Theo van Dijk and jesse van rijn sent me a review of Tori's January 20 Rotterdam, The Netherlands show from the January 22, 2003 edition of the Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant. They both kindly translated the article from Dutch into English for us.

TORI AMOS LIKES TO DO THINGS THE HARD WAY

Tori Amos. Ahoy' , Rotterdam, January 20th

Tori Amos sits in between a giant piano on the left and some more modern keyboards on the right of her. With her left hand she touches the piano-keys, and with her right hand she produces electronic sounds. Not an easy pose, but Tori Amos likes to make things more difficult than strictly necessary.

Take for instance her latest album, Scarlet's Walk. In her own words this album is a 'sonic novel' about her relationship with America.A assumption she never realises. Still, the album is her best since Boys For Pele (1996).

Why does Tori Amos have to make everything so difficult? A little song with a catchy melody, like Wednesday, was an exception during her sold-out performance in the Rotterdam Ahoy'. The rest of her material lacks every bit of sing-a-long-ability. Often it seems as if she tries to put three songs in one.

This can irritate you, but at the Ahoy' the irritation that was there on the start turned into admiration. Accompanied by a skilled two-peopleband of bass and drums Amos demanded all the attention for herself. She crwaled on her bench from one keyboard to the other but never overdid it.

Above that, Amos made the whole thing very exciting. Afestive Cornflake Girl and the well known song Crucify where the evening's highlights, while the usual Tori Amos-solo wasn't anything like routine. China and The Cure's Lovesong had surprising new melodies. To hear Amos on her own may be even more impressive than together with the band.

It's always a pleasure to hear an artist play,who really means something in the life of her followers. There aren't that many, but the concentration and happiness with which the audience enjoyed Tori Amos, was definitely different than what one usually finds at a rockconcert.

Scarlet's Walk may still be a difficult album, but to be at a concert of Tori Amos turned out to be a very pleasant experience!