5 1/2 Weeks Tour
Toronto, ONT
September 7, 1999

Updated November 10, 1999

Check Out The Reviews And Set Lists Page

Tori performed in Toronto, Ontario Canada on September 7, 1999 at the Molson Amphitheater during the Tori & Alanis Morissette 5 1/2 Weeks Tour.

Set List

God
Sugar
iieee
Cornflake Girl
Bliss
Northern Lad

China (solo)
Famous Blue Raincoat (solo)

Suede
Blood Roses
Hotel
Waitress

Encore:
Precious Things

Reviews

From Richard Handal

September 8, 1999 - Richard Handal called me with info from the Toronto show! Tori was on stage from 7:51PM to 9:13...longer than usual. Tori did an acapella intro to iieee, telling the band to keep playing before she did it. Tori smiled a lot and was very relaxed.

All Reviews Below Were Originally Posted On The Dent Forum

Special thanks to Laurie Daniels for her invaluable assitance in getting the reviews transferred to the Dent!

An incredible show....tons of people rushed the stage as soon as she came out and stayed there for the whole show. Security couldn't do much about it. We had 10th row centre so we just stayed where we were till Precious Things..*melts* I finally made it to a meet and greet but didn't get to meet her....accccck!

Hello to everyone from the Buffalo show that we hung out with for a bit again... and very nice to meet Marianne, iciclespark, Persephone, and jupitergrl thanks for the smoke!!!! I was JONESIN bigtime after the emotional stress of the M&G.

Anyways, Tori was breathtaking as usual...but I couldn't help but crack up when she started to play China. I said even before the Buffalo that that was the ONE song I didn't particularily want to hear and I heard it at BOTH shows...LOL. It was kinda amusing... *giggle*

Anyhoo...I don't really know what else to say, I still haven't stepped off the emotion roller coaster.

((love))

Awesome show !
Just to set the record straight - Tori's keyboard wasn't working at the beginning of iieee so that's why there was that improv - hardly a cappella though !!

Of special note - Tori has the most incredible memory (or a really good diary !) Last year she promised to play blood roses when she came back - and she did !!!! How incredible was that ???????

P.S. I tried to like the closing act Alanis but lost interest. Tori sitting behind a piano can reach someone 1 km away and make them feel like she's singing to them.

I got tired watching Alanis go
back & forth & back & forth
back & forth & back & forth
back & forth & back & forth
back & forth & back & forth
back & forth & back & forth

(well you get the point)

All in all a much better show than last year's plugged show (even considering that she was sick)

I just came back from the Tori concert in Toronto. Like every Tori concert, it was amazing. However, this one was very different. My concert experience started off great, because I had lawn seats, and then this promoter came by and gave my friend and I seats on the floor!! We were very close to the front, because the concert had not sold out. (They were even giving 2 for 1 tickets over the weekend). I was able to tape the concert, which is great, but I don't think it turned out to well.
Tori was wearing a red dress. The playlist was incredible. I have been looking at shows she has been doing in other places, and so was excited that she played what she did at my show. I had made a Tori tape for my friend who was coming with me, but not a big fan. Almost everything she played was on my tape I had made of favourites. 1. God
2. Sugar
3. iieee (I was very pleased about this one, and it was great). 4. Cornflake girl
5. Bliss
6. Northern Lad (I was so excited that she played this, because it doesn't look like she does much anymore). 7. China
8. Famous blue raincoat (Tori had a story about Leonard Cohen for this. Probably she played it because he is Canadian, and so are we. I was in shock that she played this. I love this song, as did my friend who isn't even a huge fan. I had told my friend that Tori wouldn't play this song, and so it was such a pleasant surprise that she did). 9. Suede
10. Blood Roses (She changed a line in the song to something like "I'm not going to waste time on you anymore." Happily over Eric. 11. Hotel
12. Waitress
Encore: Precious Things
As always she sounded great. She sounds more "plugged" than on the "plugged tour" but it was great for the arena. However, because Tori played for just over an hour (I thought she was supposed to play 1 1/2 hours), she seemed rushed. She barely spoke to the audience which is always so enjoyable. When she did speak at the beginning she seemed mellow and not as cheerful as usual. She only spoke to say hello at the beginning, tell the Leonard Cohen story, and say goodbye. That was a little upsetting. I think though it was only because she was so rushed because of Alanis.
Alanis was awful. She sounded fine, but just like her album. Unlike Tori who changed lyrics and tunes easily and wonderfully, Alanis did not. Worse than that all she did was walk from one end of the stage to the other, never playing to her audience. I, like many people left after a few songs.
Alison

The Toronto show. Wow. I've been anticipating it so heavily and now it's over. Here goes.
We (Myself, tw, and his friend Tanya) arrived at the venue around 11:15am. There wasn't really anyone there, but later we found a couple of people who'd driven up from Pennsylvania, and Morgan (Carrie) and friend who had come in from Montreal. Everyone was really anxious - we all knew about the Much appearance and radio show interview, so we weren't sure how the M&G was going to work, as well as worrying about repeats of past M&G troubles. Finally they came to set up the barricades (around two, two thirty). I can't fault them for this because I don't know their reasoning, but I thought the barricade setup was *dumb*. She only came around the front, which was about six people long, and twenty people deep. Everyone was really great, including Joel (not including Steve). She looked beautiful, if a bit strange for the TV makeup. I gave Joel my present for her, and she signed my copy of Death: The High Cost of Living. I cried. A lot. I wasn't expecting to. Let's just say it's been a long week. Catharsis was coming one way or another.

I met a LOT of fabulous people I have to say hello to - iciclespark, marianne, morgan, the Beautiful People with 5.5 Weeks Shirts, Janet, Laurie, Sonny, Jupiter, Sonya (who made the COOLEST puppet), and fun girl who we thought was Tori who got two speeding tickets driving to and from New York to see the Central Park show.

Enough babble. Here's the sound check set list as I don't think it's been posted yet:

Blood Roses
iieee
Bliss (a bit)
Northern Lad (twice)
Something New I Couldn't Hear and she Didn't Play in the Show Hotel
Famous Blue Raincoat
Cloud on my Tongue

I won't post my individual review for each song (during the actual show)... but I have to say, as usual, it's like she picked up my diary and chose her setlist accordingly. It was incredible. She did some sort of improv thing at the beginning of iieee - I think she was singing to someone named Justin. Anyone clarify? For those into the threads, she was in a long, semi-see through red smockdress with jeans underneath. I absolutely lost it during China. It was all so beautiful and so significant, I am completely emotionally drained. In a good way.

I did encounter so called "rude people" all day - people who strolled in front of me in various lines, and during the show as well. The first time, it was annoying. The third time, I wanted to hop over the seats and throttle them. Ah, well. I can say security wasn't too helpful - when my friend and I *tried* to wait to go sit down for Alanis, so that we wouldn't block anyone's view, they said, "Oh, that doesn't matter. Just go sit down." Meh. Whatever. The Alanis setlist for those interested:

Hand in my Pocket
All I Really Want
A song that repeated "Why?" in the chorus Still
Mentor
"I would be fine" (?)
You Learn
"Catholic girls" (?)
These Are the Thoughts
So Pure
You Oughta Know
Uninvited
Thank You
Ironic

You know, I'd seen people post, "She fell, but I'm not sure if it was on purpose," and I'd thought, "How could you not tell?" I didn't understand until I saw her tonight. It IS hard to tell. Interesting style of dance.

That's all. Thanks everyone who made the day special. I needed that.

ps. While I think of it - this was the first time I'd ever had the chance to chat with Joel - he is the *coolest*. I told him I'd wanted to write her a letter but hadn't because I didn't think I had anything unique to say - he said, "Everyone has something unique to say. Everyone's different. She reads them all." I said, "Well, my note said thank you. It's all I could say." He said, "That's enough." Thanks, Joel. (And thanks to those who've read this rambling post )

So...I just got back from the Toronto Show and I'm thoroughly exhausted. The setlist is as follows:
God - incredible opener
Sugar - **Sigh**
Iieee - I was PRAYING for this one...YAY! her keyboard broke down so she improvised for a bit with the band playing behind her until it was fixed...
Cornflake Girl - interesting bluesy sounding intro for a couple seconds Bliss - WOW WOW WOW
Northern Lad - This was was SOO clear and so amazing

Secret time:
China - a pretty big surprise
Famous Blue Raincoat - purely captivating

Suede - OH...MY...GOD!!!
Blood Roses - awesome awesome new version..love the middle part Hotel
Waitress - UN-FUCKIN-BELIEVABLE!!!!!!! She absolutely rocked the stadium..it went on forever with crazy white lighting she was completely on FIRE

Encore - Precious Things - 'nuff said!!

So...about the whole day. I got to much music and waited outside for her to show up.
Her limo pulled up ....late... and she waved to everyone and talked for a minute and went in to do the interview which was great. The interviewer said he was "lost in Tori's eyes." She went on to say antfucker in a live broadcast...because shes just THAT cute. She came back out and waved again and left for CFNY (which, regretably I missed). The meet and greet took place really early so by the time I got there, I only caught a glimpse of her leaving and waving bye.

Tori was so beautiful today and the concert was incredible. From what I heard of the soundcheck it was iieee, northern lad (twice), blood roses, hotel and bliss.

I still feel like this whole day wasn't real, but it was. I love you Tori..thanks for an incredible day!

p.s. hi to all the wonderful ppl I met at the concert today!

What an amazing experience this show was!! First, the day started off with pretty bad luck. We were supposed to wake up at 9 to get a head start on things, but we slept in until 12. My friend Sherri, Janet and I were all going together. We were on our way by about 1. We arrived at Muchmusic for the interview that she was doing and got our places outside the studio. We were 10minutes late after they handed out wristbands to go inside. I thought 'what shitty luck!' Not for long
Tori showed up for the interview and looked beautiful dressed in all black (leather skirt, wrap-around shirt, tall gorgeous boots). When it was over we took a cab straight to the EDGE 102 studios and took a seat inside. There were only about 6 people in total. I was expecting to wait there until 6 for the interview, so imagine my surprise when a black limo pulls up a few minutes later, and Joel gets out followed by Tori! She casually walked in and said Hi to us, then proceeded with her interview. I couldn't believe she was sitting right in front of me! I asked Joel if we could talk with her after and he said yes, really quick tho because she's running late. During a break, Janet went up to her and gave Tori her gifts she made (origami, a wind chime and faerie dust) and they chatted for a bit. Tori looked like she was gonna cry when Janet told her the meaning of the gifts for her. She signed two things for her and gave her a big hug. It was so beautiful. When the interview was over, we went over to meet her. She signed my video and I gave her a hug. I said 'I love you so much' and she gave me a big squeeze. I was tearing up by then. Sherri gave her her gift and then we posed for a pic. Janet said to her 'Tori, you're so beautiful' to which Tori replied 'YOU guys are so beautiful!' She was absolutely amazing. She went back to her limo as we went outside. joel gave us a big hug What a cutie. Then all of a sudden the window of the limo rolls down and Tori says 'Joel, who's Sherbear?" and Sherri said 'Me'. Tori goes 'come in and have a seat'. Sherri climbed in and Tori talked to her about something Sherri had written to her in her letter about a problem she was having. It was amazing! I've never met someone so compassionate about her fans. In the letter Sherri had asked her to play Northern Lad and Tori said she was going to try. Then she came out and Tori and Joel drove off (after JOel gave me a big fat noogie I felt like I was in a dream. We went over to the Amphitheatre and took a seat out in front of the venue. We chatted with so many awesome people, and I wanna say hi to all you guys. Amy, who i haven't seen in ages, IcicleSpark, Marianne, the cute twins with the Plugged '98 shirt, Gylian, and so many others. We went in and got our seats a little after 7. The show was amazing! Tori was wearing a beautiful red smock-type thing with black jeans underneath. When she played Northern Lad, me and Sherri just hugged each other and sobbed. It was one of the best moments of my life. I'm so exhausted right now, happy with all the memories and sad that this was my last time seeing her on the tour. I'm gonna miss her so much.

I arrived at Molson Ampitheatre around 10:30 in the rain, which didn't stop until at least 12:30 so I (and all the shit I brought) was more than a little damp by the time the bulk of the Meet and Greet crowd had formed. For the first few hours, it was only myself, my friends, two nice girls "that nobody ever talks to" that slept in their car, and two girls that travelled from Montreal to meet Tori. Another girl, who I kept running into for the rest of the day, had travelled all the way from Newfoundland to see Tori play. By about 1:00 PM the number of people there had easily tripled, and that weird thing began to happen where a "parallel" line took shape across from "our" line. The people in the "parallel" line slowly inched forward to the point where the two lines intersected at the front, and the people who arrived at 1:00 PM were actually in front of those who had slept in their car, or waited through rain for the morning.

To make matters worse, when security came out to move us back from the barricades, they simply refused to move. It was as if they thought they could simply ignore the request to move back a mere 10 feet while barricades were being set up. The security guy finally loses it with these people and yells very loudly "MOVE BACK!" but they still barely move (as now, they've dominated the front of the line, and don't want to lose their spot).

Now, to their credit, this is the ONLY time venue security gave us the slightest trouble all day. They were VERY good to us, and I'm pleased with them. People complained about the guy that yelled, but it seemed totally justified; you have a crowd of people who refuse to move back when asked, and within a few minutes of you leaving, inch right back up to the barricades so they can rush in.

Steve seemed to be in a mood too. He ran out to bark us an order to "move somewhere else" but didn't have an answer to "where?" or "how far away?" or anything. I wanted to yell back "Steve, your order is a little unclear!" but decided that'd be pushing it.

During this time, I met lots of EWF's who had travelled and saved up and gone through a lot of work to get themselves there. This was the most talking I've ever done between random EWF's at a Tori show -- it was a very good atmosphere, very laid back! Many people commented that they liked how chilled-out the mood was.

Around 3:30 or so, security motioned for us to enter the barricades. I sort of speed- walked behind my friends, but somehow ended up in front of them inside the barricade (I suspect that people assumed the "side" of the barricade was actually the "front" which wasn't the case, thus I inadvertantly ended up at the real "front"). From where I was, there was no pushing, no hostility, no issues whatsoever. I met new people just standing in the barricades, and some helped me out a bit.

Finally, as I stood there in the heat and moisture generated by 40 bodies crammed into a metal pen, Tori's limo passes us around 4:10 PM and parks inside the venue. Within a minute or two, Joel, Steve, and Tori come back in a little golf-cart deal, Steve's hand firmly planted on Tori's arm (he is ALWAYS looking out for her, I swear) "just in case".

Tori still has her TV makeup on, but is all smiles and very happy. She made a scrunchy "hello" face and walks up to the front, left corner, and starts talking. I can't get any pictures, but I try. When she gets to the middle, the girl from Montreal that I met (and who has never met Tori) is let forward by some people who have met Tori before and she is Tori-hugged. Tori listens to her
and takes (I think) a letter, and the girl totally loses it. It was great to see... a friend of mine also lost it totally when she finally got to talk to Tori; when you know the people you're with and see them react so sincerely and unabashedly, it truly is touching... *snif*

Tori finally got over to me and I asked if she'd sign a 7" single I'd brought. She did, and (as with many things she signed) asked my name for the autograph. During this time, I thanked her for coming to play for us again so soon, as it'd only been a year -- that we knew she didn't have to come so soon, and it's appreciated. She was very kind and more talkative than the last Meet and Greet here; she also took a letter I had for her. While she finished up talking to others, I burned off a roll of 36 exposures, all head and shoulders shots of her; I pray I got them...

It's always such a relief, after the tense moments and catharsis of a Meet and Greet, to just sit down and regroup. I met Stardog (again!), Marianne, and a few others: hey!

Joel was alone, walking inside the venue; I mentioned something to him like "Hey, this is one time I can shake your hand, without you suspecting it's me kissing your ass so I can talk to Tori!" He laughed, and was very cool. For such a tough guy, as my friend had commented, he has very "kind eyes". He does, and we all told him he's doing a great job and we respect and understand some of the "rules" we sometimes have to deal with when he thinks it's in Tori's best interest.

The show itself was extremely "heavy". If there ever was a "heavy" Tori set, this was it; definite moments of arena-rocking intense music throughout. I won't go into the usual setlist or song-by-song here, but I must say that the new "God" variant has a very strong and propulsive feel to it. Good opener, it worked better than I thought it would. Other stuff that I dug was "Bliss", which as I've heard works very well live (Jon was banging his head and totally getting into it), and of course, "Cornflake Girl" (unrecognizable until the intro bassline came in). It's so amazing to hear her bang out those piano solos during that song, they're so intense...

The new piano solo for "iieee" was really cool. My friend just turned to me and gave me this sort of "holy crap" look when Tori went into it. I would have picked different secrettime songs, but that's just me. "Hotel" and "Blood Roses" were interesting to hear live; I didn't expect them, and they're nice and powerful. I do have one criticism though that I hope isn't harsh -- when Tori wants to "vary" her live material, it seems she often immediately starts delaying the use of lyrics (such that a lyric will be spoken a measure or whatever it is after a beat, or after where you expect it). This CAN be used to great effect, but NOT when it's used
constantly to "vary" songs. It also had the effect of breaking that sweeping, glorious chorus from "iieee" into several little bits of phrase, all moved "off-centre" if you will. A minor complaint though. Finally, the encore, "Precious Things", was amazing as always. That striding, thunderous bassline truly and completely kicks ass. Wow.

Was it just me, or did she improvise a whole verse of "iieee" about her broken keyboard and her keyboard tech? I seemed to hear that.

Anyway... that's about it. I left afterward as I suspected my friends were waiting for me. I was wrong. But that's okay; I gave my floor-level seats to some Alanis fans who were wandering up near the grass, they were mighty happy to run down there (You have a floor seat? Shut up! No way! OH THANKS!). I have to say that the show was great, NONE of the crap and horror stories I have read about in other cities seemed to happen in Toronto.

The Meet and Greet went very smoothly given the amount of worry over the media events and Tori's scheduled. But they're such little conundrums, a place where the self-interest and single-mindedness of "wanting to meet Tori" (an admirable goal) or "wanting to give Tori my letter" (same) collide with the sense that it's a special time, a time for every person there to share in the experience, and a time to help people out a little. It's a weird and tense event that I can't figure out quite yet, and I admit to being sucked into it myself, but it's weird as you can sometimes see (with people's body language) that collision occuring in their own minds in real-time. It's hard to not want to help people around you, your fellow EWF's, but it is also nearly irresistable to not try to take your chance to meet Tori when you can.

A very, very good show. I'm happy I went, if only to interact with and meet so many cool people, and I very much enjoyed Tori's new material and presentation of some "oldies".

I wanted to post my "review" last night but I was simply too exhausted when I got home. I can't believe that it's actually come and gone: like someone else said above, I've been anticipating the moment for so long that it seems rather surreal to be here in the morning after. I have a bit of wistfulness in my stomach now that it's over. This was my first Tori concert and in retrospect, I really wish I could have seen her without Alanis. The setlist seemed so short (there were only about 200 songs I wanted to hear!!) that I felt like I had to invest myself so much in each one, then it was all over. Someone mentioned about a previous concert that it really did feel like Tori was opening for Alanis... I hate to admit it but it felt like that for me too. After the opening act, one of the ushers was going around telling everyone in the floor seats (where I was sitting) that they didn't want anyone rushing up to the barricades, just stay in your seats. They said that we could stand up but if the people in the section behind us complained we'd have to sit down. If you wanted to dance you should stand in the aisle. Of course, fifteen seconds later there was a crowd at the barricades, and no one told them to return to their seats.

I was in the 13th row, centre floor. Aside from the people standing at the barricades, NO ONE stood up. That was fine by me, as I'm only 5' tall and was worried about how much I'd be able to see if everyone was standing (I later found out during the Alanis portion of the concert, when everyone WAS standing, that I could see without too much difficulty.) But I wonder how Tori felt, as the crowd didn't seem to be responding to her very much at all. I felt like I was one of the only people even moving around in my seat! That's why it felt like an opening act for Alanis.

Someone else mentioned above that Tori didn't really talk to the audience very much, which is something I'd been looking forward to. Overall, I felt like maybe, despite the energy she gave off on-stage, she's kind of tired and this tour isn't going the way she'd hoped. Tori is a very classy lady, and she would never, ever recant her decision and say that it was a mistake to tour with Alanis, but I wonder deep down if she's feeling that way.

For the record, everyone around me, including Alanis fans, was very polite. No one was talking or being rude during Tori's set, only a few people trying to find their seats after the show had started (and, inevitably it seems, during The Waitress!) Except for the two people in front of me who didn't seem to understand the "no smoking" signs posted everywhere.

As for the music, it was incredible. I loved iieee and Cornflake Girl. Bliss was awesome live! She played a few songs that I would have rather heard something else, but then again if she'd asked me to decide the setlist I probably wouldn't have been able to narrow it down... there are just so many songs I wanted to hear.

All in all, I really enjoyed myself. My husband said I was "glowing" during Tori's set. Now I just can't wait for her next (solo) concert so I can really enjoy it, knowing what to expect.

As for Alanis, she was good but you could've popped in either of her CD's and heard the same rendition of the songs, with the exception of You Oughta Know. My husband and I sat through most of it, although as I said, the previously static audience suddenly came alive, standing, dancing, etc. We stayed because we'd paid a lot of money for the tickets and wanted to make the most of it, but I was fairly bored with Alanis after seeing someone like Tori! Even during a quiet song, where Alanis was standing still at a microphone stand, she didn't make eye-contact with the audience (would have been a perfect moment to do so!) But everyone else seemed really into it, so who am I to say?

And finally, I bought the purple t-shirt with three squares on the front, Tori running in the middle one, and a program. Am I the only one who feels a little bit gouged by $35 for a t-shirt and $20 for a program? I paid the money because who knows when I'll have another chance, but... ouch!

Like everyone else pretty much said... this was an exhausting day... TOTALLY Exhausting..
My friends and husband and I drove about 5.5 hours (6 or so with potty breaks) from Saginaw, MI to see the Tori show and then left right after Tori's set and drove right home. This... Was a mistake. I'm wiped!

Anyhow... as far as the quality of Tori's performance... I thought it was great... However...

THE AUDIENCE MAD ME SO MAD I WANTED TO KILL THEM!

It's probably just where we were sitting (203 row W)... but everyone around us was talking so loud that it was distracting. People kept coming in late and getting up to get beer... I couldn't see cuz they were all walking around... And what was up with whisteling during China? I felt like screaming "NOT FUCKING APPROPRIATE RIGHT NOW... DUH!)

But I didn't, and I was really frusturated... and I had to go to the bathroom through most of her set... but like a good movie, I wouldn't get up to do so... so.... I'm done.

I think the distance ruined it for me... that and all the stupid people I was sitting around. I never ever wished more that I were on the floor and getting trampled by all those stage rushers... I just have a feeling I would have enjoyed it more if I were among those who really WANTED to see Tori.

However, Tori looked like age had set in (my friend and I had a long discussion about this)... but beautiful as always and spunky... The performance was wonderful and I was excited at her song choice.... Lets see how Detroit turns out.

OH AND LAMINATES. I wore mine, where were all the laminates? I didn't see ANY!

My friend (tinsley) and i were planning on going to muchmusic to see if we could get in for the interview. So we were on the way there and we passed the edge, radio station. I decided to go in and ask them about tori and much to my surprise the very nice guy there told me tori would be there at around 2:30 and we could definately stay! After killing the longest hour and a half of my life, we went back to the venue just after two. Of course tori was over and hour late, but then she came! She walked in the edge building and of course the first thing she did, was turn to the 9 or so people there and say hi! She was interviewed for about 15 minutes which i couldn't really hear that much of what she was saying, but it seemed to be a pretty good interview. The nice dj guy had promised us before that he would try to keep the interview short, so we could have a chance to talk to tori, and he kept his word! Right after the interview was done, he directed her our way. She was in a HUGE rush, but i managed to say hello to her and get a picture with her. The thing that i'm always struck with when i meet tori, is how human she is. I mean while i'm waiting to meet her i'm all nerveous and excited and almost weepy, but when she's right in front of me, i'm so calm it just feels like i'm talking to a very very cool person. Anyways, the concert was fantastic. The band and tori are really working well together and it's so obvious that they love playing together. I think i must have been cursed with all the rude alanis fans because EVERYONE surrounding me talked through all of tori, i was very polite in asking people if they wouldn't mind not talking, and well one group listened. But the people beside me came in 3/4 through tori's set and talked very loudly until she was finished. I was so happy to hear waitress because by that point i wanted to strangle way too many people. But tori was so good, that the assholes didn't ruin the show one bit!

The story she told behind famous blue raincoat was something like, "so i was listening to a musician that comes from these neck of the woods, now some of you might think that a 50 year old can't be sexy, but let me tell you girls, this man could shag you senseless!" It was a great rendition of the song and she is very right about Leonard Cohen!

My only criticsm of the show was that there wasn't enought balance to the songs that she played. Every song was great, but sometimes, i just felt that there needed to be a quieter song, like between blood roses and hotel. But i don't think she could have done a different set list becuase of the make-up of the crowd.

I couldn't bear to stay for alanis after hearing such a great tori show, so me and a bunch of other ewf crowded into the mp3.com tent and blasted tori.

Great show, i wish i could have gotten more tori and no alanis, but there's always a next time

This was the first time I'd ever been to a Tori concert. I'd been looking forward for months, but I came away sooooooo disapointed. I love Tori's music - I have all her albums, and rate her as one of my all time favorite musicians. But this concert just sucked. The sound system was one of the worst I have ever heard. The mix was so bad that all I could hear most of the time was the bass, completely drowning out Tori's voice, her piano, and even the guitarist. I think Tori's music is by turns, beautiful, haunting, gentle, as well as complex and occasionally heavy. But at this concert it just sounded like a bad heavy metal band.

There was one highlight, though. Tori played 'China' without the rest of the band. This is my all time favourite Tori song, and it was beautiful. If only she'd played more stuff without the band (or just unplugged the bassist). I couldn't even hear the piano solos on Cornflake Girl!!!

Alanis' sound system was much better, but still a long way off what I'd expect from this size venue. Alanis' voice was lost in the mix for the first couple of songs, but things seemed to improve as she went on. It was a good powerful performance, and I enjoyed it a lot more than I enjoyed Tori's. But it was Tori that I really came to see.

Is the sound any better on her other tours? Is this just something to do with the co-headlining thing? (I've often noticed that support bands have much poorer sound quality than headliners). Does anyone else agree that the bad sound spoiled the whole thing?

hullo everyone! i thought the show was fantastic, i was right up near the barricades.. and just to clear something up, the security guards told us that tori had specifically said that she wanted the first few rows to go uo, but they didn't want us doing that until she got on stage. i thought it was fantastic, the mixing was a bit off, but probably because we were so close. i wanted to say hi to marianne and those three sweetie-pies who got moved up from the lawns to the front row seats right near me! email me sometime you guys, appelonia: i looked everywhere for you but couldn't spot you! sniff. maybe next time=)

kristen
fatherlucifer@mailcity.com

Greetings!
What an absolutely super terrific show! I missed the meet and greet (grrr) by ten minutes I heard, but my 7th row centre seats made up for it and I was psyched to see Tori come out looking smashing in that red dress of hers. You've already seen the set list but I'll re-write it again for you all:

1)God (lovely beginning)
2)Sugar (the most beautiful version I have ever heard, and I cried) 3)iieee (keyboard mishap at beginning so Tori made the best of that) 4)Cornflake Girl (yippee!)
5)Bliss
6)Northern Lad (absolutely super incredible)

SECRET TIME
7)China (I cried it was so beautiful)
8)Famous Blue Raincoat (I cried, and yes I would shag Leonard Cohen!)

9)Suede (this song was super awesome)
10)Blood Roses (I totally wasn't expecting this one, but I'm so glad she played it)
11)Hotel
12)The Waitress

ENCORE
13)Precious Things

All in all, I was really impressed, the people around me were great, they put up with my dancing and sometimes much too loud singing and Alanis fans really respected Tori and her time on stage. Highlights for me, were Sugar and Famous Blue Raincoat, and I took a special liking to Suede. Tori was amazing as usual, now I just have to wait until she comes again....(wishful thinking: next year) Toodles!

Hey guys!
Tori was amazing, but why oh why did she have to do China and Northern Lad back to back? I was bawling... Those songs are the two most emotional ones ever...*sigh*

Tori kicks ass!!

Alanis was awesome as usual! I got to hang out with her band members for about an hour after the show, her pianist Deron Johnson, gave me backstage passes!!! Everyone was so nice!

I had a great time and I met a really nice Tori fan, I forget her real name but her email address is yesanstia@aol.com. Can anyone help me out with who she is? She sold some really cool stickers and gave her seats to some of my Alanis friends for when Alanis came on. So sweet! You guys are awesome.

Let Alanis and Tori continue in this great set of performances!

This is probably the best concert of Tori's I've been to ever. She looked breathtaking, and sounded gorgeous. And I met a great Toriphile who sat next to me! She had missed Tori on the Plugged tour, and so I consoled her I have to admit, I was a bit disappointed with secret time, because honestly, China is my least favourite Tori song. I do like Famous Blue Raincoat, but I was just hoping for something like Merman or PTDO or Mother. But, hey, it's still Tori, right? I'm ecstatic to have seen her at all so soon after her last tour. I didn't get a chance to meet many Ears With Feet, as I was with my sister, who is Queen Antisocial! I wish I could have. I was planning on wearing a laminate, but my sis removed it in the car! Anyway, if anyone saw me, I was the annoying boy with the multicoloured beanie hat, turquoise hair and a black shirt with planets and groovy stuff on it. I'd love to hear from anyone who was there. Feel free to e-mail me at thewhore@cyg.net

WOW what a concert!
Tori was AMAZING!!!!!! I loved all the songs she played! I was sssssssooooo happy that she played Hotel!! China was so emotional for me because of situations right now, Tori had on a long red velvet dress, it was awsome! Her hair was awsome! If anyone saw her on the tele performing Bliss on Letterman her hair was like that but not as long. I was sitting in like the third section and met some pretty cool Alanis fans. But there was one EWF that was really bitchy! I was screaming for Tori because I loved her performance so much and so right at the end of Cornflake Girl she told me to shut up, but guess what..... this little EWF didn't WAAAAAHAHAHAHAHA. I'm not sure if anyone remembers but I was the one that had TORI written on my forhead and had her symbol on my cheeks. It was just such an amazing performance what else can I say, but she did seem a little uncomfortable maybe it was just my agle because I was so far back. I bought a tour book, a neclace and a t-shirt! My friend bought a t-shirt aswell! AWSOME JUST PLAIN AWSOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was sssssssooo happy she played China!!!!!

Tim.........

my e-mail kbfreak@yahoo.com

Well, I'm glad to see that the reviews of Alanis here are lightening up a bit. If Tori read some of these, I think she would be disappointed at some!
I'm third row center (working for ticketmaster can be a good thing) in Pittsburgh, and I just can't wait anymore!!! Myself...I was overjoyed when they announced this tour. Tori and Alanis on the same night?????!!!!!! I dearly love them both. I will definitely post everything for the Pittsburgh show. I am taking a pen and paper to write down notes as it goes. I am INSANE!!!
Just to clear up the Alanis song that she says "Why" a lot throughout the chorus:
My guess is that it's "Would Not Come". But she doesn't say why. She says "I-I-I would go to parties still it would not come. I-I-I'd have an orgasm still it would not come." And if you don't know the song and you're hearing it live, it may sound like 'why.'

I LOVE YOU ALL DESPITE YOUR ALANIS FAULTS

I truly had a wonderful day at the Toronto Tori concert. This was my second time seeing Tori, the first being the plugged tour in Toronto last year when she was sick. It was also my first meet and greet this year. I had gotten my ticket signed after the concert last year, but it wasn't a real meet and greet, just a large rush of fans wanting an autograph. I arrived about 9am and met up with my friend Iza(The girl who got two speeding tickets, the Tori lookalike). There wasn't too many people there yet, so we went to grab a coffee since I was half asleep. We came back and there were a few more people, so that was good. It was a very emotional day for me as it is, then the excitement of getting to meet Tori was, unimaginable. The whole day was a huge emotional day, and the concert was the kabang. The people I talked to at the meet and greet were fabulous. I was half asleep myself, I was sleeping at a friends place in the U of T residence and had to put up with the frosh activities going on all night including the band marching by my window playing the sesame street theme song at 3:30 am. I am awful with names, if I have any faults, that's probably one of them. I am used to adressing people as hey u. I met a lot of hey u's. In particular a couple of girls who were all the way from the states to get here... They were great, it's too bad more people don't say "hi" to them as they are wonderful human beings. I was really happy to get to the front of the barricades at the meet and greet, even though it was uncomforitable getting squished in there.. I got to thank Tori, which was very important to me, and I got a hug.. So I was a happy camper. The concert was just amazing.. I was in the second row centre, as far to the left as possible.. This gave me a good chance at getting to the front as quickly as possible, and I did so. I was very close to her, and got some pictures that I hope turn out. I lasted through God, and then I balled my eyes out for the rest of the show. Tori's the only one who can take my heart on a roller coaster ride from one side of the galaxy to the other. This was byfar the best concert out of the two, even though my first one was very special. It was hard pulling myself back to earth after Tori, and before you know it Alanis was onstage. I've never seen Alanis live before, but I dislike immensly anything I've heard from her. My breath was taken away during one of the songs where Alanis proceeded to strap on a guitar and she didn't play though half the song, and then played one chord for the rest of the song. She's amazing really. I mostly stood in front of the guitarist and watched him play. I think he was the only one onstage with talent. Anyhow, Tori was fantastic, and I can't wait to see her again..... Hope everyone had a good time at the concert and Happy Tori to everyone.
Dave

I thought the concert was amazing. I didn't have the best seats, 203 row L, but I thought the sound was rocking! Tori's voice was amazing as usual and she looked stunning.
I loved the fact that she played China, I love that song. It seems like it isn't a crowd favorite, why is that?

Anyway, I think the idea of a Canadian Toriphile gathering is a great idea. They always have them in the states, but I've never even heard of one in Canada.

Between the m&g and the show I encountered several minor disasters thanks to the City Of Toronto (Having my car Impounded and nearly being attacked in a Harvey's bathroom - lovley city you have), but we all got through it all and got back to the venue unscathed.

Once inside the venue we walked around, shopped, leaned about portable mp3 players (sweet things) and took our seats. It didn't seem like a long wait for the Tori show to start. They were playing Massive Attack on the PA, so I could have sat happily for hours. There was one Alanis fan who ran up to the front of 203 (where I was) and started screaming "who loves Tori" which got a big cheer and then "who loves Alanis" which got a cheer and a shrill scream from the girl that was right beside my ear (I believe in Peace).

The show started and it was magic. It was completely worth everything. I was awe struck and inspired. I hadn't seen her since 1994 and I love the band. Such full sound. When she played iieee I thought I was going to start bawling, but I was too happy. I loved how everyone was cheering and screaming during Precious Things. You could feel a connection bewteen everyone. It was so very cool.

We didn't stay for Alanis, had a long drive home (not as long as the girl from NFLD). It was really nice meeting the EWF that I did (and thanks to tw for calling all the impound lots for me). I was very impressed with everyone I met, considerate and cool. The show was wonderful.

I think everything has been said for the Toronto show, I was fortunate enough to get into Muchmusic for the interview also. It was very hard to hear what Tori said in the actual studio, watching it on video I was able to understand it. I thought Bill Welychku did could have done a better job though....but my new favorite saying is "audio pornography"!!

This concert kicked ASS! I didn't post here before...cause um...I just stumbled across this site...*cringe*
Anyway...this was my first Tori concert...first Alanis one too! *grinz* It was great...I don't think I blinked once while Tori was up there. Alanis was full of energy...but a different kind of energy than Tori.

I feel Tori put all of her energy into her voice...she carried thru the entire place...you could feel the heat from her.

Alanis was full of energy as well...her music and voice was good...she was bouncin' around everywhere...she was good.

mailalison@home.net

Tori played and sang wonderfully (as usual). It's what I've come to expect when I see her. My boyfriend almost swallowed his tongue---he was so happy she played famous blue raincoat....he loves that song. We were pretty far back and we went with some people who were'nt as big of fan as us...but they loved it...they were surprised at how much.
Now about Alanis......

I agree with Mike.
At some point my friend turns around to me and says..."Oh,my God when will she stop walking back and forth!"
The guy in front of us turns around and says"I know I'm getting dizzy". i really like her music...I was truly excited to see her...and I was so dissapointed. I always felt when listening to her voice there was so much more connection in it....that was so missing in the concert. We were so dissapointed that the people who had come to see Alanis not Tori left early to beat traffic. But hey who am I to say anything...she's making millions a dollars performing around the world ,,and I'm sitting here on a computer in toronto? oh well

Hey everyone )
First of all I just want to say thank you to SonikDave and the others for all those wonderful compliments comparing me to Tori... but come on guys.. dont ruin it for me ))) She is the most beautiful female on the planet and I don't even come close but anyway.. it must just be the hair or something hehehe
The other thing I wanted to say was that I almost feel like I should be appologizing to everyone for China... I don't want to go into details for I want to have my special time and moment with Tori to stay personal but I asked her to play that for me in my letter that I gave her at the meet and greet..(yes.. that was me.. the crybaby that broke down ) sorry
and although I realize a lot of you dont like that song very much I will never forget that day as long as I live..I have waited for that day to come for almost 9 years and nothing could have ruined it for me ) I also wanted to say hello to all the wonderful people that I met at the meet and greet.. all the great ewf that stood in the rain with us (u know who u are) and a special hi to D and D who came all the way from Pannsilvania ( I will never forget you guys.. if it wasn't for you she never would have played China for me!!! ) I love you guys Oh ya.. and yes.. I did get 2 speeding tickets driving from Toronto to New York City to see Tori in Central Park...(for 4 songs hehehe) but let me tell you that it was worth EVERY LAST AMERICAN DOLLAR I HAD!!! (which would be like $1.50 canadian heheh) anyway... thanx for "listening" to my silly letter and try to love China, some of us cant live without it ) I love you Tori.. and you will always be in my heart.

P.S. Alanis wasnt that bad either... especially if you enjoy watching tennis ))
ciao!!

O.K., so I'm a few days late. Hey, I'm a teacher and September 7th was the first day of school for my grade 1's. Lets just say they had an exhausted teacher the next day. My boyfriend and I got to the concert early and thank god we did cause Tori came on pretty quick. She was of course incredible, but I wouldn't expect anything else. Last time she was here, she played Putting the Damage On and it is my Pele favourite. So of course she doesn't break with tradition, and played China, my LE favourite. I just love her. Her list was incredible, except damn all that FTCH stuff. I love the album, but I like a smorgasbord of stuff from her. Hotel was completely psychedelic. And the Leonard Cohen song, absolutely beautiful. She's amazing to watch, I'm just mesmerized for the entire time, I love it.
Now Alanis, I like her 2nd album better then the first, and she should have played more of that. Her voice doesn't cut it though, she definitely should have come before Tori. It felt like Tori was opening for her, and god that is just such a joke. The fans went wild when she came on and I couldn't understand it.

I don't know if anyone experienced this, but I've never been to a concert with such a rude audience. The incessant talking and getting up to walk out of their seats, I wanted to put them all in a time out chair. I hate being disturbed by people who don't really want to be there. Stay home. It's damn irritating.

But all in all, the concert was amazing, I will never tire of seeing her. However, she should stick to playing the small club tour. Big venues never give you the feel and energy from seeing her so close and intimate. Alright, enough babbling, that's my opinion.

okay.
the concert was one of thee most amazing experiences of my life. i'd love to buy a copy, if someone has it.
but im sorry, the alanis fans sitting behind me wouldnt stop talking during the secret time!! i turn around and im like (very politely) "would you mind not talking so loudly? thanks" then they're like "fuck you! we're not here for here. she sucks. we;'re here for alanis!!"

aarrjgjj. but that was the only downer of the show. that and the tee shirts were 35!!!! AUGH!*L*
my brother works at a tshirt store though, he ordered me all the other shirts and the venus envy necklace uyay! but i bought a shirt at the concert cause i wanted somerhing to remember the concert by, you know? ( i got the black one with the piano on it, for those who care)

anyways, yeah ive rambelled

ta ta!
sarah

Okay well i should have posted my review a long time ago but here goes. well by the time i got there it was time for meet and greet. everyone was so nice there. You do not find people like that everyday. well if it wasn't for them, i wouldn't have gotten my Anthology book signed. I didn't get to give her a hug but just being close to her was enough for me , i was crying my eyes out. it was my first time going to a meet and greet, it was very emotional. Thank god, Tori got my letter and doll. I am glad about that also. I took like a whole roll of film. later on, when the concert started, i ran up to the stage , hey i spent tons for my second row and then i am not going to run up? sorry if i was in the way for people. I was leaning against the barricade reight in the center. god it was amazing the show. the way Tori looks into your eyes. I started shedding tears when she played Famous Blue Raincoat. oh and the improvs for the Waittress were amazing. oh and i cannot forget about Sugar. Well all of them kicked ass.I took a roll but once i brought them in and got them done, the pictures didnt turn out the way i wanted them to but the meet and greet pics were great! I also met Joel he is so cool. i mean it. he's such a sweetheart. I had a dream the other night that my mom married him Honestly, Joel is really a good person.
I also bought two t sirts (the one with the piano/dummy and the purple one) , the program, and the necklace , oh and my mom made me buy her a shirt of alanis to bring home for her. I cannot believe how expensive the merchandise is. Get serious, 35 bucks for a t-shirt?? i do not even know how much the prices will rise next year. ok well that was definitely the best day of my life. I was crying my eyes out once i got home becuz i wanted to go back soo bad. it was like something in my life has just ended and i could'nt face it. And you wanna know something else just hanging with Ears with feet made the day what it is too. You guys are so cool. Okay well here is my chance to say hello to everyone i met. including iciclespark, Jupitergirl and Paul (loved the book, it was beautiful), tw,Appelonia, stardog, delerium, blue ginger, Julia and Sherri, oh and there were so many others... forgive me if i forgot you, i don't mean to. oh and Morgan, i was looking for you Well e-mail me cuz i think i have got a picture of tori hugging you and i am pretty sure it is you and if you want, i can send it to you. I hope i can make it for the get together

yummmm...that was a fun show.
i went to muchmusic to try and meet tori amos...met some fanatical tori fan who was rude at first but afterwards turned out to be okay. Some hot redhaired guy was there but when tori got there he requested the Doughnut Song (ugh!!! No no no no no no no!). Fortunately she didn't play it!

Tori got out of her limo and everyone was clappig and she began shaking hands with people at the front of the line (where i was). When she got to me the whole world fell away. She has incredible eyes!!!!! She said "Hi sweetie! Nice to meet you" and shook my hand and god i was just in some other world. She is amazing.

Then we all went inside for some short (unbelievably short) interview but tori was really funny. She did those 'hi I'm tori at much music' things and one for new years and then she turned to us and said 'i hate those things!'

didn't get an autograph! she left too early. But i got to meet her so that was worth it.

the show rocked. I like tori's set but it didn't set me on fire until after 'Famous Blue Raincoat'!!! I LOVED Blood Roses!!! The Waitress!!!!! Precious Things!!! That was soo much fun.

NOw i understand why toriphiles would prefer a Tori only bill. I thought tori's set seemed incomplete. I think you need a full 2 hours or 2 1/2 hours to fully get an idea of what she's like. Every song shows something different.

some tori fans will hate me but i liked alanis' set better. She just totally rocked. She was dead on and her voice was sooooo powerful. She played some of my favourites, we got the new song 'still', and it was just sooo much fun. Her opening 3 songs were just blistering! And i loved her set-up.

Also i liked her dancing and pacing. It was cool to watch. She has wicked hair!

I did like tori though and hope to see her sometime in a full show, the way it really should be with her.

P.S. did anyone else think that Bill's suggestion of the tour being 'an alternative to lilith' was sexist? Why should it be an alternative just because it is two women touring together??? it has nothing to do with lilith.

i agree that everything probably *has* been said already about the toronto show but...
..you don't yet have MY two cents...

anyways, throughout the entire first day of school, i was totally unable to concentrate. BIG surprise. when the end of school came, i grabbed my friend kim (who likes ALANIS) and we trucked it to the train station... a few hours later we were wandering around a very deserted ontario place.

at about five thiry, tori's soundcheck started. northern lad filtered throughout the park. it was the most amazing thing!! my poor friend had to pee, but i wouldn't let her leave the areas where we could her her. besides, there were no bathrooms open, convieniently.

tori played northern lad twice and then hotel. by this time we were in a line at harvey's the size of the u.s./canadian border.

after we ate, i shoved my little automatic camera down my pants and waited at the barricades for them to open the gates. it was there i met delerium. apparently jupitergirl and marianne were in the park somewhere, but if i was them THEY WERE NOT WEARING THEIR LAMINATES!! i think i was the only one who was. anyways delerium was decked out in full tori garb, courtesy of the show they'd just seen in buffalo.. which i then coveted and caused me to make a mad dash for the merchanise stand the minute the barricades were open. we got there first, which was lucky, because in a few minutes, it was swamped. there i bought:

'moistening shirt';
2 'venus envy' necklaces (1 for my poor friend (butterfly) who couldn't attend);
and a program. you know i wanted the keychain too but i just didn't have the funds.

after this we made our way (or rather, i dragged kim at high speed) to the mp3.com booth, were we were handed 51/2 minute phone cards and escorted to computer thingies from which we sent tori and alanis e-postcards (which i don't think even worked).

when we finally got to our seats (after we went to the bathroom and extricated the camera from my pants, that is), there was a little controversy over which ones we were in... to make a long story short, we sat in the 200s instead of the 100s like we should have been... until we asked the poor couple beside us to straighten us out and then gleefully fled to our *real* seats which were sooo close.

once there we used kim's cell phone to phone and torture her friend jimmy, who likes alanis but was not there.

there were security guards *everywhere*. one of them was about my age and visibly trying to act very tough... with his arms crossed and his mouth set very hard. he looks a little like someone i hate from my school. anyways eventually the show started. our opening was Ray Laine (sp.?) who was pretty good, but who kept taunting us by talking about tori and acting like he was finished every time he did a song.

but finally, tori came out. i'm not going to post another set list on here, cause you know it by know, but it was a very good show... you could see mark, i think, in the back, in white, another guy from the tour book w/orange hair (justin?) checking her keyboard, and joel seemed to be everywhere. i was a bit dissapointed that she didn't play concertina (my favorite) or try out any of the others she hadn't played yet though...

at the beginning of iieee, i guess there was something wrong with her keyboard, cause she told the guys to "keep going" and started singing something along the lines of 'mr. justin man, come and check my keyboard again, again' to the tune of iieee. some guy came out and fixed it and went on from there.

there were a couple of people around me who also had cameras. the woman on my right got hers seized during alanis though, because she used a flash (DUH!!!) and Mr. Tough Two-Year-Old-Security Guard caught her. he almost caught *me*, though. during tori, i was snapping a pic when he saw and shone his flashlight on me, pointing me out to another gaurd... i quickly stashed my camera under my friend's seat, but i guess they couldn't get through the crowd to me, because they gave up. in the end, i guess they probably thought it had been the woman beside me (the alanis fan) the whole time.

tori was very good... she told a little story about leonard cohen at secret time before we went into famous blue raincoat... she put on lipgloss from a pot sitting on her piano.. caton had a glass of wine sitting on the speaker next to where he played... it was just all so neat.

alanis put on a good show, too. i don't think *that* many people left in between, but some did. she did go back and forth back and forth an awful lot though, except for during you oughta know, which she for some reason stood and sung to the sound guy.

all in all, it was a great show... i was lucky to attend and have such great (yummy?) seats. i can't wait until she comes back!!!!!

Well the show is over and back to the old routine. When I came home my mother said that I had looked different, saying that it "looks like you saw God". I agreed, It was as though I was Moses comming down from the M.t. Sinai and delivering what I had experienced. I traveled along way to Toronto 31 hrs bus ride to be exact.I checked in some hostel the night before so I could get to the theatre early and I did, I was there at 10:00. It was rainy and there were a few people there I was far too intimidated to approach any of them, plus I really did not know that they were waiting for the same reason I was: to meet tori. As i said it was rainy and cold and I was hungry I almost considerd it usless to stand around for 8hrs in a line up that I figured was "a very small if any chance of meeting her" lineup. So I walked to the CN tower and ate at Planet Hollywood. After eating I had summoned enough personal power and realized that I was going back there and waiting as long as it took.Well after much waiting and more waitng she finally arrived I was shaking at this point, unfortunatly I never got to meet her but did get close enough to get a couple of half decent pictures. I was pretty choked about not meeting her because I truly thought I was! Yes I was pretty depressed but it turned out that right after that I met alot of awesome people; Summer, Trisha,Sonja and Appelonia(the reason I'm on the forum). Great show! My only complaint was the sound quality. I don't think it gave enough justice to tori's beautiful voice. I liked the band because I also like heavy music alot so both of my needs were satisfied.Thank you tori for putting on a great show and for all of the other gifts you have given me.

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