Tori Fans Dew Drop Inn - February/March 1996

Last Updated: April 25, 2000

Below, you see stuff that fans have written about the concerts they have seen during Late February and March 1996. The entries go from the most recent to the oldest.

I'm just back from an exciting Tori-night. Before I tell you some more, I made a promise to dedicate this to Kim. She knows why. Hi there, Kim.

Isn't Tori just beautiful? I can tell she quit the Torch Crimson dye, she is somewhat blondier. I like her better now. But anyway. This woman really drives me crazy and I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels like that in her presence, uhu?

Well, the Theatre was full. You couldn't put a person more. Sold out.Solid filled. And I was in 6th row. 8) geeeee. As I put my bottom on the seat, the show began. Tori entered clutching her Evian, in the dark of a starry night and started immediately with Beauty Queen and Horses, as expected. Now, I brought with me paper&pencil to write a list, but as soon as I saw her, I just couldn't look away from her. As two years ago, she just cast her spell, and I told myself the hell with the song list 8) The bosendorfer sound was great. Full and round and so perfect. And then i noticed some guitars by the Bosendorfer, and I told myself "Hi mr.Caton, are you somewhere behind those curtains?" Of course he was. I think Steve made a great addition to the show. She introduced him by mentioning him as playing in all her records and being part of the YKTR band. "But let's not talk about YKTR please" she said. 8|

Steve made a GREAT acoustic guitar solo in the most beautiful version of Springtime of His Voodoo I could imagine. Tori made some slight variations to the piano part and to the vocal part, and they were beautiful, then rose her right arm, thumb up to Caton and Steve launched himself into this wild jazzy solo... it made some sort of effect, Tori accompaining Caton 8) But he deserved his 60 secs of glory 8). And then he contributed to a stunning version of Cornflake Girl. Two years ago, you will all remember, Tori performed Cornflake Girl and God with the aid of a drum machine. I liked the effect then, but this rendition of Cornflake Girl was flawless and far better than the Drum Machine version. I wish I could have taped it, along with Springtime.

Not the Red Baron... how beautiful this song is? I like the smooth carpet of chords in the beginning, and the dutch ramblings in the intro, and the black and white WWI clips in the background and the beautiful vocal part...I was fighting back tears and shivering and electrical surges she was sending me directly to my spine...

She stopped a while to thank "us guys" for our food. She informed us how keen she is on food, and she said we're absolutely the best with food, that's why she loves to come to Italy. 8) I know Tori, you should come and taste my pasta. All my gfriends went nuts for my pasta, I bet you would too ;)

She made a strange version of Caught a Lite Sneeze. CaLS is a fave in BfP, but this rendition was somehow strange. A bit like "sampled", like the lyrics in God in the "idon'trememberwhat" Resort Mix.... Anyway she managed to make a couple of nice effects in there, which I won't tell you because anyway this would be a great spoiler. If you want to know them, mail me and I will tell you 8) But I advise you to discover them by yourself.

It seems to me she found a definite use for her right leg which is not on the right pedal like any "normal" pianist's would. She uses it to play the bass drum 8) She stomps her feet on the floor, and gives a very nice rythmical effect. I liked it.

Some girl shouted "Tori, bring me some sugar". She widened her eyes, said "oh!" in a very sweet and surprised voice, and started Sugar immediately. Caton was there ready to begin playing Tear In Your Hand, but Tori had suddenly decided to satisfy the request, so he had no chance but waiting idle in the middle of the scene 8)

The "girl" moan in "Precious Things" becomes at every show deeper and sexier like ever. This time she hold it for a good 30 seconds, very low, more like a growl out of rage, and like being very horny and excited, and while roaring and moaning I can't tell exactly, she started caressing herself, first long her thights then she acted like touching herself but didn't quite do it, then up her belly, and her breasts and then the piano (isn't it part of her body too?! 8)). Of course we were all nuts at that point, drunk with music and pain and lights and breaths and red hair dancing in the light like in an orange cloud... For some songs I knew them _so_ well I could see the score passing under my eyes while she was playing it. I was just staring at her like i was having an hallucination.. ok let's call it a Tori Trip. 8)

One final remark: most of the songs were out of LE and BfP, with the exception of Cornflake Girl, Past the Mission, and a beautiful rendition of Over the Rainbow. Oh, how beautifully she sang that 8)

Ok guys. I think I will go and take a rest if I can. I may practise some more with my pasta cooking skills, so I can try to tempt Tori next gig with a hot italian dish. 8) she won't reject me 8)

Hello there. This is the first time I post here. I've just been to Tori's concert in Florence (3/28) and in Milan (3/29) (BTW: do you think it is insane to go to two concerts from the same person (as my friends told me)?)

Both concerts were spectacular. The first one lasted about two hours, the other one a little less. Most of the songs came from BfP (of course). She also covered two songs: Smells like teen spirit (only on Florence) and Somewhere over the rainbow from the Wizard of Oz movie (I think). For those of you who haven't seen her yet in this tour (US toriphiles), pay attention to Precious things and Caught a lite sneeze, 'cuz they're something unforgettable. A guitar player (who was in YKTR - can't remember his name) did some background stuff in most of the songs.

When she talked to the audience (not for long, really) she just said something about it was good to be in Italy after being in Germany, and something 'bout Italian food, which she said is the best, apart from some stuff (can't remember what) her mother cooks.

A program of the tour was sold at the concerts, and it included some pix (some of'em new) a short story by Neil Gaiman ("December 7,1995") and an introduction called "Nepotism fugue in E minor", which looks like a song (but it's not) and it's signed -R. I guess this is the guy that is credited for the design of the book (Rantz A. Hoseley at http://www.primenet.com/~rantz). Let me know if you are interested, I colud type'em out and post'em.

About that Willy Porter guy, He played only in Florence, and I think he's great. He looks kinda like the guitarist from Pink Floyd (David Gilmour?) and sounds a lot like Jeff Buckley(sp?). He did some amazing stuff with his guitar.

Now the worst part. After the concert in Florence, I waited for about an hour outside the gate (and it was cold, dammit!). After a while one of the security dudes said that she didn't feel very well and wasn't going to sign any autographs (and also said it never happens). We stayed there just the same (there were abut 20 people (ONLY!)), but she didn't show up. Finally, we saw the bus going away :( The day after, in Milan, I tried again. Again an hour outside (there were more people this time, though), and I got to see her for about 20 seconds while she got out of the theatre and rushed into the bus. Once she was in, she just looked outside for a while...Then she left again. (And nobody got nothing signed. :((

My advice is: if you want an autograph, you better give up.

Remarkable thing: in Milan, she was getting ready to start a song together with the guitarist, when somebody shouted "you bring me sugar". Tori just said "Oh!", and started playing the whole song.

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NOTE FROM MIKEWHY: I am not positive about this, but I think Professional Widow was NOT played at this concert!

Hi Toriphiles!

Yesterday night I was at the "Dew Drop Inn" in Munich and I thought it would be a good idea to let you know about the songs performed and my impressions. This was the first time I saw Tori on stage.

Willy Porter started the program at 9.15 p.m. and really did a good job. He played five songs, gave a little talk and made the audience laugh a few times especially with his version of an old Jackson Five song. After his performance we really had to wait very long for Tori. She finally started at 10.20 p.m. and played until 12 p.m. She played:

1. Beauty Queen
2. Horses
3. Professional Widow (VERY different from the album version, very much
better!)
4. Crucify
5. Caught a Lite Sneeze (partly played on harpsichord; amazing)
6. Little Amsterdam
(very little chat with the audience, comment see below)
7. Cornflake Girl
8. Doughnut Song
9. Happy Phantom
10. Precious Things
11. Not the Red Baron
12. Bells for Her
13. Putting the Damage on
14. Me and a Gun

Encore 1:
15. Twinkle
16. Here in my Head

Encore2:
17. In the Springtime of his Voodoo
18. (?) Still be on my Feet (can anyone please identify this song?)
19. Hey Jupiter (played on an organ; HIGHLIGHT OF THE CONCERT)

The whole time, Tori seemed to be very shy and reticent. (She wore blue leggins and a sleeveless violet dress.) When she entered the stage she walked over to the piano, waved to the audience and immediately started to play without saying anything. Lights completely went off after every song so you could only see her when she was playing. After the show she left the stage very quickly after waving a short kiss to the audience.

The audience in Munich was very passive, almost apathic. Tori felt this after a few songs and asked us with a few lines of a German good night song for children if we were sleeping. But not even then the audience woke up. So Tori sat down and went on playing. She gave a great performance at the piano, very enthusiastic most of the time, but it seemed to me, as if she was playing more for herself than playing for us (except MaaG!). There was a kind of emotional distance between her and us, which was even enforced by the distance between the piano and the first row. (I was in the sixth row and had a bad angle too.) Anyway, it was a great event and I hope she will return to Germany soon. I hope to see her in a very much smaller concert hall with a more enthusiastic audience. (BTW the concert was not sold out)

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Hello all,

I just thought I would write to let you all know about the concert yesterday (Sunday) in the Alte Oper in Frankfurt....

Before the concert, I was hanging out with my friends by the backstage, watching all of the equipment being loaded into the concert hall. Well, I met some Americans who said that Tori should be coming sometime around 4:00. So I hung out, wanting to get the opportunity to meet our goddess once more. Sure enough, she showed up in the mini-van, surrounded by fans and people she works with. She waited and signed all of our stuff, talking only minimal.

Luckily I had a friend with me who went to the same High School as Tori. So they struck up a conversation -- reflecting on the olden days and such. Then Tori was off....

She played a great show....

The concert was very powerful. Highlights were, "Yes, Anastasia," "Blood Roses," "Caught a Lite Sneeze," "Talula," and "Putting the Damage On."

Anastasia: Towards the middle of the song, Tori altered the lyrics to the song, adding a name (which happens to be the friend of mine who went to Tori's High School--chance? I think maybe more than that).

Upside Down: She just got ahead of herself and had to stop. She missed the lyrics and apologized: "Sorry, I got excited."

Damage: Just flawless. It was so perfect, as if she was taping it. The notes were brilliant, and everything flowed.

**** But the Tori that I watched at this concert was so different then the Tori I have meet back in 1992 and 1994. She seemed so depressed (granted due to the things happening in her life right now). But, this wasn't the same thing. I felt as if she didn't want me sitting there listening to her. It is a feeling that I can't really explain right now, somewhere between sadness and anger. And she never talked between songs (like she is accustomed to doing), she hardly even looked at the audience, all of her attention was focused on the piano or elsewhere. I remember Tori telling me how much she fed off of the audience and how much the would give to her as she played, but this was different. More pulled in and withdrawn.

But don't get me wrong. It was a great show, and meant a lot to me (just being able to see her and have her music fill the room). Thanks Tori!!!

I hope that everyones show is amazing.

yesterday I saw Tori in concert for the first time (Frankfurt, Germany), and I want to share a few impressions.

I was amazed that actually this was a solo concert although she was accompanied by one single instrumentalist (a guitarist) now and then. Especially some of her earlier material is quite heavily arrranged on record, so this came as a surprise. Has she always been a solo performer when doing concerts?

Second thing that astonished me was the sheer physical power she laid into her performance. I don't know how it is in the States, but in Germany for some reason I never quite understood she's always described as a cute little thing, an elf or fairy. In total contrast to that her way of playing the piano reminded me much more of that of a rock lady, if anything (not to mention the power of her voice, of course...). (hehe, and they played the whole Led Zeppelin III before the performance, which happens to be one of my all time favourites)

I was most puzzled, though, by her relation to her audience. Except for maybe Bob Dylan, I've never seen any performer that addressed his/her audience as little as she did. While she is pure emotion in her songs and also flirted with her audience while playing, she hardly said more than three sentences to her fans during the whole performance, and these in a very cool/ironic/ unsecure/distanced way. She never let the applause flow but immidiately began playing the next song. Her way of saying thank you was to stretch her arms towards the auditorium again creating distance this way. Actually, she reminded me of a little kid compulsary standing in the spotlight. That seems really strange to me considering how open she is in her songs and even interviews.

Hi, there ....

IT HAS HAPPENED !!

I HAVE SEEN HER LIVE ON STAGE !!!!

YES ! YES ! YES ! YES !

I'm sorry, but it was soooooooo great, great, great, great ... arrgh ....

Now, I will calmly report what I experienced on Sunday (March 24th, 1996). Nothing much. Just a concert. Just a strange woman with two pianos on one stage in the old Opera in Frankfurt in the heart of Germany. But then she started playing. And singing. And then I remembered her name.

Kate Bush!

NO!! (I'm sorry.)

OF COURSE, it was TORI AMOS !!

She performed for some of her German fans who where lucky enough to get some tickets. And I was there too, as I said before.

Well, after this Willy Porter (?) opening act (nice tunes, but no pianos) and a long pause the houselights went out again and Tori started playing Beauty Queen. Next came Horses, then Yes, Anastasia and so on ........ To make this stupid posting (is that the right word?) short, I really liked my first Tori concert and I hope, no, I'm sure, that I will see another one or two or as many as possible. (Too bad, that she visits Germany only every two years.)

And these were the songs she performed: (the sorting is a bit messed up, but you won´t notice that) (and "nice" means something like "great, stuning, excellent, very torish performance")

Beauty Queen / Horses (sounded just like the BfP version, which means it was nice)

Yes, Anastasia (shorter than the UtP version, but very nice anyway)

Blood Roses (Tori played the harpsichord very nicely for this one)

Little Amsterdam (she sang some new lyrics I've never heard before)

Putting the Demage on (sounded just like the BfP version, you know, nice)

Precious Things (excellent; especially the " ...tucked inside the heart of every nice girl..." part was great, when she really took off and sang "girrrrrrrrrrrrl" for quit some time.)

Leather (just like the LE version)

Caught a Lite Sneeze (The drums were missing, so it sounded really different.)

Not the Red Baron (during the song there were some projections of old airplanes just above her)

Doughnut Song (this is one of my most favourite Tori songs and I kind of melted away during the performance)

Cornflake Girl (Tori said: "Caton starts this one" Why does she call him "Caton" ??? What about Steve ???)

Upside Down (I heard this nice song for the first time, so I'm not quite sure weather this is the real title. And she interrupted herself during this song saying "Sorry, I got excited")

Somewhere over the Rainbow (She had tears in her voice. This was possibly the emotional highlight. It was so sad and wonderful.)

Winter (just like the LE version)

In the Springtime of his Voodoo (I liked it better than the BfP version. Yes, I had my problems with this song in the beginning. But now I like it.)

Talula (This was some sort of remix I guess, with computer-drums, switched on by Caton just in time.)

Me and a Gun (The audience was dead quiet. Thank you. I hate people making stupid remarks during this song. She closed with it and got off the stage ...)

Past the Mission (... but she came back for two songs more.)

Hey, Jupiter (She played some type of organ for this.) (When her harpsichord was moved off the stage by some men for that song, she said: "She's German, you know.") :-)

Sadly, it was over too fast. Nevermind, all the songs were stuningly GREAT. After that concert I feel like I like Tori (and her music) just a little bit more than before.

And that's all I have to say about that ... (for now)

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I could not think of a better begining of springtime than with a concert of our beloved Tori. It was the first time I saw her perform live....What an experience! Every second of the gig, your complete body is clinged to her. Like you have probably read on a previous reports, the show was launched by Willy Porter, an American young man who really did his thing very well. His style of guitar-playing made me think of Luka Bloom. Great stuff. Escpecially the cover 'I want you back' of Michael Jackson,made us all laugh. He imitated the high falsetto voice of Michael incredible well.

After about 45 min W.Porter, Tori came on stage. Her Bosie and harpsicord were both on stage, she just had to turn herself and she was playing the other instrument. Her voice....my god, what a voice!....

For Hey Jupiter an little church organ was rolled on stage. You know.. the one you have to peddle with the feet, the one that was use in small churches or chapels.

She went through the whole set rather quickly... very little talk in between.

I was a little dissapointed at the end...She left the stage so quickly that I didn't have the opportunity to give her a bunch of 'blood'roses, I had bought for her. Anyway I gave it to her roadmanager...I hope he gave it to her like he promised to me.

Anyway for you fans out there...if Tori passes by, DO go to see, feel and hear her. These 2 hours of show will in your mind for the rest of your life.

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Note From Mikewhy: Yes, this is mighty lacking in details, but it is all I have right now :)

1.Beauty queen, 2.Horses, 3.Mr. Zebra
4.Leather, 5.Blood Roses, 6.Doughnut Song
7.Little Amsterdam, 8.Cornflake girl, 9.Spacedog
10.Not the red baron, 11.Winter, 12.Precious Things
13.Caught a lite sneeze, 14.Talula
15.Smells like teen spirit 16.Twinkle, 17.Me and a gun

1st encore:
18.Sugar
19.Silent all these years

2nd encore:
20.In the springtime of his voodoo
21.Hey Jupiter

The setlist from Tori's concert in Hamburg on march the 20th. It was sooooooooooooo amazing. Tori was great!!! She played the best version of winter I've ever heard...

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My name's Topher and I went up to Paris in March because that was the only
place where I could see Tori in France. Yes indeed ! Only one date in
France !!

Songs played by Tori Amos on March 18, 1996 at the Grand Rex in Paris, France

Beauty Queen
Horses
Losing My Religion
Crucify
Bells For Her
Little Amsterdam
Space Dog
Cornflake Girl
Doughnut Song
Muhammad My Friend
Precious Things
Not The Red Baron
Caught A Lite Sneeze
Silent All These Years
Talula
Me And A Gun

(Recess)

Happy Birthday (To one person in the room who shouted that it was his birthday:
"Happy birthday, dear... whoever you are... " She only sang it once)
Putting The Damage On
Winter

(Recess)

Past The Mission
A Case Of You (Tori precised that she hadn't played it yet on this tour, just
because she didn't feel like playing it !)
Hey Jupiter

(End of the show)

Tori addresses to the audience in English even though most people don't even understand what she's talking about when she starts getting into her religion and grandmother stories. Not a word in french !! There was a lot of Americans in the audience that night, and they were making it clear by shouting uncomprehensible things to Tori between almost every song. They were ecstatic, whereas we French are less into those "EEEEhaaaa !!!" & "Woo Woo Woo !" cries.

I believe we're more into applauding, whistling and "Ouais !!!"'s which means something like "Yeah !!!". Anyway, that was pretty a good show and the quality of Tori's voice probably reached its peak since it was much better than her vocal performance on the albums. I was disappointed, though, that she didn't play any cover version of anything (apart from that short "Happy Birthday"...)

Hey ! Could anyone send me a list of what she's known as having covered during her shows that wouldn't be available officially ?

I arrived at the "Grand Rex" yesterday at about 3.30 pm. There were already about 5 people waiting there. Everybody was really nice, which made the waiting quite fun after all. I talked to the guy in charge of the French fan club, who was lucky enough to get an after-show pass for himself and a friend.

We were let inside at 7.15 or so, and since I was among the first people in line, I could get a seat in the front row (it was open seating). I must say I didn't like yesterday's venue at all. I thought it was way too big and that the stage was too high. Although I was in the front row, I was farther from Tori than I had ever been at any previous gig (where I was always seated in the first five rows.

But anyway, the show started a little after eight with Willy Porter who was really awesome! So awesome I'm gonna buy his record. It was the second time ever I felt like having an opening act last longer (first time was Robert Plant opening for Lenny Kravitz).

Tori showed up a little after 9.30, after having performed (or so I heard) on french tv at 8. She started the show with Beauty Queen/Horses. I haven't written down the whole playlist, some people have, and might post it here later. She performed her cover of "losing my religion" and a song (whose title I don't know) she said she hadn't played on this tour before. The live version of CALS impressed me very much. Her whole performance was really awesome and her vocals seem to get better all the time. The light show (which was already described by the London reviewers) was really interesting.

The audience was good, although there's that habit the French have of clapping their hands to the rhythm of the song (not always very well synchronized unfortunately), which I find rather annoying. There was that one girl also, who kept screaming in the middle of songs, like someone was trying to kill her, which apparently amused Steve Caton (the guitar player) very much, but pissed me off just as much.

Tori stayed on stage for approximately 2 hours (including encores). Guys who talked to her backstage said she had enjoyed the show and the audience very much.

Then came the time for some of us to wait outside for Tori to show up. After a while her security guy came out to say she wouldn't sign anything and to ask us to step aside to clear the way to the tour bus. It's true there were many people there last night (more than the previous time I met her after the show), but the guy was really nervous and there really was no need to be. They even felt necessary to put us behind barriers like cattle, on a public sidewalk... Anyway Tori came out and talked briefly to a few people, some of which she recognized . One guy tried to take a picture of her and a friend of his but the camera wasn't working. The security guy (or bodyguard? whatever, not the tour manager anyway) was getting even more nervous and so the guy who couldn't figure out how to make his camera work missed the picture of a lifetime... The guy who was supposed to be on the picture got really pissed off and after Tori was gone yelled "fucking shit" about 5 times.

Anyway Tori was really patient and apparently wanting to chat with us but the guy really wanted to get her on the bus which was leaving for Dusseldorf where she's playing tonight. See, the guy wasn't agressive or mean or despiseful or anything, he was quite nice to people in fact, but maybe he was just too pro ! And his attitude just didn't fit the atmosphere.

The stage was too high but the Rex is a movie theater. I don't know about the size of the venue, yesterday being my first Tori Amos live experience.

However, I don't think the unlucky guys up there on the balcony could fully appreciate the show without breaking their necks looking waaaay down. I think this kind of theater is too steep for such a performance.

Here's the playlist:

I don't think the audience was that off-beat. The clapping didn't bother be that much. The screaming girl was a real pain though :(

Well, I think I'm the first one to write about this concert (Anyway I don't see too many French people on this newsgroup).

A few comments about the concert:

- Beauty Queen/Horses: a really beautiful beginning for the concert. I think Horses is the most beautiful song she's written to date.

- Losing my religion: very interesting cover. I am still wondering how she can cover a song and still makes you think you never heard it before.

- Crucify: even if I think it's her more commercial song, the live version with a simple piano was quite moving. (Please, don't clap your hands when you hear the singles everyone has heard on the radio. It makes me feel you only come for them and don't really care about the other ones. I might be wrong but I doubt it).

- Bells for her: sounds very different on the harpsicord.

- Space dog: one of my favorites and an inspired version.

- Cornflake girl: same remarks as for Crucify

- These Precious things: great, great moment.

- Me and a gun: I've always had difficulties with this song. It might be that I'm not fond of a cappella singing even if it's Tori. The live version didn't make me change my mind.

You can notice that I haven't talked much about BfP songs except Horses. I must admit (shame on me!!!) that I don't have it and have only heard it a couple of times. Evevn if half of it is wonderful, I am less convinced with songs like Tallulah (the only song with a backing tape in this concert) or Little Amsterdam.

I'm happy she played Horses, Hey Jupiter, Caught a lite sneeze, Not the red baron, Doughnut Song and Putting the damage on but I missed Blood Roses, Father Lucifer and Marianne.

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I didnt translate the whole review text: I left out some (not much) stuff that was not about Toris performance. Phrases between brackets [ ] are indications of what the part I left out was about.

Concert Tori Amos, Saturday evening (there was another one that day - in the afternoon) March 16th 1996, RAI concerthall, Amsterdam. Review dated March 18th 1996, written by Saskia Bos (translated by Christi Klinkert and Esther Brakenhoff).

Amos inimitable
Magical moments in musical Rohrschach test

Her music is just as unique as it is inaccessible, just as inimitable as it is incomprehensible. Thats why it is not easy to judge Tori Amoss music from only one angle, not even after her performance in Amsterdam last Saturday.

[Some words on Little Earthquakes, Under the Pink (Saskia Bos qualifies the songs on LE and UTP as amongst the best material of nineties-popmusic) and Boys for Pele, mostly about the unique Amos sound]

The last of three sold out concerts in Holland was characterized by the inaccessability of Amoss songs that has only increased since her successful debut Little Earthquakes. Success has given Amos more and more artistical freedom and consequently her songs tend to withdraw from the usual pop song structure.

[Some words on the song structure of the material on Boys for Pele - Saskia Bos says she thinks listening to Boys for Pele songs is like listening to a constant train of thoughts]

Thats why it was quite difficult to grasp Amos' way of thinking and to enter her world during her performance in the RAI concerthall, which made the concert sort of a musical Rohrschach test. With her high voice - sometimes whispering, then screaming - and her lively piano playing, she created a world for the listener to explore. In her effords to make this design work, Amos was not wholly successful. At times her music was reduced to elevator music [and we all know how much she hates that! - CK] that made my thoughts drift. But there were moments during which a close connection between Amoss music and the listeners was established. Especially Little Amsterdam and Blood Roses were highlights in this respect.

But the summit of the evening was the inspired version of Little Earthquakes. Seeing and hearing Amos improvise absorbed in her own music, made the listener feel like a voyeur. Truly a magical moment, during which the public witnessed the song being reborn in a live performance, resulting in music in its most exciting form.

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Yesterday (march 15), I saw Tori in The Hague. Here's a quick and small, but accurate review.

I liked Willie Porter. Especially his cover of 'I want you back'. After that he tried, on our request, to de 'Like a Virgin' of Madonna. After the break, with Led Zep through the PA, the lights went off and Tori entered the stage. She opened with Beauty Queen/Horses and then she rushed through her set. She hardly finnished one song or she started another. She wasn't talkative at all. She said something about the disaster in the school in Scotland and added she she found it hard to talk to us.

The set was very like the listings we saw in earlier messages on this newsgroup. Though she didn't play CALS or Putting the Damage on. In the middle of 'Hey Jupiter' she sang 'I forgot the words, so I do it again'. (exactly on melody).

After a third encore 'Amazing Grace' the lights went on. Her voice is absolute extraordinary, she can sing as no one can, her piano and harpischord sounded wonderful. But she rushed from one song to another. It loked like that she was in a hurry, she didn't talk much (no talk at all, nearly). So there wasn't really any interactivity with us (the audience) that disapointed me a little, cause in my memory it was much different on her 1994 tour. But once again, the music was good, her voice was wonderful, so why should I complain.

I hope that she is more open and more talkative later in the tour.

Note from MIKEWHY: Tori was still upset tonight after the tragedy a few days earlier in Scotland where many kindergarten children were killed by a crazed gunman. Tori at one point mentioned that she was upset because of that tragedy, and said: "....And I asked them all to come down and dance with us tonight, because people who get murdered need a place to dance."

Concert Tori Amos, Friday March 15th 1996, The Hague (see playlist). Review written by Alex Burghoorn (translated by Christi Klinkert).

Amos pants and screams

Tori Amos was not in an exhuberant mood last Friday. The singer-pianist had done some gigs in England and was, as she told the audience, very upset by the tragedy of Dunblane. She invited the murdered children to come and dance because murdered people need a place to dance (quote from Tori). That was very much like Tori Amos: her lyrics usually are a combination of (autobiographical) reality and fantasy.

During the sold out concert in The Hague one could really feel the emotions that are contained in Tori Amos' songs, despite her introvert attitude that night. She played one song after another, not speaking a single word in between songs, and seemed to be moving her body less enthusiastically than she usually does when playing her piano. But this only intensified the impact of the songs, that deal with topics such as religion, sexuality, relations between men and women in a surprising and sometimes enigmatic way. During the more than one and a half hours lasting show, Tori Amos played material from all three of her records. Especially the older songs, such as Leather, she performed with daring changes in tempo.

[Some words on Tori Amos' very unusual song structure] Toris voice, her capricious vocal lines, have complete control over, even seem to dictate the form of the songs. That this working method is fully justified by Amos' quality as a singer, she proved in The Hague. Not only does Tori Amos' voice have a great reach, but she also knows how to use it in very different ways, now panting, then smacking, now whispering, then screaming. These extremes were united in a version of Smells Like Teen Spirit that was truly her own. The good thing about the way Tori Amos was using her voice, was that she clearly wasnt just showing off (Hey, hear what I can do!). Every change of sound, every scream and every moan was part of the emotions the ministers daughter wanted to convey.

Amos accompanied her own beautiful singing on the Boesendorfer that she brought all the way to Europe, and on a harpsichord. Her skilfulness at playing the keys didnt confine itself to fragile arpeggios. During Cornflake Girl, Amos used her instrument as a whole band, having only guitarist Steve Caton to accompany her. It was one of the few rocksongs that night, since most of the material she played were songs-to-listen-to [a really Dutch term, not translatable really - CK]. The audience took the recital very concentrated, without moving heads or feet. Only during the very moving, a cappella Me and a Gun, a request not to cough and to keep watches from beeping would not have been out of place.

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Yes!Yes!Yes!Yes!Yes!Yes - I got returns for the Portsmouth show! I'd been
depressed since th last Royal Albert Hall show and I phoned the Portsmouth
box office. Sold out. But try phoning on the day of the show. So on the day
of the show I phoned up and they took my name and said they'd phone back if
they had any returns.(What nice people!) 3:00 no call 4:00 no call  5:00
Yes! They phone back. Yes they've got returns. Yes I want them. No its not
too late. Now to rocket down to Portsmouth from London...

Background info : On the evening of this show news was breaking of a mass
shooting in Dunblane, Scotland where a guy had broken into a kindergarten
class with a shotgun and randomly shot at all the children and their
teacher. I think most of them died. (Although I'm a bit fuzzy on the facts
cause I was rocketing down to Portsmouth listening to Tori so I was
oblivious). Anyway the whole country was shocked and outraged and it was
headline news for days afterwards. Tori was certainly aware of what had
happened and referred to it in some ad-libbed lyrics (see below) I'm not
sure exactly when the news broke but it did seem to set Tori's mood,
especially for the first half of the show.

So here we go again...

Aaah. Small(er) venue not designed for music. The kind of place where you
might sit an exam. The sound was suprisingly good though. She also played
here on the 94 tour . We get there just in time phew...Great seats center
stage elitist balcony - must have been record company VIP returns. Son of a
Preacher Man plays...here she comes...

BEAUTY QUEEN
HORSES
ANGIE
LITTLE AMSTERDAM 
Tori hasn't said a word yet...no hellos or anything and the crowd is very
very quiet. No-one's shouting anything. Just polite clapping between
tracks.
SPACEDOG with intro
After the song Tori says "Hi you guys. How are you"... (crowd wooh)..."Are
you? Are you good?...OK Check this out ...(funny voice) This is Mr Fuzzy
(holds up a 2 foot tall fuzzy stuffed white teddy bear/dog thing)...Now I
met him today, right and the thing about him is he just came and visited
and I like him so much and he doesn't - he's like not going to make many
appearances because, you know, people  don't really understand this kind of
thing. And I never take stuff - you know - I look like the type of person
who'd take stuffed animals with me. I'm not really that interested. I like
things like lions...so...like the real ones. And I have this fetish about
getting eaten by a crocodile. So normally dogs don't do it for me. I think
they smell. I'm sorry but that's how I am. I like shoes and Pianos. Because
shoes naturally don't smell. But anyway, this is my friend and I just
happen to like him so he's here and you'll probably never be seeing him
again for a very long time. So there he is. Mr Fuzzy. The one and only
appearance. And that is Caton. He'll be appearing with me more than Mr
fuzzy. He's with me for one hundred and ninety some shows. So ... um ...
here he goes..."
CORNFLAKE GIRL
DOUGHNUT SONG with intro
LEATHER
PRECIOUS THINGS
We get a 15s girrrrll.  BUT no-one says a word. no claps. no whoops. no
cheers. no nothing... And you know how one bar later you sometimes get a
little faintly audible huh. Well we got a great big HUH. ...everyone cheers
alot at the end of the song though   
RED BARON
As the song ends Tori pauses briefly and every one applauds and then she
keeps playing. Caton's spot comes on but no Caton and Tori's still going.
The lights reset and Tori adlibs ...(This was beautiful)
"Just another pilot down
Children down in the village town
Just another down
Yesterday they were playing somewhere safe yes
Just another down
And the teacher in her pretty gown"
...runs into...
AMAZING GRACE
Amazing. She changed the last line to "to take them home"
HAPPY PHANTOM
After this she turns to the harpsichord, puts on he headphones and says
"Nanoo nanoo"
CAUGHT A LITE SNEEZE
YES! I'd seen her do this on TV and really wanted to see it live. I love
this version of this song. She blew the change over to the piano (took too
long) and did a cute voice "oops" Fantastic anyway.
ME AND A GUN
Got through it no problem this time...we're back to normal

encore 1
DAMAGE
WINTER

encore 2
Comes back on and talks to us
"OK so this little person's going away. Will you guys take this person
away, She has a blanket. She has a nice little house. She's gonna go to it
now. Say goodbye to her everybody. You're going to Europe. You're going on
a bus tonight. You're going on the ferry. She's going on the ferry tonight.
Say bye." (Audience say bye)
  - Now the whole audience had been soooo silent up to this point (no "I
love you's" etc just polite clapping) and I thought no-one's even going to
shout for an encore - and this was my last chance to hear her play Honey
for 2 years - and I was on a high from getting last minute tickets - and
what had I got to lose - and I still can't believe I did this but
Me: "HONEY"
Tori: "Huh?"  
Me: "HONEY?"
Tori: "Well maybe, hang on"
Rest of Audience (ah they are awake) "FLYING DUTCHMAN" "ALAMO"
Tori: "How do you know about Alamo?"
Girl: "Cause your single was released on Monday"
Tori: "Shit. I've never played that before. Hang on hang on hang on. (Mr
Fuzzy goes flying) Shows you how much I care about Mr Fuzzy. OK...Lemme
think...lemme think...what key is it in?"
Guy in audience: "E flat"
Tori: "Is it? (plays a few notes from Eb chord on piano) It is NOT in E
flat ... hangonhangonhangonhangonhangon...I'll get it..(plays first few
notes is slightly the wrong key - one note too high - stops)....I wanna
play this. I wanna do it...just be patient and I'll figure it out.
(applause) Turn the lights down Simon they're flustering me... OK now I
haven't played this since I recorded it and I just kinda wrote it on the
spot so my brain has like noodles in it...but...um...how does it
go...shhhh...(sings) aah-la-mo...oh yeah...I got it now (begins playing
brief intro)...AAAAH...(goes into perfect version of song lyrics and all)
ALAMO
then she goes straight into
PRETTY GOOD YEAR
She caught someone's eye at the front for this so it could have been a
request for them.

Tori's gone off ...but she hasn't played Hey Jupiter yet and the harmonium
is still there...here she comes again

encore 3
Tori comes back on with Caton - she's going to play Honey!
Audience (now really noisy):  "FLYING DUTCHMAN", "WE LOVE YOU", "HEY
JUPITER", "CHINA", "RING MY BELL" etc
Tori: "Hey now you guys...OK. Hang on a minute...Here's another thing. Some
of you are going to lose. You realise that?. Now this is the thing. I gotta
say something. That girl, somewhere, beat you all to it. She just beat you.
That's what happens kids
HONEY
!!!!WOO HOO!!!!.A glorious version of this song. Lovely with Caton (how
could I have doubted him at first) I'll never forget this. Thankyou Tori.
And she's still chatting:

Tori: "OK. So who was the person who screamed for Flying Dutchman?
Guy: "ME"
Tori: "OK Well you're going to have to come to Holland cause I can't really
sing - I have to sing Flying Dutchman for the Dutch first - That's just
like so corny but I have to do that.
Different guy : "What about Little Amsterdam?"
Tori: "I played Little Amsterdam - where were you?" (audience laughs) Tori
continues in affected voice: "I'm from the south. I can do that.... Do you
get it?...you British...what do you all know (more laughter and
applause)...(Tori starts playing harmonium) I don't expect you to get my
humour. You're all supposed to be the funniest peoplein the world and if
you can't get my jokes it hurts my feelings (applause - Tori's still
playing)
HEY JUPITER
 3rd verse (never stops singing all through this):
"Sometimes I breathe you in
and I know (playing pauses very slightly) you know
and I just sang this verse so let me sing the last verse now
and let me think maybe its cause I should have sung this in Jupiter
so let me think...OK I'm gonna start-at-the-top
So I guess I thought
Thought I knew this song so well
All the dolls I had..."

And then she was gone... but this was the Tori of old having fun and ad
libbing and it was fantastic. Here's what the set list said - she followed
it up to Red Baron:

Red Baron
Sneeze
Crucufy
Damage
Gun
*******
Twinkle
Winter
*******
PGY
Honey
Jupiter

I loved this show...Portsmouth was playful Tori. It was fun and
varied and she ad-libbed and changed the set around and I was on a high
having got the tickets and she sang Honey for me and the whole Alamo thing
was as great as I've ever seen her. BUT all these shows didn't hot up until
half way though...so they're all let down by the first half. Anyway,
Portsmouth is my vote for the best of the tour.

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The main reason I'm writing to you is that you don't have a setlist of the show in Exeter, UK, March 11th 1996. I was there as its where I live, so I thought you might like the setlist. The order of songs in the middle are a bit mixed up but I know she definitely played everything here. the first 4 songs are in the correct order, so are the last 4;

BQ/Horses
Little Earthquakes
Blood Roses
Little Amsterdam
Space Dog
Smells Like Teen Spirit
Crucify
Leather
Cornflake Girl
Putting The Damage On
Precious Things
Not The Red Barron
Me & A Gun
----------------------------------
Encore 1
Happy Birthday
Winter
----------------------------------
Silent all These Years
Bells For Her (on organ)

It was my first Tori show and it was way better then I had ever expected, The highlights of the show for me were, Horses, Little Earthquakes, Blood Roses, Space Dog, Precious Things and Bells For Her on the organ, I don't know if Tori's ever played it on the organ before, it was so different to the album version that I didn't recognise it until I was on my way home, it was fast like the harpsichord version, but stranger sounding in a good way,

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So I'm in great seats in the Royal Albert Hall and they're playing Son of a
Preacher Man...

BEAUTY QUEEN
HORSES
CRUCIFY
TEEN SPIRIT
Tori:  "Hi everyone" (whooh) "How are you...I wore my tropical shoes for
you tonight (waves feet at audience - sorry I can't remember what they were
like)...yeah...I figured that's the closest you guys are gettin' to
tropical in a long time, huh babe?...um...(sings)
BALI HAI (South Pacific) extract
"Bali Hai they call you
When the sky and the sea
And I don't know much what they're saying
But come to me
come to me"  
(Crowd love this)
MARIANNE
BELLS FOR HER
on harpsicord
AMSTERDAM
This had an exteneded ad-lib in the "round and around" section including a
line from "Day by Day" from Godspell and other extra lyrics. Lyrics were:
"...Poor little girl
Said you went to the hangman for me
My baby
Round and around
And around and a oh yes
Far and away
Can't save my soul
Day by day
yes can't save
Day by day
Oh dear Lord these things I pray
And playing that organ yes
said playing that organ
must count for something..."
SPACE DOG with intro
Introduces Caton:
"So this is Caton...uh...(sings doomily)...Caaaatonnnn I've known since
Y-Kant-Tori-Read (bangs piano rapidly)...those were my big uh...I wish it
sounded like that it might have been successful...anyway...we've known each
other over 10 years and he's played on all the records...and he's hanging
with me on this tour...(pause)...and he starts this one so I have to wait
basically...
CORNFLAKE GIRL
DOUGHNUT SONG
LEATHER (*set list said FATHER LUCIFER instead*)
Doh...I wanted to hear the new version of Father Lucifer
PRECIOUS THINGS
15s Girrrrrllll
RED BARON
Up to now this show was going fine - great show pretty much the same as
yesterday...but around here something snapped and the whole thing just
became so intense and I can't explain it but Tori seemed to play all of her
saddest songs in a row - and even the happy songs seemed sad. Tori was off
and the set list was the first to go...
BLOOD ROSES
WINTER   (*set list said CHINA* - see end for set list changes from now on)
Tori (and the whole Albert Hall) was totally into this. A very slow and
emotional version. Her parents were there and it was like look Dad I'm
playing the Royal Albert Hall...but by the last few lines the vocals were
whispered and it sounded like Tori was in tears ...and she used it as a
springboard to Me and a Gun - she just went straight into it with hardly a
pause for applause...
ME AND A GUN
Alot has been written about her performance of this song at this show. I
have been to 100s of concerts including 9 Tori shows and I've never seen
anything like it. The vocal got weaker and weaker through the song and then
"Do you know...

She just stopped singing and stood there with one palm held out to the
crowd in total silence. And the crowd who had been screaming "I love you
Tori" at every pause between tracks just sat there. silent. 5000 people.
Alot of whom presumably have only got one album or whatever. And we were
all there silent together...

After about 20s silence (which is a long time - try it) Tori continued
trying to sing, made it to the end of the song and went off.  I didn't
think she'd come back. Can that level of pain really be healing?

But Tori does come back on...
DAMAGE
Is Tori OK? She's still in trouble getting words out. You just want to tell
her to stop and give her a cup of cocoa and tell her happy things. Vocals
are still wavery and whispery.
CHINA  
China has always passed me by as being rather boring but tonight Tori
played it with such sadness...I don't know...such a sense of loss...it was
so moving...what a beautiful song. Is Tori Ok? 

encore2
Is Tori OK? She's chatting with the audience:
"Um could I ask these wonderful guys who wait in the wings to move this
little sweetheart and bring out another little sweetheart...She's going
now. She gets to eat her dinner now..." she goes straight into
PAST THE MISSION
She seems OK. Am I imagining this? But then after the bridge even PTM
sounds sad.  I wanted to shout for Honey - I love it and I've never seen
her play it. All I have to do is yell out in front of all these
people...but she started past the mission very quickly and I'm a chicken
and is she OK?
Just between the last note of Past the Mission and the crowd cheering a guy
behind me shouts for Baker Baker...what a sublime choice...it is so
appropriate...what was I thinking Honey for...I want to hear Baker Baker.
The crowd cheers and Tori goes straight into
BAKER BAKER
Woooaaah! This is fantastic...but how much more can she take?...she skips
the lines "You came to make sure that I'm not running. Well I ran from him
in all kinds of ways. Guess it was his turn this time" she sings la la las
in the gap. Is this significant?
"If you see him say ... (whispers) ... hi"
She turns to the harmonium. She's going to play Hey Jupiter downer then
she's gone. But someone shouts "Sweet Dreams". Some chance...but Tori
starts to sing it acapella drumming on the top of the harmonium with ad-lib
lyrics
SWEET DREAMS
"Oh swee-ee-eet dreams swee-ee-eet dreams
Oh goodbye little I don't know
No lullabye in my mother's eye
They say she says...he...
Lie lie lies everywhere said the father to the sun
Your peppermint breath gonna choke em to death
Daddy watch your little black sheep run
He got knives in his back every time he opens up
He got the earth in a sling
They got the world on her knees
They even got your zipper between their feet
And I've messed up my versus and I'm really sorry
But I'm gonna keep on singing this song
Sweet dreams  sweet dreams"
HEY JUPITER

And then she was gone. I waited by the stage door after the show to kinda
check that she was OK and she was fine and I felt silly and no-one else
seemed too concerned. There were about 50 people outside . Her parents came
out first and someone thanked her Dad and her Dad said something like what
about thanking Mother too. Her Mom just beamed the whole time. Tori came
out after about an hour and a half but only for about 5 minutes as she was
whisked into her limo. She chatted briefly to the few people lining the gap
between the stage door and the limo but I couldn't hear alot of it. One guy
must have been embarassed and said I'll tell you later and she said no tell
me now and listened to him like he was a beautiful person and gave him a
big hug which was sweet. Then she was really gone. And I had no more
tickets and the rest of the tour is sold out and I'm not going to be in
Toledo in 100 odd shows...


The official set list from Blood Roses said:
Blood Roses
China
Gun
**********
Damage
Winter
*********
Mission
Head
Jupiter

This was a wonderful show. But it was too much, too painful, too sad. I
love that I was there but I wouldn't want them all to be like this. I was
depressed for days after this without knowing why. I'm so glad that someone
else said this too in their review cause I though it was just me going
crazy. Thanks 

Well I guess that I may as well delurk to comment on this date at the RAH as I was lucky enough to have seats in the second row, right in the middle!!

"As it has been mentioned before the rendition of Me And A Gun was particularly emotional. She sang it considerably slower than usual and from the front I could see that she was beginning to break up. There were tears on her face as she got to the line, "And do you know ...." Here she stopped closed her eyes, letting her head drop and putting her hand out to the hall as if to tell us to wait. After what seemed like ages of complete silence she continued, "Carolina?". After the performance she dashed off stage and was hugged by the guy who looked like the stage manager. Someone from the audience ran up and threw a rose onto the stage as she left, she later waved at him as thanks."

The performance of Sweet Dreams was excellent as well. She had the harpsichord replaced with an organ for Hey Jupiter and she played Sweet Dreams by hitting the organ, using it as a percussion instrument. She also forgot some of the lines but improvised through to the end.

All in all the concert was fantastic, made more so by my lucky seats. I will never forget Marianne now as she sang some of it straight to me :)

"Saw Tori at the Albert Hall on Saturday and I can honestly say it was one of the most beautiful, sublime and moving experiences for me...

I'm in this really weird melancholic mood now it's all over, anyone else get this ? Maybe it's the shock of having such an emotional time; I even shed a tear when she paused during 'Me And A Gun' with her arm outstreched in front of her hiding her face, her head turned to the side and the soft sound of her struggling to swallow down tears. It effects me now remembering it. How can she sing something so obviously affecting ? Maybe it's cathartic for her.

The other thing that's happened is I've redisovered Under The Pink. After hearing The Waitress, Baker Baker and Space Dog (and others) live sung so passionately in front of me it's like a whole new album. There's something about the line 'Deck the halls I'm young again I'm you again' that just ... I don't know, I haven't the words to express it ... the whole song moves to a different level when it's just her voice and her piano. I've gotta say that Tori just made all other music meaningless to me that night ... it must be this weird mood I'm in."

Hi guys,

Just to let you all know that Tori was superb at the Albert Hall, London.

Friday nights performance was very good, but the Saturday night was better - she played teen spirit and Marianne and most of my favourites. Heart wrenching moment came when she sang Me and a Gun, and got to the "Do you know Carolina" section and began to weep - I was watching through stage binoculars - she raised her right hand to the audience while she swallowed back for what felt like minutes, was probably 7-8 seconds - then sang brokenly to the end of the song. The whole audience really felt for her, you could have heard a pin drop. I looked to my friend sat on my left and we both were like welling up, with was painfully intense. The whole stance of Toris performance of the song was "confessional", she sat directly facing the audience, as she had the night before, but tonight she dug a little too deep.

Immediately following the song, they faded out and she ran off stage left, where two guys were already stood there. She ran to the nearest and hugged him, and walked out the back. The audience at first clapped, without whistles and whoops, and then continued to clap for perhaps a minute or so, until Tori ran back on and carried on the set list, launching into Winter.

Anyway, the rest of the show was great, and my friend and I met her at the stage door - gave her a prezzy and she met and hugged perhaps 2 dozen of us near the front of the barriers. Her manager, a Nick Nolte lookalike, was pretty over-=protective tonight, and she was ushered into the limo pretty quickly, spending just 2-3 minutes outside. She DID look extrememly tired - one hell of a hard night.

This is the set list from 9th March Concert at Royal Albert Hall. (from memory but I am 95% sure its right) Beauty Queen
Horses
Crucify
Smells Like Teen Spirit
Marianne
Bells For Her
Little Amsterdam
Space Dog
Cornflake Girl
Doughnut Song
Leather
Precious Things
Not The Red Baron
Blood Roses
Winter (at last I got to hear my favourite song (by anyone) live, beautiful)
Me And A Gun

Encore One

Putting The Damage On
China

Encore Two

Past The Mission
Baker Baker (A request played instantly)
Sweet Dreams (another request with tori acompanying her singing by banging on one of
the instruments, she forgot one verse and just sang "I've forgotten a
verse")
Hey Jupiter (my fave BFP track)

This was a brillant concert though Tori didnt say much. I was way up in the balcony but had a pair of binoculars to aid me. This was excellent as I could see every expression.

One funny thing was the Willie (the support) said that he was a tourist and asked the audience to forgive him as he took about 5 photos of the audence "to prove he`d been there"".

7 for a programme, what a rip off and where were the official posters?

I cant wait until next time, and am off to buy Talula now.

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The Royal Albert Hall is a big place...I think it holds around 5000 people
and it was totally sold out both nights for Tori. ( Does anyone know what
happened to the 3rd night mentioned in Billboard?)  Her parents were there
both nights and Tori had the vibe of being a bit nervous  and aware that
these were BIG gigs. She played a safe set both nights but towards the end
of the second night she became very emotional - maybe what she has achieved
got through? The Royal Albert Hall is certainly  very imposing - circular
with tiers of backlit boxes draped with red curtains rising to the ceiling.


It was weird seeing Tori in such a big venue. Her style suits intamacy. I
missed not being able to see the mannerisms and expressions. I had very
good seats on the second night but still couldn't see much. Still once the
music started...

Tori didn't do much talking and there did seem to be more of a barrier
between her and us on this tour as compared to previous tours. Maybe once
you know someone well enough you can spend an evening without talking? And
maybe she never really talked that much before? The talking last tour was a
bit contrived - with the tell a story slot between the 2nd and 3rd song. On
this tour the chats have been much more spontaneous.

Anyway here's what happened! 

Led Zeppelin box set followed by "Son of a Preacher Man" ...Here comes
Tori...she waves to the crowd and goes straight into:
BEAUTY QUEEN
HORSES
I was surprised. Every other show I've seen or heard she's opened with an
unexpected track. (well I didn't expect this so she got me again!) In
retrospect it makes sense and we're off on our journey...
LOSING MY RELIGION
Ah here's the unexpected track slot - nice to hear something different but
I'd still rather hear a b-side than a cover
SILENT ALL THESE YEARS
Song ends...she's gonna say something...
Tori:  "Hi everybody" (multiple hi from crowd) "Are you doing pretty
good?"(woooh)"Well I'll tell ya (girlie voice) this is a vewy big place...I
mean I coulda had 4 pieces of chocolate cake and still be little. That's
what's so amazing about this place...umm...ROCK...umm"
Audience member "HOW ABOUT MARRIAGE?"
Tori:  "How about marriage? You don't wanna marry me baby I got too many
problems (applause/laughter)...umm...(plays in background)...plus you'd
never get the pianos (more laughter)...anyway my parents are here tonight
(wooh/applause)...my father draaaaged me to Christmas Eve service not this
past Christmas but the one before. He didn't get me this past because I was
with a boy. Ha. But anyway this was the first time he's never got me to
Christmas Eve. Last time I went I had this idea because...um...you know the
little kids were singing this song. Y'know..(plays and hums 1st line of
away in a manger - to American tune - we sing it to a different (worse!)
tune here...she stops humming and sings second line)...the little lord
Jesus lay down his sweet head...(continues playing while talking)...so he's
going 'Go ahead. Sing Tori Ellen you gotta sing something'...and I'm
like...(sings discordantly a la Robert Plant) aye aye aye aye aah, aye aye
aye aye aah...They both know it was a girl yes..uh ha...uh ha...
MOHAMMED
At end of song she turns to the harpsichord and starts playing 1st bar of
Bells..."Oh, hang on, I forgot to be a space martian...wait..." (puts on
headphones and reaches out arms to harpsichord as if casting a spell)
"Nanoo, nanoo...Hey it's a very old instrument...you gotta find ways to
make it work"
BELLS FOR HER
Much faster than piano version - this is great
LITTLE AMSTERDAM
Argh! Sacrilege there's a guitarist on stage. From where I'm sitting he's
well up in the mix (but then I'm the last person in the front row on his
end of the balcony above his monitor!) He's noodling around
intrusively...but after the initial shock wears off. Hey I like this. OK
Caton can stay.
During the song Tori adlibs "day by day oh dear lord these things I pray"
line from Godspell in the "round and around" section
SPACE DOG
with  intro - I love this version and its even better with Caton
She's turning to the crowd:
"This here is Caton" (crowd cheers) "He's played on all the records that
I've done so far...um...plus we were in a band together called Y Kan't Tori
Read...(Wooh/applause)...yeah, it's great that you cheer now - where were
you in 1988?" (laughter) ...(pause)...Caton's tuning...I hate talking. I
get so shy...cause I know you British and you're supposed to be clever"
(crowd laughs) "so I'm not going to say anything that's stupid so..."
Audience member;  "ITS NOT TRUE"
Tori:  "Not everybody's clever? OK. Thanks (she giggles and obscures what
she says next)...(whispers) take it"
CORNFLAKE GIRL
This is wonderful with Tori set free without the backing tape. (We got her
talking to us before CG but no dance yet)
DOUGHNUT SONG
with intro a la Space Dog. This version takes this song to another
dimension
LEATHER
PRECIOUS THINGS
with a15s girrrrrrrrrlll. (At this point in the tour 15s seems standard. no
longer. and we didn't get alot of ad-libbing at the end either - that must
be new for the US leg of the tour)
NOT THE RED BARON
with the screen of WWI aircraft and a backing tape of pilots transmissions.
As song finishes:
Girl: "CRUCIFY"
Tori: "Huh?"  "CRUCIFY"  "Just hang on babe we're just on the appetisers,
huh."
Goes to harpsichord. Plays first note of Blood Roses and stops. "Hang on
hang on hang on hang on" (headphones again?)
BLOOD ROSES
DAMAGE
ME AND A GUN

Encore 1:
TWINKLE
THE song of the album (well it is for me but no-one else ever mentions it).
She played it so beautifully tonight. Its one of those songs that pulls you
in live (like Baker Baker last tour). She sung it as if everything was so
hard...well Tori you sure can twinkle...but its so hard and she's only 20
nights into the tour...How's she doing 200 nights later in the US you guys?
WINTER

Encore 2:
She comes on, sits on the piano stool and points to the harpsichord:
"Guys can you come and help me. I wanna...She has a hot date...so I want
her to go away and I'm gonna bring another girl on OK...So lets make her go
away. Say bye " 
Audience in unison: "Bye"
American girl: "TEAR IN YOUR HAND...PLEASE" everyone follows shouting out
loads of requests
Tori:  "...(long pause)...OK...well obviously some of you are going to lose
out so...I'm really sorry about that. I have 191 shows left so if you're
bored and you're in Toledo maybe I'll be there, so come and see me...We do
a different show every night so come see me...so I'll try and get one or
two of those in and...ah...but sorry...huh huh...
TEAR IN YOUR HAND   (*original set had HONEY instead*)
LONDON GIRLS
Crowd loved this
HEY JUPITER
as she plays intro someone shouts "I LOVE YOU TORI" Tori whispers "I love
you too"
3rd verse...
"Thought I knew myself so well
All the dolls I had
Took my letter off the shelf
Your apocalypse was fab (playing pauses slightly but continues)
...oops I'm sorry I messed up (continues singing)
For a - but that' OK I forgot the words 
But I'm still here
And Hey Jupiter
Nothing's been the same
So are you gay
are you blue..."

So that was it. Overall I loved this show. Didn't like the big venue.
Because you can't see it you kind of take her astounding piano playing for
granted. The varying set is so fun and there's so many tracks of the new
album she hasn't played yet and I've got tickets for tomorrow...

This review includes both London concerts, March 8 & 9

well where to start??

9th+3rd rows respectively, 5 and 3 seats left of centre respectively

(ignoring the boring (to you) chaos of sorting out meeting a total of about 20 people over two nights, some at both, inc : one friend of a friend losing his tkt, tkt swopping cos EastWest finally came thru on fri afternoon and gave me tix instead of promised interview :( , which allowed friends with crap seats to have good seats etc etc (+ having to go to EW to pick em up right before show).. :

support...Willie Porter -

make the effort to go see.... like i have to tell you lot to get there early! his voice reminded me a little of Marc Cohn's (who i first saw tori supporting incid. 10/91 + tori told me MC was her "buddy" 1/92) xcept of course our willie plays geetarr..accompanied by light drummer/percussionist/backing singer, and bass player who's name i forget but is apparently respected+famous in the world of bass playing, my bass playing friend Tom told me...

highlights were willie solo doing Jackson 5's "i want you back" both nights (with squeaky junior jacko voice)

(NB Jacko fans RE:brit awards, Jarvis (now national folk hero and defender of the realm from egotistical grand delusional pop tarts) was right + didn't attack any kids (did you stateside see/hear of this incident??)

ermm sorry anyway, yeah willie was cool 'paper plane' + 'cold wind' i liked, along with the best track: excellent instrumental about the critters who run across the road and get splatted, and on the second night the cover of a certain beatles track (work it out for y'selves we were in the RAH, not blackburn lancashire!)

so to TORI!!

....onstage to Dusty Springfield's (Pulp Fiction) "Son of a preacher man" (ma + pa Amos in the house for fri night!)

I think the BQ is the obvious to start with... we've all been there new tori in our sweaty palms...the album opener does seem an appropriate showstarter and first course :)

FRI
---
BQ/Hs....mmmmmm :)

Losing my relig was identifiable from the first note, and of course beautiful.

Silent...as ever.... the first tori i *ever* witnessed...remember how those wandering opening notes sounded first time you heard 'em? ....old friend.

i guess i better stick to the highlights - both nights: -----------

bells for her played on the harpsichord....i know sisterjan isn't so keen on this, but i liked it...its never gonna sound as it does on UtP, unless they carry a perfectly trashed piano around the world for just this one song.. so i think that the harpsi. is an excellent second choice...added an edge to the chill in my head anyway.

cornflake girl is opened and acommpanied by Steve Caton, the only accompanying musician.... sounded a lot better than a backing track...i wasn't sure what someone on stage with tori would be like, but it worked. well.

space dog opened with the last verse which is sang as backing vocals on UtP, before the recognisable song start is reached... i don't remember this from a couple of years ago, in fact i don't remember hearing it live before the weekend.

I can take a long time to get used to new tori, but the new stuff like muhammed, doughnut, blood roses as well as faves like red baron, amsterdam, twinkle and *obviously* damage + jupiter, all worked so well i finally couldn't duck the question anymore and have since told a friend of a friend who saw tori a week or two back that i *definitely* disagreed with his supposition that Tori's new material was not as strong. after a long absence the jury returned unanimously in Ms. Amos' favour. Guilty of still writing utterly ace songs.

the ??? not mentioned in the offical setlist and suggested in previous reviews as a cover version goes to the best of my abilities at deciphering:

"you can tell me its over
yes and yet over
you can tel me over over your shoulder
you can tell me its over
oh and it yes
come in houston"

(corrections welcome)

to me it sounds like another mini torisong, and clocking in at 40 secs i'd be fascinated (obv) if anybody can tell me that this is a cover..if so i think that it must be one of the first of T's i've heard and not recognised. it slides straight into doughnut song so comfortably its hard to imagine it not being written by tori....but then how many times has she made anothers song her own...

There weren't really any weak songs... fri: horses, religion, silent, amsterdam, space dog, precious things, red baron, damage, twinkle, winter, tear in y.h. all stood out. tres cuell. doesn't narrow it down much does it.. tori forgot words to both London Girls(the weakest song performed over the two nights) and Hey Jup on friday, but mangaged to salvage both, even though LG was a bit shorter than planned.

Not the Red Baron was equally beautiful both nights..as previously described, accompanied by WWI aircraft footage, and backed with aircraft/radio type messages...lovely touches both:) The lighting overall was pretty good. I think they could do even better, but the star effect for the opening of the show was really lovely.

The sound of Hey Jup is different with the haunting organ sighs and caton's discreet accompaniment. The fear of anything acccompanying tori live must be a guitar taking away from the sound, but it is played beautifully and very thoughtfully and adds just enough.

it was lovely to hear China again which i'm sure i once read/heard tori once say that she wouldn't perform again cos it was too ericpainful.

**the second encore seems the time to yell for the songs you haven't heard and do want to hear. after seeing tori's amazing first perfromance of LC's fam blue raincoat a couple of years back, on friday i was yelling for A case of you, which i still haven't seen *her* do live. i lost out to tear in your hand which was one of the first to be yelled for (i think), and replaced honey on the setlist...which was incidentally wonderful.

saturday saw tori seemingly respond immeadiately (or incredibly coincidentally) to requests for baker baker, and then sweet things. The shout for sweet things was at the point she just sat down at the organny thingy to play jupiter, she responded with a percusive/a capella version - her voice with the sound of her hands tapping the woodwork of the instrument as accompaniment...both were excellent! i hadn't even thought of shouting for baker baker (duh).

After saturdays tripple whammy to your emotions of Me+gun and a first encore of china+damage, it was hard to yell for anything. I'm dieing to get a copy of sat's setlist to see what tori had planned to do.

i've never seen T as moved to tears as she was for Me+agun on sat. she suddenly stopped after just beginning a line 3/4 ? way thru and held a hand in front of her face, arm streched as if to block the spotlight. she remained motionless for what seemed and felt like hours. it turned out only to be 15 seconds...well it seemed like about a minute at the time. tori was in tears quite bad, and after finnishing the song exited the stage quickly straight into the arms of somebody, i could see thru the stage door. it felt like an invasion of her privacy noticing even this. T didn't talk anywhere near as much as the times i've seen her before as headline act...this made it kind of different...more songs, but less of a rapport with the audience...less of that cosy storytelling......still a stunning experience in all senses ot the word.

Tori's impromptu burst into a little South Pacific was also good fun, the reason being she showed us her tropical shoes and commented that 'was about as close as we you're gonna get to tropical for a bit, hey babe?'

the 2 friends that accompanied me for their first live tori experience (hi cassie and renee!) were as dumbstruck as i was... probably more. just before tori had stopped mid song i had just sadly admitted to my self that me+gun wasn't snatching my spine the way it had done on the 4 previous occasions i'd seen her do it, but the break in the song was so...indescribably emotional i was brought near to tears. it is at points like this that you realise why this little woman has such a big hold on our lives. nothing was spared that night. i do worry for her spiritual/physical/mental strength if she mangages to move us + herself that strongly every night. if anybody can though........and of course she must feed off and take strength from the love evryone sends out to her, but i just prey there's no collapsing on this tour. Her tour manager blokey said that it had been agreed fridays was her best so far, and i think saturday went better than fri...as long as it didn't take to much out of her.

merchandise....managed to end up not buying anything... after paying so much for tkts it was hard to justify spending soooo much in the what looked to me not overly amazing quality printed t's. i had decided to get a balloon longlseeve though at 20pounds, but it sold out at the end of sat night just as i went to buy. 20 for a long, 14 for a short white t, 15 for grey t, and 15 for blue skinny with orange trim....14 for the wooly hat!!!! 7 for penadnt + 7 for prog... if your gonna get anything buy it before the show, just in case they sell out.... i expect things to be these prices, going to so many gigs, but still don't like it. the profit margin is WAY too high it really is... yet i'll still prob buy something when she's back in the country later this year... i have to say i agree with the comment (apologies i forgot who made it) that the recovering christian t is tacky... it sounded cuell to me but the pic of tori as nurse (no offence meant to anyone (sj :< ) who bought one but ......??? saying that - i'd wear one to amuse myself and annoy any hardcore Christians that couldn't take the joke. and god if you were in tori's position wouldn't you do the same...wonder what daddy thinks?!

As mentioned in previous reviews tori plays a total of three keyboards, her bosie, the harpsich, and the organny thingie that is brought on to close the show. i spotted the whassitthingyme revolving ampspeaker experience (like Neil Young uses for his barrel organ) as i think was mentioned before in another review (i assume i spotted this at the end when the organny thing was wheeled on).....

hope you all get/got good seats...it makes a difference....

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Tori played Wolverhampton 6th March and it was quite different to the other times I've seen her, but just as brilliant.

Haven't got time for a full review, but points to note.

Bells for Her -- No dodgy piano this time, but a full blown Harpsichord version. Same melody, same words, TOTALLY different song!! First time I've heard Tori rework one of her own songs so much and it was F'in Ace...

Cornflake Girl -- acoustic with Steve Caton. Astoundingly good.

Beauty Queen/Horses -- Noticeably played with Leslie Cabinet effect.

Unknown song -- Included lines "I will always Love You" and something about "When you're near me" or not as the case may be. Included the odd line from CALS in pauses. First time in five gigs I've heard her sing a song of hers I haven't got. Guess I'm just not lucky.

She was VERY talkative... far more than I've heard before, partly in response to a rowdy audience. "nanoo, nanoo" for her headphones, newish Grandma story "She'd dead buried, gone, no more... Yeeaaaaaah!"

Little Amsterdam -- First time I've got into this song... great rendition.

London Girls -- Niiiiice.

Also played Space Dog, Crucify, Pieces of Me, Tear in your Hand, TAKE TO THE SKY!!, Not the red Baron, Blood Roses (on Harpsichord), Smells Like Teen Spirit (The song she sang just for me at the Warwick Sound check 2 years ago.... *sigh*), Putting the Damage On (Sad.. no Black Dyke Mills), MAAG, Hey Jupiter to finish on Harmonium, Winter, and other forgotten stuff.

No Mr Zebra (sulk) or Father Lucifer (double sulk) and amazingly, no Talula even though its released on Monday. Guess she reckons we'll all buy it anyway.

No B-sides from UtP... in fact she only played Space Dog, CfG and BfH. There was far more from LE, which were obviously the audiences faves.

Willy Porter was excellent... Buy his album if you like male guitar/vocal stuff in any way shape or form...

Lights were iffy again, just like last tour. Bit too wierd, bit too lacking in purpose.

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Oh God.

This is a seriously widely-distributed message, but I just have to tell everyone about the best night of my life - tonight.

The support, Willy Porter, I was sceptical of, because from what I'd heard he wasn't too hot, but by the middle of his first song I'd been converted. He's not a great singer, being in the Joe Cocker/Micheal Bolton growl group, but what a guitarist! He made his single acoustic sound like about twelve different guitars. His little band of bass/drums then came on, and he treated us to a few finely crafted pop songs of Crowded House proportions. The funniest bit was when he played a version of the Jackson Five's "I want you back", alone on acoustic and in a hilarious falsetto, dedicating it to Mikey's past glories in the wake of Jarvis Cocker's Brit Award exploits. Lastly he performed an instrumental version of Dire Strait's Why Worry, being in Newcastle and all that.

Then, about 20 minutes of Led Zeppelin later, on came Tori to a rapturous applause. She looked gorgeous in a pink/purple paisley top (I think) and a darker pair of the trousers she wears on the cover of Caught A Lite Sneeze. She was obviously nervous as she started to play "Beauty Queen/Horses", with her breathy vocals showing the signs of stress, but as Horses began, you could just tell the beauty was coming through in waves. The exact order of the songs has left me somewhere in the madness of tonight, but I'm sure Helen may be able to supply more exact information (Helen?).

After the second song, she began her convo with the audience, saying how great it was to come to Newcastle because we're not English, we're not Scottish ('any dumb fuck knows that'), we're Geordies(!), to which the American got a suprised round of applause (I suppose her Northern boyfriend has been teaching her the regional differences in England!). Her set included beautiful versions of Bells For Her, Little Amsterdam, Not The Red Baron, Precious Things (with a spectacular primal scream when she sang "Tucked inside the heart of every nice gi-rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrl" which lasted for minutes it seemed), and some numbers featured Steve Caton on guitar, doing lots of etherial stuff, and introducing "Cornflake Girl" on the acoustic, towards the end of which a string broke and he had to give up, prompting Tori to improvise "Rabbit, where'd you put the strains, girl?"! Icicle took it's usual pace, without the long introduction this time, and I SWEAR BLIND that as she was singing it (and I was mouthing the words by reflex), she stared straight at me for a minute or so. It felt right somehow!

The final song in the main set was a beautiful and (naturally) haunting a cappella Me And A Gun, back on she bounced with my favourite, favourite Tori song of all, Silent All These Years. I've heard it so many times before but tonight a lump appeared in my throat and everything became unimportant except this girl on stage singing the most beautiful song ever written to me and me alone. If that sounds melodramatic, that's what I went for.

"Hey Jupiter", the very last song, was played on the harmonium (summoned by Tori with 'can you bring on another of my friends?'), which really grabbed my throat until the second verse where she kindly forgot the words.. she's only human, after all. ;)

Well, that's all I've the energy to say right now. Thanks for listening. You yanks are in for something else in the spring. :)

My first post on RDT.......Hope you enjoy......probably make you jealous though but don't blame me.

In great anticipation myself and three others arrived at the city hall. We took our seats in the second row and sat back. The support Willie Porter was quite good he was playing an acoustic guitar with drum and base guitar support. The interval arrived and the red hair wonder descended on to the stage to sit between the famous bosendorff and the instrument which accompanies "Blood Roses". She began with the first Tori song I had ever heard...."Spacedog".....She swung between the three albums. After Spacedog she played "Losing My Religion" by R.E.M. The stage had a projection unit which projected on to a large white triangle at the back of the stage, this was best when Tori played "Not The Red Baron". She played most of my favourites including her best song, well in my opinion, "Silent All These Years" and "Hey Jupiter". Near the end of the evening the non-bossendorf instrument was rolled away and an organ relaced it upon which "Hey Jupiter" and "Happy Phantom" was played. Tori talked to her followers about 4 times including when she described Newcastle as the last outpost in England. She also talked about her young life at xmas time. Tori recieved masses of applause her last applause went on for a long time. The whole night was a memorable event for the rest of my life but shall probably remember "Me and A Gun" which was performed as I never seen anything performed before......Simply stunning. I thought she was going to burst into tears throughout the song I know I nearly did. The play list below may not be accurate, I didn't know two of the songs.

Playlist:
Spacedog
Beauty Queen/Horses
Losing My Religion (R.E.M)
Precious Things
Muhammad My Friend
Icicle
Agent Orange
Bells For Her
Blood Roses
Conflake Girl
Putting The Damage On
Little Amsterdam
Leather
Silent All These Years
Not The Red Baron
Me And A Gun
------------------------------
Encore
------------------------------
Unknown (B-side which I don't have)
Happy Phantom
Encore
------------------------------
Unknown (Again B-side....)
Hey Jupiter

These were the songs played but probably not in that order I'm still dreaming........Bye

------ addendum ------------

Sorry about this but

a) She played Honey

b) Steve Caton came on stage and played guitar on a few tracks...... He dropped the guitar when Tori was singing and made a people quelch at the sound it made.

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A wonderful performance. The Philharmonic Hall is the home of the city's orchestra and has recently been refurbished giving superb acoustics. I think she would have been marvelous at any venue though.

Willy Porter opened the show and really impressed me with his guitar skills, especially when he was joined my a drummer and bass player. Will have to listen out for him.

Tori got a great reception when she came on stage. I remember that she told us that she had had calamari for dinner.

This is what I think was played, the order is probably slightly out and I may have missed a couple.

Main Set:

Tear in your hand(with ac.gutar)

i think i've include everything here,though the order may be a little confused.

She played for about an hour and a half,and it was everything i expected and more.Her voice was amazing and the atmosphere(particularly Bells for her and Cornflake girl)was spine tingling.

Luckily I got front row seats and the view was unbeatable.To tell you the truth i was mesmerised.I'm surprise I can remember any of it at all.I've been a Tori fan since the beginning and Still listen to her stuff every day.Its kind of like a drug that gets you through lifes shit. She was quit funny in places.Some of the audience kept heckling her to play icicle.She did in the end but forgot half the words i.e.
And when my hand touches myself,and i've forgotten the words
And i can't remember the rest,so i'll sing something else instead.

Daisy dead petals on the other hand was elsewhere....
Daisy dead petals that is her name,she's not getting played tonight
Cos she's got a date and a chardonnay,she's having a great time

Funny huh?

When she sang Damage I have to admit that I did cry.I guess I just got emotional at the time.You can't help it though.I guess all of us Tori fans feel part of certain songs and...Oh well.I'm talking bollocks now ought to finish.

---

From a posting to the rec.music.tori-amos newsgroup by Anthony Holloway (ajh@axp3.ast.man.ac.uk)

I have seen the calls for people wanting to know how the concerts are going so here is some info on the concert I saw last night.

She had a support act before she came on, a chap called Willy Porter playing guitar and singing, with bass and drummer. Good stuff, he sounded not unlike Tori in his style. He also did an excellent version of one of Michael Jacksons songs from when he was about 10, complete with authentic very high pitched voice which got everyone laughing!

First off, the set list (which I got from the sound engineer, I didn't sit there with notepad & paper).

Horses
Losing my religion
Silent all these years
Father lucifer
Bells for her
Little Amsterdam
Space dog
Cornflake girl
Doughnut song
Mr Zebra
Precious things
Not the red baron
Happy phantom
Marianne
Caught a lite sneeze
Me & a gun
--1st encore
Putting the damage on
Winter
--2nd encore
Tear in your hand
Hey Jupiter

She also played Icicle, as for the encores suggestions were called out by the audience. However, half way through Icicle she forgot the words and starting singing 'I knew I wasn't going to sing this tonight so I've forgot the words' which had everyone cheering!

On the gossip front she was saying how the audiences in the north of the UK go a bit more mental in clapping/cheering etc than in the south. She said they just sit there and go 'clap clap clap', even when they come they probably just go 'clap clap clap'. She also did a cockney accent for this and said that she had learnt all this stuff from her boyfriend, who is from the north of England! Who he?

On stage she had piano, harpsicord and organ for Hey Jupiter. She had a guitarist with her, introducing him and saying that they had been together since Y Kant Tori Read, about which she suggested we forget all about it.

For the fashion consious(?), she had a white top and black trousers on, and for sale were t-shirts, jerseys, and bright orange wooly hats!

All in all a really excellent show,

And congrats to Rantz on a job well done for the tour book.

---

From a posting to the RDT mailing list by Charlie Farrell (CFarrell@dataware.com)

NOTE FROM MIKEWHY: This is a nicely detailed review, but I think some of the songs mentioned here were not actually played!

It was my first time seeing Tori live and I was very much looking forward to the whole experience. It was heartening to see the Apollo sold-out and with an audience of all ages - for once I didn't feel old going to a gig, as there were plenty of people in their 30's (like me) and above.

As the lights went down, the stage curtains parted to reveal a starry backdrop with Tori seated stage-centre, with the piano to the right and harpsicord to the left. She went straight into Beauty Queen and Horses, followed by an unusual interpretation of 'Loosing My Religion', which I didn't recognise until she reached the chorus. it was certainly an interpretation that will take some time to grow on me.

Silent All these years and Father Lucifer followed, with Tori adding the familiar piano theme from Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells onto the end. She then played Little Amsterdam, Agent Orange and Space Dog before taking the opportunity to chat to the crowd. She thanked us for responding so warmly and enthusiastically and compared the reaction with the 'more refined clapping' that she received from the audiences 'down south'. She commented that as she had a northern boyfriend (well he's from Lincolnshire), she was becoming more aware of the differences between 'down south' (I.e. London and the south East) and 'oop North' ( which Londoner's like to believe starts at Watford (a small town 15-20 miles north of London)).

Further extracts from BfP followed - Talula, Donut Song, Not the Red Baron (complete with slide show of 1st World War biplanes - the Red Baron had a Fokker Triplane, but I don't remember seeing one of these in the film). Tori then played Precious Things, a very jaunty version of Happy Phantom and Mr Zebra. In introducing Marianne, Tori mentioned how it was written about an old school friend who had been some one who outwardly had always been very happy and friendly to each and everyone. She was someone who had been almost 'too good', but who had tragically killed herself, which had prompted Tori to write the song about her.

Following Marianne, Tori played CALS and then Me and a gun which brought a respectful silence to the whole crowd before they errupted into applause to call her back for encores. I can't recall what the first encore was (shame on me), but she followed it with quite the most delicious version of Winter, which only served to bring home to me that this is, and probably always will be, my favorite song of hers - just breathtaking.

Another short break followed, during which time the harpsicord was replaced by an organ, and Tori came back to tease the audience with a snippet from Icicle before launching into Tear in your Hand. She finished with Hey Jupiter on the organ. In all, she had played for almost 2 hours, but it had passed in a flash. Even my sister who came to the gig with me and who was not familiar with much of Tori's work, was astonished at how quickly the time had flown. It was a great gig and I look forward to seeing her once again in London on the 9th March.

====

Well I hope I haven't said anything too controversial or inaccurate.

The official Tori mechandise that was on sale in the foyer include a nice selection of white or grey t-shirts featuring phots from the booklet for Bfp and a black t-shirt with 'Recovering Christan' in large lettering on the front. I was sorely tempted to buy one, but I bought a 'Dew drop Inn' shirt instead. Perhaps I'll pick one up at the Albert Hall.

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---

Tori's Performance In Sheffield UK, February 24

From a posting to the ToriNews mailing list by Cara of a review written by Stuart Ellershaw

We finally got inside and bought a programme. They cost 7 pounds which is a lot but I'm used to their high price now. There isn't much writing inside but there are some gorgeous photos. Neil Gaiman had written a piece too. It contains the lyrics to some songs along with some new illustrations for 'Mr Zebra', 'Doughnut Song' and I think 'Horses'. The picture with 'Mr Zebra' is especially great. It's like a child's drawing but you can tell a professional artist has painted it. The t-shirts were cool. I didn't buy one but there were lots to choose from - one was black and said 'Recovering Christian' in big white letters on it, one had a little picture and the chorus to 'Blood Roses' written around it and others had some stills from the CaLS single cover. They were all great.

We had a great view. We were 5 rows from the front and right in the middle of the stage. The support act was playing as we sat down. His name was Willie Porter I think, it was just him and an acoustic guitar. He was very very good, an amazing guitar player. The sounds he was getting out of the guitar were astounding.He played intricate fiddly bits but still managed to pluck out a kind of bassline while he was playing too. He had a great strong voice and was American which surprised me, I thought he looked English. He was quite tall and dressed in black jeans and a black shirt and wore a black 'pork pie' hat. His best song was a very funny cover of the Jackson 5's "I want you back". He sang it with the high falsetto voice that Michael had back then, the audience loved it. He got an extra huge cheer after that one. People even shouted "Don't go!" when he finished his set.

The audience were mainly studenty types with a few older couples in their late twenties/early thirties and there was a balance of 50/50 males to females roughly. The girl two seats down from me looked so much like Tori it was scary! She was only about 19 but she'd win any Tori lookalike competition!

Tori came on at 9pm. I don't know whether to talk you through the show song by song or summarise it first. I hope this doesn't spoil it for you when you see her but it will be interesting to see how much she changes her set when she flies over the pond to play for you. You could always just not read it until you've seen her I suppose!

I think I'll summarise it first. She played 19 songs -

5 from Little Earthquakes, just 2 from Under the Pink which surprised me, 8 from Boys for Pele, 3 b-sides and one cover version

It all started to the strains of 'Son of a Preacher Man' by Dusty Springfield. The backdrop was a black sheet covered in an array of small bright white lights set up to look like stars in the night sky. Tori calmly walked on and waved to us. When the applause died down she sat in the centre of the stage in between her Bosendorfer and Harpsichord. She was wearing a pair of faded jeans with one ripped back pocket and a silver shiny glittery cotton short sleeved top. Over her top, which was kinda like a t-shirt I suppose she wore a smooth low cut silver top with thin red straps over the shoulders. She looked a bit larger than I thought she was, maybe it was her 'edge of the piano stool' sitting position but she definitely seems to have put a bit of weight on round her hips and thighs. Her hair was pulled back in a pony tail with bits coming down the sides, it looked nice. She was wearing fairly high stiletto heels that didn't really go with her jeans, but that's our Tori for you.

Without saying anything to us she launched straight into 'Beauty Queen/Horses'. Then she played 'Crucify' followed by 'Take to the Sky' which she's only played once before in concert as far as I know. There was no one else on stage with her, no band or anything so it looked like another 'Tori and her piano' tour, except with a Harpsichord this time too. To complement the backdrop of stars some other lights appeared that could move across the stage and move up and down by remote control. Two spotlights shone and projected a lovely swirling twisting pattern in different colours above the piano and harpsichord as she played these songs.

She still hadn't spoken to us yet but thankfully after 'Take to the Sky' she turned round to face us and said "Hi", and said that this was the second date of her 200 date World Tour, so she was still in the 'honeymoon' phase, and she asked us to remember her by the 87th show when she'd be in Ohio, and she should have got everything right by then. She said "Y'know how at first when you get married, in the 'honeymoon' period it's exciting and you're still enthusiastic, but after a while when he tries it on you just feel like saying 'Hey honey, is there a football match on TV or something?' And that's how I'll feel by the end of the tour."

Her little chat finally broke the ice between her and us. It was as if she was in a little glass bowl before, where we were on the outside looking in at her performance. She seemed almost in a trance sometimes then suddenly remembered to look at us as she played. When she did look at us it was as if she was looking straight into our souls, it wasn't the cursory glance that most rock stars give at the audience in general, she stared at a fixed place then a few seconds later stared somewhere else, rather than just sweeping her head across us all.

I wasn't used to the intensity of performance that she gave. Usually in concerts the singer runs over to one side of the stage and waves at the crowd there, who all jump up and wave and scream hysterically at them, then he/she runs over to the other side of the stage and does the same to that side, then says "Hello at the back!" and they go wild, but with Tori it's a much more reverent affair. She doesn't play the 'Big Star' role at all. We sit down and politely applaud after each song. I didn't feel she ever really struck a rapport with the audience though, the chat I described above was the only time she spoke more than a sentence to us. Y'know how when an artist makes a joke and comments to you through a show, it makes you warm to them and them to you, well it wasn't like that with Tori. I thought we'd be getting more intimate with each other. To be honest the support act Willie Porter got the audience going more than Tori did. Usually people ignore the support act and then go wild for the main attraction, but things were much more even this time, people really listened to Willie and I do feel that he 'connected' better with us than Tori did. It really did feel like we were on the outside watching a private performance with her.

As she gives such great interviews I was expecting some of her wit and personality to come across but I'm afraid it didn't. The performances were stunning though, her voice was on top form and the keyboard playing was out of this world.

After 'Take to the Sky' the set changed. The starry backdrop disappeared and a triangular screen was lowered down which looked like it was pointing at Tori. For each song that followed a different pattern or piece of film was shown on the screen to go with the music.

The next song she played is the only one I didn't recognise. She played it on the harpsichord and I know it was none of the harpsichord songs from the album. I can't remember any of the words unfortunately but it was a lovely song, it sounded a little like, but better than, Talula and Blood Roses. It was a little mellower than those songs. I think it must be a future b side. I can imagine her using the harpsichord for a b side. She played two old b sides so there's no reason why she couldn't play one future one. And by the time she comes to you, or even finishes her UK tour the audience may know it by then, as a b side from Talula if that is the next single like you say. I didn't know what the next single would be or when it would be released. Talula isn't the most commercial song on the album is it, but I guess it might grow on me more when I hear it on the radio. But if gets the same radio play as CaLS then I'll never hear it.

The harpsichord sounded really great. Tori's hands hardly seemed to move over the keys but the most lovely sound came out of it. It sounded so crisp and clear, a really pleasant sound, not harsh at all.

As she finished that mystery song who should walk on with an electric guitar but Steve Caton! That was a nice surprise. She introduced him and said that he was in Y Kant Tori Read with her, and that she sang backup for the band he formed after the demise of YKTR. I can't remember what she said the band was called but I never knew that she sang for that band. It's bugging me what Steve's band was called. It had three words and was a bit of a cheesy 80's pretentious type name. She said that Steve has played on all of her solo albums so they go back a long way.

Steve helped Tori with the next song, which was 'Little Amsterdam'. I love this on the album but thought it lost a little impact without the drums. Steve's guitar was good and subtle, and they even had that radio tuning sound playing in the background on a backing tape.

Next came 'Spacedog'. That was great. I love the live version. It was the same version as on the last tour but this time with Steve helping out it sounded more complete.

Steve then changed his guitar to an acoustic one and strummed the intro to 'Cornflake Girl' to rapturous applause. I couldn't believe how exactly the same the guitar sounded to the guitar on the studio version of the song. There was no backing track for this one but it still sounded fantastic, just Tori, her piano and Steve's acoustic guitar. The guitar was mixed up nice and loud and the instruments sounded great together. It was a nice change to hear this one without the percussion. Steve kept looking at Tori when he played with her, you can tell he wasn't just following a set piece of music, he was following on from Tori's lead, as she played the song whatever speed and whatever way she wanted, so he had to watch her in case she slowed down and they got out of sync. You have to know someone well to do that I think.

Just before the end of the song I noticed something hanging from Steve's guitar. I thought it was some kind of special microphone lead but it was a guitar string dangling down. Then I noticed he'd totally snapped a couple of the strings! Tori noticed this too and so in the refrain of "Rabbit, where'd you put the keys girl?" she sang "Rabbit, I broke my gee-tar string!" which got a laugh! Luckily the song was almost over by this time and Steve picked up his electric guitar but decided not to play it, he just left Tori to finish on her own.

Then came 'Doughnut Song'. Steve used his electric guitar and perfectly reproduced the wah-wah sound throughout the song. A lovely version.

Tori flipped into Little Earthquakes mode for the next 10 minutes and played 'Leather' followed by 'Precious Things'. I thought with Steve there she'd let him play electric guitar on Leather like on the album version but she just played it alone like she always does. They both still sounded fantastic though. The sound at a concert is nothing like the sound from a bootleg recording is it. Nothing could sound as good as actually being there. This concert was the about the best one sound quality-wise that I've been to. It was all crystal clear and Tori's voice was mixed perfectly, not too quiet or too loud.

She was knocking the songs out thick and fast, and never waited for the applause to die down before she launched into the next song. Often when Tori started the next song one of the remote control lights was still moving into position making a humming sound but she didn't wait for it to stop before starting playing. She seemed much happier playing the newer songs, I think she's so used to playing the Little Earthquakes songs she couldn't get as 'into' them as she could with the fresh new songs.

It was back into Boys for Pele for the next two songs. First she played 'Not the Red Baron' which is my least fave song on the album. It just doesn't have a good melody. They projected onto the triangular screen an ancient black and white film of pilots getting into biplanes on air fields which gave us something to look at. You could hear the Dutch pilots talking in the background from a backing tape all the way through the song.

She then played 'Putting the Damage On' which was really gorgeous. I missed the Black Dyke Mills band but it still sounded lovely.

Steve accompanied Tori with his acoustic guitar for the next song. Good job he had a spare one after the Cornflake Girl incident! Again it took me a while to recognise it because I knew it wasn't an album track and it was one of those songs where the title doesn't appear in the lyrics. At least I don't think it does. I recognised the line "Skip to the loo" and the chorus that goes something like "You're just too used to mourning" then I remembered - it was 'Honey', an extra track from the Pretty Good Year single. I love this song. It's not a very rare song for her to play live but she doesn't play it that often does she. It sounded great with the guitar, just like the studio version.

Then Tori turned to her harpsichord and played the intro to a song. It took a few seconds for me to recognise it because I was used to hearing the drum loop with it, but it was 'Caught a lite Sneeze'. It was a really good version. Kind of like 'half a song'. It's hard to describe unless you hear the live version for yourself. She seemed to sing more of the chorus and less of the verses but I think it just sounded more hollow without the drums, like it never got fully started. It still sounded good though. The bridge was good when she switched back to the piano for a few seconds. I think Steve joined her on this one, I can't remember.

Next it was the turn of the obligatory 'Me and a Gun'. I hadn't seen her sing this before, right in front of me and it really was stunning. A few people had colds and were coughing now and again during the show but no one made a sound during this song. You could hear a pin drop.

And then came 'Marianne'. I quite like this song, again it isn't one of my very favourites from the album. The one thing I do like on the studio version of this song is the orchestra that comes in half way through. Of course there was no orchestra this time so I think the song lost a bit of impact because of that. It would have been nice to hear the orchestra on backing tape.

When Marianne finished Tori waved then walked off stage without saying anything. The time had gone really quickly and I thought she was just going off to change her top or something but I then realised it was time for the encore already! She'd been playing for an hour and 25 minutes. She wasn't off stage long and she soon came back and sat back at the piano. Someone shouted 'Winter!' as she started playing.

It took a few seconds for me to recognise it, but she was playing 'Losing my Religion'. It was a good version, much more ambient than REM's version, but the same as her studio version.

Then she went into 'Winter' which was gorgeous and got a good reception. I don't know if that was because the guy shouted it out or if she was gonna play it anyway. I'm sure she would have sung it otherwise there'd have been a riot!

After that she walked off again and we all cheered and whistled, hoping for a second encore. Then some roadies walked onto the stage and we thought that was that. They wheeled off the harpsichord but then they wheeled on a small upright piano. At least that's what it looked like from the side. I thought she couldn't be doing 'Bells for Her' as the final song. Tori walked on again for the last time and sat at the 'piano'. She started pumping the food pedal and pressing one key repeatedly. From the sound I could tell this was no piano. I realised it was an old organ - one of those where you have to pump the foot pedal to blow air through to make the keys make sounds I think. Then she started singing and I realised it was 'Hey Jupiter'. It sounded so cool and different through that organ! It took a minute for me to get used to, then I realised how appropriate it sounded and how much it suited the song.

When she finished she said "Thank you" and walked off the stage. It was 10.45pm so she'd been on for an hour and three quarters. The only thing that spoilt it, and I think Tori could probably hear this too, was a constant bass thump during the last 20 minutes or so of the show. I didn't find out until the next day, but the City Hall has another large hall downstairs under the ground level beneath the main auditorium where we were. I thought the thumping sound was some kind of electricity generator, but my fears were confirmed when my sister told me they have a disco down there every Saturday night. You could feel the bass thump through your feet! Of course in a normal rock concert you wouldn't be able to hear that but with Tori's quiet performances you could. I wondered if Tori could feel and hear it too and if it put her off. I guess I'll never know. If the show had been on a Tuesday or some other mid-week night then there would have been no disco, it was just unlucky that she was there on a Saturday night.

I was sad she didn't use the backing tape more. She used it just for background sound effects rather than full backing for a song. I was hoping to see her perform a loud crashing version of 'Professional Widow' with the full backing track on tape and the lights going haywire like they did on the last tour for 'God' but alas no. Steve did add something to the songs and with the harpsichord and organ there was more variety to the sounds this time, I just wish they made more use of backing tapes.

I spoke to Julian this morning and he said he was a little disappointed with the concert also. He saw her on the Under the Pink tour and he said that Tori spoke to the audience much more that time. That's one thing he was really looking forward to, Tori's funny little chit-chats with us.

Tori must have asked the ushers for no distractions during her performance, as Julian said he went to the loo during a song and they wouldn't let him back in until the song had finished. He'd never heard of that happening before. That's why they said I couldn't go in once Tori had started if I was outside in the corridors on the way back from seeing my sister, Tori obviously wanted no coming and going (at least no coming back) while she played....

To summarise I'd say that I really enjoyed it but I wasn't blown away as much as I was expecting to be. Everyone kept saying how intense and powerful her concerts are, and that they are an experience to treasure, but the fact that Tori hardly talked spoiled it a little. Maybe if I didn't have such high expectations it would have been better. I think it needed a little more 'ooomph' if you know what I mean, at least one backing track with drums would have been nice.

The most notable exception from the set was 'Silent all these years', with 'China' and 'God' as the next most surprising omissions. I wasn't expecting her to only play two songs from Under the Pink either. I thought 'The Waitress' or 'Baker Baker' would have gone down well, as would 'Past the Mission'. I would have loved to have heard 'Professional Widow', 'Father Lucifer', 'Muhammad My Friend' and 'Mr Zebra' as well but we all have our own personal favourites don't we.

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From a posting to the rec.music.tori-amos newsgroup by Max Hedge(hedgem@cs.man.ac.uk)

Right, this is my first attempt etc. etc. at a post so don't have me killed if it goes horribly wrong. And I'm crap with song names so you'll have to make do with song quotes instead.

I can't post a full set list because it's nigh on impossible to write in the pitch-black of the Sheffield City Hall (2nd date) but points of note include:

She came on stage (after an impressive American folksy guitar bloke called Willy Porter) to "Son of a Preacher Man"! And, the first song was as per Boys for Pele ("I got me some horses to ride on...". Backdrop was a sort of curtain with all thes lights stiched into it and very spectacular it was too. She was dressed in grey sleeveless top and blue jeans (surprisingly....!) and sat between a piano and a harpsichord. No accompaniment in the entire set apart from Steve Caton on occasional backing guitar.

Second was Crucify, then Take to the Sky. Then that one with the line "Can't stop... loving" whose name escapes me. Next, Little Amsterdam, which she cocked up the intro to, stopped dead, went "oops!" in that horrifically cute way she does, and started again!

Some other song (can't remember), then Space Dog. Miles better than on the album. Cornflake Girl. Caton's guitar string broke at the end!

At this point (ish) the backdrop was pulled back to reveal a triangular screen of sorts which they played video footage on. Reminded me of the REM backdrop at Milton Keynes!

Something else (!) then Leather (superb) Precious Things, something involving airplanes. Then Angie. Maybe. Caught A Light Sneeze - cutting between harpsichord and piano in mid-song!

Me and a Gun. Breathtaking. No backing needed, obviously. Something else, then the encore.

As a professed REM fan, to my delight, Losing My Religion! Only recognisable from the lyrics, of course, but wonderful nonetheless.

Winter. One of the highlights of the set.

Couple of other songs, then Hey Jupiter. Probably _the_ highlight of the set. Seemed to go on for months.

Sorry, that wasn't a great report. Overall points:

(For anyone who's not seen her live) anyone can sound good in a studio. Tori's voice has all the power and clarity (if not more) live. Piano / harpsichord/orgam playing (as far as an amateur can tell) technically brilliant. Moments of comedy - changing the rhythm of songs for effect, and giving the audience funny looks. She said she wished we could all go to the 87th gig (that's what she said) in Dayton, Ohio, because she'll be really practiced by then, but I couldn't tell the difference. Great light show, good support as well.

Down point: No Silent All These Years. Boo. But a quick note to all those people annoyed by the amount of harpsichord on BfP: Don't worry. She used it on about four songs, tops.

So: If you have to kill your best 18 friends and mug their grannies in order to get tickets, go and see her. Quite wonderful.

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From a posting to the rec.music.tori-amos newsgroup by Neil Parkinson(neilp@cix.compulink.co.uk)

Just got home from seeing the 2nd night of the Tour....

All the following is IMHO...

Sad to say, it wasn't one of her better nights. After about six songs she described it as the night after a wedding night; a let down after the first night of the tour. She said she had 200 shows to go and promised to be better if we all came back to see show 87!!!

She didn't seem to be enjoying herself and whilst it was, as ever, a privilege to hear her play, she wasn't her old self. Songs like Doughnut Song and Putting the Damage On were great; but she never really let rip on the more extrovert numbers.

There was also only one chat between songs; most unusual.

I hope hope hope that this was a one night aberration and that she's not losing her enthusiasm for touring.

I'll just have to go to the London dates to check. :-))))))))

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Tori's Performance In Ipswitch UK, February 23

From a posting to the RDT mailing list by Janet Susan Robertson (J.S.Robertson@uea.ac.uk)

1st date of Dew Drop Inn Tour '96-'97...

Ipswich Regent Theatre 23rd February 96.....

Okay then, here's a rundown of one of the cuellest nights of my life :) two years waiting for this and boy, it was most definately worth it....

The support act were very cuell, reminded me of Toad The Wet Sprocket a lot and the lead singer/guitarist was excellent... very talented... Unfortunately I never heard the name of the band mentioned but will find out tonight at the Sheffield gig (24th).... Very cuell song played only by guitarist on acoustic as last song.. it was about little animals crossing the roads in America and how they never make it to the other side :( poor little things... it was an instrumental and really showed his talents as a guitarist .... excellent band.. can't wait to see them again.. apparently there's an album out on BMG and I will find that out too...

Anyway... onwards to the Goddess :)

It was overall the best concert ever .. I saw her twice last tour and even though that was tremendous this was way beyond anything I imagined.. just thinking the events over gives me a little shiver :) When Tori came on stage the whole place erupted.. it was clear everyone had been looking forward to this day for quite some time :)

The lighting was spectacular :) Have to say this cos my friend's mad about lightning.. strange girl :) but it really was cuell. there was this backdrop completely of glowing stars it made Tori just seem so cuell and then it changed into something which can only be described as a cross between a broken spider's web and blue spindly trees with faerie lights... anyway it Was cuell :) She went straight into Beauty Queen followed by Horses and the two were simply beautiful.. I couldn't believe the day had arrived even though there was Tori up on the stage writhing around on the piano stool making everyone smile and ooooh ...

The next,Crucify was brilliant.. In fact it moved me to tears it was so cuell, the way she bangs her foot on the stage to make the rhythm and draws out the notes...

Take To The Sky pleased everyone too, it was good to hear some of the cuell bee sides that you don't expect to hear.. I managed to get a set list (yipeeee) and the alternate song for different nights for this was Sugar which would be cuell to hear too.. There was no God in the set , which actually felt right for some reason... the whole set was done with no backing as the last tour was (with C.Girl and God anyway..) but rather just with Tori on piano and Harpsichord and sometimes Steve Caton on acoustic and electric.... It made a change to hear cornflake girl stripped down to it's underwear :)

Bells For Her was done on the harpsichord instead of the mashed up piano of pink days and well, it didn't really strike me the same way as the original had done., it really did lose some of the charm and appeal I came to love it by... but nevermind :)

Little Amsterdam had a loop in there somewhere and also had a cover mixed in with it although I did not recognise this but no doubt someone out there will have done... any one go to the Ipswich date and recognise this...?

Dougnut Song too was extremely moving and also had a cover in with it, and yet again I don't know it... doing really well here :)

The backgrounds to the songs were stunnning too... some just had a swirling mass on a triangular background,, and lights that moved up and down glowing .. Not The red Baron had a film playing in the background of war planes which obviously complemented it perfectly and made it seem even more impressive.. Other backgrounds included shoals of fish , a NIN looking blood/straw one, a cottage and a tree or some people say it was a cliff, distorted.. actually on the way back to Norwich in the taxi we had a debate on the backgrounds some thought the fishes were snow... and so on.. when she comes to your city try and work it out :)

i could describe each song in detail but i really don't think I'd do them justice.... one last thing was Hey; Jupiter the last song...I know there's a lot of people on rdt who adore this song and find it their favourite.. all I can say is see her live playing this... as it was the last song.. there were people coming out with tears streaming down...me included :) It seems to sum up every emotion a Tori concert and indeed drains the audience... I have found before in shows, even in the pink tour with tori , that at times i feel like just going to the bar or find myself thinking about soemthing else and not listening.... not this time... you have to listen FULLY... take in every note and really Feel the music... I was so over come with emotion and respect for Tori afterwards I felt both drained and alive and will look back on this day with the happiest of memories. ...even though at one point I didn't think we'd make it there in time...

Go see her.... don;t just think ooooh maybe... it needs to be done...

One last thing...
Past The Mission
... I don't believe I went too far (dah dah dah daaaaaah)..... Just look around at this point and see Everyone tap their fingers or feet and the dah dah bit... it's so cuell and fun :)

See ya rdters :) Take care

Sister janet (with 4th row tickets tonight yipeeeee)

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