North American Plugged '98 Tour
Blacksburg, VA
October 15, 1998

Updated October 20, 1998

Check Out The Reviews And Set Lists Page

Tori performed in Blacksburg, VA on October 15, 1998 at Burruss Auditorium (Virginia Tech) during the main North American leg of her Plugged '98 tour.



Set List

Tori performed Marianne, Mary and Silent All These Years solo. Thanks to Matt Page for being the first to call me on the phone with the set list, and to Richard Handal, who also called me. Jeremy Rueger was the first to email me the set list.


Precious Things
iieee
Sugar
Hotel
Cornflake Girl
Playboy Mommy
Marianne (solo)
Mary (solo)
Putting The Damage On
Cruel
Muhammed My Friend
The Waitress

1st Encore:
She's Your Cocaine
Raspberry Swirl

2nd Encore:
God
Silent All These Years (solo)



Reviews

The most recently added reviews are first.

From Phyllis (posted to the Purple People mailing list and placed here with permission)

October 20, 1998 - Since I have nothing better to do with my holiday (I am stuck on campus with no one around) I thought i would type up a review (I am long winded, so get ready for this!)....

On October 15, 1998, I arrived at Virginia Tech around 11am with the hippie twins and my housemate Megan. I thought I was arriving late (usually a lot of people arrive REALLY early for meet and greet), but we were actually one of the first there. I could only spot 2 other toriphiles who had taken a train from DC to Tech. I spotted Steve Sanchez and asked him what was going on. He told me to sit tight and stay where we were and as soon as they figured things out, he would let me know. Burruss AudiTORIum is located in the center of campus and they werent sure how they were going to organize the meet and greet with classes getting out and such (there would be problems in security). Anyway, I began to issue numbers as it was done in past concerts I had been to and it seemed to work. Throughout the day, people were very cooperative in taking their numbers and lining up. We lined up and headed over to the barracades (which were nicely set up, by the way. YAY! Steve!) at aro!

!

!

und 3:30. I must say this was one of the smallest meet and greets I have been to, I only numbers to 60 or so. I was right up front with my housemate and a couple other friends.

At 4:15 tori's bus attempted to pull in, but was having problems because the space was too small, so it stay put and we were teased by watching tori's crew and band come out...then the bus pulled away. Minutes later, a mini van came down towards us and Tori stepped out. She looked tired. And when she came out I told her she looked a bit tired and she nodded and said that she was. She talked to karol first and then Stefanie (of the hippie twins). When she got to me there was so much i had wanted to tell her (i hadnt seen her since August), but so little time. When she got to me I gave her a card and the Purple People tape we made at the gathering in May. Then I gave her a purple ribbon and told her it was Domestic Violence/Sexual Abuse awareness month and by wearing the purple ribbon she was supporting the fight. Finally I handed her a poster of the show I am in and told her she should come see it when she had her day off. She kind of laughed at me and said good luck. !

!

!

She thanked me for the stuff and continued down the line. My housemate Megan spoke with her briefly and had her sign her sesame street backpack. Then Jeremy, the guy behind me, told Tori about a friend of his who died recently whose birthday would be coming up and it would mean a lot if she played Marianne. Tori wrote it on her hand and said she would see what she could do. Reminded of requests, I blurted out to Tori that she had to play Girl in Nashville for Danica, and tori chimed in and said "I know, I promised her, and I wont break a promise." Tori ROCKS! (but i think you already knew that!) For the rest of the meet and greet I just stood there and observed. Tori is so comforting sometimes even if she is not speaking to you one on one.

The Unbelievable Truth began at 8pm and werent too bad. They were better than The Devlins I think, but not as cute as Colin Devlin! They didnt have much to say in between sets except "we're the Unbelievable Truth".

Tori's set began around 9:15pm. It was no surprise that she opened with Precious Things. I was surprised she didnt play Horses and Tear in Your Hand (especially because Neil Gaimon was in the audience). I was seated in Row C and had a perfect view. I was towards the left and normally I sit on the right, so it was a new veiw for me! I could watch her hands more. During Precious Things "so you can make me cum...." she sticks her middle finger up on the board of her piano and slides it across. That was something new I hadnt seen before.

Sugar made me happy because I always enjoy hearing it with the band. It was my first time hearinf Hotel, and even though I do not really like the album version, it was pretty good in concert. She did her usual Cornflake Girl improv before the song which is always a good touch.

During Secret Time she played Marianne for Jeremy. This was a very emaotional time for him and the people aound him. It was followed by Mary which she said she "hadn't played for a while and someone requested it."

The highlight of my evening was Mohammed My Friend. This is one of my favorite girls and my first time hearing it live. Before the song she started putting lipgloss on and ran out, so she threw it into her piano. Then she asked us if any of us had been to a place in VA which was near Tech. She said she used to visit her grandmother there and then told us that her grandmother would hate this song, but it didnt matter because she was dead now." She with an improv and I had no clue it was going to follow into Mohammed. It sounded wonderful!

The audience wasnt very responsinve the entire night, so i think she ended the concert with God and Silent All These Years so they would recognize some tunes.

When Tori came out for Raspberry Swirl she thanked the people in the teal shirts for being so good, but she couln't go on with all of us sitting on our asses. She told us to get up and fucking dance. So, we rushed the stage (but there was an orchestra pit blocking us from being too close). I was right up front with my house mate!

All in all, the concert was spectacular as always. And Tori SHOES!! Oh my God! They were great!!! ORANGE PLATFORMS which appeared to be boots!!! Way cool :)

After the show, I went back to the barracades and waited for tori to come out. caton came out and visited for a little while and someone asked if she could have one of his earrings. So, he took and earring out and gave it to her. Then it became a phenomenon....everyone wanted and earring. So, Caton began trading with the girls. He had a new set of earrings by the end of the evening!

Next we saw Neil Gaimon and got some autograhs from him. he told me that he was here for this show and the next (Baltimore) and then he would be fluing back home.

Finally around 12:15am, Tori came out and visited. Fans were rude and pushy and arms were flying. Because I wa sin the second row, all i really got to do was thank her for Mohammed My Friend. That was good enough for me. And it was all over. I waited a little longer to see Mr Puppet wave good bye, but no signs of him. the bus was located in the wrong place for Mr Puppet, so i managed without. I then went and talked with my friend Alison whom I graduated high school with and she was working on event staff. She told me she helped load and unload equipment. She also told me that there were people on event staff who didnt even go to her school, they just had friends who got them shirts! NUTS!

Anyhow, it was a great day and skipping all my classes was worth it as usual. I met some wonderful new people too!


From Mia.K.York

October 19, 1998 - first, let me say that october 15 is (was) my birthday. so. i have a friend who lives in arlington, VA and went to school at Tech that i haven't seen in SIX YEARS!! so, i thought, well, it's my birthday, there's a tori concert, and i can visit melissa. groovy. luckily, my parents love me (thanks mom & dad) and bought me the plane ticket for my birthday. so anyway.

thursday morning rolls around and we're in arlington, VA...melissa has a meeting she can't get out of at work. i understand that. so we were unable to hit the road for the four-hour drive until 12:30 pm. *shrug* no big deal. i mean, i've met her before, and i was pretty sure i would be able to make the after-show M&G, so. anyway, we got to burruss at about 4:20-25 ish. there really weren't that many people there, and most of them were lined up along the long barricades, which we all know doesn't work these days. *sigh* that's too bad, cos it gives less people access to her. :( anyway, i ended up about three people back, all the way on the right (thanks to the nice guy on the barricade with the camera who let me get in front of him...and his (girl?) friend who picked up my purse for me and stuff. you guys rule! ;P ). anyhow, i wasn't sure if she would see me, or i her, or whatever, so i asked paul (whose name i ALWAYS think is darren...i think he looks like darren burrows -- ed from northern exposure. anyway.) if he would do me a huge favor and tell tori that i was there, behind him somewhere and that it was my birthday and that i had something for her.

now, i know i sound kind of like...well...a whore or something. "it's my birthday, i'm special" etc. but well, dammit! it's my birthday and it's always been one of those kind of demented crazy dream-wish things to see tori (or u2 for that matter) on my birthday. *shrug* sue me. but i do apologize to anyone who got sick of hearing me say "it's my birthday!" hell, i was even bothered, but, like, once someone hears it's your birthday, they're all, like, excited for you and stuff. *shrug* i don't know. anyway, i digress.

so, within like 12 minutes of my arriving, the little jeep cherokee or explorer or whatever it was pulls up. and there she is. beautiful as ever. she talks to people (and as everyone else has said, she was out for quite a while.) and finally gets down by us and is doing the usual "hi! how are you"s to the crowd, when she sees me. now, i'm a strictly midwestern concert girl....MN, IL, WI, IA....y'know. but there i was in blacksburg, VA and she just stopped and was like, "what are you...how did you...why are you...how did this happen?" *giggle* it was so cute. it never ceases to amaze me that she remembers me. she's unreal. anyway, i told her it was my birthday and that i was visiting a friend and my parents bought the ticket and stuff, and she wished me a happy birthday and said it was nice to me, and then i handed up one of the Spark single postcards (the pink skirt one) for her to sign and she wrote "happy b-day mia" :):):) and then i handed her the holiday pear scented candles i had and the letter i wrote. geeky blue envelope, all i could find. ;P she gave the "these are special, keep them somewhere" look to steve and that was it. i was glowing. one thing that really surprised me...i swore to christ that neither joel nor steve really recognized me, but they both did, and were, like, whoa! what are you doing here? it was kind of nice. unfortunately i was never close enough to the front to steve's job for him...lazy bastard. ;) kidding.

oh, and i forgot the little drummer boy part. anyone who knows me knows that i have had a hard-on for that song for YEARS. and i've been consistently asking her to play it. annoying, yes. but well, she seems at least vaguely amused, even if joel and steve don't. anyway, while she was signing my card i jokingly said "so, since it's my birthday, you're going to do little drummer boy, right?" she kind of laughed, joel said "geez, lay off that" (or something to that effect), a couple people around laughed and then she said, "um, i don't think so, but we'll see, mia." *giggle* hee. needless to say, no LDB. *laugh* someday, i swear....

anyway, on to the show. our seats were far from stellar (far from the stage as well..haha.) but in burruss, just about every seat has a pretty good view. *shrug* my friend melissa had never been to a tori show, and doesn't really know most of her new stuff but had a rocking time anyway. she said that it was probably one of the best, if not THE best light show she had ever seen, and that tori was totally captivating....she said that once you looked at her, you couldn't NOT look at her. yay, a convert! ;P *giggle* she recognized a few songs. i won't go into set list details or anything, since it's well-covered ground.

in the letter i had given her i asked her to play Little Drummer Boy (duh!), Muhammad My friend, or Do It Again. now, i KNEW i wasn't getting LDB, and i figured do it again wouldn show up, cos she hadn't been soundchecked or anything, so i was REALLY hoping for muhammad. about a month or so ago, i decided that that was going to be my, uh, REALISTIC request. and then everyone started posting about her soundchecking it and stuff, and all i could think was "save it til blacksburg, PLEASE!!" and while she did it first in jax, it was awesome to hear it. i'm not sure if i like the full-band treatment though. *shrug* it may have to grow on me.

i was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO happy to hear "Hotel"! i knew what it was right away and apparently no one else did cos i was the only one screaming when she started it. incredible.

Mary...well, who expected that one. un-fucking-real. just...wow. at the very beginning, my heart caught cos i actually let myself think for about 2 seconds that it was little drummer boy. alas... ;P

alot of the songs have a changed a lot since July....cruel and cocaine particularly. cocaine was definitely one of my live faves, but i don't know. maybe i'm just not up on my black sabbath, but i just don't get the insertion....is it a musical connection or a thematical one? *shrug* either way, the song ROCKS so way more!!!

there were a LOT of little improv-ed beginnings....i had NO clue what marianne, damage, muhammad or god were until the first lines. WOW. as melissa said, she IS absolutely mesmerizing. *sigh*

and after tori introduced muhammad with the bit about her grandmother, was it just me or was EVERYTHING from that point on all about her grandmother?!?!? i mean, muhammad, waitress, cocaine, swirl, GOD, silent....that's a bit of a blasphemous progression if ya ask me...*shrug* just a thought. and of course, the "i believe YOU'RE the devil bitch" addition (which as matt so thoughtfully pointed out later was about ME, and not her grandmother. oh haha, funny guy. ;P he was kidding.)...wowee.

all i can say is that i had PROMISED myself i wasn't leaving before the show ENDED. but i did. i heard her start Silent in the stairs on my way out. dammit. the worst part is that i still could have made it and ended up in the same place, had i stayed. *sigh* the choices we make.

anyhow, the after show m&g was, to put it mildly, a ZOO. i don't know where anyone else was standing, but from my vantage point it was a fucking mess. *shrug* maybe it's my own fault, for being too nice and not pushing back when people push me, but i ended up 4 people back and 5 feet over from where i started, in the second row of people. whatever. it was awful. it was TOTALLY different from the afternoon m&g too. weird.

ezra, if you're reading this, i hope she didn't put my name in your program, i tried to say it wasn't mine, but *shrug* and you got out of there so quick i didn't have a chance to ask. happy birthday, man!

anyway, she eventually made her way out and over, after much conversation among us EWF who hadn't seen each other in a while. did i forget to mention that my friend melissa is SHORT? she ended up behind me (i'm TALL) and barely got to see tori let alone talk to her. which in the grand scheme of things is ok, cos she's not, like, the hugest fan so anyway. she did say that miss tori was very "spritely", an accurate description if i ever heard one. ;)

anyway, i had a lovely discussion with matt page and paul about the shows and stuff (sorry i didn't make it to baltimore guys. :P) and people around us were listening to us and some girl asked matt if he had like, MET met tori before and his answer was "once or twice". *giggle* i had to laugh, it was so sweet. i understand his intentions, in not trying to be like all, "oh i know tori and she's my friend and we talk all the time and i've been to 812 shows" guy, but it was just funny. *shrug* all in all it was a civil crowd, but there was some shoving.

tori finally got over to us and noticed matt first (gee...was it the orange hat or the red sweatshirt that gave him away? ;P) and said she missed him and scrunched her face up all cute. ;) then she saw paul and said hi, and then she said hi to me and told me she hoped i had a good birthday and that she thought this would be a good year for me....it being the chinese new year (going to be the year of the cat, or the rabbit, same thing, read on) in teh middle of february. she said she was a cat, and i said i thought i was a rabbit, at which she said they were one and the same! i didn't know that, but it explains some stuff. ;P anyway, we talked for a minute and then i asked my dumb question for the show (with me there's always one...if ya count the obligatory little drummer boy request, i guess there's always two. anyway) which went like this, "hey, tori, one of my professors saw you doing "i'm on fire" on teh VH1 thing, and wanted me to ask you why you decided to cover it" she looked at me like, um, i don't know...and then said, "tell her i had gas, i have no idea!" *laugh* which was funny, but the problem is that the question didn't quite get the setup it deserved. it really wasn't THAT random of a question. anyway, this is too long of an email already to go into the whole thing. it's 4:20 am, i haven't been home in 6 days and i'm keeping my roomie awake with my typing and she has to be to work at, like 8 or something. hope she doesn't hurt me...

hope everything's groovy for everyone, thanks again, mike! maybe i'll see some of you guys in the future...i'll be the loud, tall, blond making an ass of herself. ya can't miss me...


From SsterJanet@aol.com

October 18, 1998 - Thursday was the best day of my life!!! I/we left here (WV) around ten and after stopping twice for bathroom breaks, getting in half hour traffic on the highway, and deciding to get lost in Blacksburg b/c this guy gave us the wrong directions we got there at 1:45. But I found Buruss Hall and there weren't that many people waiting, so we got our numbers. I was 26. Well, shortly after that they began setting up barricades. After waiting until 3:15 they finally said we could come down there. Well, the barricade was only 7 feet long (estimated) and then it stretched for probably 20 feet back (shaped like a big L). So everyone lines up in accordance to their number and then they say she's only going to be by the door, so everyone piles up against the barricade in the front (the 7 foot one) and I can hardly see anything. These two extremely sweet girls, sisters named Candice and Stephanie offered to give my book to her for me. So we wait a while and then finally at 4:30 after the blue bus brings Caton and the rest of the band, this Gold Blazer comes down to where we are, but the windows are kinda tinted so we couldn't see to well. Her bodyguard Joel gets out then out comes Tori. She's so beautiful, honestly one of the most beautiful women I've ever seen in my life, and little too, she looks like a little fairy. I didn't think I would but I started crying, not sobbing hysterically, but I teared up really bad. I saw her from the side and we began snapping pics of her. They gave her my book and they were like "this is from Danielle, she's in the back" and Tori was like "where?" and they said "in the back" and I hear her say kinda loudly "hi Danielle" and I just said "hi" really loudly and shy like and the guy in front of me who I guess felt bad b/c he wasn't in line and waited like I did for about 2 hours and jumped in front of me, offered to take some pics for me and they passed up my Under The Pink cover and she signed her name. Then my friend Charlie was passing up CDs for people and he asked her to sign his hand and so she did and this chick asked him if he was going to get it tattooed and he said no and Tori says in this really adorable voice "no, he's going to wash it off" and smiled at him then she went on. Then we started to leave and saw Steve Caton so we talked to him and got his pic taken with us. He wished us fun and we went to Wendy's to eat abnormal square burgers. We went back to Buruss and went to the show. It was great, very much the same setlist that she had at my first Tori concert. Even though our seats were really good and close I had binoculars so it was like seeing her from the first row and she drools a lot and right b/f Muhammad My Friend she was talking about a popular camp in Virginia that she visits and that's where her grandma was from and that her grandma wouldn't like this next song, but "she's dead so she can't do anything about it!". She did a full crotch grab during Precious Things. I bought two Tori shirts, a long sleeve one and a white short sleeved one that has pics and says "when pianos try to be guitars" and it has tourbook pics on the back, and three pics on the front. Before the second song of the first encore she said something to the crowd like "You've been wanting to do this all night. Get off your asses and get up here. You won't hurt me" and played Raspberry Swirl, had I known she invited everyone up to the stage to dance during the song I would have gone. I didn't hear her say that, since I was leaving to go out back. We went to the back and there were hardly any people there and we got a small space right b/s the door, angled against the wall. Well, the concert let out around 11 and Charlie finds us (he wanted to watch the rest of the show) as does everyone else who were in the auditorium and they began shoving and being rude and I end up behind/in between Charlie and Holly. She came out around 12 and began signing stuff, her hair was wet from just taking a shower and she was wearing a green shirt and jeans. Since we were right b/s the door we were the first ones she got to. Holly said "hi Tori" and she said "hi honey, how are you?" and then when Holly went to give her the letter that Stephanie asked her to give to Tori, while Tori was giving her back her Little Earthquakes CD Tori said to her "here, lets swap." She grabbed my ticket out of my hand, but it was stretched out with a bunch of different hands and I don't think she heard me mumble "you changed my life and I really, really appreciate it." If I had the chance to tell her I would have said so much more than that, but I didn't get to. After she signed Charlie's checkbook and Neil Gaimen came over and signed our stuff, we left and Charlie drove home, until we got about 15 minutes from the first toll, then I drove the rest of the way while he slept. The best night of my life. Tori Amos actually acknowledged my existence and I got some great pics.


From Chris Kramme, a.k.a. Dream

October 16, 1998 - After a LONG 7 hour ride from Pennslyvania for my third show, My friend Bryan, my mother (does that make me king of the nerds?) & I arrived at VA Tech at about 3:15 to find we had to get a parking permit or our car would get towed. So we took care of that and went over to the meet & greet at 3:45. I was about 5 rows back, so I knew I probably would not get to meet Tori this time. Plus people had already been numbered, but I don't think the #s meant anything in the end. At about 4:20 one of the crew guys went through his spiel about no pushing, ect. At 4:25 the blue bus made its way to the building & the band went inside. The driver had a shirt on that said WATER (in huge letters). No Tori yet. At about 4:35 a blazer pulled up to the back door & Joel (I think) opened the back door...and there she was. She was absolutely stunning. :) She has such a presence, especially for someone that short! I didn't realize that she was that tiny. The crowd was very respectful, no shoving or anything. Tori talked to people up front as people from the back passed things up to get signed. Some guy asked me to pass up his BFP cd so I sent my UTP booklet up with it and watched as she signed it! :) I think I got a picture of this (I took so many) but there were people in my way. The booklet came back, signed :) and I was a happy guy. Oh, and Tori stayed for 15-20 minutes and really seemed to be in good spirits. After that we had about 3 hours to kill, so we went & got some dinner.

We went in at 7:15 and I got the new Jackie's Strength tour shirt. Unbelievable Truth (oh yeah, I heard that Thom Yorke from Radiohead was there, does anyone know anything about this?) went on at 8:02 & played for 1/2 hour. The intro to one of their songs sounded like Radiohead's "Karma Police". They were o.k.. They plugged the new CD twice.

Is anyone still reading?

Tori went on at about 9:25.

PRECIOUS THINGS
Amazing as usual, she did an improv before the "so you can make me cum" line. The most deliberate crotch grab in the business during the "girrrrrrrrrlllll" part.

IIEEE
She clutched her stomach during the "sacrifice" part.

SUGAR
I didn't recognize this with the band untill she began singing. Sounded good, complete with the "when they find you're just a pussy boy" line. Bryan said that Matt broke a drumstick.

HOTEL
Honestly, this is not one of my favorites, but it was good.

CORNFLAKE GIRL
She did an improv first, "You bet yor life she is, I swear to Christ she is" or something like that. Always a favorite.

PLAYBOY MOMMY
This one has grown on me & is now a favorite. Very emotional.

MARIANNE (solo)
This caught me totally off guard. I had always wanted to hear this live, and when I heard the words "tuna, rubber" I mouthed the words "oh my god". I was almost in tears during this.

MARY (solo)
"Someone asked me to do this, and I haven't done it in a while, so I'm gonna do it" This was my 2nd time hearing this, the first was in Richmond. I need this on CD! I actually had a dream about a week ago that I found a different version of the Winter single in a record store and it had Mary on it as a b-side. A great song.

PUTTING THE DAMAGE ON
Improv: "Got a ticket, for a plane, got a ticket, to go away". I think that's what she said, I can't remember exactly. A long, but great, improv. Jon played the upright bass. Beautiful, a surprise to hear.

MUHAMMAD MY FRIEND
She told a story about how she spent a lot of time down here and to check (something) out if you're visiting. She said her grandmother was a minister and she doesn't know how she would feel about this song, but "She's dead and can't do anything about it!" Bryan wished Maynard was there, since Tool is his favorite band.

CRUEL
Incredible how Tori can play the piano & keyboard, as well as sing & dance at the same time. Jon was going apeshit on the bass.

THE WAITRESS
She did an improv: "I believe in something, I believe she's the devil" She also said something like "I believe this and you cannot change this" If you guys don't know, this is the only song that has been played at EVERY show on the tour! The streak stays intact tonight.

1st Encore

SHE'S YOUR COCAINE
The funny thing was I was hoping for this about 5 seconds before they started playing it! At the end she gave mock fellatio to the mic before shoving it away violently.

RASPBERRY SWIRL
She said something like "There's no fucking way I'm doing this with you guys sitting down. I know you've been dying to get off your ass all night" I think she told the security to go have a Coke. Everyone stood & many danced. Matt wore the deely boppers on a hard hat. (Oh, Kenny was hanging above the drums) Again she gave mock fellatio to the mic.

2nd Encore

GOD
I was expecting Horses or Pandora, but it was a pleasant surprise to hear this. It also kept the dance vibe going. Tori did the "you dropped the book on me Jesus" improv.

SILENT ALL THESE YEARS (solo)
The band left & Tori was waving goodbye, but they hadn't used the disco balls yet, so there had to be one more song. At least I hoped there would be..yes, Tori stayed and treated us to another solo song. A beautiful version complete with the disco balls. A perfect ending to the BEST show I have ever seen, and that includes all bands, not just Tori shows. WOW!

No chance at the M & G afterwards, b/c people were leaving to go there during the 2nd encore.

Well, I gotta get some sleep, it's off to Baltimore tomorrow. I can't imagine what it will be like watching from the 5th row! (we were in the 29th row this time) I don't know how she can top Blacksburg, but something tells me she will. I wonder if anyone from the Peabody will show up?!


From ARaisinGrl

October 16, 1998 - Mike--here is a review from last night's show in Blacksburg..from what I remember!

PRECIOUS THINGS
Lots of Little improvs before the "so you can make me cum" part. Caton stopped playing and gave Tori a funny little look waiting for her to continue!

IIEEE
very beautiful

SUGAR
a nice addition as always!

HOTEL
A little slower than the album version, but the tempo changes were handled very nicely. Sounded flawless.

CORNFLAKE GIRL
nice improv-tori-and-her-piano before the band joined it.

PLAYBOY MOMMY
simply beautiful. Tori's voice was stunning. She didn't seem to get as outwardly emotional as I've read in some of the other reviews, but it was beautiful just the same.

MARIANNE (solo)
it's amazing how much powerful sound she gets form the piano on her own. A nice song to hear by herself.

MARY (solo)
"Someone asked me to play this, and i haven't done it in awhile, so I'm gonna do it." Really great!

PUTTING THE DAMAGE ON
She did a wonderful solo intro to this one to....I think something about getting a ticket to get away....Didn't know what it was until she started singing. A lot like the Twilight Mix with the addition of the drums. It was remarkable.

CRUEL
Wow! From the very first note, the song seemed to be coming at you like a giant monster that you knew was going to eat you alive. But you weren't scared because you think you'd actually enjoy being eaten by it. Very vrey powerful and in-your-face.

MUHAMMED MY FRIEND
She told a story about how she grew up in the area and we should visit becuase it was beautiful. Her grandma was from there and was a minister, and Tori didn't know what her grandma would think of this song, but "she's dead now and can't do anything about it!" Really great sounding.

THE WAITRESS
great new version like always

1st Encore:

SHE'S YOUR COCAINE
Tori did a neat little hopping thing when she came back on stage for this one. She looked like she was having a great time. Very fun song!

RASPBERRY SWIRL
She told everyone they knew they wanted to get off of their asses so we were allowed to come up to the front to dance. There was a tiny orch. pit between the stage and the audience, but the closeness was still great. Matt kicked ass during this song!! his seely boppers were now worn on a white construction helmet.

2nd Encore:

GOD
great job, the "dropped the book on me" version.

SILENT ALL THESE YEARS (solo)
we were all still in the front, so it was as if she was singing right to us. It was beautiful. She seemed happy at the end. She gave us so much!

Other neat little tidbits...kenny was hung over the drums. I never saw the Super Grover. Jon had a little Big Bird on his amp. I met Caton afterwards...very cool guy. He signed my book, talked to me about wine and earrings, and hung out with the fans for a long time. He was nice and dedicated!


From leeshka (posted to the Purple People mailing list and posted here with permission)

October 16, 1998 - I loved it.....not as much as I did when I saw her on her last tour, but I really loved it. My boyfriend actually didn't hate it. He was like "I could've done without the slow shit", but I was wishing personally that she'd play more than she did of just her and the piano. I will definitely go to see her again on this tour, though. I am hoping she will come through Roanoke again so that I can see her in the Civic Center like I did last time, and bring my best friend with me, too. She was jealous that I went last night. :)

The highlights for me were when she played Sugar, Mary, Precious Things, God, and Silent All These Years. I didn't memorize or write down the playlist, but I'm sure someone did (probably Phyllis did - I was so happy to see her there, 'cause I wasn't sure if I'd find her). I really wanted to hear Flying Dutchman, because when I heard her play it at the Roanoke concert for two boys who were foster kids, I honest to goodness cried, and all I have to do is close my eyes to hear it again. I was disappointed not to hear her sing Me And A Gun, but I definitely don't want to relive the experience I had in Roanoke. One note she sang in that song was so loud and long and piercing that everyone jumped and I got kicked in the back.

One other personal highlight: I saw this tall guy that works at the Record Exchange in Lynchburg twice last night. Once before it started and again when we stopped at a gas station afterwards for munchies. I've had a crush on the guy for years, and I loved it when I found out a year or two ago that he was a Tori fan.


From Greta

October 16, 1998 -I had so been looking forward to yesterday that now I'm sad it's over. I knew that I had to work during the meet and greet time, but I had heard from some volunteers that it was scheduled for 6pm -- after I got off work. Of course, this was not the case. But my hopes were up. I managed to get off work at 4:30 and made it to the meet and greet just as Tori was signing the last to autographs. I was disappointed. She was right there, two feet away and I couldn't get to her. I couldn't even see her because the people in front of me were taller than me.

But I new that the concert would be great and would make up for not being able to meet her. This was my second show this year -- I saw Tori in Charlotte, NC in August. I was worried that the Tech crowd my not be as familiar with Tori as the Charlotte crowd was since many students attend concert just for the heck of it. But this was not the case! Just before she came on stage the crowd was full of energy and clapping to encourage her to come out. I could tell it was going to be a great show.

Many of the songs that she played here were the same as in Charlotte and they were incredible twice over. But when Tori played iieee last night I was really touched. She kept rubbing her tummy as she sang the lyrics "why does there gotta be a sacrifice" and in an improv during she kept saying thing to the effect of 'I'm sure you understand'. I really felt for her at that moment. She played a few songs that I had heard of but had never actually heard -- Mary, Marianne, and Mohummad my Friend. It was a real treat to hear those songs for the first time live! Before one of the songs (I think it was Putting the Damage on but I'm not sure) she gave us a little antidote. She told us that she spent some time in the area because her grandmother lived nearby. She said "my grandmother was a minister. I don't know what she'd think of this next song but there's not much she can do about it since she's dead." That got a chuckle out of the crowd.

My favorite part of the show was the first encore. One thing that somewhat disappoints me about Tori's show is how the majority of the crowd behaves. They sit there like they are admiring a painting or watching a piano recital. The concert is a far cry from a piano recital. I don't expect people to be up and dancing, but at least feeling Tori's passion in her music. Tori fixed this last night. Right before she played Rasberry Swirl, she invited us up to the stage! She said something like 'you've been wnating to do this all night. Get off your ass an get up here. You won't hurt me'. We ran up to the stage. Our seats were about 25 rows back and we got to be 10 rows away for the last 3 songs. Besides that, the energy just increased and everyone was having an awesome time. The front section turned from relaxed-concert-watchers to dance-club-like dancers. Tori evidently changed her second encore from Past the Mission to God which kept the dancing and energy going. When she and the band got up after God, I was afraid that was it-- she was waving goodbye and everything. I was just hoping for a third encore. But then the band left the stage and she returned to the piano. The first few notes of Silent all these Years made the crowd go nuts. I know I was touched that she played one more song solo for us. And it was so beautiful and perfect -- her talent never ceases to amaze me! :)


From Joey

October 16, 1998 - WOW, where to start... what a show! and what a day!

We got to VT around 1230, found Phyllis, the hippy twins, and some other EWF waiting around the baracades. I got number 14... It was a beautiful day and everyone was being really cooperative with the number system.

We lined up a little after 3, and Tori came out around 430 I think... not sure of that.. She looked HOT yesterday.. She had on a warm fuzzy gray sweather and men's levi's with a thick black belt and white keds on.. She had her face on and she just looked GOOD. She seemed to be in good spirits too although many will argue with me who say she didnt' seem well, I disagree. She also seemed to spend MUCH more time with fans yesterday, i got about 3 or 4 minutes myself, i was upfront on the bar all the way to the right, like the second to last person she talked to. She regonized me right away although she can't ever remember my name! I told her it was my official TENTH show and she gave me a big huge. We talked for a minute or so about some personal stuff, then i gave her a letter (because i always forget everything i want to say), and I also gave her an apple. For one reason, it's fresh from the mountains of VA and it was yummy! Number two, b/c Tori is also my teacher in many many ways.

Then i got the thrill of my life... We snuch into soundcheck!!!!!!!!! Ever since the first show i've been to i've been trying but never got it.. We got into the bulding and sat in a hallway outside the theatre and heard everything CRYSTAL clear. She did "Past The Mission" SEVEN TIMES!!!!!!!!!

Soundcheck:

Past The Mission
Iieee
Black Dove (January)
some improv stuff, which she did in the show either before PTDO or CG.

They listened to the CD of Past The Mission once too before they attempted to play it.

THE SHOW
8:00-8:35 "The Unbelievable Truth".. they were okay... no comments here.

9:20 Tori appears

PRECIOUS THINGS
IIEEE
SUGAR -she sang in the part "when they find you out, when they find out.."..
she went off here! it was so great, and she sang "you're just a pussy!"
HOTEL
IMPROV/CORNFLAKE GIRL
PLAYBOY MOMMY
*****
MARIANNE
MARY
*****

IMPROV/PUTTING THE DAMAGE ON

CRUEL

MUHAMMED MY FRIEND she spoke here of all the time she used to spend with her grandmother in this area, and that she was a minister too, and she wandered what grandma thought of this song.. but it doesn't matter, becasue she's dead!

THE WAITRESS
**********************
SHE'S YOUR COCAINE
RASPBERRY SWIRL Invites the crowd up front..
**********************
GOD
SILENT ALL THESE YEARS

Neil Gaiman was also at this show, signing many autographs for fans and stuff. I spoke with him and Mark @ the soundboard for a second or so after the show and Mark gave me the setlist... Everything was exact except the final encore was written as Mission and Pandora... But I think Tori went with the more mainstream songs tonight for the college crowd.. .she definatley rocked em!!!

Does anyone know what the numbers mean beside the songs on the setlists??


From shannonblue

October 16, 1998 - yay. the setlist said past the mission and pandora for the second encore.. i guess she changed her mind..

anyway, because it was relatively small, burrus was a great place for this concert. i think it seats about 3000.. Very Nice.

special appearance by neil gaiman! he was hanging around after the concert.

i am so tired and can't think of anything else to say except, "WOW."


From Matt Page

October 16, 1998 - Matt tells me that the show was wonderful. The actual set list varied a little from the official/written set list. Tori had planned to do Past The Mission and Pandora's Aquarium for the second set, but decided to do God and Silent All These Years instead. (Past The Mission has not been played yet on this tour, so people seeing Tori in concert soon can expect a treat!)


From Jeremy Rueger

October 16, 1998 - here's the setlist..

precious things
iieee
sugar
hotel
*improv*
cornflake girl
playboy mommy

marianne (solo---note: i had requested this song; i can tell you that this was very emotional...this song reminds me so much of a friend that died last year..her name was maren...this was def. a highlight tonight...to hear her play this...)

mary (solo)

*improv ????*
putting the damage on
cruel
muhammad my friend
the waitress

*encore 1*
she's your cocaine
raspberry swirl

*encore 2*
god
silent all these years (solo)

the original setlist was the same except the second encore was supposed to be past the mission and pandora's aquarium)



Go Back To The Reviews And Set Lists Page


Please give me feedback, comments, or suggestions about my site. Email me (Michael Whitehead) at mikewhy@iglou.com