5 1/2 Weeks Tour
Wantagh, NY
September 1, 1999
Updated October 20, 2000
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5 1/2 Weeks Tour
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Check Out The Reviews And Set Lists Page Tori performed in Wantagh, NY on September 1, 1999 at Jones Beach during the Tori & Alanis Morissette 5 1/2 Weeks Tour.  Set ListGod
Leather (solo)
Suede Encore: |
ReviewsFrom susan (delyrium)Sent to the Dent on October 20. 2000 - heh, wow is this late but I read all the reviews and was inspired. This show was the most amazing time of my life. When I found out Tori was playing at Jones Beach, I bought tickets. Yes, crappy seat tickets (i was 1st row in Camden and 7th in Holmdel). So my radio station (92.7 WLIR) was giving away tickets, I ended up winning them. So I sold off my tickets. Then, in the morning I heard that the same radio station was having the "world's largest outdoor shower". This didn't interest me until I heard they were giving out tickets for a "Tori Amos Soundcheck Party". I went there at 6am to take a shower outside with my friend Keri in 60 degree weather (we kept our clothes on). No one but us was there, so we automatically won. I wasn't expecting what was ahead of me. First we got to the venue at the time the radio station told me to meet them, I ended up actually catching Tori's M&G (I barely saw her). Then I meet up with the people from the station, a girl and a guy. There were 2 other couples with us (two girls and a guy and his girlfriend). We talked a bit and then they told us to follow them. They gave us an Alanis M. backstage pass. Some guy SOMEHOW sneeked back with us (dirty rat!) and no one caught him. We waited in a room up above the whole venue and I could hear Tori singing Juarez. Then after about 20 minutes of my palms getting sweaty, they took us out and Steve sat all 6 of us (me, my mom, Keri, 2 radio station people, and the 5 others) in the highest up seats, but it was JUST us! Tori played Blood Roses and then Smells Like Teen Spirit. I was so in awe , then she looks up at us and goes "Hey guys how are you doing?" I flipped out and screamed out to her "Oh my god I love you Tori!" and she blows a kiss into the microphone and goes "Aw I love you too!". Everyone looked at me and giggled as my face went bright red! Then they took us UNDER the venue and one of the radio people go to me "Hey Susan, get ready...you're going to meet Tori backstage". I almost passed out. My heart pounded. The security guy told us that they will only let us have 1 polariod picture with Tori and that she will sign it, nothing else. We waited at the doorway of a room. I was behind the 2 girls so I could see over them sorta. Then all of a sudden I heard one say "oh my god there she is!" once i heard that and saw a lil red of her hair, I broke into hysterical tears. I couldn't stop crying. The girls were told to go into the room and I just watched in awe, crying. Then it was MY TURN! I was stuck at the doorway, Tori stared at me. My mom and Keri took me by the arms and walked me into the room. I held my lil box (that had a necklace in it for her) and a postcard with the LE cd in my hand. Tori came up to me, grinned and gave me a HUGE hug. I couldn't think, I was so filled with emotions that I just kept saying "i love you" "you're beautiful". My mom pretty much told Tori all that I wanted to say. Then Tori goes "okay sweetie, let's take a picture". Tori got right next to me, put her arm around me and we smiled. Then when she was signing the pic she looks at me and goes "oh sweetie, stop crying...you are making me cry". Then I was wearing this cute little kitty kat ears and tori points at them and goes "oh how cute!" Her BEAUTIFUL eyes were big and all teary. So I kinda calmed down and she signed my LE booklet. Finally it was time to go and she gave me one last HUGE hug. I never felt so blessed in my life. Then I went to meet Alanis, I was not impressed she seemed so ... cold. So I ended up getting my tickets traded in to be in FRONT ROW. Tori came out and smiled at me. She sang beautifully and when she purred in "Cornflake Girl" she looked to me and smirked. At the end she came out and went over to me to shake my hand, all of a sudden some guy behind me pretty much stepped all over me and Tori goes "get the fuck off her" and grabs my hand so I wouldn't fall under him. It was GRREEAATT! Okay, i'm rambling. hehe, sorry for such a late review but just WOW. Oh yea, and after Alanis' concert she gave me a pear and my friend an orange (oo fru it! hah). From Richard HandalSeptember 3, 1999 - Richard Handal called me from the venue to give me a report. After tonight's show, Richard says he's starting to call this the Take No Prisoners Tour. During Crucify, Tori stopped and went to the side of the stage and talked to the security guards privately while the band continued vamping. Then she returned and started playing again, but then stopped shortly thereafter (though the band kept on vamping) and says the following into the microphone, and this is only an approximate quote, "I love security guards. I've blown many of them in my life. But I need to sing to the kids...I don't care if this is fucking New York...I need the kids here or I'm not going to sing." This was in reference to the fact that security was keeping the kids from the stage. The meet & greet today was later than usual, at 5:00PM. Soundcheck continued past 6:00. During Leather Tori forgot the lyrics more than once, asking the crowd something like, "How's it go?" Tear In Your Hand sounded a little slowed down this evening. Tori really did do Jackie's Strength alone at the piano during secretime and did NOT use the band. Graveyard had an entirely new piano arrangement. The written set list had Take To The Sky and China listed for secret time, but Tori did Leather and Jackie's Strength instead. Tori played from 8:21PM until 9:39.
All Reviews Below Were Originally Posted On The Dent ForumSpecial thanks to Laurie Daniels for her invaluable assitance in getting the reviews transferred to the Dent! From palestar:
hey folks.. heres the setlist from the show:
God
Encore: I recored the show from dead center, about 20 rows back from the stage.. I used a Sony D8 DAT and CoreSound Binarual mics.. I listened to the show on the way home in my car and it sounds good.. the bass is a bit loud, but i'll do my best to EQ it out.. other than the occasional scream/chatter from behind me its very clear.. I will be putting up an MP3 of or two of the songs tonite, so check at www.rawk.com/tori/ later on if you want to hear it.. I'm looking to trade for other 5 1/2 week shows on DAT/CD-R.. if you dont have anything to trade, e-mail me anyway, we might be able to work something out.. the show was about 75 minutes, and I'll hopefully be able to fit it on 1 cd for trade.. ok thats it..
take care,
From palestar: near the beginning of crucify she stopped and said she messed up.. blaming the security guards.. she said she didnt give a 'fuck' that it was new york, and she had to see the kids.. not exactly sure what she meant
thats it..
. From Mikewhy: Thanks Nick. I must say, these outdoor venues have some of the nastiest security I have ever seen. At times I have been treated like a wild animal or something and I am thrilled to hear that Tori mouthed off to them. I understand the need to be rough and nasty when necessary but some of these venue security folks go over the line. Go Tori!
From SnoKone73:
Oh My God!!!
From Mikewhy:
Here are additional comments from Richard Handal, who called me after the show. During Crucify, Tori stopped and went to the side of the stage and talked to the security guards privately while the band continued vamping. Then she returned and started playing again, but then stopped shortly thereafter (though the band kept on vamping) and says the following into the microphone, and this is only an approximate quote, "I love security guards. I've blown many of them in my life. But I need to sing to the kids...I don't care if this is fucking New York...I need the kids here or I'm not going to sing." This was in reference to the fact that security was keeping the kids from the stage. The meet & greet today was later than usual, at 5:00PM. Soundcheck continued past 6:00. During Leather Tori forgot the lyrics more than once, asking the crowd something like, "How's it go?" Tear In Your Hand sounded a little slowed down this evening.
From iRoNiCgiRL:
this show was amazing...tori was great! but it seemed to be an alanis crowd to be quite honest..but i loved tori, especially that cop thing she said lol...it was funny.
From leigh: beautiful concert, but if felt so short... did anyone else see winona ryder? she walked right by me when she left backstage. leigh@boysforpele.zzn.com
From wild koba:
i hate to say it, but energy-wise, that may have been the worst tori show i've ever seen. too bad too, because the band had some great moments. and i'm glad people had a blast, and thought it was awesome from their point of view, but from my vantage point....then again, the people around me could've been scared to do anything with the security guards looming. and yeah, i'm bummed that the energy was so low. "blood roses" almost seemed too LONG. and it seemed a lot of people around me were caught off-guard with "suede", almost as if people were unsure whether this was a tori song, a cover, or what. was it me, or did chamberlain drop a stick in (i think) sugar? alanis, suprisingly enough, had significantly more energy this evening (perhaps more alanis fans around me?). again, she put on a very good rock and roll show. what she lacks in musical ability, she makes up for with showmanship, i think. so that's that. glad a bunch of you dug it.
From pixiecell:
hey..
From Seth:
One downnote was this Johnny Goomba sitting behind me who kept on saying, "Yo, this chick is kinda good" A nice toss in the Atlantic might have been nice. But alas Tori never disappoints....
From abear-anoreo:
i'm gonna toss in a few of my own comments since i was at the show (my only one for the tour. some of my friends went to camden and holmdel shows, so ive been getting my tori fix by talking to them about thehows and reading the forum). oh, did i need this show! tori always seems to bring out the good, good emotions inside that need to be felt once in a while. it was alot of fun, and like i said i needed this show, since my school semester begins very, very soon. tori herself was excellent. i'd have to disagree about the post saying there wasn't a lot of energy, but at least from where i was there were tons of energy coming from my friends and the peoples in the row behind us. granted i do think there were alot more alanis fans, but all the people i knew there were for tori, so i don't think it was too lopsided either way. leather- i have this theory, i call it "the new york theory". tori plays this song everytime she's in new york (or at least every time i see her in NY). it never fails? hey for anyone who has a better memory than me, is my theory wrong? i mean she played it at RAINN, at MSG last june, and last night. the fucked up parts were cool, but i would have rather had take to the sky!!! errg! tori's setlist switching strikes again! jackies strength was a welcome surprise, solo at that. its been it a looong time since she played that way. blood roses, my friends don't like the way it is now, but i really loved the musical changes (so too with crucify). what my friends have a problem with is how it changes their interpretation of the song, but i think you can ahve your cake and eat it too= as in have multiple versions of a song and enjoy each one for what they are. waitress and precious things- is it me or did tori suck out alot of the energy of the waitress by shortening the first two breaks?? granted the ending of w. reallly made up for it with like, 5 devil's bitches but still, missing just a liittttttttle something. as for p.t., i can't believe i was actually ready for thsi songa s an encore, but it kicked!!! can't say much more about it =-) alanis was much better than i thought she would be (hey as long as she didnt play unsent it was a good show!!!). cool stuff, very enjoyable. joining you and sympathetic character were highlights. You Learn was great. I wanted to hear Right Through You and Can't Not, but u can't always get what you want. still, very enjoyable and it worked as a seperate performance.
From Bogdi: well, Tori made not only my day, but my whole year yesterday . What better way to end 'the Millenium', LOL?? I have finally gave her a hug and a kiss (and a book, which she was almost gonna sign for me, LOL, before I made it clear that it was for her- to which she made this cute 'thanks' move w/her whole body and said 'oh, thanks!', of course ). My friend Scott (hi ) & I got at the venue ~9 am (yes, yes ). There were ~5 other people there. We waited together till ~11am-1pm, when more people showed up.
The atmosphere was good, we obviously talked Tori , looked at other people's pictures etc. It took me like 1 1/2 hours to read the AP article, since I was constantly stopping to listen to the others (at the M&G, somebody wanted Tori to sign this magazine (AP) and she went I hate this picture!so she drew a funny face and some more stick-y details in the neck area The barricades were set up @ ~1pm and they let us there around 2 (I never carry watches ). In the meanwhile, we were getting closer and closer. There was a certain competitive feel in the air , but, generally, whoever got there early was in the front. I can speak for myself- I woke up at 5am, knowing that this will be my 2nd and last 5 1/2 show. And, no, I'm not a regular, never been to a Tori show before last Sunday- I only have UTP signed, since I thought that a hug and a kiss are of incomparable (spiritual) value . Well, we had to wait from 2 to 5, which was quite a resilience test, he he. I thought I was gonna pass out after the first 1/2 hour, but after I drank some water, I got better and basically had no problems till the end. This long wait had its good parts- when she finally got out of the limo (W/NJ plate), nobody had to actually 'rush' the barricades, since we've known our positions for hours. Also, by the end we were kinda worn out, so there were little hysterics. By 4:30 i was thinking 'I hope I can pull a smile'. The sky was partly cloudy (YAY) and there was also the breeze, at least for us in the front . I had passed out in crowded places before and I was a bit worried. I have to thank Scott for letting me drink most of his water (and also for the fries, around 12pm), to Darrell for passing it up to us and to Maria (hi , hope your grandfather is ok and you are feeling ready to go back to the 'real life') who gave me her ice. However, I was so decided to hug Tori, that, once you know you woke up at 5am and waited for 5 hours already, who cares for another 45 min?! Of course, there was confusion, as some people who showed up at 1pm said that it didn't matter who was there early, since the word was that no one should show up before 2pm. Very logical- besides, they themselves showed up before 2pm he he...and the security did not make us go away, although they were quite aware that we were there Around 3:30, I think, this Alanis fan showed up w/a banner saying 'Go Alanis' (mud fight? LOL). Somebody from behind went 'Go away, Alanis' and there was the occasional 'Atlantis' (reminds me of some 3rd grade twists on Tori's name...however, I laughed too ). The fan asked security if this was the M&G place and somebody shouted something along the lines of 'we're here for Tori Amos'. Maria went 'this is the proportion, 1 to 40', in terms of fans. I think Alanis was doing her soundcheck. It was rather long, which made for other jokes, which I'm not gonna tell, since they might be offensive . After 4:30 people stated to get impatient- at Saratoga, the M&G started at 3:18, if I'm right. Maria thought it was possible there won't be any. But I thought they would've let us know instead of coping w/tired-rabid ewf LOL. We've had to witness a long string of venue workers and hot shots getting in, w/their kids & whatnot. At some point somebody gave us green AM buttons and I thought it was kinda 'ironic' , if not downright sarcastic. At some point, a limo came and left and we thought it might've been Tori (no tour bus in sight). No. Or who knows? Because it was from a limo that she finally got off, inside the gate. Needless to say, everybody started snapping pictures and leaned on us in the front. We were a little bit crushed- especially my Bliss poster - but, hey! Tori was 5 feet from me . So she came in front of the barricade and started from her left. I was right in the middle. She wore a green hooded top, navy jeans and (really cheap LOL) beach flip-flops- the same ones she wore at the Holmdel M&G. Her toes were painted silver- yes, I did check her toes - and they are very small, LOL. 'I love you Tori' came from all sides. She spent a long time w/Maria and was so sweet to her- hell, there was no way you could help eavesdropping, although she spoke softly- that *I* had to hold back tears. She told her that now the times were rough and she has to understand that but she has to be strong etc. So Tori had her arm around Maria's shoulder and her (left) hand was inches from my nose (LOL). I took a loooooooong look at her hand- you know I'm a hand person - and at her short nails (unpainted) and had a terrible urge to stroke her hand, but I thought it mught freak her out, as she wasn't talking to me, you know? When she got to me it was kinda funny, as all I kept thinking about was the hug and so I just stretched my arms and let my circular smile do its job . When Tori saw that, she stretched her arms too- which was the best ever reaction I could've dreamed of!- and so we hugged and I got to 'experience' her stringy hair on my cheek LOL. I can't say more- you know you kinda black out at times like that...So I gave her the book and then Scott took our picture (which I SO hope comes out fine- moron me, I used up all my roll before Tori even got in front of me!!!) and then I kissed her on the left cheeck- which, by the way, looks smoother in reality, her cheekbones are not that prominent- and so I can tell you she was wearing foundation . Her eyebrows were orangey. Darrell keeps teasing me that I'm shorter than Tori, but that's just not possible, LOL! Or maybe it is . People were making requests and somebody asked for Mary. Tori said- not a quote- 'I'm not gonna bullshit you, you know how the guys have to get their stuff together...their condoms...so I don't think we'll do it tonight'. Others said Blood Roses and Twinkle- which she found interesting, judging by the look on her face- and Here.In My Head, all of which she wrote on her left hand, like this: 'Blood', 'Twinkle', 'Here.'. I finally rememebered that I told the Suicidal Boy (hi ) that I'll ask her to play Lust, so I took this chance. She had this smile of her's, you know what I'm talking about, and said Heh, you guys don't know that one yet. For some reason I had the feeling she was thinking about how the MP3s leaked out . I don't know if there's a Lust MP3, since I still want to wait till the album comes out. All I heard so far is: Bliss, 1,000 Oceans, Juarez, Concertina & Suede (last night, yay ). I didn't hear the 1,000 Oceans in concert, though. Since the M&G was so late- and she did take her time w/it - people have started getting there for the actual show. And then there were the Alanis fans wandering around. When we said our goodbyes to Tori, they were curiously watching from a distance- maybe they'll let Alanis know her fans would like to meet her too . After the M&G we went to eat something- all I had since morning was an everything bagel and half a small cup of fries+ half a bottle of water . By the time we got the food and sat on the beach- this is the nice part about the venue, other than that, Saratoga is topping it big time - Tori has already started the soundchek- Juarez, Blood Roses &, later on, Sugar and...Smells Like Teen Spirit!!!! (which we first thought was Purple Rain). I wish somebody has a rec of this soundcheck . We were eating and got to talk about Tori's music (duh! again). And that's when I finally clarified- to myself, as well- what I meant by saying that Tori was so 'normal' in person. The moment she got to the M&G, I calmed down. I don't know about others- although I can tell you some people were shaking- but what I felt was that she doesn't look down on ewf from her pile of money, as other stars seem to be doing when they meet w/their fans. I don't know, there's always a 'pose' type thing that comes along w/being a star and meeting fans. Well, let me tell you that there's nothing like that about Tori. Really. She's not 'impressive' in that sense. I work w/'the public' and I've felt more intimidated by certain annoying know-it-alls than by Tori- waaaay more LOL. That's why I felt free to kiss her (I didn't plan that ). We've also dicussed the spiritual impact that her music has on us- all this during the soundcheck . I said I only wish I had my bathing suit w/me so I could go swimming right then- swimming has a certain magical quality 'in my book' . This morning I woke up w/this strong feeling: I'm never gonna buy a Tori poster again, she's so much more beautiful in reality. Well, if I'll like the poster, maybe I'll bend a little bit , but you get the point. I'm not gonna go into the show, but I'll say that Sugar was AWESOME- I love it w/the band, Leather was so UNEXPECTED & FUNNY w/the messup words- she sang stuff like 'how's it going?' and 'oh god is it my memory'- all you people who don't dig Leather, if you could get your hands on this version, check it out . The beginning was almost like Hey Jupiter and Beauty Queen. It took me the longest time to recognize Blood Roses, although she did it during the soundcheck. But I LOVED it! I like this atmospherical twist her music has gotten . Jackie's Strength was another surprise- on the piano, whoohoo!- I liked this secret time better , although she was having more fun, all in all, at Saratoga (the security was excellent there and didn't annoy her). I've never heard Suede before and I needed some time to get the point, although the first word is 'Suede' LOL ...but it's awesome, what about that line about being 'evil', huh? I was thinking about Cruel, before the show, so it just made sense . Juarez will be the first that song I'll listen when I get the CD. My choice for the book I gave to Tori had everything to do w/how I was feeling after hearing it for the first time last Sunday. lemme wrap it up with: Tori is awesome, sweet and beautiful. If you didn't meet her yet, 12 hours+ of waiting will sound ridiculous- trust me, during the show I wanted this craziness to go on forever .
From Sprvixen:
Before the concert I was thinking of the night before when Tori went off on the two guys in the front row for talking during winter. I was really wishing I was there for that. I was freaking out when Tori went off on the security guards, that just added on to the show for me. Although at first I was a little worried because right after Sugar ended I saw her jump off the piano bench and book it to the right side of the stage heading for Joel. I was wondering what that was all about. Then she was playing Crucify and just said "Stop, I fucked it up. Listen, I love the security guards, I've blown a few of them in my lifetime, and I know this is New York but I don't give a fuck. I have to protect the kids." The concert was just amazing! I loved seeing Tori in the whole outdoors setting, you know, the wind blowing and all, well I don't have that much more to add.. until next time..
From JupiterPoetNYU:
I was a bit disappointed with the show. Of course i would have rather gone then not, but i thought it was short..some songs dragged on...and i saw a more powerful concert last spring at MSG. Some things i did love was Leather...and Suede...and i was suprisingly shocked by how great the venue was. MSG's sound was HORRID..but it was really great at Jones Beach and made all her precious words clear..adn the beautiful water and sunset were just bonuses. My "not such a fan" boyfriend also enjoyed Tori...as i expected. She always puts on a show to remember. can't wait til she comes around again...solo perhaps.. I met some great people there and recognized some from NYU..... "Hello!!" to this great sweet guy i met...he said i looked liek Reese Witherspoon...great guy. I was surrounded by Tori fans and it was so powerful to feel all that energy of excitment. i sat up in the 8R section...dead center and pretty high...and no rude Alanis fans. Everyone enjoyed Tori's preformance.
From zero the hero:
Tori was excellent! Like always! The security guards were talking throughout the set and I was glad to see tori yell at them! Alanis was also excellent and showed alot of energy. To bad Tori and Alanis cann't do a song together. Tori's setlist has been listed. Alanis's setlist in order is:
From immi:
I just want to say that Alanis touched me so much. . .no where near what Tori did for me last night, but I had totally underestimated her as a singer and performer. She was charming, calling Tori a "super goddess" and dedicated songs to us (So Pure to anyone who "feels they can't dance"). I passed up a little book for her during the meet and greet. . .can't say whether it got to her or not. . .I can only hope. The show was amazing and I cried during Precious Things. I never wanted Tori to leave the stage. (Okay, I also cried during Sugar. I'm just a pussy. [smile]) So, basically, it all ROCKED, and I wish my parents were more supportive of my love for this woman and I was going to more shows.
From ToriPhile16:
WOW WOW WOW!!! I was in heaven last night! I was very excited because I got to go to this show out of no where. I got 2 tickets from my roommate(who is strictly an Alanis fan)b/c he couldn't go last minute. So I got to go! YEAH FOR ME!(an extreem Tori Fan) The opening act sounded like he neede to be put out of his misery. I felt bad for him.
I do have one complaint though. The friend that I ended up going with has a daughter that's not even 2 years old yet and a husband who has to go to work at 1 a.m. So sadly we had to leave a little early. As we were leaving our row, someone on the end said"Hey we didn't leave during Tori!" Well I wouldn't have left If i didn't have to. We were not trying to be disrespectful to Alanis. We stayed as long as we could. She only had 1 more song and her encore to go and we wanted to beat the rush and not get stuck in traffic. Even if Tori played last, we still would have left at the same time. Sorry I just had to vent that! Like Alanis said "She's a SUPER GODDESS!!!!!"
From Alactor: Jones Beach was a joy last night. I hadn't seen Tori since Newark last November, so this was a terrific way to end the summer (back to school in a week, ugh). My friend Stef and I got to the theater around 6:00, in time to hear Tori's soundcheck: Juarez (over and over again), Blood Roses '99 (ditto), Sugar, and what was either a new song or a improv that led into...Teen Spirit! I've never seen this one live, and she ended up not doing it at the show, so it was a welcome surprise. Let me tell you, there isn't much to rival the feeling of serenity I experienced during that soundcheck, standing on the beach at the edge of the water, listening to Tori sing. It was beautiful. When the gates finally opened, everyone ran to the merchandise booth...none of us realizing that there was another booth at the other end, virtually deserted! Oops. So I survived the throng, and picked up the tourbook, t-shirt (the one with the Bliss cover) and the Venus Envy keyring (oof, that thing is heavy...I can't believe they're selling that as a necklace too). Opening act did nothing for me, I don't even remember his name. Some of his songs were okay, but the material was canceled out by his voice, which reminded me of Tom Waits on a bad day. I was getting David Poe flashbacks. There were some really nifty things going on with the sunset during his performance, so I concentrated on that instead.
Around 8:20 or so Tori finally came on. I am so proud of what she has accomplished with the band since the days of the Sneak Preview tour (which feels like so long ago!). Last night they were ALIVE, and I am so impressed that even the staples of the Plugged tour still sound fresh. I do wish the setlist had been a little more varied, but it was still a pleasure to hear the new arrangements and the new songs. Bliss vastly improves on the studio version. She really wails on the chorus, and the whole thing just flows better. Blood Roses '99 simply grooves. I really dig that little guitar loop she triggers on the keyboard. As for secret time...forgetting the lyrics to Leather was tres amusing, and abear-anoreo, I absolutely agree with your Leather theory. Every time The new Crucify was a shock. I didn't expect it to sound so electronic, but it worked. This is where the incident with the security guards happened. You've all heard it by now, but I do think it's interesting that this was the second night in a row she's had a rather memorable outburst directed towards someone in the front. When she bolted from the piano, I wasn't sure what was going on. For a second I thought we were having a Miami situation. When she came back to the piano after yelling at who I assume were a guard or two, she said, quite ominously, "I've got my eye on you". She began Crucify, stopped partway into the first verse and said, "Okay, I fucked it up. We're going to start again, but let me say one thing. Now, I love security guards. I have blown quite a few in my time. (crowd ROARS) But I don't give a FUCK that this is New York, I need to play for the kids. Let me play for the kids.(crowd roars again)" I think this may be more accurate than some of the versions I've read here, but I can't say for sure. Waitress rocked as always, but she didn't go all out vocally as much as she usually does. Precious Things is not an ideal encore, this version will always be the opener of Plugged '98 for me, but I'm always happy to hear it. As for the new stuff, Suede is very interesting, but not my favorite of the Venus songs I've heard, and Juarez was flippin' fantastic. Musically, it's very much the cousin of Cruel. The refrain of "No angel here" is haunting. I prayed she would do Concertina, but no luck. Overall, there was a very distinct energy to the set. Part sexual, part anger, part contempt for venue security. As for Alanis, we did stay for her entire set (but made our way out during her encore). She was better than I thought she would be, but still frustrating. She has possibly the most bizarre stage presence I've ever seen- twitching, convulsing, pacing, spinning. It's not always pleasant to watch. I enjoyed the Jagged Little Pill material (who *doesn't* own that album?), but the songs from Junkie? As musically strong as some of those songs are (That I Would Be Good comes immediately to mind), I still feel that Alanis has not grasped the simple concept of putting words to music. Her post-JLP lyrics are generally messy and don't fit the melody, and that b-side she did was an embarrassment. Her tendency to stress the wrong syllables of words (flat-TERED, sim-PLY, ci-TY) makes me cringe. Simply putting poetry and lists to music does not a song make. That said, I did enjoy parts of her performance and in the end she was worth seeing. The audience was much louder during her set, but that's mostly because of the teenyboppers SCREECHING nonstop. The crowd was generally subdued but enthusiastic for Tori's set, and I appreciated that. *sigh* I sincerely hope Tori adds more tour dates, because it would be a shame if this was the only NY area date she ends up doing on this round of touring. God knows I'd love to see her one more time before she takes a well-deserved break.
From Aynge: winona ryder was there ... with like 5 other guys ... she got up during the first few songs to talk to security to see if she could move closer - but no deal. great tori!
From tonedeff:
Ok... The band seems so harsh with some of her songs, it makes her sing differently. It's almost like she vocally retreats herself blend with the thrashing of the band. Dah well. I just wanted all the Alanis fans to see what "REAL MUSICAL GENIUS" was. Like, this was the opportunity for mainstream heads to see what all the underground fuss is about. But, they didn't experience what most of us have at a solo Tori show. I just wished she talked to us a little more. Aside from the "I don't give a fuck if this is NY" comment, there wasn't much audience dialogue. I just hope the next album and tour is minus the band. Enough of the venting...I just felt like the band thing is clouding her talent. I mean, shit...this isn't Fiona Apple here. This is Tori fucking Amos. Jones Beach was a beautiful venue. It got a little chilly at night, (I was dumb enough to be wearing only a t-shirt). The opening act was WACK AS FUCK. The guy had an awful voice and the songs were mad lame. Such original song titles like "Long Way Down", amongst others immediately proved that MP3.com harbored the largest congestion of wannabes on the planet. Too bad I'm on it too I stayed for Alanis, and she was great. It was a totally different stage dynamic than tori, obviously...(it's hard to spin around the stage and shake your hands like you have torrets syndrome when you're playing the piano)...but I'm a sucker for a great singer with charisma, and that she is. Good show. I just figured there'd be a duet...but there wasn't. Boo-hoo. Overall show raitng: out of 5
From autumrythm: I just got back from the meet and greets (My first one)there were about 50 people there, I got there around 11:00am and waited till tori came out 5:15pm it was so worth it she was really nice she had pink frosted lipstick and a green shirt. I took like a million pictures. She signed my Little earthquakes promo book. (Ahahahhahahha) The people there were really nice and not too pushy. It was amazing, ok now I am going back to Jones Beach,(The glory of living in wantagh)
The show was amazing, Jones Beach is always a great Venue. This time there were these two big screens where you could watch tori. Some of the highlights of the show was when tori yelled at the security guards while she trying to play crucify. I think she said something like "let the kids go, I have blown off alot of guards in my time, let me play my fu*kin song.." something to that extent. Here is the set list out of order
From kana:
HI! This was my first Tori concert and I was very impressed. My seats were not great but they were not bad either. I brought the binoculars so with them I could see her really good! I thought she looked beautiful and I loved her hair and her outfit. This was a great concert. Alanis was not that bad either except the entire time while she was singing my mom kept asking me wether or not Alanis was a Native American or something and if she was prone to epileptic(spelling?) fits. Again she looked great(tori). Even my best friend (not a tori fan) said she sounded pretty good and her hair looked really nice. I didn't know what secrettime was until I started reading these posts. Im sorry she didn't play take to the sky but I'm really happy she played Jackie's Strength
From HappyPhantom1:
It's been nearly three years since I saw my last Tori concert, so when she came out i got really excited. She's gained some weight, her face was round and she had reddish blonde ringlets framing her face. she was wearing a black tanktop under a sheer black shirt embroidered with red flowers. i began dancing immediately, when she began a funky rendition of GOD. then she played a hard, bass-driven version of SUGAR (woo hoo). I barely recognized CRUCIFY under all the distorted guitar and wailing vocals, but it was cool. same goes for CORNFLAKE GIRL- i was rocking out. however, these horrid bitchy alanis fans behind us were screaming at me and my friends while we were dancing, telling us to sit down, we totally ignored them.
I don't know about the other song though. after that, Yay, she played GRAVEYARD. i may have been one of the few who actually recognized it. then, joy of joys, probably the best one that night, TEAR IN YOUR HAND. WAITRESS was also very good, the "i believe in peace bitch" was awesome. Then she left! I couldn't believe it, so short! She came back for an encore and played PRECIOUS THINGS, which was heavenly. She gave her band a group hug and that was it.
From monique:
ok i guess it is about time i reviewed this show. i am so bad i know it was like 10 days ago.
i had every intention of staying for alanis but i just could not sit through the new stuff. :P
From Piglet: Gosh, I am posting this sooo late, but I have a lot to say about this concert. First of all, my friend Lauren won two seats from MP3.com so we really thought that we were going to have really good seats, because that's what it says on MP3.com's website. Unfortunately, what were supposed to be front-row seats turned out to be about 40th row, so we were kind of disappointed.
We ended up going a little farther up, and there were these people sitting behind me, and they seriously made fun of Tori the whole time. They were so distracting and upsetting. Also, one of my friends, Debbie, got thrown on the ground by the security guards while trying to move up some rows to empty seats. The last thing that really annoyed me was the fact that for about a third of the concert, someone was waving a laser pointer around on the screen that showed tori. Ugh, I hate insensitive people. Fortunately, Tori manages to make everything better. I love the Graveyard/Tear in Your Hand pairing-those two songs seem to go so well together! I just wish that tori's amazing energy could have been better met by the people that were sitting around me. She deserves better. Hugs,Sarah |
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