!!!!!!!
From a posting to the rec.music.tori-amos newsgroup by eRIK sWALLOW?!? (exs400z@barbados.cc.odu.edu)
Hi! Like MTB, I'm not gonna tell too much about how much Tori
rocks, but I'll try.... ;)
Yes, it was Josh Clayton-Felts opening. I thought he was cool, he
had a great sense of humour.
SET LIST (details following):
Beauty queen * Horses * Take to the sky * Blood roses * Little
Amsterdam * Cornflake girl * Tear in your hand * Space dog * Upside down
* Silent all these years * Crucify * Caught a lite sneeze * Talula (The
tornado mix) * Me and a gun
ENCORE 1: A case of you * Baker baker
ENCORE 2: In the springtime of his voodoo * Cool on your island
(intro into...) * Hey Jupiter
"Beauty queen" began with a little improv intro, I think. I didn't
recognise that part. "Take to the sky" was a great surprise, I did not
expect this song to come up! She played a lot from "Little earthquakes"
era, yay! She asked about the dog, and said that it sucked that they
didn't let the dogs in. Tori then said something like "they let the men
in" or something, it was funny.
"Little Amsterdam" with Caton was so great, this is fast becoming
my fave song of BfP! After this, she intro'd Caton and someone from the
audience yelled a request. She mused about the songs she was supposed to
remember. Thanks, MTB, for telling what it was she got in her present. I
heard the Oreos, but we didn't hear about the Nutter Butters. Yum!
I loved the little dance for "Cornflake girl", it was like she
was drawing down the spirits and bringing them to the piano. And that
damn yellow light in our eyes.... And there were jellybeans used in the
background! And I also noticed how much Caton gets into the songs, like
Tori does. He does little chair dances and stuff. I think I now
understand the sexuality people say they feel from Tori. Since I'm gay, I
don't feel that from Tori strongly, but from Caton.... !!!!!!!
Yeah, she sang in "Tear in your hand" that she fucked up and
apologised. I didn't notice where she messed up.
The newer intro to "Space dog" was cool, I couldn't hear the
words clearly, but I liked it. Tori then told us that sometimes she fucks
up. No kidding! :) She was so very talkative this show, like MTB said,
and the audience was generally respectful and happy.
A slight oops in "Silent all these years". She said something
during a brief pause like "I forgot what goes here". Hee hee....
"Crucify" got the crowd vocal, screaming at the lines they liked.
She incorporated `nothing I do is good enough for us' in the song. I
didn't notice it, but my friend Shoshana did. She laughed this to me, I
didn't understand her until later..... She's so fun that way! (Hi Shosh!).
In "Caught a lite sneeze", I noticed that the way Caton was
playing, it sounded like dolphins or something cetacean. Interesting.
Big, big hush came for "Me and a gun". I was very happy that no
one decided to scream and be obnoxious for this. Like a little
confessional of sorts.
When she came out to begin the first encore, she said how
wonderful we were. :) She's such a sweetie! When she came out for the
second one, everyone was more vocal and I couldn't hear what she was
saying well. I think she made a reference to the story of Jacob in the
Bible.... I don't really know.
"In the springtime of his voodoo" was very very very wicked! I
love that song tremendously! It's fighting "Little Amsterdam" for my
attention usually.
Was that a harmonium, the instrument she used when she sang "Hey
Jupiter" on Jay Leno? The "Cool on your island" intro to "Hey Jupiter"
was great, I was floored because it was so beautiful an intro! It kinda
grabs you and makes you hear it better. Yay!
Oh oh oh! And I also saw her at soundcheck and got my second
autograph! She was very friendly and I think she said "Hey buddy" when I
got to the front of the line. I believe she said something like this to
everyone, I don't know. It was such a great show and I get to see her
again tomorrow night!!!
:) eRIK, okay I'll stop now. wheeeeeee!!!!!
Tori's Performance In Vienna Virginia, August 16
From a personal email sent to me by Michael A. Solomon (Michael.Solomon@chronicle.page1.com)
From a personal email sent to me by Lisa Street (lisast@bznet.com)
I'm on fire
(story1)
Blood Roses
Little Amsterdam
(Caton playes a bit of 'happy birthday')
Cornflake Girl
Pretty Good Year
Little Earthquakes
(story2)
Frog on my Toe
China
Precious Things
Caught A Lite Sneeze
Talula (tornado)
Me and a Gun
--
Let it Be
Marriane
--
Father Lucifer
God intro./Purple Rain
1. she said hi to all those sitting on the lawn and said that she used
to always sit on the lawn, but the boys would never take her to the lawn
so a couple that felt sorry for her (and were there that night) would
take her. then she said that she didn't feel bad because "hey, i'm
sitting here (pointing to stage) now."
2. she says "hey girls" and proceeds to talk about how guys think that
girls will like anything after they've had a couple of drinks (mentions
her love of margaritas, but she eats regular food too, though she's not
a health freak, however, does respect her friends who are vegetarian,
still likes that "1800 with extra salt". she ended by saying that
instead of finding boys, she found a 9-footer (piano reference). Then,
she said to bear with her that "this next song is a bit strange"..., and
went into frog on my toe.
HORSES
I'M ON FIRE
BLOOD ROSES
AMSTERDAM
CORNFLAKE
SPACEDOG
EARTHQUAKES
FROG
CHINA
PRECIOUS
SNEEZE
TALULA
GUN
-
MARRIANE
BLACK SWAN
-
LUCIFER
DUTCHMAN
PURPLE RAIN
From a personal email sent to me by Brett Cunningham (Take2thsky@aol.com)
Various parts of the Talula Tornado Mix backing track
All of Killing Me Softly (!!!!)
All of In The Springtime Of His Voodoo
Parts of Cornflake Girl, Space Dog (half) and Caught a
Lite Sneeze
(half), and then more of Talula
-----Beauty Queen/Horses
I love hearing this live
-----I'm On Fire
Tori says " I love you too, where are the people on the lawn? I
used to sit out there, and I just want you to know, that's where I sat, these
friends that used to take me here, are here tonight, this couple that felt
sorry for me, because all the boys said they'd take me, totally wimped out.
But now I don't need those boys to take me because I'm fucking sitting here!
" This was hilarious. Then she jumped into .....
-----Blood Roses
-----Little Amsterdam
-----Cornflake Girl
Tori did a really long dance, that went to the edge of the stage
and all around, very funny, and totally cute. I could not keep myself
sitting still during this intro and song, that guitar (alarm sound) makes me
do funny things....I love it! She really rocked during this, most of the
time she wasn't sitting down, she was jumping up and down, playing the piano
keys, whenever she would land. Fun song!!!
------Pretty Good Year
A total surprise. I sat there entranced and amazed, while my
friend Christy sat weeping. This was her first Tori concert ever, I think
this may have been too much for her to handle. I do have to say though, when
she holds that " What's it gonna take 'till my baby's all riiiiiiiiiiiight "
for so long, it just grabs you, very emotional.
------Little Earthquakes
Another real surprise. My dream has always to hear this song
live during a thunderstorm with thunder and lightning adding to the effects.
Too bad it had stopped storming already. This song blew me away too, I love
it.
Tori says " Okay....hah....let me just tell you this first
babe...I like margaritas, until I know you, I could like them a bit better.
This is the thing girls, you know this one, how when guys say once we have a
few margaritas, we will like anything, has your boyfriend ever said that to
you when you're looking at his brother? Well, you know, hey, you're related!
Well, this is the thing, I didn't find anyone's brother when I was crawling
around one night, with the 1800....on the rocks, extra salty.....and I don't
do this all the time, I don't want it to sound like..you know. I wake up and
have my Oreos, and then I have a burger, and all sorts of healthy stuff, and
then I have a margarita! I'm not a health food nut on any level, I totally
respect my vegetarian friends, and this is it......I found this 9 foot babe,
she's right here. I don't know about this song, it's a bit weird, so..take
it in context. " And then she played:
------Frog On My Toe
Another surprise, especially because I had told my friend that
she probably wouldn't play this song. This is one of my favorite B-sides
ever, and my favorite off BFP definately.
------China
Another surprise, as I had also told my friend that she wouldn't
play this either, I guess I feel a bit dumb now, but I love this song too. I
like it live better because Tori really stresses some of the lyrics more than
in the original.
-------Precious Things
This song has evolved so much since I first saw it live in
April. The 'clean my daddy' lyrics at the end are very effective. And the
GRRRRL weighed in at: 38 seconds long ( the one-mississippi, two mississippi
kind )
-------Caught A Lite Sneeze
I actually wish she had played something different, I have
seen this a few times, and I kind of got tired of it. But it was still good.
-------Talula Tornado Mix
This is my all-time favorite live song. I could not sit still
in my seat, I wanted to get up and dance. And the lights!!! WOW!!! I love
the orange and green lighting combo. If you have not seen this all the way
live.....you've missed one of the finer things in life. She even sang the
tornado intro. A definite highlight of this show. At the end part of the
song, Caton was truly going psycho on his guitar, pounding it. I loved this
song.
------Me And A Gun
As soon as I heard Talula, I knew this was next, and prepared
myself, for the jump in emotion.
Encore 1:
-------Let It Be
Blue light and beautiful, I enjoyed this song a lot, but would
have rather seen some other cover or B-side.
--------Marianne
Yet another surprise, but certainly not the last surprise of the
night. This song is great live, despite the lack of a band to perform the
strings.
Encore 2:
--------Father Lucifer
Surprise again, this song is awesome live, she sings all the
layers of this song individually. The best part was the
run-away-turn-away-run-run-run-away lyric. The Harpsichord got ushered out
during this song. And then we got shocked, not surprised, because Tori
started playing a song I said that she wouldn't play again...and...here it
is...
------GOD
She did not play this on the Organ, rather she drummed it, as
Caton provided the guitar. This was awesome! She has not played this all
tour, but it sounded awesome, with her hands and a guitar as intruments!
The biggest surprise of the night!
-------Purple Rain
I've heard this on the piano, and it was okay. But this was
played on the Organ, while we were bathed in purple light. I loved it. A
wonderful close to an awesome show. !!!!
A posting to the RDT mailing list by Jake (ALalas@aol.com)
someone please correct me.
This was me and my girlfriend resurrecting the show the morning after.
I am especially unsure of songs 5-10
but here goes
1. Beauty Queen/ Horses
She always seems to start with this. It's a nice opening
2. I'm on Fire
GREAT. It's one of my Favorite covers. Bruce seems to be a great guy to
cover. U2 do a great cover of My Hometown.
Tori's version of i'm on fire was Very different than the one on UTC II, and
even different from the version on Vh-1. definitely louder! She added some
verse about billy. I don't know if it was the same billy character, then
added a snippet sorta from talula "it must be worth something"
3. Blood Roses
4. Little Amsterdam
Caton was great... but this is not one of my favorites off BFP. It was
better in concert than on the CD. Again she added in a whole verse.
something about playing an organ. Maybe it was semi-autobiographical about
people asking her to play the piano to show off when she was a kid. The
music was loud at wolftrap, especially the trebele (is that how you spell
it?) so it was hard to get all the lyrics.
5. China
It's not a favorite but i had just told my girlfriend i wanted to hear it
live... and she played it.
6. Cornflake Girl
She did the cutest little dance around the stage as Caton played the
beginning of the song then she began to play. She looked like a muppet and
she was wearing this white shirt with the Annie written in read and with
brown sleeves. I wonder if it's annie that her grandma liked or annie the
orphan. : )
7. Frog On My Toe
She started talking about health food. "i'm not a health food nut in any
way" she said. But she also said she respects her friends who are vegetarian
for political reasons etc... And she said this was a silly song, a new one
and kinda giggled before it. The song was great. Maybe her best b-side off
BfP
8. Precious Things
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrl
9. Caught a lite Sneeze
I forget if she does this all the time but she started this song without the
backup and then it came in...
10. Little Earthquakes
An Amazing surprise!
At first i didn't even remember what song it was... then i finally realized.
It was another of the ones i had really wanted to hear.
It was not as long as i thought it would be but great.
11. Talula
"she's Chasing tornadoes..." the movie version. I had heard before and the
light show was kinda cool but not as good as last time i heard it in DC.
12. Me And A Gun
I am not sure but i think she was crying towards the end.
A few people were yelling at the beginning but they stopped.
The girl next to me who had earlier been bitching and moaning at how long it
took tori to come on after the opening act (josh colter something was his
name. He was kinda good, and kinda funny but i wouldn't but his cd. Dave
matthews meets oasis is what my girlfriend said and after listening to him i
kinda agree) said to her boyfriend/husband do you know what that song was
about. It's about rape she said and proceeded to list some of the lyrics
that suggested as much. "man on your back", "pushed flat on your stomach"
etc...
She proceeded to tell him it was not about her but that she had just written
it from the perspective of a rape victim. Obviously these were not real
fans... If you don't know that much about tori then you really don't know
much at all. You miss out on her songs i think if you don't understand that
they are about her. how could a person write about rape if it never happened
to them. I think it would be very difficult.
Standing ovation came next... : )
Encore
13. Let It Be
She came back out and started this song. I was wondering which one of her
songs it was till she got a few lines it.
This was a special treat. I Really am a Cover fanatic, and i like the
beatles too.
14. Father Lucifer
Encore 2
15. Marianne
This is one of my favorites off of BfP. She didn't play this at the last
concert i went to so i was especially hapy to hear it.
16. God (2 choruses or so)/Purple Rain (on harmonium)
She sang god while banging out the beat on the harmonium. The harmonium is a
really neat instrument i think and it gives a really great and different
sound. I didn't know she was still playing this one... but it was great to
hear.
I laughed
I cried
etc...
A posting to the rec.music.tori-amos newsgroup by Shannon (blueathena@aol.com)
Hi, kids. An excellent show as expected.
8/16 Setlist
BQ/Horses with a really loud and low intro...
I'm on Fire
Blood Roses....
(Before she started BR, she turned to us and said, "Hi, guys. [Someone
screams "I LOVE YOU!"] I love you, too, honeys. This is really special
for me, you know, I used to come here. Where are the people on the lawn
[shielding eyes with hand, followed by the woos from lawn people]? I used
to sit out there on the lawn, so tonight I'm playing for your asses. You
know, ummm...the couple that brought me here is here tonight...the boys
all said the would take me...[jumbled words] so they took me because they
felt sorry for me...I don't need those boys to take me anymore 'cause I'm
fucking sitting up here!")
Little Amsterdam
Cornflake Girl (complete with the dance. If you haven't noticed, it's
very interperative of what the song represents....The part when she sings
"Rabbit, where'd you put the keys, girl?", she kept repeating, "I know
those nasty, nasty, nasty boys....")
Pretty Good Year (I think it was before this song when she was talking
again. Someone yelled, "I love you, Tori!" and she said, "I love you,
too...but....now don't get offended by this, boys...but I love my
NutRagous (or Oreos...I'm not quite sure what she said here) and I may
just love them a little more. I am no health freak, girls. I have full
respect for all my friends who are vegetarians and whatever that's called.
[pause] You know how boys look at you after you've had a couple of
margaritas? When they give you that look: "This girl will do anything!"?
Girls, I don't want you to think I'm like this all the time...Or the look
you get when you're looking at his brother? Well, girls, I didn't find
anybody's brother. I found
my Oreos. I found this nine foot....nine foot babe...." The whole
conversation went very fast)
LITTLE EARTHQUAKES! (EEeeeeee! Can you believe it?!!)
FROG ON MY TOE! (Double EEEEEE!)
China (the couple in front of me got _quite_ emotional during this)
Precious Things (she held "girl" for 30.59 seconds. I timed. She also
got really emotional and her voice became scratchy and rasping when she
sang "let them bleed" after the NIN bridge.)
CALS
Talula (Tornado mix and all! Caton was JAMMING up a storm during this.
He and Tori really took the beat)
M&G
Encore 1
LET IT BE!!
Marianne
Encore 2
Father Lucifer (when she was playing the intro, she bounced around with
the littler notes)
God (she had the organ out and began pouding rigourously on it. She only
sang the chorus, but she repeated it a few times)
Purple Rain (on the organ. It was soooooooo beautiful)
From a posting to the RDT mailing list by Piglet (kcoffi1@tiger.towson.edu)
From a posting to the RDT mailing list by Brian Gluckman (kaustin@eng.umd.edu)
Diamondback staff writer
Tori's Performance In Raleigh North Carolina, August 15
From a review by Kelly Woo that appeared on the NandoNext web site on August 20 1996.
NandoNext Staff
From a posting to the rec.music.tori-amos newsgroup by Icarus (icarus@nando.net)
Tori's Performance In Jacksonville Florida, August 11
From a personal email and newsgroup posting by Adam (xenomorph@sprynet.com)
Horses
Icicle
Love Song (my request again, per a story I told her earlier!)
Butterfly
Cornflake Girl
Caught A Light Sneeze
Little Earthquakes (two nights in a row!)
Here In My Head
Flying Dutchman
Crucify
Tear In Your Hand (Lighting goes out and the problems begin)
Leaves for moment, probably to do with the lighting, and comes back saying
she needed that margarita.
Talula
Me & A Gun
-encore-
Screws up She's Leaving home (I mentioned this along with Love Song)
"Don't worry I'm not going to trash the song. I'm thinking about condiments
so I have to do something else right now."
A Case Of You
Leaves and says she's getting drunk on margaritas and how happy she is that
she discovered them.
London Girls
She's Leaving Home
Walks off very briefly, comes back and sits to face the audience. To respond
to shouts of songs, "No. . .no, I've song Precious fucking Things everynight
. I'm not doing it."
Past The Mission
From a personal email sent to me by Peter Cross (Peter_Cross_3@wow.com)
Icicle
Love Song
Butterfly
Cornflake Girl
Caught a Lite Sneeze
Little Earthquakes
Here in my Head
Flying Dutchman
Crucify
Tear in Your Hand
Talulah
Me and a Gun
Encore 1
Famous Blue Raincoat (I believe this is the one she messed up and stopped 10
seconds into it- redid it during 2nd encore)
A Case of You
Encore 2
London Girls
Famous Blue Raincoat (whole version)
Past the Mission
From a posting to the Torinews mailing list by RocAraceli@aol.com
From a posting to the RDT mailing list by Magnolia Adair (BCKJAM@aol.com)
Tori's Performance In Pensacola Florida, August 10
From a personal email sent to me by Danica Knox (talula02@sprynet.com)
From a personal email and newsgroup posting by Adam (xenomorph@sprynet.com)
Horses
Silent All These Years
"If I can play this fucking thing, (slaps the harpsicord) I should be able
to catch a frisbee." (Talking about how she tried playing frisbee at the
beach (at the same exact beach location I was at and didn't know she was
there. I remember glancing at a game of frisbee too!))
Blood Roses
Little Amsterdam (long, 9+ minutes)
Cornflake Girl (with a two minute intro dance)
Doughnut Song (extended)
Little Earthquakes (extended)
Frog On My Toe
Muhammad
Precious Things (long)
Caught A Light Sneeze
Talula
Me & A Gun
-Encore 1-
Cloud On My Tongue
Mother
-Encore 2-
Father Lucifer
Etienne (my request earlier in the day)
Hey Jupiter
From a posting to the RDT mailing list by Magnolia Adair (BCKJAM@aol.com)
Tori's Performance In Atlanta Georgia, August 8
From an email sent to me by Laura (crookl@diana.hollins.edu)
From an email sent to me by Sarah Harlan (Eloptac@cris.com)
From a posting to the RDT mailing list by John Robinson (widgett@mindspring.com)
Tori said and when, and so forth. Here's my take on the
whole shebang. i cut short my vacation and drove back
from Hilton Head, SC, which is about 350+ miles. Brother
Sol was kicking it, and i was listening to a healthy dose of
Poe, Phish, Beastie Boys, Rage Against the Machine,
Orange 9mm, and Dead Can Dance. i got back in plenty
of time, refigured out where Chastain Park actually is,
knew there would be no chance in Tartarus for me to
see Tori before the show, given that it was already six.
i got to the park around 7, and had an overpriced gutbomb
(read: hot dog) because i had not eaten. Going back to
Chastain was a very strange experience, because over a
year ago i took the woman with whom i was madly in love
with, and with whom i had the only really good relationship
i've ever had, to a Seal concert, and it was wonderful.
My mind was showing me "Look, there's where we parked,"
and "Look, there's where we sat," and other such nonesense.
i found my seat and read 100 pages of Faulkner, as research
for my next novel. Willie Porter came out, and he was not
with Tori last time she was here (April?), so that was a new
experience. The Jesus on the Grill song and the Jackson 5
cover were particularly amusing. After Willie left, i went to
visit the fine Chastain facilities. It was kind of like the traffic
one might experience if one were a white blood cell and
your hostbody had just consumed entire shakerful of salt.
i was letting a large stream of blood cells pass through
when a woman behind me said, "Cut! Cut in!" in a playful
but not annoying way. The woman who happened to be
passing me at that moment in the other direction said, "He's
just being polite." After a few more people, i took the
initiative and did cut, pointing to the woman behind me and
saying "She made me do it." She replied, "Well, there's
something to be said for a man with manners." Then it
hit me, so akin to a block of wood as i am, that this woman
was more than likely flirting with me, which should not have
been a problem, seeing as how she had a great smile, and
was quite attractive, so what do i do? What would you do?
i fled. Moved quickly through the crowd, and got back to
my seat in one piece. What a lovely coward i am, i thought.
A nice woman wants to talk to you, and what do you do?
Really, it's the only sensible thing, seeing as how there's
nowhere something like that can go except straight down.
So, oh well. i went back to my seat with the talkative
assholes behind me, the German couple next to me who
were speaking nonstop, to my other side the guy with
the black toenails who was having his first Livetoriexperience
and it showed, and the couple in front of me who were
trying to eat each other alive. Unfortunately, none of my
neighbors quit what they were doing when Tori was on
stage much less when Willie was on. This was the rudest
audience i have ever had the sorry privilege to sit in.
People were screaming "Tori, i love you!" during MAAG,
while i'm sitting there like i always do during that song,
with tears streaming down my face. People were yelling
out requests throughout the show it seemed, the ones
that were paying attention to her. i felt so incredibly
bad for her, when she said: "And i must get out of this"
she laughed, almost as if she were saying "i must get out
of here and away from you silly bastards." So i'm sitting
there fuming and thinking john you silly bastard, you'll
never get to be a Buddha if you get mad at younger souls
for being immature creatures in the cosmos. And on the
other hand, i said screw that, i still want to run through this
audience and beat everyone over the head with a crowbar.
When she finished, i didn't clap for her to come back out,
i didn't want her to do an encore, though she did two.
i wanted her to get on her bus and go someplace where
they appreciate people like her, and get away from me and
my audience of desperate rude shitheads. i was grateful
for my third concert seeing Tori when so many haven't had
a chance to, but still i left the show feeling very empty and
depressed, and i haven't really recovered. It wasn't just the
woman in the line, it wasn't just the audience, it was a
combination, a convergence of the twain, and it knocked
me particularly askance.
From a posting to the RDT mailing list by Elizabeth Mcdavid Elkins (eelkins@emory.edu)
From a posting to the RDT mailing list by rachel (RMATTHEWS1@rachel.chatham.edu)
Tori's Performance In Jackson MS, August 7
From A personal email kindly sent to me by Sam Stevens (ssteve2@tiger.lsu.edu)
Horses
Crucify
Blood Roses
Little Amsterdam
Cornflake Girl
Butterfly
Space Dog
Leather
[Cloud On My Tongue was here on the set list but NOT PLAYED! :( ]
Precious Things
Caught A Lite Sneeze
Talula
Me And A Gun
Encore 1
Mother
Here. in my Head
Encore 2
Pretty Good Year
Hey Jupiter
From a posting to the RDT mailing list by Lucy Molinaro (molinll@okra.millsaps.edu)
Tori's Performance In Birmingham Alabama, August 5
From a personal email sent to me by Laura (crookl@diana.hollins.edu)
Horses
Take to the Sky ( truly fabulous! )
Blood Roses ( nothing can give me chill bumps like this one )
Little Amsterdam
Cornflake Girl ( she did a great dance before she played )
Honey
Space Dog ( a total surprise, but welcomed by this girl )
Silent all these Years
Love Song
Precious Things
Oh, Susannah ( probably was the only time to hear this one! )
Caught a Lite Sneeze
Me and a Gun
*First encore-
Let It Be
Marianne
*Second encore-
Pretty Good Year
Purple Rain ( perfect ending )
From a posting to the RDt mailing list by Doug Bailey(dsbailey@ingr.com)
Take To The Sky (on harpsicord)
Blood Roses
I Come from Alabama (with a banjo on my knee)
SATY
Space Dog
Marianne
Cornflake Girl
Precious Things
Lovesong (The Cure)
Caught A Lite Sneeze
Little Amsterdam
Me and a Gun
Pretty Good Year
Let It Be (The Beatles)
Honey
Purple Rain (Prince)
Tori's Performance In Chattanooga Tennessee, August 4
From a personal email sent to me by Rhoda Wessels(rwessels@mpa.candler.nc.us)
From a personal email sent to me by Anonymous
Tori's Performance In Dayton Ohio, August 3
From Myself, Mikewhy!
From a posting to the rec.music.tori-amos newsgroup by Jason Kesler (KeithK40@ix.netcom.com)
Tori's Performance In Columbus Ohio, August 1
From Myself, Mikewhy!
Email me (Michael Whitehead) at: mikewhy@iglou.com
