Tori Fans Dew Drop Inn - September 1996

Last Updated: March 6, 2001

Below, you see stuff that fans (and sometimes the press) have written about the concerts they have seen during September 1996, from most recent to oldest. Thank you again for supporting my web site :)


Sept 30 - Baltimore MD
Sept 28 - Chicago IL
Sept 27 - Ann Arbor MI
Sept 26 - East Lansing MI
Sept 24 - Normal IL
Sept 23 - Madison WI
Sept 22 - Green Bay WI
Sept 20 - Rockford IL
Sept 19 - Bloomington IN
Sept 18 - Muncie IN
Sept 16 - Akron OH
Sept 14 - Pittsburgh PA
Sept 13 - University Park PA
Sept 12 - Erie PA
Sept 10 - Poughkeepsie NY
Sept 9 - Boston MA
Sept 1 - Wallingford CT

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Tori's Performance In Baltimore Maryland, September 30

From a personal email sent to me by Lisa Street (lisast@bznet.com)

Unfortunately my dearest friend in tori, rodney, couldn't make it to this show, but i met up with doug (from rmta) and we were on our way to baltimore. i always have the best of luck on tori days, i.e. we got a spot on the side of the theatre at a broken meter. After wandering around a bit we finally found the stage door. Steve was already out there and he said 'hey, how's it going?' i said 'fine, you remember me?' he said 'of course, i never forget a face.' (i was kinda hopin he wouldn't reckognize me - see review from norfolk). i then asked him about how i heard they did the meet in greet on the bus a week or so ago when it was raining. he said 'yeh, we've done that a couple of times, how'd you hear about that so quick? oh, the internet right?' me: 'yeh' then he said 'yeh i've seen that some of the people there (rmta) don't like me very much'. i told him that most of us know that you're just doin your job. then later on someone else said something to him and he said out loud 'well, i do recall someone who i had to confiscate some film from (he smiled and looked at me)' cough cough, he and i straightened that all out though. the limo finally arrived around 4:20 and tori and caton stepped out. i jumped out of line real quick to say hi to caton (he remembered me from richmond and norfolk) i gave him one of the most recent pictures i'd done (mikewhy: you'll be gettin it soon) with a letter. i hopped back to my spot and when tori saw me she said "oh! it's the 'mary' girl!" and gave me a hug (if you need refreshing, she played Mary for me in portland and norfolk). i then gave her 4 of my tori-related photoshop creations and she looked at each of them and said "wow, you do really great work" i told her i'd love to do some stuff for her sometime if she wants. doug took our picture and i was off. doug got her to sign his 'bitchin' shirt, he was so excited that tori wrote on his chest.

while we were killing time we saw josh rollerblading around, but he was going too fast to stop.

when we went inside to pick up our tickets at the box office, as the girl was searching to find them, steve came over and said 'give her the worst seats you got' then he looked at me and said 'hey, i'm just kiddin you know. i told him i knew, it was all in good fun.

alrighty, time for the set list now:
BQ/HORSES
LOSING MY RELIGION
(tori story1)
BLOOD ROSES
BUTTERFLY
(tori story2)
CORNFLAKE GIRL
SPACEDOG (with an intro of 'my favorite martian'?)
LITTLE EARTHQUAKES
(tori story 3)
WRONG BAND
THIS OLD MAN
PUTTING THE DAMAGE ON
CRUCIFY
CAUGHT A LITE SNEEZE
TALULA
ME AND A GUN
--
ICICLE
WINTER
--
FATHER LUCIFER
(tori story 4)
KILLING ME SOFTLY (on harmonium and piano)

1. she talked about how it's funny that she always does the same things while she's in baltimore, like eat crabs. and she feels like she's 5 yrs. old again auditioning at the peabody and wanting to play john lennon.

2. introduced Caton, last time she'll be in the area for 2yrs, and thanked everyone for coming.

3.'nah, check this out, i don't usually do it, hardly ever' (wrong band)

4. 'earlier this guy asked me to do a song about vampires but i couldn't learn it in time so i'm gonna try this, but now it's gonna sound corny, but i really want to play it.' (killing...) -this show was incredible because tori seemed kinda angry while singing, but a good motivating kind of anger, i really got the impression a few of the songs were directed towards family members and just her past experiences with baltimore in general.

we were able to get up front to wait after the show. Caton came out first as usual. he and i talked for a long time, i must say, he has the best smile! while we were talking (doug thinks he was flirting, but who knows) this girl shouted from the back 'speak up cuz i'm sure what you're saying is very important' he just smiled and said 'no it's not, it's just personal stuff.' Tori finally came out and there was some annoying guy across from us with a camera and even though steve and joel yelled at him, he wouldn't turn the flah off, then he started giving them serious attitude. luckily the venue security people escorted him away from the crowd. when she came over i just gave her a little hug, said hi and thanks and that i'd see her tomorow.


From a personal email sent to me by Michael A. Solomon (MASolomon@gnn.com)

The spirit of Mikewhy, Internet legend and Tori fan extraordinaire, lives in Baltimore. For the finale of a great (if uneven in spots) show, Tori chose the one, the only Killing me Softly!!! I can't think that it would have come out had it not been for your kind intervention last week! Thanks so much. And to top it off, the soundboard guy gave me the setlist.

Beauty Queen
Horses
Losing my Religion (the definite highlight of the show)
Blood Roses
Butterfly
Cornflake Girl
Space Dog
Little Earthquakes
The Wrong Band
This Old Man (not on setlist but I think it's the normal intro)
Putting the Damage on
Crucify
Caught a Lite Sneeze
Talula
Me and A Gun

Icicle (was supposed to be Cloud on my Tongue)
Winter (was supposed to be Flying Dutchman)

Father Lucifer
Killing Me Softly

So, that's a quick review. Thanks again...can't wait to see what comes out tomorrow night (hope I can snag a ticket!)


From a personal email sent to me by Brett Cunningham (Take2thsky@aol.com)

This review actually talks about BOTH nights Tori played in Baltimore, September 30 & October 1.

I guess it's finally time to tell you how the Lyric concerts were for ME!...I'm not gonna do a full-fledged review, because things are hectic and time is sparse. Sorry this is so delayed...about a week.

Anyway, on Monday, I got to meet Tori. I got TWO hugs, and we talked a little while. I asked her if she got the things that I had asked Caton to give her on August 16, at Wolf Trap VA. She remembers them. We talked a little about the song I had wanted her to learn and to play at the Lyric. The song was Lovesong For A Vampire, by Annie Lennox, and it is the most beautiful song in the world, and I thought it would sound really good on the Harmonium; Tori agreed. As it turns out, Tori got 50$ for doing a promo of this song, way back when she was still scrounging for money. She asked if I liked vampires, and I was too tongue-tied to tell her no. So she said that she didn't think the song would work, and so I requested Flying Dutchman instead. I had her sign a glossy 7x7 picture, and then went on my merry way!

So, around the time for the last encore, Tori starts saying:

"So..anyway...earlier this guy asked me to play a song about vampires, and I...I tried to learn it, but it didn't work. So I thought...I don't know....I thought I'd play this for him....and it's not meant to be cheesy, but it is...but I really want to play it for him...so here it goes."

And then she played KILLING ME SOFTLY...JUST FOR ME! I hadn't even mentioned that she should play this song! She just did it for me! I was so excited because after the show, all my friends were telling everyone that I was the "vampire boy." It was great!

My only problem with the first night concert was that the first two encores were really boring and not typical encores at all: Icicle and Winter.

She also played the Wrong Band, and Losing my Religion took the place of Precious Things as far as rage songs go...she was wild! This Old Man was really crazy and passionate too.

The second night was just as good, if not better. She played 2 songs on the Harmonium, which I thought was kinda strange. And then of course I almost wet my pants when she dedicated a song to Ana, an ear with feet, who died in the horrible TWA crash. I almost wet my pants because after she told us about the dedication, the opening notes sounded a lot like "I'm on Fire" can you imagine? Here I was thinking that Tori was dedicating "I'm on Fire" to an airplane crash victim!!!!! that would have been horrible!!!!. Luckily it was just Daniel.

There's really nothing else, except that Caton was smoking on stage at the Lyric---which is a VERY high-class theatre. And that Tori did not talk hardly any. And unfortunately--she ignored my appropriately shouted requests for BALTIMORE (It just seemed right) and Etienne; but alas, neither were played.


From a posting to the Torinews mailing list by Johnson Liu (johnsonliu@intr.net)
Baltimore performance (Wonderful! Tori's voice a bit hoarse, however)
overall superior to DAR Constitution Hall but slightly less than Wolf Trap
VA, in my opinion. Tori said she will not be returning again for another two
years :( 

Suffering from Tori withdrawal already, Johnson

Setlist (not in order):
Beauty Queen
Horses
Blood Roses (fantastic!)
Father Lucifer
Marianne
CaLS
Talula
Putting the Damage On

Crucify
Winter
MAAG (extremely quiet in the auditorium)
Little Earthquakes

Wrong Band
CfG (Did her little dance again)
Icicle ("missing some pages" got a great response) 
Space Dog

Butterfly (I love this song)
Losing My Religion

Vampire cover version of "Killing Me Softly With His Song" with a funny
organ accompaniment (Caton lit up a cigarette at this point on stage...glad
he didn't get arrested for firecode violations).

From a posting to the RDT mailing list by Aggie Donkar (asdonkar@ths002.towson-hs.baltco.k12.md.us)
wow.

wow, twice.

tori is GOD.

setlist first.  then the story of tori's acknowledgement of my existance.

SETLIST FOR 9/30/96 SHOW, B'MORE, MD, LYRIC OPERA HOUSE
* indicates Caton on guitar

Beauty Queen/Horses
Losing My Religion
Blood Roses
Butterfly *
Cornflake Girl *
Spacedog *
Little Earthquakes *
The Wrong Band
This Old Man/Putting The Damage On
Crucify
Caught A Lite Sneeze *
Talula * (with much much much backing tape)
Me And A Gun
----Encore 1----
Icicle
Winter
----Encore 2----
Father Lucifer *
Killing Me Softly (on harmonium/piano)

oh, la.  what a show.  she was, as the subject says, fucking awesome.  no 
other words for it.  i burst into tears in the middle of crucify and 
couldn't stop crying until at least me and a gun.  she did a longlonglong 
dance before CG--it was so neat.  She actually left the piano bench and 
danced in the front of the stage.  for like three minutes.  and before 
father lucifer (ithink) caton did his own little dance.  it's all so much 
of a blur that i can't remember when stuff happened and it isn't going to 
come in order.  that i'm sorry about.  but i am so happy and excited and 
i feel so bad for my friend adam who was supposed to sit next to me but 
lost his ticket and missed his alltime favorite song (spacedog) and 
didn't get to sort of meet her after the show.  incidentally, i didn't 
get to sound check because we had to ransack adam's house looking for the 
missing ticket which didn't turn up and he had to miss the show.  but she 
talked about how when she came back to baltimore she always had crabs and 
she always felt like she was five years old again auditioning for 
peabody.  and before she played wrongband she talked about how it doesn't 
come often, and it might suck; but then she corrected herself and said 
that since half the audience was her friends, then it wouldn't suck as 
much cause they wouldn't care.  she did lucifer alot different then on 
the album, but i loved it.  i was so happy to hear crucify.  it was one 
i've never heard live.  talula blew me away.  the backing tape track was 
so neat.  it was perfect for right after CALS.  
        but the best part of the whole show was killingmesoftly.  she says to 
us, before the show some guy asked me to learn a song about vampires but 
i couldn't yet and geez, now this is going to sound really corny, but, 
god, this is so corny, and then she played killingmesoftly and i just 
drooled.  and the best part was--caton was on stage from having done 
lucifer, and about a minute into the song, i saw a little flare from his 
side of the stage.  i didn't know what it was.  and then i figured it 
out--i put two and two together, and when i saw puffs of smoke and his 
hand moving to his face and i saw little ember flaring when his hand when to 
his mouth, i realized that steve caton was having a f*cking cigarette on 
the stage of the lyricoperahouse.  and before he left, he reached down 
and ground it out on the stage floor.  and then they skipped off with his 
arm around her.  she had danced out to start the show, danced out to 
start both encores, and she and caton walzed right off the stage after 
she was done.  
        and then there was the after the show mob by the stage door.  
due to the fact that i refused to go anywhere before i went to the 
bathroom, we had not-so-good spots to stand and wait for tori.  as we 
stood there, we formulated plans for making tori amos notice us.  
the most realistic one was try to push up to the front, and that's 
just not nice.  so we stood on the edge of the sidewalk, me leaning 
out and sitting  on the curb because my shoes gave me blisters, and waited.  
and waited.  and waited.  we saw josh clayton-felt--i am in love with that 
boy.  he is so cute.  i saw rev. and mrs. amos.  mr. amos thanked us 
all for coming, and he is so sweet.  he really likes that his 
daughter is famous, i think.  caton came out, and got in the limo without 
signing any autographs.  and finally, after an hour, tori came out.  she 
signed autographs, but we were too far back to get any.  and then, as 
my friends were crowding up to try and see her, and i hung back to see 
her get in the limo, BY MYSELF, she saw me.  i was kinda looking in the 
limo windshield, to see if i could see her, and she made eye contact 
with me, smiled, and waved, her cute little two handed wave.  tori amos 
acknowldged my existance.  i think my life is over.  and you may say, how 
do you know she was looking at you, but i know.  some things, you're not 
sure of, you know--well, *maybe* she looked at me--and this was one where 
i knew.  i knew she looked at me.  she saw me there, out of the fifty people 
or so, and she waved and smiled.  i could die happy.  besides, in addition 
to that, i got to hear spacedog live.  my god.  this was one of the best 
nights of my life.  the others would be senior prom and closing night of 
our musical last year.  

so wow.  this night was great.  the corwd loved her.  they were really 
loud--not rude-loud, but loud in there reception of tori.  they weren't 
as quiet as i would have liked during maag but still--it wasn't bad.  

so that's it now.  wow. wow. wow.


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Tori's Performance In Chicago Illinois, September 28

From Mikewhy, Creator of this web site. (mikewhy@iglou.com)

Fury, Tenderness, and Playfulness In Chicago

If Chicago turns out to be the last show I see on the Dew Drop Inn Tour, I made a great choice! Tori gave Chicago an incredible high-energy performance. She was ON. This came as a big surprise to me, because reports from the Meet and Greet at the sound check (which I was unable to attend) said that she looked really tired. She somehow discovered an incredible store of energy, and proceeded to kick us in the booty with a wonderful, multi-layered show that you could divide into 3 parts. The best description for these parts were fury, tenderness, and playfulness. All in the same show!

I was pleased to share this concert with so many wonderful people and friends whom I have met this year. I attended the show with Rebecca Cox, webmistress of the Laid Down web site. We have been working together on Tori-related web projects and I was thrilled to finally see a concert with her! I was also joined in the theater by Lori (L'il Pixie). As soon as I saw her I KNEW we would have a great show! Since first meeting her, EVERY TIME we are at the same show, Tori gives the performance of her life. It happened in Cincinnati and Dayton Ohio, and now Chicago. You can thank us later! ;) I also talked to Monica Sanghavi, Charlie Poole, Aimee Lortskell, and Becky. I did not arrive early enough to really hang with them this time, but I enjoyed their collective energy. It meant alot to me to see them, and it added to the good feeling in the air. I was also approached by two young women who asked me, "Are you Mikewhy?" Their names were Kristin and Jenny, and it was fun to meet you!

Being used to smaller cities, I am still amazed at how huge Chicago is, and how congested the traffic gets. When we arrived at the Arie Crowne Theatre, I was appalled to see we had to pay $10.00 to park! I was still tired and hungry after my long drive from Louisville Kentucky, but I forgot all that as soon as 'Son Of A Preacher Man' started playing. I was in 4th row (not counting the pit seats), slightly right of center stage.

BEAUTY QUEEN/HORSES - This familiar opening seemed really fresh and different to me this time. I noticed immediately how intensely she was singing, really drawing out the notes and savoring them. During the instrumental interludes she pounded the keyboard HARD, throwing her body around. It was the most dramatic performance of these two songs I have ever seen in concert. It set the pattern for the first part of the show. At one point during Horses, she looked like she lost her place for a second. She slowed down, then went "Oh," smiled, and continued playing.

SUGAR - People who have seen her do this song before in concert know how powerful this song is live. Her low notes were quite exciting! She remained fully into it, and there seemed to be fury and passion in her words. Tori was much more animated here than when she sang this song on VH-1 Crossroads!

BLOOD ROSES - She then spoke to us. Her quotes are not transcribed perfectly here, but they are somewhat close. She said, "This will be the last time I am in Chicago for a couple of years." There were cries of disappointment in the audience. She said, "Yes, it's toodles for a while. I need to go make sandwiches in a shop somewhere. We have played Chicago more than any other city this time." (Actually, I think Buffalo NY gets that distinction.) She then mentioned fudge and candy apples in a quote I do not recall. She seemed to be giving us a heartfelt goodbye. I felt terribly sad that we would not see her again for a long time, but I was happy that she will get to have a life again away from the road. She then began singing Blood Roses. What an angry performance it was!

LITTLE AMSTERDAM - It was at this point during the show that I knew without a doubt that Tori was going to give an incredible show. One thing I saw after this song and Blood Roses before it was how she would slam her palm or fist into the piano at the very end of the song. There seemed to be real anger or fury inside her, something she needed to work out or get out of her. Perhaps this is what gave her the energy for the night. Her movements during these early songs were so forceful. Before hitting high notes she would brace her body and use her arms to help her get the notes out. She sometimes spit out her words in anger and often stood up and jammed on the Bosey. Like Beauty Queen/Horses earlier, this was the best live version of Little Amsterdam I have seen. When she wailed the "playing that organ must count for something" part and stretched the note into "Little Aaaammmmmssssssterrrrrdammmmmm" with a dark, creaky voice, I had chills going through my body! I heard a young man sitting nearby go "WOW." I couldn't have agreed more.

CORNFLAKE GIRL - Tori then said, "Those of you who have been to a few shows already know Caton." I then heard someone yell "Caton's cool" which naturally led to a request for Pain In My Hole. ( Read the Cleveland reviews from last June to find out more about this song.) When Tori first did this song, it was PAIN IN HIS HOLE. It is often called PAIN IN MY HOLE now, even by Tori! Tori said, "The deal with this 'Pain In My Hole' thing is I don't know it. Did I do that in Chicago? Someone needs to get me a tape so I can relearn it. I mean I made it up, it was invasion of the body snatchers. I am sure some bootlegger has it." Then came the cornflake girl dance. Rebecca was happy to see Tori come all the way to the edge of the stage, something Tori did not do the last time she played in Chicago. Tori looks so confident and fluid doing her moves. Cornflake Girl continued the powerful and angry tone of the night. She stood up, grunted frequently, and did impressive keyboard work. Many people in the audience sang along during the "Peel out the watchword" part. The extra "mystery" lyrics also appeared again! ( Read the Bloomington IN review by myself and Maggie for more on this.)

CAUGHT A LITE SNEEZE - This song was enchanting live. Like in other recent shows, the switch from piano back to the harpsichord continued to be very dramatic, with a slow build-up on the word "zone", with each note getting louder, followed by a jerky, almost mechanical and exaggerated turn. She held the 'zone' note for a really long time! Amazing. She also slammed her hand into the harpsichord again at the end. It looked painful to me!

LITTLE EARTHQUAKES - For the third time tonight, I heard the best live version of a Tori song. Caton's guitar was really effective, the beautiful lighting really complemented the song, despite the fact that I was blinded by it! This song began a transformation within the show, from the anger prevalent early in the show, into something softer, more tender and somewhat sad. Like so many Tori songs, the instrumental introduction to this song really moved me. You have not heard a ballad until you hear Tori's.

DANIEL - The emotional peak of the show for me was this Elton John cover. As she softly played the piano at the beginning, she told us, "There is someone who was supposed to be here tonight, not Marianne, but like her. This song is for you, wherever you are..." Then the opening notes of Daniel began. I lost it at that point and really cried. My God, it was so beautiful -- I was momentarily overwhelmed. My eyes were so wet I could hardly see the stage. I will NEVER forget this one. I am amazed at her ability to take a cover and make it her own; make it something almost too beautiful to bear. I later discovered that the dedication to the girl who was supposed to be there was for someone who died in the crash of TWA flight 800 a few months ago. Very moving. Look below for a newsgroup posting from the person who asked Tori for the dedication.

MOHAMMED MY FRIEND - Tori talked to us again. She was so talkative that night! It reminded me of previous tours when she would talk more and tell us her stories. She talked about Christmas 1994. She said she was visiting her parents for the holidays, and was dragged to church. "As you know, my dad was a minister...was a minister..was a MINISTER. I love him very much. but if he wasn't my dad I doubt we would be at the same parties. His parties served non-alcoholic wine, what a drag. Anyway, we were in church and everyone was singing their little songs. I was exhausted. It was right after the Under The Pink tour. My dad said 'Myra Ellen, I want you to sing.' I said 'If I sing, you might not like what comes out...' She then did her passionate Robert Plant-like singing followed by "We both know it was a girl..." and started Mohammed My Friend. I love the meanings within this song!

CRUCIFY - What can I say, classic Tori.

SPACE DOG - A fun song! Caton's guitar work was cool, and I loved those images of the planets drifting by on the screen behind her.

TALULA - I could not sit still during this one. The danceable rhythm, the drum loops and the lights were great, though Rebecca informed me that the lighting for this song was more dramatic and elaborate the last time Tori did it in Chicago. Rebecca also noticed Tori triggering the loops, which was exciting!

ME AND A GUN - I must say I was pleasantly surprised by the polite audience that night. For some reason I expected them to be more rowdy, but they were relatively quiet and respectful, especially during this song. The theater was very silent. Tori sounded a little less monotone than she normally does on this song. Once when she raised her voice for one note it startled me because I did not expect it. Her breathing seemed a little labored here also, though that could have been because she just finished the high-energy Talula. She also appeared to struggle a little at the end to get the words out, and seemed near tears.

ENCORE 1

The first encore is one of my favorite parts of a Tori show. It is always so beautiful and tender.

LET IT BE - Like Daniel earlier, I had never heard Tori do this cover before Her singing really grew powerful as she sang the words, "know you can hear me." Another tearful moment.

CHINA - China has a gorgeous opening. I REALLY identified with this song. Damn it, I was unable to get my eyes dry again! The red lighting really worked for this song.

ENCORE 2

Tori shook hands with many people in the front rows. Unlike many theaters, this place allowed people to sit in the orchestra pit! Many people gave Tori gifts, and at one point she acted like she was going to dive into the pit below.

FATHER LUCIFER - This song has been making second encore appearances quite a bit lately. At the beginning she motioned to her crew to remove the harpsichord and bring out the organ. She did a little thing with her hands like she was casting a spell on the harpsichord before it was removed. She was extremely playful during this final encore, and that was the dominant emotion for the last few songs. She smiled really big, and looked damn happy! It was also fun to watch the interplay between Tori and Steve Caton. They know each other so well, and enjoy jamming together.

LONDON GIRLS - This song is meant to be taken humorously. Lots of playfulness and great low notes from Tori. She seemed to glide through the rest of the concert, though that is not to say she was not doing a great job! The crowd really laughed when she sang, "They'll was your socks and wash your..." and then made a cute little squeal as she pointed between her legs.

ETIENNE - Tori made fun of her Y Kant Tori Read days the last time she spoke to us. "Okay, this one has been lost for a long time. This is one I used to do while dressed in...what did I wear Caton?...some plastic snake-skin pants from retail slut. This song is when I got SENSITIVE." She then played Etienne, which I still think sounds marvelous on the organ. I also think Tori makes a cool witch. :)

Then it was over. This was to be my last concert, though I am now considering going to at least one more show. Many things happened to me during this tour, and she provided me with much of the inspiration and tools I needed to deal with it. Chicago was special because I finally closed a dark chapter of my life recently, and this concert was partially a celebration of that. What I am really going to miss now is meeting all of you. I really feel a bond between many Toriphiles. I have met some wonderful people on this tour, and I enjoyed sharing the Tori experiences with you! I will really miss that. And we will all miss Tori. Rest well Tori. We love you.


From a posting to the rec.music.tori-amos newsgroup by Andrea (silent@nwu.edu)

hi. the chicago show on saturday night was absolutely incredible. i need a copy of it, and here's why...

since i only lurk here occasionally, you probably don't know that i had a friend on the TWA flight 800... her name was ana coiner, and her and her mother were going to france for a vacation. anyway, i had wanted to tell tori a story about ana for the longest time.. ever since i found out that she would be in town. i showed up in time for tori's appearence before soundcheck, and got a chance to talk to her. i told her a story about how when she was on mtv unplugged, and played somewhere over the rainbow, ana had called me up after the show and, being a marvelous piano player and singer, told me that tori had screwed up the chords. i laughed, and told her that she ought to be the one to tell tori that. i told tori that ana always talked about sending me a tape of her piano playing, and singing, but never did. so i never got to hear her sing, since i only knew her from the net. i asked tori if she could please play somewhere over the rainbow at the concert, since it would have been ana's birthday last tuesday. tori was almost in tears, and she gave me a big hug. after she talked to the next person i caught her eyes again and asked for muhammed my friend. she grinned *wickedly*. it was great.

anyway, during the concert, after little earthquakes, tori said.. "there is someone who was supposed to be here tonight. not maryanne, but like her. this song is for you, wherever you are.." and she played "daniel" by elton john. i had never heard this song before, but every word was perfect. i was sobbing. it was so beautiful. after that, she played muhammed, my friend...

after the show, i made it to the exit and waited in the freezing cold for an hour. i had a picture of ana that had been in newsweek in my wallet. i took it out, it tore a bit. i borrowed a pen and wrote ana's name on it, 1983-1996, and "thank you." i gave it to tori when she came, and said that ana was from binghamton. tori looked at me very seriously then. she apologized for not playing rainbow, she said that the other song was just there. i said that it was.. it was amazing that somehow she knew. she knew that rainbow was a beautiful song, and part of the story, but it never really meant anything to me. i never felt it. daniel was perfect.

there's a chance that she'll play daniel on tuesday in baltimore. i really hope that she does. if anyone has a tape of the chicago show, *PLEASE* let me know? i need to make copies and send them to other friends of ana... they _have_ to hear this.


From a personal email sent to me by Emily (dpfield@westmail.com)

Tori was truly wonderful on Saturday Night at the Arie Crowne Theater in Chicago. It was the best night of my life! Tori's performance was like nothing I've ever seen before! She is a beautiful performer!

After Josh Clayton-Felt finished, Led Zepplin came on the speakers for about a 1/2 hour while Tori Was setting up. Then, the lights dimmed and Son of A Preacher Man came on and screams filled the theater. Tori strode out in her Zebra Striped shoes (They were so COOL)and sat down next to Bosey.

She warmed up with what appeared to be a few chords from "In the Springtime..." and then began Beauty Queen.

This song was so powerful. Tori began with the first notes totally overtaking any other sound. She put so much energy into those notes. Tori seemed to just release any deamons she had before the show. It blew me away!

The rest of the song was sung with just as much power. The notes were extended so long (I wondered how she could do that!) that it just added that much more emphasis to the song.

Then came horses. This is such a beautiful song, and she sang it that way. Little improvisations in parts were just slipped in there ans sounded so cool. Tori seemed to bring so much fury to Beauty Queen, & This was a bit quieter.

Sugar was next. This song was so strong. Tori sailed through the low notes and at the many crechendos throughout the song, her voice was OVERPOWERING! This song was so sad, yet when someone is sad, anger always lingers behind and she just let that out!

Blood Roses followed Sugar. Before she played it she mentioned how she probably wouldn't be coming back on tour for another two years. She said that Chicago was the city that She had probably visited most on the tour and the said "While I'm gone, you all have to visit the Fudge Pto for me and get some____"(I forgot what she told us to get!) Blood Roses was really strong. Tori played with fury on the harpsichord. Her voice really echoed the song.

Little Earthquakes was different that the previous songs in that it came down from the level of anger. Tori's voice was as clear as a bell. The lighting was also really cool and it skipped arcoss the audience. The "Give me life..." part was really cool! Tori let it all out!

I think Cornflake Girl was next. Tori's dance was really cool! She came to the end of the stage and did all these muscle poses. She rocked! Again, Cornflake Girl didn't have the rage as previously displayed, it seemed a bit more vulnerable.

I'm not sure about the order of the songs, but Caught a Lite Sneeze was GREAT! The piano-harpsichord switch on "Zone" was so cool! Tori held it for so long and had so much emotion in that one word.

There was a song that I didn't know, but she dedicated it to a girl who wasn't like Marianne, but she couldn't be there tonight. Tori said that "This is for her; where ever she is" It was a really sad piece.

SPACE DOG ROCKED! That's all I have to say about that!

Talula was the 2nd to last song. It was the tornato mix and they had the drum beat looped in the background! It was so energetic. Tori seemed to really enjoy this song. She had so much fun!

Me & and Gun was so sad. Tori came down from Talula and hit each note perfectly. She was in tears at the end, and I almost cried myself.

Encore 1 included Let it Be. Tori was awesome in this song. She put so much emotion into the words that the really made sense! IT was a great performance.

Encore 2 had China, London Grils amnd Etienne. China was beautiful. IT's has such a sweeping melody and Tori brought that out to play.

London Girls was really cool. It showed Tori at her best. She really brought this girl out and gave it some high heels!

ETienne wqas on the harmonium. Tori said "This is a ballad, form when I was SENsitIVE. It brought closure to the concert.


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Tori's Performance In Ann Arbor Michigan, September 27

From a personal email sent to me by Karen H. Hagglund (thorndik@ix.netcom.com)

Dew drops and rain drops kept falling on our heads, as they had the day before in East Lansing, but nothing could damper our spirits as we waited to meet Tori at the stage door of Hill Auditorium in Ann Arbor. She arrived looking terrific in a tan and black checkered dress, tan sweater and brown knee-high boots, and stood inside the stage door as each of the 30 or so toriphiles was granted an individual meeting. Again, Tori was all smiles as she posed for pictures and signed autographs. She truly enjoys meeting each of us! It was a bittersweet meeting, as it was the last time most of us will see her for two years or so.

With time on our hands, we meeted and greeted other toriphiles gathered, and went to Cottage Inn Pizza with the mighty Alvin, Kelly, and Katie, for some good toritalk and food (which always go well together!). We also stopped in at the Shaman Drum Bookshop, where we asked if Tori dropped by, as I had recommended the store to her the day before. But we heard that instead she was busy with a radio interview before the soundcheck.

Excitement was in the air as concert-goers gathered in front of Hill Auditorium before the show, where we ran into Peter Caira. Before Tori took to the stage, we also greeted more toripeople at our seats in the first row (hi Anne, Denise, Craig, Kimenley, and Rose).

Tori came out on stage, with her hair down, rather than pulled back as it usually is, symbolizing that she was ready to rock! She launched into Beauty Queen/Horses, followed by an elegant Yes, Anastasia, which was a treat. Then Caton came out, and Caught a Lite Sneeze followed. After firing up the crowd with Cornflake Girl, Tori spoke about spending some time in the desert, driving her truck, a Ford Bronco, when she was 6'7" many years ago! Next came Honey, and the powerful Little Earthquakes. She surprised us by playing Agent Orange, while Joel's (her security guard) picture was displayed, along with shots of Mr. Bill! (NOTE FROM MIKEWHY: I have heard from one person that today was Joel's birthday!) Next came Upside Down, one of my favorites which I hadn't heard her do before in concert. A beautiful rendition of Mother followed. Precious Things came equipped with a 29 second grrrrrl, followed by a playful Space Dog. Talula got the crowd swaying with its rhythms, and then everyone quieted down for Me and a Gun, which was the most haunting rendition I have ever experienced, with Tori nearly in tears.

For the first encore, Tori played a sad Landslide, which was breathtaking, followed by the grace and beauty of Winter. When she came out for the second encore, with sheet music in hand, we knew we were in for something different. As the crew moved the harpsichord out and the harmonium in, she played Father Lucifer. Next came the big surprise of the evening, Humpty Dumpty! This song was played for Denise, who is the manager of Discount Records in Ann Arbor, and Tori fan extraordinaire. Denise has seen Tori 25 times since Little Earthquakes days, and has asked Tori to play this song for three years, bringing her the tape and the sheet music. Tori promised Denise during the last week that it would be her mission to play this song for her. It was Denise's last show for this tour, and it was Tori's last encore, so finally Denise heard her song! I was so happy for her. Tori introduced the song by saying she had not played it on this tour, wasn't sure how it would go over, and that it was the request of a wonderful person. Denise squealed, and Tori said "that's right!" The crowd loved the song, of course, and Tori performed it perfectly. Hey Jupiter closed the night and the tour for most of us, but we will carry Tori around in our hearts, until the next time...


From a personal email sent to me by afillmore

First I have to say that "a dent" is the best site for any music artist i've seen on the net, you have soooooo much shit to look at it's crazy. I thought I might mail you about the Ann arbor concert I saw on Sept 27, 1996. I had only gotten Boys for Pele a few months ago, but it was cool, and this was the first album by Tori I had bought. Anyway, I went with my friend Sandra, and even though I don't really remember the whole set list or anything special about the songs, I remember that atmosphere pretty well. We walked into Hill Auditorium, and it was really musty. It smelled, and still does, like a room full of people chewing gum. We bought some t-shirts, then got to our seats, front row balcony. It was cool because we could put our feet up over the edge. Then this guy named Josh Clayton Felt or something came out and opened. He was okay, and said something about, "yeah, it's cool. Bruce Springstein was on this very stage Wednesday night." (note, the concert was a Friday). then he said, " come to think of it, Weird Al played here last night, so I guess you get all kinds." and then he sang this song called paint the trees green, which Sandra and I didn't really get because we were just overought from waiting to here Tori. And OOOOOH the lighting effects, when he said "paint the trees green" they put a green tinted light on him. This made me think, "oh my god, HE'S A TREE!"

anyway, tori came out with "son of a preacherman" playing on the speakers. lots of applause. Then we noticed the hugh triangle screen that they used to project stuff on, and we thought, "wouldn't it be cool if we mounted that on an Ice Cream Truck, then drove around with Tori songs playing on the speakers"

Tori rocked.

After the concert we went behind the building and saw the pink tour buses. Inside we could see a bag of Ruffles Potato chips. but the other bus, that Tori apparently road in, already had a metal barrier and a crowd of fans, so we decided to walk around, and there were all these cops, and I said, "it would be funny if I shouted 'i've got a gun!'". then i realized what i said and said "well, no maybe it wouldn't"

But this was long ago, and I'm a little bit older, a little bit wiser, and I'm off the pills. I've gotten all the album and as many singles as i can find, and next time I see her live I'll probably be able to enjoy it on a different level.


From a posting to the Torinews mailing list by Matt Schmatt Schmitt (schmittm@umich.edu)
It was a most magical show, Tori seemed to hone in on many of us and play
exactly what we all wanted to hear, with a ver special surprise at the
end.:
BQ
Horses
Yes Anastasia
Sneeze
Cornflake Girl
Honey 
Little Earthquakes
Agent Orange
Upside Down
Mother
Precious Things
Space Dog
Talula
Me And A Gun
**
Landslide
Winter
**
Father Lucifer
Humpty Dumpty
Hey Jupiter

now, rumor has it that she has never, ever played Humpty Dumpty live
before.  My friend has been asking her to do it for three years now and
Tori explained that she didn't even remember that song.  My friend brought
her handwritten lyrics and a taped copy of the song to her before the show
and Tori promised she'd try finally.  Well, she did it, and it became
quite the life of the concert.  She brought the lyrics out on stage with
her, the ones my friend had written, and said "This is for a very special
important person, and I've promised to do this even though i don't even
remember it, so if I mess up, sorry (and with this she took the stuffed
animal eeyore doll that was sitting on the piano and made him fly around
her head.)  the song was incredible, especially towards the end with the
"GET ON THE WALL BABE", she drew it out and pointed at some imaginary wall
and started screaming.  Wow.....the show was phenomenal.  :) 


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Tori's Performance In East Lansing Michigan, September 26

From a personal email sent to me by Karen H. Hagglund (thorndik@ix.netcom.com)

Rain drops kept falling on our heads, but not enough to prevent us from dropping in at the Dew Drop Inn in East Lansing, Michigan. The day began as it usually does for us true toriphiles, by the meet and greet session. However, for the 30 or so diehard soaked-to-the-bone Tori fans waiting, this one was different than any other, as it occurred INSIDE Tori's tour bus! Since it was raining so hard, and the wind was blowing, Tori stayed dry while each one of us individually climbed on board the bus to speak with her. And she graciously met each of us with a trademark Tori hug, listened to our stories, answered our questions, signed autographs, and posed for pictures in the doorway of the bus. I don't think there is another entertainer around today who shows his or her fans the love that Tori does.

I have seen three other shows so far on the tour, and each one is different from the other, but all are special in their own way. Musically, I think Tori has improved throughout the tour, and the musicianship she showed in East Lansing was impressive. I heard that during the soundcheck Tori said she was feeling good, and that she had taken her vitamins. Well, it showed, as she gave a strong, energy-filled performance at the Great Hall in the Wharton Center. She started the show with the usual Beauty Queen/Horses. But then her spunk began to show. She stood up, started swaying her hips from side to side, and improvised aggressively on the piano. I wasn't sure where she was leading us, but it turned out to be an introduction to Icicle, rather than the usual "onward Christian soldiers" introduction that she had been doing. For the next number she turned to the harpsichord, and said that we were all stuck inside this room with her tonight, rather than being outside to see the lunar eclipse. She said that maybe she could bring the eclipse indoors for us, and launched into a haunting rendition of Blood Roses. From here it was back to the piano for a beautiful, flowing version of Butterfly, with Steve Caton now coming on stage and joining in. Someone shouted out "I love you," and Tori responded by saying "I love you too," but then giggled and said "Maybe you said that to Caton; well you can have the two of us for the price of one!" She then danced to the edge of the stage for Cornflake Girl, and danced in front of Caton as well, and ran back to the piano to pound those keys. She slowed things down a bit for Caught a Lite Sneeze, which felt sort of breezy and lite! Next came a powerful rendition of Little Earthquakes, which moved me to tears, it was so raw. She then gave a playful rendition of Leather, crossing her legs for most of the song, moving her foot up and down. She introduced Marianne by saying that "she was 15, and I've never met anyone like her." This was followed by the emotional Precious Things, which really is a demon-exorcising, cathartic experience, going from the depths of her growling, then to a whisper, and then going to near-hysteria. Next we were treated to her rendition of the Cure's Lovesong on the harpsichord, followed by a spunky Talula. The juxtaposition to the sad Me and A Gun was abrupt and powerful. A single female voice yelled "thank you Tori" at the end of the song.

For the first encore, she introduced Twinkle by saying she promised someone that she would keep her fingers crossed. This song, coupled with the next, Somewhere Over the Rainbow, left me with tears streaming down my face. For the second encore, we heard a fun London Girls, and then she ended the show with a beautiful Etienne on the harmonium.

At one point in the show, Tori said that this was the last time she would be in this region, other than Ann Arbor the next night, for two years. She said, "So if you're bored, you can always come and find us, and just quit school or something!" Don't tempt us Tori!


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Tori's Performance In Normal Illinois, September 24

From a personal email sent to me by marina ilic (z942029@niu.edu)

here's tori's set list for normal last night (sept 24): beauty queen/horses, take to the sky, caught a lite sneeze, father lucifer, cornflake girl after cornflake girl she apologized to the audience and said that she and caton had a bit of a hangover and asked if anyone had advil or anything in the audience to give to her cuz she was dying. she then went into: honey, little earthquakes after this she said ok, i'm going to sing something i haven't done yet on this tour so if i fuck up, well..... and went into the wrong band! (flawless, might i add) then this old man, putting the damage on, crucify. she then turned to her harpsichord and said i love playing fast and pretended that she was driving a car and then said there's a cop. i don't care. it was so cute!! she then sang lovesong, talula, me and a gun Encore 1: thank you, silent all these years Encore 2: pretty good year, professional widow, winter. afterwards we waited for her (as usual) and this time i had a ! bottle of bubble bath to give to her with a little note attached (satsuma bubble bath from the body shop, for anyone wondering - it's the best stuff in the world - go get it!!) anyway, she came out and eventually came down my way so i gave her the bubble bath and asked if she could play here. in my head on saturday in chicago and she told me to ask her again on saturday and she'll write it on her hand or else she'll forget and my friend ally said that she also opened up my note, which i didn't see. i was so happy i actually talked to her! (and this time i even got to touch her) alas, i can only see her one more time before she's gone :(


From a posting to the Torinews and RDT mailing lists by Kevin Hawkins (khawkins@ncsa.uiuc.edu)

Well, I haven't seen any reports about the concert, so I guess I'll give one. :) I was not expecting to go to this show, but I ended up winning tickets on the radio, and therefore felt more than obliged. :) Below is the setlist, not completely in order, but fairly close, and then I'll put some comments below.

Beauty Queen/Horses
Take to the Sky
Caught a Lite Sneeze

At this point, Tori commented about having a massive hangover, and said Steve
did too, and asked if anyone had "anything."

Father Lucifer

After this, Joel brought her something, probably aspirin.

Hangover ditty/Honey
Little Earthquakes
Love Song
This Old Man/Putting the Damage On  (I think I now have a favorite from BfP)

Tori then said that this was a song that she hadn't done yet on this tour,
and if she fucked it up, she'd just go on to the next one (she didn't though).

The Wrong Band
Talulah
Me And A Gun

1st Encore
----------
Thank You
Silent All These Years

2nd Encore
----------
Pretty Good Year
Professional Widow
Winter

Comments:

This was the first time I'd seen Tori in over 2 years, and in many ways, the first time in that long that I'd really let myself be exposed to her. I did not get to catch the opening act, because we were late, but that was okay...I was really only there for one reason. :) Tori did not let me down either. I had seen her five times on the last tour, and this show seemed to blend all of the good elements of all of those shows into one night. It was one of the most moving Tori shows that I've been to.

The audience was very well behaved and appreciative for the show. The only sounds during MAAG were the occasional coughs. She got a standing ovation when she came out at the beginning of the show, which I thought was well-deserved and quite appropriate. :) She also got standing ovations at the end of the show, as well as many flowers and notes and stuff.

The only thing of note about the concert itself was that during MAAG, she was slurring a bunch, especially "And a man on my ____." It sounded like a cross between back/mind/mouth, if you can picture that. I think that Tori is a lot more focused during this song when there's more quiet for her to concentrate. It seems obvious to me that the experiences of this song are still very real to her. I was really choked up during the song.


From a review written by Keith and then forwarded to me via email

So heres the annotated setlist...I sat down and drilled it into my head during the show...19 songs...not a bad deal...I kinda left out a little ode to the pill thing that she did in between songs when someone came out and gave her some aspirin...Hey, I even memorized them in order & everything...

Beauty Queen/Horses  (I was really shocked to see her open with this one)
Take to the Sky  (First time I heard this one...)
Caught a Light Snatch  (nothin' new here...)
Father Lucifer (Just not as good on the album as it is live...)
Cornflake Girl (The little dance thing she does at the beginning still
                draws a roar from the crowd, but personally, I think that
                its getting a little out of hand...Caton's arms are
                starting to look tired from strumming so long...still
                always a nice song to hear, though...)
Honey (Typical B-side feeling...its no flying dutchman...)
Little Earthquakes (I think she's pretty much done that at every show I've
                    been at...quite appropriate, since its my favorite
                    song off the album)
In the Wrong Band (Could've sworn it was on the list...but I guess that
                   she wasn't lying when she said it was the first time
                   for the song on the tour...quite a nice addition.)
This Old Man (Not a bad cover.)
Putting the damage on (talk about a long song...I used these moments to go
                       through the setlist in my head a few times.)
Crucify (I don't think that I've seen this one yet on the tour...also a
         nice addition.)
Love Song (Never paid attention to the roller coaster movie until
           now...Boy, I must have had seats that were further back this 
           time...and what's up with no scalpers hanging out before the 
           show...how's a guy s'posed to get an upgrade???)
Talula (This songs starting to grow on me)
Me and a Gun (Another shocker...once again it never fails that someone
              will yell out a request when she turns around to do this one
              This guy sounded like a real asshole, too.)
_First Encore_
Thank You (nothin like a little Zeppellin...took most of the audience
           about a half hour to figure out what it was...obviously not a
           lot of Zep fans in the crowd.)
Pretty Good Year (One of Sped's perennial faves...what more can you say)
_Second Encore_
SATY (God, I just love that abbreviation for some reason...)
Professional Widow (Definitely a lot better live...The pump organ does a
                    lot for it...quite emotional towards the ending...
                    what kind of odds are you giving that this is a
                    Courtney love bashing song?  I'll put money on it)
Winter (A pleasant end to a pleasant evening.)

Of course, the annotations are just to annoy you...

Major Gripes of the evening: Most of them have to do with the venue more than anything else...first of all, the ticket takers had no sense of humor...in fact, they were snobby ...they gave us these orange wrist bands, and I had this flashback to the first NIN show...so I asked them, jokingly of course, if the bands were for the mosh pit...little did I know that they would take my comment seriously and talk to me like I've never heard of Tori Amos...not even a smile...I am losing my touch...so then, we enter the venue...which is in some sort of student union building (and she can't play more shows up there???)...the only way to get to your seats was from these doors on the sides that covered about three rows each...no center aisles, no side aisles...fairly fucked up...feel sorry for the guy who has to rush out in the few seconds in between songs to take a leak...although there was a lot of leg room...kinda like comfort class...third...I think some rookie hooked up their speaker system...quite a bit of static and other existential noises...fourth...since when the hell do tickets give which side your on with the audience's point of view? Could've sworn that 'right' meant 'stage right'...anyway, other than those few tidbits, the show was fairly kick ass...as far as Josh Clayden Felt or whatever the hell his name is, he was pretty kick ass...Sang Three Strange Days and also did a cover of Raspberry Beret...quite coincidental with the fact that me and Kratz listened to prince's greatest hits on the way to jimtown last weekend...

oh, almost forgot...my final gripe of the evening...where the fuck is the bar??? And what's up with no programs at the tori stuff stand??? Good thing I got one in Milwaukee...


From a posting to the rec.music.tori-amos newsgroup by Bob (Frying Pantheist) (rjk1@cs.wustl.edu)

Bob saw 5 Tori shows in about a week! This was part of a post where he commented on all of them.

Tori was a bit later arriving than expected again but was able to take time with all there. I was finally able to do more than mumble and thanked her for a great week. She mentioned that Letterman's people are pushing for something upbeat for next week's show and she's trying to convince them otherwise. If her song's been decided, she's not telling... ;)

Unfortunately, through no fault of her own, this was probably the worst show of the lot. This was the only show of the five that I was on the right side for (so I don't know if it had been doing it all along) but the right speaker stack sounded as if it had had beans for breakfast lunch and dinner. Anyone on the left side pick this up, too? Really takes something away to have the speaker going "fzzzzzzzzt pop fzzzzzzzle zrrrrrub" several times a song. Add to that some overzealous security people who trapsed up and down isles in the middle of songs just to confiscate waterbottles and even patrons getting up in the middle of songs, walking over people jingling keys as they go. Then there were the half dozen or so digital watches chiming the hour in the middle of MaaG.

The setlist was good - The Wrong Band and Professional Widow made rare appearances - but the intensity level just never peaked like it had the past two nights and the distractions were just too much. Had it not been for the speaker problems it probably would have been on par with Bloomington.

A few general observations:

Tori is one of the most incredible beings I've ever had the pleasure of meeting.

The lighting has gotten so much better. It was fine for the LE tour, took a dip way south during the UtP tour , but has rebounded very nicely. Little Earthquakes comes to mind immediately. Icicle is more subtle, but also works.

I assume that's rosin or powder of some kind she puts on her hands before going out for Cornflake Girl... Kept expecting a pommel horse or some uneven bars to pop out from off stage. 8)

....Steve and Joel take a lot of criticism here and in line before shows. Except for about 5 minutes in Normal when Tori wasn't there yet and Steve seemed more interested in guarding the body of a blonde in a spandex top, they conducted themselves with the utmost professionalism, even if they are a tad over the top at times.

Highway repair was a pain but it slowed things down enough that I got to see a golden eagle swoop down into the grass just off the shoulder about 15-20 feet away, and pull up and off with something. Most impressive.

1500 miles in 6 days and worth every single one.


From a posting to the rec.music.tori-amos newsgroup by Marc Heiden (heiden@uiuc.edu)

I was at the Normal show - the second one I'd seen on the Dew Drop Inn tour (and the second Tori show I'd seen overall). Arrived too late for the opening act (what'd I miss? anyone?) and was quite disappointed upon arrival to find out that our seats were in the balcony. Tori did start rather late, causing more Zeppelin than I had any real desire to hear to be played, but when the lights went dim (the "Son of a Preacher Man" entrance is the coolest opening to a show I've ever seen) it was of course worth it....

Tori's voice seemed a lot stronger than it was when I saw her in Chicago, though she did confess to being hungover. It didn't show at all in her playing, but I was disappointed that she didn't tell as many stories as she had in Chicago (though the extended "Cornflake Girl" dance and the "Sweet Little Pill" song made up for it). The watches going off during "Me and A Gun" disturbed me too; thankfully mine had the sense to keep quiet. One of the security people's walkie-talkies crackled a couple times during the show, too, at particularly bad times. Somebody else posted the set list so I won't attempt to paste my scattered memories together, but I was very happy with the choices - adding the songs she played at the Rosemont Theatre (I saw the 6-7 show), Tori magically managed to play every single song I desperately wanted to hear - except for one, "Somewhere Over The Rainbow". I guess I'll have to make it to another show and try my luck again. :)

Over all, despite being a balcony away Tori still put me in a trance and I loved every minute of it. Thank you and goodnight.


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Tori's Performance In Madison Wisconsin, September 23

From a personal email sent to me by Monica Sanghavi (sanghavi@students.wisc.edu)

the show was really good. Tori had gotten sick two years ago in Madison and had only been on stage for an hour, and then was taken to University Health Services to be treated. So she knew that Madison was waiting for her. She seemed very mellow....but also very aggressive.

I'm on Fire blew me away..It seemd to have come out of no where...but it was beautiful..they had a red light on her so it really looked as if she was on fire. Little Amsterdam was awesome! Caton and her were so together....Because I was sitting so close, I could see Tori's passion....in her drool....it was awesome..I mean, she was very into it...The other few suprises were Angie, Silent all these Years (which she did so beautifully) and Sweet Dreams..(without the acapella intro..).

She did talk a little bit...she said something about Madison being the home of the Liberals...and thats about it..I was kinda dissapointed that she didnt talk...or tell any stories.After the second encore...she came out the the front of the stage to bow..and some girls stood up and Tori shook their hands..so then everyone rushed to the front and she shook a lot ppl's hands..it was cool..and Joel or Steve didnt seem to care too much. She did seem to be rushing through the set....the audience was very kind...a lot of applause and just very warm. I felt like I was in a theatre of very good Tori fans. The show was great...I had never heard her play a few of the songs that I heard and that was a real treat.


From a posting to the rec.music.tori-amos newsgroup by Bob (Frying Pantheist) (rjk1@cs.wustl.edu)

Bob saw 5 Tori shows in about a week! This was part of a post where he commented on all of them.

A considerably larger crowd waiting for Tori's entrance but all got their turn.

After I'm On Fire, she turned and tongue-in-cheek said that she guessed some of the crowd had been waiting 2 years for her to come back and do an encore. ;)

The show was a close second to Green Bay in intensity. Ask me later and I might say that it was even better. Little Amsterdam and Little Earthquakes were incredible. Precious Things was great - not the forced showpiece it sometimes has seemed to become (37 seconds, BtW). Angie was beautiful beyond words.


From a posting to the rec.music.tori-amos newsgroup by Dor (dorthis@aol.com)

ok. next day. we got to madison, and got our pictures developed from the day before immediately. we ate lunch, met katherine, then went to the stage door where we found dear lisa waiting patiently reading a madison paper she'd found with a little article about tori in it. we waited for about two hours until 4:30. there were about 30 fans there... and again we took our place at the end of the line and began to snap pictures. aaron got up to the front of the line and gave tori a copy of goodnight moon that he'd had for a long time. he thanked her for playing lovesong, and then it was my turn. i had a question in mind. after i gave her two letters, and had her sign my china single, i asked "tori, how come you never play In the Wrong Band?" again she gave me a weird look. very secretive, implying that she never told anyone, and wasn't about to tell me and didn't expect to be asked. she thought for a moment and then asked "is it your last show?" i nodded, hoping i wasn't right. "well, i'll see what i can do." i smiled. as she asked me what else i might want to hear, i didn't have to think very long before i answered "well, i haven't heard here in my head yet in concert.." and so she said "okay! i can do that." she called me ann again this time too, and i corrected her, and she told me that i must have been Ann in a former life. : ) i said goodbye and let the next person have a turn. thinking for a moment.. just for the heck of it, i asked steve if me, aaron, lisa, and jeff could take a group picture with tori since it was probably our last show. reluctantly he said yes. we waited til everyone was done, and then she graciously posed with the four of us. YAY! :) what fun.

we left.. and i made an important decision. thinking to myself "hm, tori might play the Wrong Band or Here in my Head tonight for me, i sure wish i had a recorder to bootleg the show" i decided to go out and buy one, just on the spur of the moment. so off we drove to a mall where we found a microphone, tapes, and a lovely tape recorder at a radio shack. we also developed our pictures that we'd just taken with tori. we got our pictures back (they're so GREAT!), and after a small ticket scare (jeff dropped his on the floor in the mall and didn't realize it til we were in the car!- he found it though), we were off to the concert.

we missed the opening act, and were sad cause he was really good the night before. i shoved the recorder down my pants and we walzed in and walked to our separate seats (only aaron and i were sitting together). tori came on and sang a great show. i lost the setlist i wrote out. but here are some that she sang: I'm on Fire, CaLs, Talula, MaaG, Precious Things (amAZING! she went totally crazy in the end), Sweet Dreams (that was jeff's request), bloodroses, little amsterdam, CfG, Father Lucifer, Hey Jupiter and.. Here In My HEad!

i was quite emotional throughout that one. anyway. my bootleg turned out really well for it being my first try and all. yeah, actually, it isn't bad at all! :) so i'm proud of myself. anyway. we RAN out the door after the last song (hey jup) and ended up in the FIRST row! we had to wait for over an hour (lisa and tori were talking backstage!) but when tori finally came out it was cool.. i asked her what she thought she'd do after the tour was over. she shugged. "its kinda scary, isn't it? i think it makes all a little nervous to know that there's a light at the end of the tunnel." i nodded. "i'll have to get used to living with myself again." I hugged and thanked her, and she moved on down the line.


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Tori's Performance In Green Bay Wisconsin, September 22

From a posting to the rec.music.tori-amos newsgroup by Bob (Frying Pantheist) (rjk1@cs.wustl.edu)

Bob saw 5 Tori shows in about a week! This was part of a post where he commented on all of them.

Sunday in Green Bay. Nothing but football on the radio. Nothing.

Beautiful day before the soundcheck and with the exception of the couple dozen people slowly gathering for Tori, all the campus I saw seemed remarkably dead.

Absolutely incredible show. Possibly the best show of the five. She was sooooo into Upside Down and Mother. MaaG was intense and her eyes... those eyes.


From a posting to the rec.music.tori-amos newsgroup by Dor (dorthis@aol.com)

i've returned from two grrrreat torishows.....

first one was Green Bay, it was at the weidner center, which is on the university campus there. i waited with my friend aaron for a while. there were two torifans there when we showed up.. then more arrived. first was Lisa, who is just awesome.she's LisaK102 online.: ) and we talked about tori and i showed everyone my pictures and i met two other torifans (andy and katherine) who were both great and soon it was time to talk to tori! i was nervous because i wasn't sure if she would remember me or not. i had made her a drawing, so i hoped that would help. anyhow. out of her big bus did she walk at around 4:00. she was wearin' a green striped long sleeved shirt and a blue skirt and blackish blue tights that looked quite warm. there were about twenty five people there, and she talked to each and every one. i wanted to go towards the end of the line because steve said we'd have to LEAVE right away after she talked to us, and i wanted to stick around for a while... take some pictures and such so me, lisa, jeff (another friend i was with), aaron, and katherine and andy all walked to the end of the line and watched tori talk with everyone, taking an occasional snapshot.

finally aaron (who was in front of me) was talking to tori. as i took their picture, tori looked up and me and said hi!! when i walked towards her, she looked at me and exclaimed "hi Girl Who Loves China!" sigh.. i was happy.. she remembered me!! she asked me how everything was going, pertaining to whether or not i'd moved out, and i told her that i'd just moved to a dorm, and she was real happy and gave me a huge hug. then i gave her the drawing and she said "wow, you do really amazing work". yay! she called me Ann, though, which was strange. i corrected her and she smiled. then i said that i had a message from her.. i said that all of her fans that i saw the L.A. shows with said hi, and that they were sad that she would not return. she said very sincerely "well, tell them i send them many hugs" or something like that.. some thing about many hugs for the los angeles tori fans. : )

when we were done talking, jeff and aaron and i went to grab some food before the show started. after a hearty meal at taco bell we came back, grumbling about our awful seats (second to last row!). we ran into a season ticket holder at the weidner center trying to sell her tickets. on a whim, i whipped out my checkbook and said "gimme all four." i turned back to jeff, katherine, and aaron and smiled. "my treat". so, there we were, with fourth row seats! we were happy. we went on in and sat down. happily, our seats were right in front of andy's. like RIGHt in front.

i don't have the compLETE setlist at this moment. but. she played (not in order here) CaLS, BQ, Horses (duh), Talula, Upside Down, Mother, Lovesong, Butterfly, Pretty Good Year,CFG, Little Earthquakes, Me and a Gun, ETIENNE!, Honey, and more. something notable is that she DIDN'T play precious things or not the red baron. which i thought was cool, cause i'd seen them at eVERY other show, and it was good to see some variety. a really good show, definitely. she went pretty crazy during the chorus of PGY. etienne was beautiful, she ended with that. talula was the best ever..all of us sittin' in the fourth row were totally groovin' out. anyway.she played lovesong because aaron requested it, so that was cool for him.

after the show was over, we BOLTED out to the stage door to thank her afterwards. even though we ran obscenely fast, there were already fans there, so we settled for the second row of people. not so bad. : ) tori came out pretty quick, and after hearing a strict speech from steve, the crowd was very well behaved. tori came out and talked with everyone individually in the first and second rows. among what was said: she told jeff to think of a song he wanted to hear at the next show; when andy asked her if she was ever gonna have a new album, i chimed in with "after a baby, right?" and tori gave me the most killer look.. it was awesome. it was sorta like a "so, you know my secret?!" kinda look. i thanked her for playing china for me way back in june and she said "well, i can play it tomorrow too!" but i said "don't worry about it" cause i didn't want to be bitchy.. i mean, she's already played it once for me!!


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Tori's Performance In Rockford Illinois, September 20

From a personal email sent to me by Marina (z942029@niu.edu)

ok, i went to the show in rockford tonight, just mere hours ago. i am happy. here's the set list: beauty queen, horses, BAD COMPANY (see also: beer commercials), caught a lite sneeze, space dog, cornflake girl, honey, icicle, marianne, precious things, lovesong, talula, me and a gun, ENCORE 1: mary, mother ENCORE 2: london girls, hey jupiter. tonight was a special night for me. remember how i told you that my now ex boyfriend requested cornflake girl for me? well she sang it so i was happy and then she sang honey, which is my second all time favorite tori song. before cornflake girl people were screaming requests and people requested pain in my hole but she only laughed and then someone said ode to the banana kingdom and she had a little banana person hanging from the top of her piano so she started dancing with him and said there's your ode to the banana kingdom, i don't remember the song, but before the night is over i'll try to sing it but you'll have to help with! the words (she never sang it). anyway, she sang lovesong, which is my fave cure song, so i was happy. then for the encore she sang london girls, which i never heard before so that made me happy, too. she seemed quite aggressive and pissed (not in a bad way) but i don't know what was wrong - she seemed to mellow a little in the end. afterwards, my friends rachel, greg, and katie waited for her and she said hi to katie and asked her name and SHE DIRECTLY LOOKED AT ME AND SAID HI!!!! i couldn't believe it. i was overwhelmed, or fucked up (in the best possible way). anyway, she was SO cute cuz people in the back said that they couldn't see her so she had a guy lift her up. she was so friendly to everyone. it was wonderful. that's all i have to say. can't wait til tuesday and saturday when i go to see her again (yeah!!)


From a posting to the rec.music.tori-amos newsgroup by fastrada (fastrada@ix.netcom.com)

wow!!!!!!!! all i can say is, the rockford show last night was about 1000 times more intense than the last tori show i saw, rosemont in june. tori had such an edge to her last night. even her choice of songs was much more intense. at rosemont she was doing happy phantom and toodles mr. jim, and for this show she really brought out the heavy emotional artillery. the stuff that just grabs you by the throat. we had 15th row seats so i could see her face pretty well, and some of the expressions on her face were just heartbreaking. especially during icicle and mother and whatever that third song was. she sang much more in her loud voice than in her soft breathy voice this time too. and she barely talked at all. it was just song after song after song.

oh yeah, and i met her too!!! we got to the theater at about 2:30-2:45 or so, and a couple of people were already there. we waited and pretty soon they let us go around back where they had set up the railing. one of the bodyguards, i think his name was steve, was being such an ass. once it got to be about 4:30 or so and still no tori, he told a bunch of teenagers behind us that the show was off, with a totally straight face. then he gave us the usual warning, you get one thing signed or one picture and then get out of here. he seemed like he was in a really foul mood. which i guess makes sense, because tori's tour bus had gotten caught in major traffic coming up from chicago. finally steve told us that tori wasn't going to get there until about 5 and that was too late so she would say hi to us but wouldn't sign. i was disappointed but i'm going to chicago next week anyway, so i figured i'd catch her there. plus, i hadn't met her before so i was excited just to get a close-up glimpse.

so the bus finally pulled up and she got off. she looked really cute but tired. she was wearing this bright orange sweater and pants and she had her hair pulled up into a ponytail. she said hi guys, and we all said, hi tori, and the guy in front of us held out a photo and said, very politely, you can't sign this, can you? steve was hovering right there looking mean. and tori kind of thought for a second and said, i'll sign one thing for everyone, really quick! thank you, whoever you are, for asking her to sign because with the bodyguard standing right there i wouldn't have the nerve! meanwhile, when tori said that, steve just gave her and us the look of death. so much for his authority!

anyway, 'cause tori was obviously in a hurry, i didn't really say anything to her. she signed my poster, although she spelled my boyfriend's name wrong! (i had her sign it to him and me.) then she gave it back to me and gave me a big smile and i just melted. i was surprised that she looks older than i thought she would. now, of course, i'm kicking myself because i didn't say anything to her. i didn't think she'd take the time to hug me so i didn't ask, but when i was leaving i saw her hugging other people, so i felt kind of bad. but i didn't want to get really emotional in front of my boyfriend because on the drive up i was a complete emotional basketcase, i'm not even sure why, and i burst into tears for absolutely no reason and couldn't stop. so i didn't want to lose it again in front of him. in chicago i'm definitely going to hug her, 'cause i'm going with friends and they're not gonna care if i cry.

here is the setlist:

beauty queen
horses
???? a b-side or maybe a cover? i didn't recognize it. i couldn't make
out most of the words except for at a couple of points she sounded like
she was saying "bad company." and somewhere in the middle she sang
some lyrics from "getting to know you" from the king and i. anyone know
what this was?

(it was either before or after caught a lite sneeze that she stopped
to talk to us. she said something like, ok, i have a question. and
then some idiot yelled "pain in my hole." someone else yelled "ode
to the banana king" and she said that she doesn't know that song anymore
because she just made it up on the spot. she said she might try it later
on in the show but we'd have to shout lyrics at her. she didn't try it
later, though, as far as i can tell 'cause i don't know that song. she
had what looked like a little stuffed banana with arms and legs hanging
from the cover of the piano and she said, ok, here's ode to the banana
king and she grabbed him and wiggled his arms and legs. she also had a
stuffed monkey sitting on the piano. she never did get to ask her question,
though!)

caught a lite sneeze (cool transition from piano mike to harpsichord
mike! almost like suspended animation. and at the point where she usually
drums on the piano, she was drumming on her body too, on her legs and
stomach and breasts, )
spacedog
cornflake girl (wow!! i've never heard her do this song so intensely
and with so much passion. she didn't just do her customary dance here,
she got right down to the edge of the stage and danced for a good couple
of minutes while caton played the intro over and over again. she added
sections and repeated sections...it was so long we didn't think it was
ever going to end and we didn't want it to! how the hell did she dance
in those shoes, though? she was wearing high heeled white mules that looked
really uncomfy.)

honey (wow!!!)
icicle (oh my god, so intense)
marianne (so sad)
precious things (started out really really fast, then slowed down by the middle. i
didn't time the grrrrrl but
it didn't even sound like it came from a human being!)
lovesong on harpsichord. (cool!)
talula (wow!!!)
me and a gun (dead silence, thank you! this song seemed to affect her emotionally much
more than it did
at the rosemont show.)

first encore:
mary (is that the right title? "don't be afraid...even the wind cries your name...")
wow!!! for some reason, i
don't know why because this song usually doesn't affect me, i found myself on the verge
of tears.
mother!!!!! i was so excited that she did this! this was one of the three songs i really
wanted her to do.
and i had to try really really hard not to cry because this song always affects me like
that.

second encore:
(here one of the bodyguards or roadies or whatever plunked this blue
stuffed-animal thing right in front of her on the piano and i don't
know if she was making a song up about it on the spot or what, but she
started singing about "this stuffed blue thing" and how it reminded
her of someone who wasn't in her good book any more. this was probably
the only remotely playful moment she had during this show. then she went
into:
london girls
hey jupiter on harmonium

anyway, i thought this show far surpassed the last one i saw, not that tori's ever bad. i had chills! she didn't do two of the songs i wanted to hear, yes anastasia and muhammed my friend, but maybe in chicago. i can't wait to see her again! i love her even more than i did before.


From a newspaper review in the Rockford Register Star emailed to me by Sarah Johnson (Garden Muse)

Click here to read the review from the Rockford Register Star


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Tori's Performance In Bloomington Indiana, September 19

From Mikewhy, creator of this web site. (mikewhy@iglou.com)

I have to thank Maggie, who did a better job than I did with transcribing some of Tori's quotes for the night. I have changed the quotes in my review to match hers in most cases. Her own terrific review follows this one!

The day after our Muncie show, Stacey and I moved on to Bloomington Indiana to see Tori at the Indiana University Auditorium. The campus at IU is beautiful, as is the town of Bloomington. Definitely one of the coolest small towns I have seen. The campus is just pulsating with activity and student life, and I really enjoyed the feel of the place. I met more wonderful Toriphiles there, and you can read all about them in my review of Muncie from September 18, where I also include the great people I met here in Bloomington!

Click here to see sound check photos I took at Bloomington!

We attempted to do the sound check thing again, but by the time Tori arrived the crowd was rather large, plus we were out in the open and there were many students around. While Steve said that we WOULD get to meet her individually, when Tori arrived on the bus, Joel stepped off looking really pissed and said that there were too many people. Apparently a local radio station had mentioned the soundcheck, which may have contributed to the large crowd. So we stood at the barricades and watched as Tori got off the bus. She then chatted with a few people in the front and accepted some gifts. Charlie Poole gave her a wonderful instrument from Europe called the Melodica (or something like that). As she passed me I said, "Thank you for Killing Me Softly.", refering to the night before in Muncie when she sang that song for me. She gave a big smile and pointed at me with a "I remember you" expression. After Tori went inside, the crowd went for Caton, who seemed to really eat up the attention during the photo sessions and the autographs. I personally thanked him for adding so much to the show, and he looked really touched. He seemed even more thrilled by some of the women who gave him attention, but that's Caton!

Though Stacey and I came to IU with 38th row seats, we managed to legally upgrade to 14th row, which was really good. The show began in the now usual manner. However, Tori was bouncing happily as she made her way to the piano, and she gave us a happy two handed-wave. I turned to Stacey and said, "She is going to really kick-butt tonight." Though Muncie was fantastic the day before, overall, her energy level was much higher tonight. She was humorous, energetic, and simply gave one of her best shows of the tour. Her hair was down at the beginning, and there was energy in everything she did. This show was much longer than many of the shows she was doing during this part of the tour, so we were lucky!

BEAUTY QUEEN/HORSES - Her performance of this pair was the best I have ever seen! I was also pleased with the sound at the IU Auditorium, which was fantastic all evening.

FLYING DUTCHMAN - Tori was really animated and I wish I had a camera so I could have caught some of her facial expressions. Her voice was screaming one minute and whispering the next. I realized again that Tori's voice has really strengthened over the years. She said during the Ticketmaster Chat that she had developed a strong chest voice, and that really showed tonight!

She then said the following: "Hi you guys. Something really odd is going on. Marcel, is the organ firing off or something? Do you hear that WhOOMP, whhhOOOMP? Everytime I go to move. WHHOOOMMP." (Looks to the right side of the stage) "Oh, it's your chair. Oh, you need some ah, squeaky stuff cause you're in the middle of tape. I love you too. It's just that you gotta understand it's like 'who is killing air around here,' WHOOOOMP." She then sings:

BLOOD ROSES - Definitely an audience favorite. Very intense.

BUTTERFLY - She began the song with some lyrics that talked about "one little Indian girl." Is this part of Butterfly or something else? Anyway, shortly into Butterfly, she thought she messed up, "General, need a litt... (giggles) hang on..What key is this Caton? OH. Sorry." Changes to different key. Then switches back to original key. "I was RIGHT. Sorry about that" Restarts song. Stops to say "See... sorry boys, some things are interchangeable"

CORNFLAKE GIRL - Before this song she pointed to Steve Caton and said, "Sorry Caton. Anyway, this wonderful being is Caton. And ah, I'm in a bit of a funny mood tonight. So, just, if you hang out I'll figure it out." Someone shouted out a request for 'Waitress'. Tori looked confused for a moment, and then said, "what?Wait wait wait. OH, I thought you said why is your hair red. Yeah, some of them will come I promise. And some of them are having margaritas as you well know." Then we were treated to Cornflake Girl with her dance routine. Like the previous day in Muncie, she inserted those unfamiliar lyrics in the middle of the song. During one part she was singing, "You think I am falling, but I am right with you..." Any clues as to what this is or if it is new material?

TEAR IN YOUR HAND - This was a big night for songs and b-sides from the Little Earthquakes days. Like 'China' the night before, this one really hit home, and I felt a little sad.

LITTLE EARTHQUAKES - The swirling beams of light she uses for this song complement the song perfectly. There is a lot of energy and hope in the air during this song. "Give me life, give me pain, give me myself again." Good song to follow 'Tear In Your Hand'!

SWEET DREAMS - She did a little growl at the beginning of this song that was exciting. She sang the first few lines accapella, and then slowly added the piano to the performance. She was later really swaying to the music, and at one point was standing while playing and singing, though not into the microphone so you could hardly hear her. She later claimed to forget the words and asked us for help, something she also did in Cincinnati last June! Someone in the audience screams "Here. In My head," to which Tori replies, "NO, the verse. The WORDS," and then a guy screams "well well" and Tori says "No, that's the other one." Finally someone yells out the correct verse and Tori says, "Thanks you're a fabulous man." When the song ended, Tori said,"Girls, it's one of THOSE days, you understand. Guys, you will never ever ever understand. Not to be gross, but I'm having hot flashes up here, but I'm still going to play."

WINTER - As Tori began the beautiful introduction to this favorite, a man yelled, "Can I sit on the stage with you?" Tori just smiled (She was so playful and FUNNY tonight!) and said, "Well, there are gonna be two really big guys that are gonna jump on you. But, if we weren't here and we were at a friend's house and we had pudding, of course."

CRUCIFY - The Little Earthquakes party continued with this song.

CAUGHT A LITE SNEEZE - Love the sounds Caton makes with his guitar here! Tori also did the same dramatic turn from piano to harpsichord that she did in Muncie the night before, with that really wild look on her face as she holds the note.

TALULA - I just love the Tornado remix of this song, as well as the slow build-up to the fast part.

ME AND A GUN - Another quiet and respectful crowd during this healing song.

ENCORE 1 -

BLACK SWAN - The tenderness and the beauty here is overwhelming. Is it just me, or is the first song of the first encore always so sad and sweet at the same time? The blue lighting added to the feeling.

A CASE OF YOU - Tori covers the songs she herself wished she would have written. Tori makes this song her own.

ENCORE 2 -

TAKE TO THE SKY - I have the lyrics to this one on the walls at work, for it is another personal favorite. Very empowering! The audience clapped along for a while, but fortunately it died down. She stood up off the piano bench and played a lot, and did some rather dramatic gestures.

FATHER LUCIFER - Caton again provided a tasty accompaniment to this song. Tori played this song even more impressively tonight that the night before in Muncie. At one point, she seemed to be singing or almost chanting short little bursts or fragments of words or syllables.

ETIENNE - She said, "Some of you will know this next one." A fan named Ben shouted "Pain in the Hole," and Tori then said "No..." and started Etienne. When she finished, she left with Caton, who picked her off the floor and basically carried her out!

This was one of my best shows, and Tori simply rocked tonight. :)


From a posting to AOL by Maggie (Scullyfied@aol.com)

This is the setlist and Tori comments from the Bloomington, IN show- 9/19 Sorry this is so long guys but, Tori was in a good mood.

BQ

Horses

Flying Dutchman

"Hi you guys. Something really odd is going on. Marcel, is the organ wired or something? Do you hear that WhOOMP, whhhOOOMP?Everytime I go to move. WHHOOOMMP. Oh, it's your chair. Oh, you need some ah, squeaky stuff cause you're in the middle of tape. I love you too. It's just that you gotta understand it's like 'who is killing air around here' WHOOOOP."

Blood Roses

One little Indian Girl intro."One little Indian girl. I say cross me again white man. One little Indian girl. One little Indian girl can do much you think to yourself.One little Indian girl."

*Butterfly(she screws up "General,need a litt..(giggle giggle) hang on..What key is this Caton? OH. Sorry" Changes to different key. Then switches back to original key. "I was RIGHT. Sorry about that" Restarts song. Stops to say "See, sorry boys, some things are interchangeable" Restarts song again. "Sorry Caton. Anyway, this wonderful being is Caton. And ah, I'm in a bit of a funny mood tonight. So, just, if you hang out I'll figure it out." At this point a girl in the audience starts screaming 'WAITRESS' and Tori says "what?Wait wait wait. OH, I thought you said why is your hair red. Yeah, some of them will come I promise. And some of them are having margaritas as you well know"

*Cornflake Girl (with what seemed to be an extended faery dance clocking in at just under two minutes) (and a bit about "Rabbit, say you're right with me.Where'd ya put the keys girl?This is the thing. I know what's coming.I know you can see me.You think that I'm falling but, I am right with you.Right with you. Myself right with you at all times. said Rabbit, I know that you're going. No one's stopping. I know you are with me. Figured you would be. I know what I'm hearing. I know what he isn't. Where'd ya put the keys, Girl?')

*Tear in your Hand

*Little Earthquakes

Sweet Dreams (Midway through she stops and asks what comes next. Someone in the audience screams "Here. In My head" To which Tori replies "NO the verse.The WORDS" and then a guy screams "well well" and tori says "No that's the summer one" Finally someone screams out the correct verse and she says "Thanks you're a fabulous man. Girls, it's one of *those* days. You understand." And then she continues. )

Winter (at the beginning some guy asks if he can come up on stage with her and she replies "Well, there are gonna be two really big guys that are gonna jump on you. But, if we weren't here and we were at a friend's house and we had pudding, of course."

Crucify
CALS (with a rather animated super slomo switchover)
Talula(he's chasing tornadoes. I'm just waiting calmly. Chasing her. Repeated
two times)
Me and A Gun

Encore #1
Black Swan
A Case of You

Encore #2
"okay good"
Some girl screams "take to the sky Tori"
Take to the Sky
Father Lucifer (with a bit about "Runaway, turnaway, runaway, turnaway")
"Some of you will know this next one"
*Etienne(on harmonium)

* = with Caton (who is much cuter in person than I had remembered.) Maggie :)

p.s.- does anyone know anything about the Indian intro on Butterfly?


From a posting to the rec.music.tori-amos newsgroup by Charlie Poole (cpoole@indiana.edu)

Tori's concert Thursday night was absolutely incredible. Now that she's ending the tour (at least the US leg) it will probably be a couple of years before she tours again. Bummer. :-( But from what I've heard she's composed more than 60 songs for a new album and people are saying that they are soft and gentle and beautiful; a big contrast to Boys for Pele. Personally, I can't wait (but of course I will).

I rushed home from work (took a half a day off), did laundry, took a shower, got my stuff ready (binoculars, tape recorder and Tori's belated birthday present) and suddenly realized I was going to be late. With all the photo equipment I have (was a pro photog) I've never owned a simple point-and-shoot camera. I rushed off to the store to pick up a camera and raced to the campus. Scullified and I have been E-mailing but had never met. We'd made plans to be at the soundcheck. Stacey contacted me last spring about meeting at a Tori concert. She and mikewhy ("A Dent In The Tori Amos Net Universe" -- if you've never visited his pages please do so -- http://www.aye.net/~mikewhy/index.html) were coming and we'd made plans to get together also. I'd never met them before either. While you're visiting mikewhy's Tori page be sure to check out his review of both the Bloomington and Muncie shows -- http://www.aye.net/~mikewhy/toursept.html#bloomington. I also met with two friends who've moved from Bloomington and I haven't seen since the last Tori concert here two years ago. After the soundcheck we all went for food and I took them around part of the campus. I had I really good time and I think they did too. We went into the auditorium about a half hour before the opening act. But, I'm getting out of sequence here.

I arrived for the soundcheck a little after 2PM. There were a couple dozen people there who, like myself, wanted to make sure we didn't miss Tori. What I didn't know was that one of the local radio stations was doing a promotion for fans to come into the auditorium at the end of the soundcheck. As a part of their promotion they were inviting everyone within hearing to come to meet Tori. By the time she arrived there were a couple hundred people all expecting to get autographs, photos and hugs. The descending hoards guaranteed that all we would be able to do was say hi and wave. So I didn't get my photo with Tori or get to record our conversation nor receive a wonderful Tori hug.

Tori's security people and the IU security people freaked out about all the people at the sound check. They even did a sweep of the auditorium before they let Tori go inside. As I said the crowd was a real bummer. I had planned/dreamed that:

1) I would get to record Tori and I talking,

2) I would get a photo taken with her,

3) that I'd get to tell her the story of the present I had for her,

4) that I'd get to photograph her opening it and record her playing it, and, above all,

5) that I'd get another Tori hug.

None of that was to be. When her security guy, Joel, told her other security guy, Steve, that there were just too many people for Tori to deal with (translation: too many for security to have to deal with), we were informed that there would be no pictures with Tori or autographs. And that was after we had already been told that we would be able to have a photograph OR an autograph. We had been lined up single file but then everyone rushed the barricade to at least get close enough to speak to Tori. There were three row of people between me and Tori when she came down from her bus. I managed to stretch an arm through the crowd with my present and got her attention. She took it, asked my name and then asked what the present was. I told her it was a musical instrument for her to play. She thanked me and that was all there was to my Tori encounter this time.

I suppose that you are curious about the present. Well, 29 years ago I was in the Army and stationed in Worms, Germany. In those days I smoked a lot of stuff and we had a bunch of Turkish hashish that had been dipped in opium. Fun stuff! There were a bunch of us who hung with a married couple at their home every night and all through the weekends. Poor people didn't get any privacy for months. We'd get stoned and Butch would get out his guitar and start writing songs. He'd teach each of us a part and most of us had instruments to play except for poor me. One day Steve walked in (shortly after I got orders to go to Viet Nam) with a present for me. It was a Honer Melodica. What's that you ask? Imagine a harmonica (Honer makes the best in the world) turned end for end with a mouthpiece to blow in much like a recorder. Now put a two octave piano keyboard on top of this stretched out harmonica in place of all the mouth holes along the side. Voila, a Melodica. I've had a lot of fun trying to learn how to play it; just noodling on it had been restful at times, stimulating at others. Anyway I've gotten a lot of mileage from it. I wondered if Tori would enjoy it as much as I have so I decided that it was time I passed it on. Yeah, it's something that was a very precious part of my life, but so is Tori's music and that was the only thing that I could think of that meant enough to me to mean enough to give to Tori. That is the story I wanted to tell her (in a condensed version) but didn't get too.

I did get to talk with Caton. He's a really cool guy. I think he's added a lot to Tori's performance which I thanked him for. I asked him to do me a favor and give a message to Tori. He said he would and I told him about the Melodica. He thought it was a great story and said he'd pass it on to her for me.

When we all got back to the auditorium (about 2 hours later) I realized that I'd left the binoculars in my locker where I'd stashed all my stuff. With 15 minutes to spare I ran the three blocks to get them and ran back. I almost didn't go and now I'm really glad I did. On the way back, Steve, the security guy was in front of the auditorium watching people as they went in. I wasn't sure that Caton would tell Tori so I thought I'd repeat the story to him. I said I was the one who'd given Tori the Melodica and he said he remembered me doing so. I started telling him that I'd gotten it 30 years before in Germany. He interrupted me with a grin and, "Was that World War II?" With a smile I said sarcastically, "Thanks a lot. WWII was a few years before that," as he very well new. I started telling him about the smoking music group and he interrupted me, "I already know this. Caton told Tori your story. She's been playing with it all afternoon. She said that she really wanted to learn how to play it." Needless to say his words were almost as good as a Tori-hug.

The concert itself was the best (except for the first one) I've seen. Tori was in rare form; lot of energy flowing between her and the audience. The concert, including encores, was almost 2 full hours long. This audience was one of the most respectful of any of her concerts I've attended. No one yelled anything stupid (not that I heard at least) and no one yelled anything during MAAG. Even the applause after MAAG was gentle. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Tori came on-stage wearing jeans with a black/navy long sleeved bodysuit over which she wore a spaghetti strap top trimmed in purple with line drawings of flowers. Although I was sitting in the center of the first row there is a large orchestra pit between the stage and the audience in the Indiana University Auditorium which puts the artist at a greater distance then most venues. With binoculars I had a field of view that included Tori's head to just below the piano bench. I spent much of the concert with them glued to my eyes. Tori could see the first few rows of the audience very well from the reflected light as well as from the lighting that shines out from the stage. Almost every time she looked down at me sitting there with the binoculars in my face she smiled or giggled and I found myself grinning and giggling back.

I won't do a set list as mikewhy has a detailed list that he will be posting. The first evidence of "drooling" came when she took an extra large gulp of water and most of it came back out around the corners of her mouth. She was bright, bubbly and much more animated than she has been at other concerts on this tour. Her movements on the piano bench reminded me more of the Little Earthquake gyrations; as if she were feeling less restricted. Everything about her was more animated though, her expressions, her hand and head movements as well as the rest of her body. Although she really worked up a sweat (I could see it running down her face) she didn't drool (that I noticed) until the encores. Of course she did her Cornflake Girl dance again as she has done in every performance lately. This time it was a lot more fluid and graceful, kinda like Tai Chi instead of Karate.

At one point a guy yelled, "Tori, can I come and sit on the stage with you?" which received a big laugh from the audience. Tori responded, "If you do there are two really big guys backstage who are gonna run out here and jump on you." She turned back to the piano momentarily, turned back to the audience and said, "Now if we were somewhere else ... and if there was pudding ..."

She asked Caton what key the song she was playing was in. Another time she forgot the words and asked the audience, "Com'on guys, give me some help," with her helpless little girl expression. Someone called out a song title. "Nooo, not a request. What words come next?" A person behind me yelled out a line. Tori said, "No not that. I already did that one." Another line was yelled, she said thanks and started playing again. She stopped, turned to the audience and said, "Girls, uh ... no. Guys, you think you understand but you will never know what it's like. Girls, it's my time of the month and I'm up here having HOT FLASHES. But I'm still going to play for you."

She did two encores. After the second she and Caton bowed to the audience. She looked down at me, put her hands to her eyes and wiggled them as if she was focusing a pair of binoculars. Then she laughed and waved to me. I, of course, waved back laughing. Caton put his arm around her waist, picked her off her feet and carried her away. Exit stage right.

Th', th', that's all folks. Hope you enjoyed it.


From a personal email sent to me by Katherine

The Bloomington show was the most incredible night....the most incredible day, and I will never, ever forget my experiences there.

I think I told you this, but let me share it again. I have the biggest, most hugest crush on Steve Caton. Well, as he was meeting and greeting and what- not, I boldly approached him and said, "Hi, my name is Katherine, and I have the biggest crush on you. Would you mind getting your picture taken with me?" He laughed and said, "Sure." After the picture I asked him if he got my letter at the Ball State show. He looked confused and I told him that I had written a letter for him in a basket I had given Tori. He said he'd check on it, and went inside. I was so happy.

I decided to sit on the railing outside the stage door as my friends went to grab a bite to eat. Then I noticed someone had sat down beside me. It was Steve!

He told me that my letter had either gotten lost or accidently thrown away, would I mind writing another? I said I would, and before I knew it, we had the most wonderful conversation! Everything from touring to funny stuff he and Tori had done to amuse themselves on the road, early beginnings in the music business and so on. After fifteen or twenty minutes he had to go in for soundcheck, right as my friends came back. I told him I would make sure the letter got to him and he went inside. It hadn't hit me what had happened until my friend Joe said, "Katherine, we couldn't help but notice while walking down the street that you were sitting down, just 'chilling' with the crush of your life." I said, "I did? I *did*!?!!" And then I got sortof giddy and needed to be calmed down a bit.

I sat on the steps and wrote another letter to Steve. As I finished I began talking to a very lovely girl named Karen, who has "Hold onto nothing as fast as you can" tattooed around her ankle. Anyway, we were having a very nice chat, and who should approach but Steve!

I gave him the letter and inquired him about the book he had under his arm. It was a book on Physics, and next thing we knew Professor Caton was giving us the most interesting lecture on protons, atoms, the speed of light, and all sorts of related things! He must have talked for over twenty minutes! The conversation did drift to other things, but by that time it had reached six- thirty or so and he had to get going. What a wonderful day and experience for me. I mean, for some people it's George Clooney or Brad Pitt, for me it's Steve Caton. I don't know. I'm still pretty giddy about the whole matter.

But all giddiness aside, the concert as you know was incredible! It was a complete change from Ball State. Whatever energy she had lost there she regained here at the IU auditorium! Some of my favorite parts...

*Flying Dutchman* What a treat! It was such a surprise after Horses. I also noticed how much she was using her deep, "spooky voice" one minute and then whispering the words the next. Her vocal gymnastics that night were amazing, and this is just one example. The tempo of this song was not slowed a bit, it was upbeat the whole time!

*Butterfly* She played my request! The intro was breathtaking...one little Indian girl...I ahd no idea what was coming next, but I felt like she was speaking to me... And I just love it when she messes up. It's so cute.

*Tear In Your Hand* My all-time favorite Tori song. I cried...

*Crucify* At the risk of being shunned, I must say that this is not usualy my favorite live. I think it loses a bit in the translation from album to solo piano. But this was different. Energy was just seething out of her. Her vocals were so feisty and angry. It was awesome! I also enjoyed the added lyrics, something like "Sometimes I still don't know why I still do crucify myself...."

*Sweet Dreams* Liked the "funky beat" thing she did at the beginning....this gem is always such a treat.

*Black Swan* This is another favorite of mine! She was so sad on this one, especially on the Eric line...

*Take To The Sky* Wow! This sure was a night for Little Earthquakes, be it the album songs or Bee Sides.

*Father Lucifer* I love this song live...I like to hear the layered voices seperately, done in Space Dog fashion. Her facial expressions are just a hoot sometimes!

All in all, this was the best concert I had ever been to. This and Cincinatti will always hold a special place in my heart.


From a personal email sent to me by Matt (pagan@indy.net)

hey. this is matt, the guy with the cool hat--hey, that rhymes. so here is a pretty short(sort of) review of bloomington. mainly just an overview

so after school i raced home, got the obligatory " be careful" speech from my mother, and left indianapolis driving at an average speed of 75 miles per hour hoping to get to IU before soundcheck. when i finally found the audiTORIum (couldn't resist), there was a VERY large crowd of people there. at first steve started telling us that we could get a picture or autograph, but then the plan changed and we could only see her if we fought or squirmed to the barricade. she walked off the bus and talked to the first couple rows of people, then walked inside. i had planned to give tori two things-- a sun picture i had done and a gargoyle box-type thing. i managed to give steve(bodyguard) the sun before the show.

waiting for the show wasn't too bad. i met katherine and mikewhy(hello!)...the story how i met katherine is peculiar. i was walking around the auditorium and saw caton talking to a couple of people of which katherine was one. moving closer, i could hear that caton was talking about the theory of relativity and other assorted science stuff. i had to hear this, so i plonked myself down and listened, and we ended up talking about that and other stuff. after he went back inside, it was almost time for the show to start.

i had second row seats, so needless to say, the show rocked. you guys can read the other setlists, so i'm not going to recall it all now. she was very talkative and energetic.

right after the second encore i bolted up the aisle and out a side door. i was probably one of the first people out of the auditorium, but there were already people by the barricades. i had a pretty good spot, though, so i wasn't despairing just yet. we waited for about 45 minutes, then tori came out. she was EXTREMELY tired, but she talked to everyone that could get up to her. when she got to me i gave her the gargoyle box. she said " this is fantastic". i asked her if she got the sun. she perked right up and said "oh yeah, didn't you see it up on stage?" apparently it was by one of the feet of the piano and i didn't even see it. she was asking other people if they had seen it and they had. so she took my hand to say thank you and i immediately leaned over the fence for a hug & kiss on the cheek.

a very good show both inside and outside the venue. i think maybe i can rest knowing the tour is ending. maybe.


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Tori's Performance In Muncie Indiana, September 18

From Mikewhy, creator of this web site. (mikewhy@iglou.com)

Because I had to work a half day, I did not leave Louisville until early afternoon. I picked up my friend Stacey and we headed out for the three hour ride to Muncie Indiana. We arrived at the Ball State Campus around 3:45 PM their time. Having graduated from a really small college in Louisville (Spalding University), I was amazed at the large crowds of students walking or riding bikes. We found Emens Auditorium and parked. We walked around the side of the place and saw a group of about 15 people lined-up behind a barricade. Bodyguards Steve and Joel were also there, so I knew we had just made it for soundcheck. Sure enough, within 5 minutes, Tori walked out. By then there were still under 30 people there. I waited nervously until it was my turn. I noticed that Joel was utilizing his skills and many years of security experience to keep the bees off of Tori! Tori's hair was down and she was wearing a white sweater. She looked fantastic, and I momentarily froze when it was my turn. Then I said, "Hi Tori!" She said "Hi, how are you?" with a smile on her face. I said "Great" as I handed her the CD booklet from Little Earthquakes to sign. She said, "And you are? " and I managed to squeak out "Michael". She went to write it, but after doing part of it she looked up at me. We were looking at each other eye to eye for a few seconds. I could hear my heart really beating loudly. One has to experience an eye-to-eye meeting with Tori to know the amazing feeling it creates. I think she knew I had something else on my mind. I then said, "Tori, you have a girl who comes to some of your sound checks called "Killing Me Softly." Could you invite her to the show tonight and see if she will come?" Tori shook her head yes,said "sure," wrote "killing" on her hand, and then finished my autograph (She used a SHARPIE pen!). The way she shook her head she seemed to be saying, "I was waiting for someone to ask." That is the impression I got anyway. She handed the booklet back to me. I felt really warm and then we hugged and I really enjoyed the sensation. Then I quickly stepped aside to let Stacey meet her. Stacey later told me that she asked Tori to sing 'Hear In My Head', but only IF it comes to her. Tori said, "What a polite way of asking." As usual, Tori was approachable, friendly, and just incredibly warm.

While waiting for the show to begin, we ran into a few people on campus who recognized me from my web page. I must say one of the best things about this trip was meeting these wonderful Tori fans, who were all really nice. I am normally a chronically shy person, but that Tori-bond was there, and I really enjoyed talking to everyone. The same thing happened the next night in Bloomington at Indiana University. I met Monica Sanghavi, who has helped me tremendously with my web page. She was totally charming and friendly. Katherine was at Muncie and Bloomington, and shook my hand and thanked me for my web page! Her enthusiasm for all things Tori was great. I met Karen from Cincinnati, who agreed with me that Tori's Cincinnati show was truly stellar. Charlie Poole showed Stacey and I around the IU campus, and though he was older than me, inside he was much younger, and he was amazing to meet and talk with. There was the married couple Chris and Dennis. Chris is a school teacher and Dennis is trying to get a cool video business going, He and Charlie are big Amiga and Mac computer fans! Maggie was a nice young woman who we met with Charlie who also impressed me with her dedication to Tori. Lana was a young woman from near Louisville who I remember from the Indy show in July. She showed us her Tori tattoo! Toriphile Matt was a young guy with a cool hat. I met Ben the video guy, and Brad, a personable fellow who I also talked to at the Indy show. It was so much fun to talk to them all!

Anyway, back to Muncie. Before the show started Katherine told me that Tori played at sound check 'Pretty Good Year' and 'Killing Me Softly'! I was hopeful. Could tonight be the night she does it? She had never done Killing Me Softly during this tour, though she did during previous tours. I had dreamed of her singing this for 3 years. I had already seen her do all of her songs that I wanted to see, so all that was left was to see this cover, which I identify so strongly with Tori!

We took our seats, which were 5th row and off to the left side. Josh Clayton-Felt opened the show. He is a pleasant and talented man who looks REALLY young. He has a lot of enthusiasm and seems like a hell of a nice guy. His material seems a little bland, but he did a fine job. I still really miss Willy, but life goes on!

Then we went through the heart in your throat feeling as we watched Tori walk out during "Son of a Preacher Man," and launch into:

BEAUTY QUEEN/HORSES - Her voice sounded a little weary, and was more breathy than usual. She still sounded great though. The sound at Emens Auditorium seemed unbalanced and not loud enough me, but they were minor complaints. Her hair was tied up, at least at the start of the concert.

ICICLE - She began Icicle by doing an ONWARD CHRISTIAN SOLDIER routine with some lyrics of her own, She seemed really into the song, which is one of my favorites. She was jamming and swaying at the Bosey, and Tori sometimes would really draw out and savor some of the words.

CAUGHT A LITE SNEEZE - I was surprised by how early into the concert we heard this one. During the part of the song where she drummed on the piano, she also drummed quite a bit on her own body, which was different. She did her famous piano to harpsichord switch while singing "Girl zone", though it seemed a little different to me this time. She slowly built-up to the moment singing "Zone, zone, zone" over and over, gaining in volume each time. She then turned in jerky, mechanical moves to the harpsichord, with the most intense and amazing look on her face. She seemed almost possessed with her fist out while turning.

CORNFLAKE GIRL - Tori then greeted us, "Hi, you guys." She introduced Caton, calling him "wonderful". She then commented to us that this was like her 148th show. She said this while putting chalk on her hands, a sure sign that Cornflake Girl was about to happen! She then raved about the seats that were in the auditorium. "You have the grooviest seats with that aquamarine blue color. I need some shoes in that color." She turned to Caton, who looked a little occupied, and said, "Is it groovy? Okay, we will try it then and if we fuck up, oh well." She then began the Cornflake Girl dance while Caton played guitar. The dance is now a lengthy routine that is very complex, graceful,and cool! She then skipped to the piano, and threw herself into playing/singing Cornflake Girl. Toward the end of the song, twice, she seemed to slip in some lyrics I never heard before. It happened really fast, but could this be some new material that is finding its way into the show, or something else? Did anyone else notice this?

HONEY - Tori said, "This is one of my favorite songs from Under The Pink." The audience shouted out "Honey!" Tori said,"yeeeeeeeeeeeeuppppp". The tempo seemed a little faster than usual to me, but it was still moving.

LITTLE EARTHQUAKES - She began with a gorgeous instrumental with swirling beams of yellow light all around her. Lots of atmosphere dripping from the stage here!

MR. ZEBRA - Playful and fun.

UPSIDE DOWN - This was the first Tori song that I fell in love with in 1992 and it is always a thrill to hear it live. When she sang, "My daddy would scream..." there was real anger and fierceness in her voice.

PRECIOUS THINGS - With the usual haunting opening, and the crowd-pleasing grrrllll part, which was truly lengthy tonight. She sounded really wild at the end of it, with her voice sounding like it had split into 2 or more sub-voices. Truly remarkable, It sounded like a voice from deep within her surfacing to the top, looking for healing. The wash me clean part at the end was surprisingly subdued however.

LOVESONG - A short while into this Cure cover, she looked unhappy for a second, smiled, and sang, "I just messed up pretty bad, but it's okay..." She started over and did the song, turning sometimes to look at the screen behind her which showed a roller coaster ride. She ended the song on a long, loud note.

TALULA - An frenzy of light and sound!

ME AND A GUN - It followed Talula as it often does on this tour, and I was thankful that Muncie was quiet and respectful.

ENCORE 1 -

CHINA -
HERE IN MY HEAD - These two songs made an amazing pair for the first encore. China deeply ripped into me this time. I found it hard to breathe. Here, In My Head was sung flawlessly from beginning to end. Her voice was smooth as honey, and I was happy for Stacey, who requested it earlier at sound check. These 2 songs are made to be sung together!

ENCORE 2 -

There was an open pit in front of the stage, and as Tori walked out with Caton for the second encore, she acted like she was going to sail right into it! She then sat down, said, "Okay," and played:

FATHER LUCIFER - Tori was really playful as she did this one, and her piano work was impressive.

At this point I saw that the organ was being placed into position where the harpsichord was, so i assumed that my request for Killing Me Softly was not going to be granted today. I thought, "Okay, I will ask her again tomorrow." I was getting comfortable with that thought as Tori finished 'Lucifer' and turned to the Harmonium organ. She then said, "I have never done this during the tour yet..someone asked me to do this and..."

I sat up real straight and struggled for composure. Could it be...

People shouted out song titles. Tori shook her head negatively. Then I heard a girl scream, "Killing Me Softly." Tori looked a little irritated (in a humorous manner) and said something like "Is this one of those telepathic shows where I think of something and you guess" (or something like that, I was too nervous to remember!) She then started singing a few lines of Cumbuya (spelling?) perhaps to throw us off a bit. And then I heard the words:

"Strumming my pain with his fingers..."

KILLING ME SOFTLY -

I cried out in joy. A surge went through my body and I rocked back and forth in my chair. As she played, I listened closely and these parts of the song tugged at my heart, and yes, I have changed the gender to apply to Tori!

Strumming my pain with her fingers
Singing my life with her words
Killing me softly with her song...

I felt she found my letters
And read each one out loud...

She sang as if she knew me
In all my dark despair...

Half way through the song she switched from the organ back to the piano, a rarity during this tour! She sang powerfully at the end, causing me to weep for a while before pulling myself together, It was as beautiful as I always dreamed it would be. I KNEW she could do this song better than anyone. I knew she would be incredible. She was, Good God, thank you Tori, Oh how I need this....I really NEEDED THIS. :)

I am still flying high from it. So I guess my little claim to fame during this tour was to be the person who helped coax 'Killing Me Softly' into the spotlight! It was not the strongest concert I have seen overall, but with 'Killing Me Softly', it will always be one of one of my favorites.


From a personal email sent to me by Katherine

My thoughts:
I got to meet Tori again...yay! She's so sweet! And I really like this Josh Clayton Felt fellow. He gave me a signed demo before the concert! He is so nice.

My friends and I were just outside of the stage door during soundcheck but there was so much noise going on underneath the stage in the dressing room area that a lot of Tori was muffled. However, we heard Pretty Good Year, Cornflake Girl, and KILLING ME SOFTLY! Joel came out and told us that she was going to play it tonight and we freaked out. But I'm sure that was nothing compared to what you were doing when she played it! Well, after the sound- check was nearly done, Ironman Steve kicked us out of the area. But that's ok cause we got an earful!

The concert....
As you know I was sixth row, dead center. Best seats I've ever had. I was so pumped. When Tori came out to do Beauty Queen, I was practically pissing in the seat. At the end of BQ which leads directly into horses, on the line "I lie again," she was drooling all over the place, and you could just hear her suck it all in before she started Horses. I was floored. Icicle's intro was really cute, Onward Christian Soldiers with a few additions of her own... something really funny about good poppyseed cake but I'm sure you've got all the lyrics transcribed somewhere.

CALS was the best version I have ever seen, hands down. She was just going OFF on the "zone" switch. I thought, man, this girl's on fire...

But then she kind of seemed to lose it. Did you pick up this feeling? Maybe it was just me, but she seemed very preoccupied the whole night. She seemed a bit more tired than usual, and it was kind of like her mind was on other things. I'm not disappointed in the show, I'm just concerned. She looked really troubled.

During Me And A Gun, maybe my eyes were freaking out on me, but while I was watching her it seemed like all the youth just drained out of her while singing that song. With every word she grew older and older. This song seemed to suck the life out of her, making this one very haunting.

Little Earthquakes was definitely a highlight of the night, though. She was really in a Little Earthquakes mood last night, don't you think? Hardly any BFP....

And then....the highlight of the night (prehaps the whole tour!)
And then....the highlight of the night (prehaps the whole tour!)
And then....the highlight of the night...prehaps the whole tour....
KILLING ME SOFTLY! Any energy it seemed she had lost during the night just came back, and she sang this so passionately and so beautifully..going from the organ to the piano I was freaking out! I thought of how happy you must have been and I started to cry. I have never heard anything more wonderful in my life. I am so happy for you. And for everyone there. It was not prehaps her best concert, but it was one of the most interesting, and it showed a different side of Tori that wasn't "bad", just a little unusual with a girl of so much fire. It was a night not to be missed.


From a posting to the rec.music.tori-amos newsgroup by LELAH (lelahliz@aol.com)
if you care...
Beauty Queen
Horses
Icicle
Caught a Lite Sneeze
Cornflake Girl
Honey
Little Earthquakes
Mr Zebra
UPSIDE DOWN!!! (for ME!!)
Precious Things
Lovesong (on harpsichord, i don't know if she normally does it on that,
but it was neat to hear)
Talula
Me & a Gun
encore 1- -
China
Here in my Head
encore 2- -
Father Lucifer
Kum baya-- sorry about the spelling, i don't know, it was a request, she
did it on harmonium, and then she played...
KILLING ME SOFTLY!! 
has she ever done that before? I remember reading something about her
soundchecking it but i didn't know if she had actually played it. But she
did last night, the whole song. Part of it on harmonium, part on piano. It
rocked. I think it was also a request from someone, because when I got to
meet her i hugged her and stuff and asked her if she'd play Upside Down
for me, and she wrote it on her hand. I looked, just to see what else she
had written there and I saw something that started with a K, probably Kum
baya, but i don't know. I think she said they were both requested, i could
be wrong. BUT i got to HUG TORI!! it was one of the high points of my
life, i must say. My best friend and i likened it to when someone you
really like alot calls you on the phone. Then when she played our songs
(upside down 4 me, precious things 4 Meghan, 1 after the other) it was
like that peson kissed you for the first time, you know? Actually it was
better than that, it was indescribable. When she played upside down, i
just was so amazed that she was playing it FOR ME. Well, me and everyone
there, but ME! she is so tiny and she smelled so good and i love her SO
much. :) I am so happy. :) NOW i definitely need a bootleg of this showso
if anyone could help me out, i know it was just last night and all, but
still.. it has MY upside down! thanks for your ears and help


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Tori's Performance In Akron Ohio, September 16

From a posting to the RDT mailing list and a personal email by ***Maery*** (ij587@cleveland.freenet.edu)

Hey everyone :) Just went and saw my fifth and final Tori show (this year at least *sniff sniff*). It was amazing. So amazing that i think i can honestly say that it was even better than the second show in Cleveland back in June. I had pretty decent seats, right next to the soundmen. I recognized on eof them from the picture in _all these years_ with Tori and the crew out to eat. I talked to him and he had a strong British accent ;) What I thought was hilarious though, was that his styrofoam cup of whatever had this name on it: Deaf Twat!!! I thought that Tori and the crew were close, but i never thought...Well, anyway, on to the show.

Josh Clayton-Felt was better than I had thougth he would be. A lot of people haven't liked but I think that he was Ok.

Tori comes out in a tight short sleeve blue top with blue Levi's. And get this...NO SHOES!!! Maybe she needs to go shopping or something. (Yeah, right. With all those millions of pairs she already has.)

T: stands for Tori talking A: stands for audience or audience member

Beauty Queen/Horses

Ohio (!!!) - Neil Young tune
T: Hello! How's it going you guys?
A: *applause* I Love You!
T: Anyway, I love you too. I hadn't played that one in a long time and I
thought that you would understand.

Blood Roses

Butterfly (yippee!)
T: Some of you know who this wonderful being is, this wonderful person,
Caton. While the tour is ending, I'm trying to figure out what I am
going to do when it's over.
A: Can you come visit me?
T: Can you cook?
A: Spaghettios!
T: Spaghettios?!?! You'll have to do better than that, babe. Right now
I'm into spicy, spicy, spicy. Girls you understand. Spicy beans, and I
don't care what my boyfriend says.

Cornflake Girl - the dance has really evolved since back in June. I
especially loved the muscle man poses.

Space Dog - with one of her (in)famous tiger growls added in.

Little Earthquakes

Then Tori plays a li'l ditty and does an (in)famous dog bark which goes
into...

Happy Phantom - I think that Tori just completely forgot how to end the
song. She started making up nonsense noises (not words),
then she started singing about bread and butter and how she
doesn't know where to go but she's getting closer. Then
instead of the piano ending (which she presumably forgot),
she just ended with the same beat using her nonsense
noises.
A: Lucky Ducky!!
Bunch of requests.
T: Hold your horses, I wanna to hear about Lucky Ducky. Then breaks
into this song....

Lucky Ducky - lyrics written down as fast as possible by myself

Lucky Ducky was his name
Every girl knows Lucky Ducky's game
All the girls come from ear to ear, ear to ear
To see what Lucky Dicky's got up his ---- (omits the word rear - filled in
by several audience members)
I'm not to sure what it is abot Northeast Ohio that brings out this weird
impromptu songs from Tori (remember Pain in His Hole? That started in
Cleveland and seems to be getting playing time in other select cities.)

T: I hardly ever play this one, so...

Alamo - I loved this song live. The blues on the way and fast as i came
parts were really really sad.

Precious Things - the grrrl clocked in at 31.16 seconds

Caught a Lite Sneeze - i noticed that at the part where she is usually
the piano as percussion, she was using her chest and
thighs also.

Talula

Me and a Gun
************
Encore One

Angie - it's nice to hear this one in concert. It has a lot more feeling
it than the recorded version.

This Old Man ---> Putting the Damage On
************
Encore Two

Tear in Your Hand

Icicle

T: Some of you may have heard this before, some of you haven't.

Etienne (on harmonium) - has anyone mentioned on what a great ending to the
shows Etienne is? Well, if not, it is a great way
to end a perfect evening.

Hugs to Scott and Molly and Alie too (who i heard had a wonderful Tori encounter after the show? You'll have to tell me about it.)

I'm sad thinking about what I'm gonna do with myself for the next few years. It was a great feeling when you're having just a really bad day and you can say to yourself, i'm gonna see Tori soon and it is just all better. It'll be hard to convince myself, you're gonna see Tori in about 3 years. Oh well, she desrves a very nice big huge gigundo long rest after the incredible amount of touring she has done. And the best of luck on the next project.


From a posting to the rec.music.tori-amos newsgroup by David B. Goldberger (goldberg@riker.neoucom.edu)

Then we went back to the concert. Tori was fabulous; she played all sorts of wonderful songs; some highlights were a cover of Ohio by Neil Young, Butterfly, Entienne (on the harmonium), CALS (I love this one live), Tear in Your Hand (prolly my 2nd favorite tori song, a close second to Upside down), and a really warped version of This Old Man. And she played Space Dog, and Little Earthquakes. I had a pair of binoculars for this concert, so I got to watch her expressions and movements. There were points where I thought she was going to leap off the stage into the audience, taking the piano with her. She tapped out percussion on the piano, the harpsicord, her thighs, her chest, and just about everything else she could get her hands on.

And Scott got a really neat recording from her at the soundcheck; she told him how she was going to miss us at the end of the concert (she's taking a 2-yr hiatus to write and recuperate) and how she considers us not so much fans as walking ears, and then she started getting all choked up on the tape.

Anyways, I didn't get to meet her this time, but if anybody out there does meet her, tell her to rest and take it easy and take care of herself and that her music has had a profound impact on my life, helping me maintain my sanity through some pretty rough times, and do invite her to Toricon in December!

I'm very tired now; I think I'll go to sleep.


From a posting to the rec.music.tori-amos newsgroup by Andy Busch (abusch@mail.chuh.cleveland-heights.k12.oh.us)

Anyway, I have a complete setlist (copied from Maery with a dead pen. Engraved on a Josh Clayton-felt flyer)

Beauty Queen/Horses - gee, what a surprise =)

Ohio - Great great great. I have heard the song before, but was not aware who did it originally. any help finding it? I like to track down originals of covers.

Blood Roses - Fine form. She had dramatic pauses in it, but in general, it seemed like the tempo was a little sped up.

Butterfly - the silly thoughts I had while listening to this. It was again a little fast, I think. I was blanking on what song it was, but sitting there loving every second of it. Then it hit me.

Cornflake Girl - including the cute little dance. Wierd wierd wierd.

Space Dog - with My Favorite Martian intro and blurry planet pictures on the screen

Little Earthquakes - My heart just about stopped during this. Prolly the second time i cried there (first was during Butterfly)

Alamo - I actually didn't recognize this. I don't hear it too often, even tho I like it. I just haven't had time to listen to singles lately. I know, sounds odd, but I mean, I can't hop up to change the CD every 15 minutes. Pictures of a flamenco dancer on screen

Precious things - 31 second "girl" Not bad. Still have the time on my watch. I haven't reset it =)

CaLS - Same old same old

Talula - Great great great again. I love it. Great song, phenomenal live. Caton was really into it as well.

Me and a Gun - two shouts when she began, one after "5 AM" Not great behavior, but it could have been worse. Felt really odd coming right off of Talula.

Encore 1:

Angie - not much to say about this...

This Old Man/Putting the Damage On - This Old Man went up to four, but she was leaving bits of the lyrics out. Loved PTDO.

Encore 2:

Tear in Your Hand - nice

Icicle - You'd think I'd remember to look for the concert intro by now. I was blanking for some time. Caton sat there and smoked through the whole song.

Etienne on Harmonium - Amazing ("Some of you may have heard this, some may have not)

Anyway, I must say the concert was simply amazing. I'd have to put it above the second Cleveland show (my first Tori concert)


A review of Akron From Molly and Alie (YOU MUST READ THIS INCREDIBLE STORY!)



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Tori's Performance In Pittsburgh PA, September 14

From a personal email sent to me by B. Alan Williams (baw3@pop.pitt.edu)

Reviewer's background: 29ym, fourth time (LE, UtP, and BFP tours in Pittsburgh previously), LE is my second all time favorite album (behind Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon), although I would resequence it as 1,2,4,10,6,8,9,5,3,7,11,12. For details, see my web page, World Wide Web Segue Service , which is under construction.

My wife and I have seen her now 4 times in the past 5 years, and it has been a pleasure to see the evolution of a remarkable talent in that time. While the show in Pittsburgh in May 1996 was somewhat uneven and fatigued, September 14, 1996 should go down in the annals of hisTori as the most passionate performance in Pittsburgh ever.< p> Josh Clayton Felt opened the show, demonstrated notable classic rock guitar skills, and appeared to be warmly embraced by the largely college-student audience. His talent will likely be better highlighted with stronger material. The intermission featured obligatory homage to Led Zeppelin, followed by the artist's entry during "Son of a Preacher Man." After several handshakes with fans, about 100 others rushed the stage. All returned calmly to their seats, and hisTori began.

After an intense bar or two on the Bosey, the haunting introduction to Beauty Queen led to a silence throughout the theater that would persist throughout each song, but would explode in between. The audience was most appropriate and silent during Me and a Gun. The storytelling and other highlights mentioned in previous shows were present here: Caton's introduction (albeit abridged), the advice to put jelly beans in the pants of abusive employers, and the "girrrllll..." in Precious Things lasting about 15 seconds, with some interesting mouth-to-mike audio distortions. The dance during "Cornflake Girl" was uninhibited, prancing all over the stage prompting the audience to converge and connect.

There were no technical mishaps on this night: the sound quality was perfect given the suboptimal acoustics often afforded by a small arena designed for basketball. The taped backing track for Talula (which did not function properly in the May show) was fully functional, and the intensity created gave the feel of a full band. The prospects of a tight band backing her on future tours would be amazing.

Most passionate performances were given throughout the evening, but Horses, and the sequence of Sneeze-Cornflake-Lucifer-Little Earthquakes was a phenomenal climax capturing the theme of personal freedom and confidence after prolonged perceptions of self-doubt and personal inadequacies. This sequence notably benefitted by the tightly integrated guitar accompaniment of Caton, and the two in tandem were essentially one. Caton's addition to the tour has been very fruitful, and his stage performance easily surpasses the high quality of his studio contributions.

The recent Tori tour break was the best thing the Pittsburgh audience could have asked for. This performance was vibrant, alive, sincere, and perfect. She connected with the audience and the energy grew throughout. The clarity of the vocals was perfect and without any slurring, and the spontaneity enhanced the quality of the individual songs like never before in her performances in Pittsburgh. Prior to this show, I doubted she would be able to top the LE show in 1992 with respect to the energy that new artists maintain with small intimate audiences. With any doubt comes greater faith, and this night marked the perfect balance of self-confidence (which was lacking in 1992) with boundless energy and intimacy with audience of nearly 6000.


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Tori's Performance In University Park PA, September 13

From a personal account by Andrew Russ (endwar@phys.psu.edu)

Tori Amos
Josh Clayton-Felt

Eisenhower Auditorium, Penn State University, University Park PA
Sept. 13, 1996

Time: a bit less than 2 hours

Thumbnail sketch: A fine show, though probably not a standout on this tour

Josh Clayton Felt came out at just after 8:00 and entertained us with about half a dozen songs, all solo. He got a warm reception (some of the girls really liked him), though i wasn't really turned on. He had a great voice, but concepts like "Nature Boy" or "Paint the Tree Green" didn't interest me.

Then the Led Zep tapes were played as the crew made final adjustments.

This happened behind a white curtain (Josh played in front of the curtain). Tori's show didn't get underway until just after 9.

The lights went down and the curtain went up and Tori walked out in the darkness and started playing as the stage lights went on. There were several spotlights on her or around the stage, strings of christmas lights strung on a big curtain behind the piano, giving the impression of a starry night (though all the stars had a yellowish tinge to them), and a big triangular TV screen on which were projected various still or moving images during the concert -- these were abstract blurry images, mostly, and i liked them as part of the ambience.

Fashion report: Tori wore what looked like a blue velvet top that left her shoulders bare and black jeans. I was sitting in the back row of the grand tier (that's what i get for buying my tickets at 12:30 the day they went on sale). Unfortunately i couldn't see the expressions on her face -- i was just too far back.

She started with "Beauty Queen" which segued into "Horses", then "American Pie"-->"Smells Like Teen Spirit", which she added some words to in the middle (i couldn't tell what they were). She switched over to Harpsichord and did "Blood Roses". Then "Caught a Lite Sneeze" on harpsichord then piano then back again. Caton had come out for that number, and Tori introduced him and here (or maybe later) she told us that Caton's cousin was on the Penn State football team for one practice. He was too small to stay on the team. "I'm sure a lot of you guys know what it's like to be too small, right?" Tori teased. Anyway, Caton played the opening riff for "Conrflake Girl" while Tori did a dance, starting on the piano bench, then getting up and moving up front and around stage left, then she got back to the piano and sang the song.

She prefaced "Pretty Good Year" by saying it was about the nerdiest guy she had ever met, and described how he had written a letter about all the troubles in his life. Then we got "Silent All These Years". Somewhere by this time i realized that Tori was slowing down the tempo of a lot of these songs to dramatically emphasize the lines (A technique Bob Dylan has used to great effect). Next was "Little Earthquakes", starting with some heavy resonances in the Bosendorfer, and augmented by Caton's guitar washes. She then did "Flying Dutchman" because some she met before the show had requested it. Then "Precious Things". I didn't time how long she held "girrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrl", but it was probably at least as long as that note in Dylan's cover of "Freight Train Blues" on his first record.

She switched back to the harpsichord to sing "Lovesong", then "Me and a Gun". She put back in the line "You can laugh, it's kind of funny, what you think in times like these", which i liked in the original but had been dropped the last times i saw her. Then she went back to the piano for "Marianne", then there was a tornado-fied "Talula" with backing tapes and Caton. End of show.

First encore she did "China", and she must have done another song, though the next thing i have written down on my setlist (admittedly written in the dark) is "Father Lucifer", which i thought started the second encore. Before the second encore, the crew rolled off the harpsichord and rolled up the pump organ. After "Father Lucifer", Tori did "London Girls", which was fun. Then she said something about her old band, to the effect of when most girls were looking to the virgin Mary for guidance, she was looking to Lita Ford, and this was a song she did back when she was in a band with Caton. Someone shouted "Y Kant Tori Read", which got a bit of a jovial scowl from Tori. So she gave us "Etienne" on the pump organ. Then she walked off and the lights went up almost immediately.

She was totally in control of the audience and the material and everything, very confident. Even though her performance was nearly 2 hours, i was left with the feeling it was too short (maybe because i was thinking it can't be over until she plays "hey Jupiter", but she didn't). Overall this show was a leap in production and peformance over the previous tours -- maybe because she's more flexible in what she does on stage (even though having accompaniment from Caton means some things have to be worked out in advance). I mean if she wants to dance, she'll dance; if she wants to knock the side of the piano, she'll knock the side of the piano. Fine with me.


From a personal email sent to me by Carmen

I just read the University Park review, and I have a funny little piece to add. I think my good friend Kim had sent you some quotes from the concert and you put then on your page. Anyway, I was at the UP Concert, and was blessed with about tenth row seats. As she was playing "Caught a Lite Sneeze", you know how she switches from harpsicord to piano? Well, for some reason, she couldn't reach!!! She laughed, and so did the audience!!


From a review that appeared in The Digital Collegian newspaper at Penn State on September 16, 1996.

Click here to read the review from The Digital Collegian.



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Tori's Performance In Poughkeepsie NY, September 10

From a personal email sent to me by Tony Rexhouse (trexhouse@mhv.net)

Well, I just got back from tonight's show and though I need sleep, I thought I would share the set list and a brief review of tonight's concert.

First of all, I got there at 8pm. The show was supposed to start at 7:30pm and I had heard from an employee of the venue that the start time was pushed back due to "technical difficulties". But by the time I got there at 8pm, Josh Clayton Felt was already finished.

Tori came on at approximately 8:30pm to the strains of "Son of a Preacher Man". She strolled across the stage wearing faded blue jeans and a tight spandex top that was black and either blue or purple. She was wearing black shiny shoes with sort of big, blocky heels.

The set list, was as follows (I may have transposed a couple of songs in the first 6 or 7):

Beauty Queen / Horses
Angie
Blood Roses
Little Amsterdam
Cornflake Girl
Honey
Little Earthquakes
Leather
Marianne
Crucify
Caught a Light Sneeze
Talula
Me and a Gun

Encore 1 - Somewhere Over The Rainbow
Cloud on My Tongue

Encore 2 - In the Springtime of His Voodoo
Etienne

As for a review of the show, first let me say that this is the first time I've seen Tori in concert. I knew, from reading the set lists and reviews at this site, pretty much what to expect. But she was absolutely amazing. There were a couple of songs of hers that I'm not particularly fond of on record - Leather and Little Earthquakes -- but seeing her perform them in concert really converted me. She gave them both an energy that can't be duplicated on record.

Tori spoke after Angie, saying (and I paraphrase) "Thanks for all the baked goods. I'm probably gonna gain 10 pounds. I come to Poughkeepsie alot and you guys always give me the most yummy things. How could I say no?" Then she feigned seriousness and said, "This is my philosophy voice....you've got to encourage your girls to eat."

She didn't speak very much other than that. At one point she seemed ready to start a song and she turned to Caton and said, "Oh, are you tuning?" Then she addressed the audience and said, "well, is there anything you'd like to ask me?" Several people shouted out things which I could not make out, and she basically turned the piano (as Caton was ready) and said something to the effect of "Oh, you don't want to hear the answer to that."

I believe it was before Honey that she said, "This song should have been on Pink, but I always kick my favorite songs off the record, because I'm an idiot."

She did her dance before Cornflake Girl, beginning by sitting at the piano with her head hung down between her legs while Caton strummed, slowly rising and walking to the front of the stage. It was kind of cool and funky. She then ripped into an AWESOME version of Cornflake Girl. It blew me away.

I have a complaint about Caught a Light Sneeze. She really dragged the first half of the song out, adding extra bars of music between each line of the song. It really picked up when she got to the "right on time..." part, and from there it was great.

Talula was excellent, but the tape backing track was much too loud and the bass was basically distorted coming out of the P.A. The "Septic Center", as we like to refer to it, is not know for its great sound -- hence the disparaging nickname.

I was wondering all night what the reaction to Me and a Gun would be and I was hoping that people would be respectful. I'm a guy and I can't relate to that song as well as a woman can, but I respect her and respect the people who really take that song to heart. Happilly, the only sound during the song were someone coughing in the back and the periodic squeaking of folding chairs. She really seemed to have a difficult time getting this song out and it seemed to take forever. There were points where I thought she was actually going to cry. But it was really well done.

My only disappointment was that she didn't play Hey Jupiter, but I console myself with the fact that had she played it, she probably would have done the awful "industrial" Dakota mix which totally turns a quite beautiful song into a kind of bland, droning number. Everyone has their favorites and that one is mine. Also, I would have liked to hear her do Past The Mission and/or Icicle.

Well, that about raps it up for me. I really enjoyed the show and would definitely go to see her again if she plays in the area.

Addendum

I realized that my review may have sounded a little negative and I wanted to dispel that. The show WAS great and even though the venue is not know for it's sound, she still sounded incredible, due in no small part to her own talent and the work of the sound guys. Plus, since the instrumentation is really limited, it's hard for the building to screw up her sound.

She played and sang with a great deal of energy and from what I could tell, she didn't screw up anything -- she was right on, and in complete control.


From a posting to the rec.music.tori-amos newsgroup by Lydia Anne (ttfn@ix.netcom.com)
Hi Tori-philes,

The Poughkeepsie show IHMO was nice but NOT a great show for a variety
of reasons.  First there were only about a dozen of us waiting to greet
Tori when she arrived for sound check--and five of those were in one
family group. I think Tori deserves more of us to come by and greet
her.  She is a incredibly warm, kind person who works hard to share
with us her incredible talents.  

I noticed that she was wearing a very nice pear-shaped sapphire and
diamond ring on her left hand.  Have others seen it--or is this a new
piece of jewelry? 

The venue seats 3,050 mostly on a FLAT cement floor--some shorter
people had trouble seeing her and those of us in wheelchairs could not
see her at all for the second encore as the entire audience was
standing.  (O.K. I jumped to the end of the concert without the set
list...just be patient)

I did not think the sound quality was nearly as good as in some of the
theater-type venues and that is to be expected with upon the cement
floor, cement walls,  metal ceiling, etc.

I thought Tori did a nice job of everthing she played--but it seemed to
be performed without much emotion.  Seemed to me that she was 
caressing the piano; rather than attacking it--may also be a function
of the songs performed. She also did VERY LITTLE talking.  If you
wanted to see a high energy, intense show you should have been at The
Oakdale in Wallingford, CT just before her recent week off.

Oh, yea one more thing, there seems to be a lengthening of the time of
the break between the opening act and Tori's appearance on stage. 
Earlier in this tour--Phiily, Wilkes Barre, PA  you could time it
exactly--30 minutes after Willy Porter left the stage, Tori came out. 
The last three shows I've been to it was about 45 minutes between the
opening act and Tori's appearance.  Last night, at 8:30 (30 minutes
after the opening act left the stage) there was a rhymithic clap-fest
trying to get Tori to come to the stage.  Several of those happened as
we waited.   

Now, Finally, The set list:  (as you will see nothing exciting about
this either)

usual entry to Preacher Man
 Beauty Queen
 Angie
   then SHE spoke to the audience 
   about how she liked coming here as she got some wonderful baked     
    goods and probably will put on 10 pounds from eating them.  (I know
   that two of the groups of people who met her for sound check        
   brought, or were going to bring later, tasty baked goods)  Then she 
  said "you guys need to encourage your girls to eat".  
 Blood Roses
Little Amsterdam
Conflake Girl-preceeded by a nice dance--but nothing unusual about it
THEN (a song I simply could not remember--she said "it's one of my
favorites, but I cut it off Of UtP.  I'm such an idiot!")
    I wanted to yell "we don't think you're an idiot)
Leather
Marianne
a short segment of "In the Springtime of his Vodoo"
and then directly into Crucify
Caught A Lite Sneeze
Talula
Me and a Gun

I thought Tori returned to the stage VERY QUICKLY for the first encore

 Encore 1:  Over the Rainbow     
            THEN (another song that skips my mind)
            repetitive line of "wearing your tatoo"

Encore 2:  In The Springtime of His Vodoo
            Etienne

After the show there were probably 50-60 people who waited to see her.
This was probably the last show I will get to see this year so I did
not stick around.  I did not want the memories of Etienne washed over
by my spending 30-40 minutes in a crowd of people chattering and
clamoring to see their Godess.



From a personal email sent to me by Dottie (Dotq@aol.com)

Just reading through your timeline of the DDI tour- you correctly have "The Wrong Band's" first performance listed under Sept. 24, but, rather unofficially, she did sing some of it (backstage) earlier- on Sept. 10 in Poughkeepise. It's really a rather nice story- I'll make it short... I am a serious musician; my parents started me on piano when I was 2 and I'd since become involved with the oboe. Anyhow, my parents decided that they didn't want me to continue with music- they wanted me to "get a job." Also, I'd just been denied a spot in the NY All-State Orchestra by 1 point- on the audition exam, though I'd been forced to sight-read the entire thing because my teacher accidentally gave me the wrong movement to learn. My parents and guidance counselor told me over and over that I wasn't good enough and would never make a decent living. Coincidentally, this whole thing happened on the day of the show- I caught up with Tori in the parking lot after the show and really broke down- she knew who I was and remembered the situation from a previous show- even though she was in a big hurry she spent about 20 min. w/me giving me some of the best advice of my life- she told me that I had to develop myself as a musician and "if no one appreciates the way you play, maybe you need to find a different way of doing it. Maybe you weren't meant to be a classical oboe player- you have to seriously think about your musical identity- but don't give up just because people don't believe in you." Then she chuckled and broke into "The Wrong Band!" Everything worked out- I ended up getting a close-to-full scholarship to a very competitive music conservatory for next year- and my parents agreed to let me go. I can't thank her enough... just thought you'd like to hear my Tori story...


From a personal email sent to me by Shadowfox7

The Beauty Queen/Horses duo was pretty ordinary (which is awesome, but not AS awesome as I have heard her.

Angie: This was so nice to hear! A little slower and more relaxed than the version on the Crucify single. She does this awesome part where she goes into Whisper/Hysterical Mode and then builds this single note at the end of the song, craining to hit the high one...the right one...and when she does it is just...y'know...a "Tori Moment".

Blood Roses: This was a nice one. She really had her voice on focus on the "And God knows I know I've thrown away..." bridge. Her voice is so perfect here, effortlessly throwing it over every note. I've heard this many a time, but that part was a treat :)

Little Amsterdam: This was the nice relaxed version she always does in concert. Nice to chill to.

Marianne: This was also really nice. I was expecting a little speech about her, but not this time. That's okay, because she was really into it this time. With every word she said, you felt some imagery there. You KNEW that this song ment something special.

Crucify: I can't get enough of Crucify live! She did a neat little baseline (kinda bluesy, like "voodoo") for the first 30 seconds or so, and threw in the line, "Ain't no sunshine/Wet again". Maybe a new song she was throwing around? Hmmm..don't know. But, this 7:15 version left me wondering, "Why DO people crucify themselves?"

Caught a Lite Sneeze: I like this song better on the album (and on SNL) then on live. But, it has its perks here. She had some nice echoing effects going on (she reuses this in Talula and Etienne) and Steve Caton's wierd-ass guitar sounds are really haunting. It's a little long and wanders, but how can you not love the second crossover from piano to harpsichord when she holds out that one note?

Talula: The echoing effects are really awesome here! They give you that BT feel, and she repeats the "Chasing Tornadoes" part twice just to rub it in. I read some complaints about the base being too loud here at the time...on the CD it's perfect.

Somewhere Over the Rainbow: On the "Hey, Jupiter" EP it was okay. Kinda skipped over it now and then trying to get to the next track. But here, it's really really really good. She hooks you. It's almost as if she's at her deathbed, singing this. I never really, y'know, ingested this song (like we all do with Tori). But now that I have, I really wonder if there is someplace over the Rainbow like that.

Cloud on my Tongue: We don't hear this song enough in concert! It's one of my faves, and she does it with some extra sauce here. The piano moments are more developed here. Has the same personal effect that "Marianne" had. Emotional vomit is everywhere. (That graphic enough for ya?)

Springtime of His Voodoo: This is great live! I wish she had recorded it on BfP this way. It's a lot easier to groove to (as the crowd appreciated, as they clapped in unison to the beats for the first 2 minutes or so). Steve Caton's accoustic guitar also adds a definite positive element (especially his solo). She seems to be going with the flow on this one.

Etienne: She should rerelease this song as a B-Side! She sings it with the Pump Organ (which doesn't sound half as bad as you would think). She tells the crowd, "Hello! Some of you may know this. This was on some failed record that I did." The beginning sounded like she used the same chord for "Hey Jupiter" so she could recollect for a second. The song is beautiful. Absolutely mesmorizing. Total high point!


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Tori's Performance In Boston MA, September 9

From a personal email sent to me by Alison Rosen (srosen@ici.net)
wow.
it's very late and I should be in bed but I need to write this review
while everything is still fresh in my mind. 

I went straight from school into Boston, to the Harborlights Pavillion
where Tori was to be playing that night...I was with my two friends Mara
and Kristen. we found the crowd of about 15 already waiting for Tori
behind Harborlights, and excitedly/nervously awaited her arrival...at
almost exactly 4:00 her limo drove up. My knees were absolute jelly and
all I could think was, this cannot be real. When tori got out of that
limo I really did "take to the sky" (ooh that was cheesy, huh?) but it's
so true. she looked soooo beautiful; she was wearing a beige angora
sweater and a tank top and jeans. she was kind of tan because she just
spent the last week in Florida. I was the third person to get to talk to
her. I was completely spaced out and of course right now I can think of
10,000 things I WISH I had thought of to say. I gave her a little gecko
and a card...she squealed and said "ooh! it's so cute!" or something
like that. she said "Caton will love him." :) I can't believe I didn't
say how cool and wonderful she is and how much I adore her music; all I
said was um, can we take a picture? then after the picture (*wow, I
hugged Tori Amos*) ok can you sign this? I had her sign my Winter single
which I will now treasure always and forever...she even knew how to
spell my name (one 'l'!) and then bam! it was over, security says
DISAPPEAR NOW! and wow. I said LAMELY it was nice meeting you! as I was
walking away. ahhhh I was walking on clouds anyway...

My friends and I found a crack in the flimsy wall to watch soundcheck
through (harborlights is an outdoor place for those who don't know) I
know she played Marianne and Cornflake girl, but she played a lot of
stuff that just sounded like she was making it up as she went along. oh
yeah and I heard some "I can't reach you give me life"s in there from
LE.

Okay concert time. My seats were the fifth row from the back (ugh) BUT I
brought my binoculars which meant I could see every detail of her
beautiful face. (harborlights is NOT a big place at all. every seat was
good.) now, let me just say: this was THE BEST SHOW I have ever seen in
my life. tori was SO VIBRANT and BOISTEROUS, nothing like the show I saw
in May at the Wang Center. I think maybe it was because she just had a
week off and had all this energy saved up. But she was absolutely
incredible.

Beauty Queen/Horses
she was very into it, what can I say...

Take to the Sky (my first screeching fit of the night)
this is one of my absolute favorite songs. she was amazing. right before
the verse "my heart is like the ocean," Tori sang, "I love this part!"
it was so cool.

Caught a Lite Sneeze
the usual...unplugged style if you wish...

Little Amsterdam
not my favorite but obviously I'm not complaining...

(then she talked about some guy named Frankie who goes to New York shows
alot...)

Cornflake Girl
complete with dance, but she really got into it! she was prancing around
that whole stage!

Little Earthquakes (!!!!)
I was beyond excited for this song...

Sugar (!!!!!!!!!!!)
okay this is another one of my absolute favorites and I was not
expecting it...I would have requested it, had I been in my body at the
time of meeting her, so I was pretty happy. :)

Mother
tears to the eyes, as usual...

Precious things
timed the "grrl": 24.49 seconds. :) she was very amazing with the wash
me clean daddy stuff at the end. shaking her head furiously while almost
growling out the words.

FLYING DUTCHMAN (!!!!x1,000,000)
this song is in a 3 way tie for ultimate incredible song with Ode to the
Banana King and Here in my Head. I was not expecting this and SUGAR and
TAKE TO THE SKY in one concert...

Lovesong
cool...never heard it before...I liked it

Talula
awesome. I liked the acoustics although I know it's not live...tornado
rocks. :)

Me and a Gun
more tears...looked like she was close if not actually crying too.

ENCORE 1
This Old Man

right into....
Putting the Damage On
okay I cried a lot here...this song hits me particularly hard. it's just
so...touching.."it's just your ghost passing through.."

Baker Baker
absolutely beautiful

ENCORE 2
Father Lucifer
now, I don't usually love this song, but in concert it's really very
good. Caton added a lot to it.

Purple Rain!!
I've never heard Tori perform this song before and I absolutely love it.
no hey jupiter but that's fine.

sorry to go on for so long...I would be even more detailed actually, but
I have to go to school in about 6 hours, so sleep would be a good idea.

From a newspaper review in the Boston Phoenix by Lloyd Schwartz and emailed to me by Johnnie Jr.


You can read this positive concert review at the Boston Phoenix Web Site.



From a personal email sent to me by Tuan N. Pham (tpham@tiac.net)

The lights dim. From the speakers, the Led Zepplin tape ends, and "Son of a Preacher Man" blares from the soundboard. The crowd, as well as I, stand on their feet and screan a defiant cry. Our goddess, Tori Amos, has entered the stage.

The signature light of Joels flashlight creates a thin line, escorting Tori to her piano. She is wearing a short turquoise dress over long sleeved black shirt and black tights. She takes her seat in her unique pose, legs spread out in a ninety degree angle, and straddling the piano bench. After getting comfortable, she pounds on the piano as if trying to break it back in from a week long vacation, then she opens into a single note.

*Ding* The single note the beginning of the concert. Beauty Queen, the first song off "Boys from Pele" The opener to a new world, and she was inviting all of us to enter.

My senses were at their high. As the lights on the soundboard in front of me flashed in their ethereal dance, I could feel the notes make their impact through the thin night air. I was here, I was in Nirvana.

The slow, echoing sounds of "Beauty Queen" then flowed into the sweetness of "Horses." "I got me some horses to ride on, to ride on." I could not contain myself from the pure joy and energy that was glowing from the stage and audience. It was time, time for me to follow the music.

"If you army stays perfectly still" Those words fade as the audience gives their applause to her. Not waiting, she takes back to the piano and pounds more notes into the sound tablet that was being formed in front of me. My trained ears instantly recognized the song. It was "Take to the Sky." I scream a long prolonging "Yes!" after the shock sets into my mind..

The crowd gets into the rhythm of this number. Everyone starts to clap to the beat of the song. Tori seems to enjoy this, extending the into for a few more seconds before breaking into "My house is like Russia."

Her hips are gyrating as she bangs into the powerful song. She is feeding off the energy that is being radiated from the crowd. The faeries are being quite nice tonight.

As she breaks into "Have a seat while I take to the sky.", a passenger flies 200 feet overhead. I smile, feeling that this is certainly fitting for this tune.

My eyes focus on the light show that appears around Tori. A mix of violets and crimson dance around the petite 52" 33 year old that is the center of my attention.

The song ends as the sage turns to black. The applause echoes once again through Fan Pier, the area where Harborlights is situated. Then, a single blood red light appears behind Tori and Caton, making both of their bodies a mere silhouette. My ears hear a unfamiliar sound, the sound of the harpsichord live. As she plays, we are assualted by lights. Her first single from "Boys for Pele" was beginning. "Caught a Lite Sneeze" has come to visit.

The designs created behind her was dizzying. "Caught a lite sneeze, Caught a lite breeze" The addition of Caton live brought this song to another level. I was floating in heaven.

"I need a big loan from the girl zone" she wailed, moving her body from the microphone to microphone. This created a perfect cross stereo effect. A scream of unison erupts from the crod. She was used to this by now. She just continued to play.

Then, she drops her hands from the keys of the piano and starts a rudimentary beat with them. She pats her body as well as the highly shined piano as she continues. The arena is silent. All that I could here was her angelic voice and the soft tones of the beat.

"Mr. Saint John, just bring your son." The song ends. A common echo comes from the crowd. This is the song in which many have found Toris petite, yet strong, voice. I was totally overwhelmed.

Caton prepared one of his three onstage guitars as Tori takes a sip of the ever present bottle of Evian water. She stratches out her arms before calling "Little Amsterdam" She, the song, was definitely here. It flew off her hands and mouth like a demon. "Little Amsterdam, a Southern town"

The crowd claps after that thrilling performance. Tori turns to the crowd to tell the story of Frankie, a pierced man who travels with her in New York. "It was like he was going to cap me, and he pulls out a Winnie the Pooh." She stands, then executed the mime dance.

Everyone screams as we watch her swing her arms back and forth, squatting abd thrusting, and, basically, doing whatever came to mind on stage. She dances as Caton plays the introduction of "Cornflake Girl"

She slips back into the piano bench and the stage lights kick into a higher intensity than before. Green and yellow lights dance on the stage and into the crowd, blinding many, including myself. Tori sets back into the piano and goes into "Never was a Cornflake Girl, Thought it was a good solution." This song causes everyone around me to beat their feet against the ground, catching the beat of the catchy song.

From whispers to screams then to moans, she dances across the lyrical soundscape. "And the man with the golden gun, thinks he, thinks he knows so much"

The situation is heavenly. I feel as if it is a dream, but, I am there. I am part of reality.

From the playful "Cornflake Girl", she slips into "Little Earthquakes" These two songs, in some minds, were the signature songs from the first two records "Little Earthquakes" and "Under the Pink."

"Yellow bird flying, gets shot in the wing." Symbolism, this is what Toris music entails. She has brought me into world where she ruled. She and the faeries played and harmony existed.

Tears formed in my eyes. I am about to cry. This is becoming too beautiful.

"Sugar", the next song to visit us during a night of passion and betrayal. "And Bobbys collecting bees and hammers. And he used one on me" she chants, as if in a state where no one can touch her. We were all in the hidden realm where we all can be in bliss.

A mood of rest lays over the crowd when "Sugar" is finished. This was not to last long, this feeling of relaxation. The crowd peaks back into their dazed state of being which Tori, our personal guide through the world, beings "Mother."

"Mother", a song which has personal sentiments for song, including myself. I couldnt handle it anymore. This is where I shed my first tear in a prolonged period of time.

"The phone has been disconnected" Disconnected, thats what I was to the rest of the world. We allowed her to take us away on a wild chariot ride. I sat back and enjoyed the ride.

One of the signature songs of the tour was next up to bat, "Precious Things." The crowd, as well as Tori, was ready. I was about to be assaulted with sound.

She thrusts herself at the keys of black and white. Not as much as the last tour since she is developing repetitive strain injury, but she continues to pull through.

"Where the pretty girls are" she sings.
Pause.
" those demigods "
Another pause.
" with their nine-inch nails"
Pause.
" little fascist panties"
Pause.
" tucked inside the heart of"
Pause.
" every nice"
Long pause.
" grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr"
The crowd screams.
"rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr"
The crowd screams even louder, almost covering the sound of Toris voice.
"rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrl."

She holds this note for 24.49 seconds. The crowd cannot contain themselves. Another defiant cry is launched.

"Flying Dutchman" I was one of the few who screams during the opening of this fairly rarely heard song. She explodes with her voice and mind the story of Rantz during the enchanting music. This is beautiful, more tears are to be shed.

She turns to the crowd again after finishing "Flying Dutchman", then changes her position to face the harpsichord.. After stating the story of "the friend who you just want to kill, but just cant." a roller coaster is displayed on the projection screen. She skips her was into "Lovesong."

"Lovesong," a song in which I was already in love with before the show. This cover of this Cure song just makes the taste sweeter.

"And I will always love you. I will never fall away, I will always love you." Her words melt my heart as well as my defenses. Tears now fall freely from my cheek.

Tori seems to want to jazz up the concert, so she knows exactly what to do. She cues the sound and light men and a single shines upon her, only revealing the shadows.

"Hes chasing tornadoes, and hes waiting calmly, chasing them" Talula! The crowd jumps and screams as the backing track kicks in. Being so close to the main sound board, both of my eardrums pop with the assault of bass. I was overwhelmed.

After the song ends, it was time to settled down. Tori takes the microphone in hand. It was time to be serious. It was time for "Me and a Gun."

A song which explains the story of her rape, the tragedy which befell her. Why does the fates choose such a fate for someone of this power, grace and beauty? I shall never know.

Everyone in the arena cries. Tears fall freely, even from Toris eyes. None can resist being affected. It was too much. Most in the audience allows tears to fall.

Tori leaves for the first time, only to return to sing an encore. A common occurrence, but I still enjoyed it. She launched from the pain into "This Old Man." Before I could react, she dances her way into another beautiful song, "Putting the Damage On." This five minute song takes the emotion of sadness and puts it into beautiful music. "Its just my ghost passing through."

"Baker Baker" , a sweet beautiful song off "Under the Pink." It was the most beautiful way to end the first encore. All can agree that this is the most beautiful version that they have every had the pleasure to hear.

The lights turn black for the third time of the night. The crowd gives another standing ovation. She comes back out, as if to reward our faith with two more songs: "Father Lucifer" and "Purple Rain" I was in true bliss.

"Nothing going to stop me from floating." The chorus of Father Lucifer is absolutely enchanting. I was indeed floating on a cloud.

My eyes wander off from the center stage, then focusing on Caton. He is amazing. I watch as his fingers move gracefully across the top of the guitar. It is amazing how an instrument this small can make such a beautiful song.

The lights dim as "Purple Rain" appear in my ears. The harmonium was out, such another beautiful instrument. The sensual nature of the song is carried out, allowing to dance among the 5,000 people there.

Then, the stage turns dark once again, this time for sure. Tori and Caton come out to the center of the stage, bowing after a show well done.

I will never recover from the wave of energy that was to be that night.

My dream has been filled. I have seen Tori Amos, the goddess, live.


From a personal email sent to me by Bill Smith (bsmith@odi.com)

Boston Harborlights is a neat place to see a show. You get the feeling that you're at a circus as it's a large tent located right on Pier 1 of the Boston waterfront several blocks away from the downtown area. I would estimate that the arena held about 3-4 thousand people as it was definitely smaller than Jones Beach Ampitheatre or NJ Garden State Art Center.

I missed the opening act, Josh Clayton Felt, but I've seen him several times before. The Boston Globe mentioned that he went to high school in the area and that it was likely that some of his old friends were at the show.

Tori came out around 8:40pm wearing a blue dress, black leggings, and blue pumps. It was quite appropriate since it was a cool night. I'm pretty bad about remembering stories but I'll try. At one point, she brought up a story about Winnie The Pooh and the infamous NYC Frankie. She mentioned that he was chasing her down the street with something concealed. He caught up with her and pulled out Winnie thereby surprising her.

Just before playing Lovesong, she mentioned that she always liked this song when she's with good friends.

Initially the Boston crowd was a bit boisterous but settled down after a few songs. The crowd had "just" the right amount of enthusiasm without detracting from the show. This contrasted with the Wallingford, CT show where I thought the crowd was a bit dead and the NJ Garden State Art Center crowd was somewhat too enthusiastic/boisterous. I thought it was interesting that Steve Caton didn't come out for as many songs as he did at previous concerts. Perhaps Tori wanted to have a more personal experience that night? After the encores, she shook hands with some of the people in the crowd but didn't linger as long as in the past.

All in all, it was a great show and a fitting end to the Northeast portion of the tour.


From a posting to the RDT mailing list by Abbe J Cohen (abbe@MIT.EDU)

I figured someone else would have posted by now about the magical night at Harborlights in Boston last Monday. *wow* Something was amazingly right about Tori and the audience and we got a very special performance. Here's a sort of review.. this was from a piece of mail I sent someone else, so it's not really in standard setlist form or anything, but...

My only complaint was that she was occasionally playing a bit *too* much on the weird side, drawing words out and changing the tempo enough that she almost seemed to be drifting in and out of being completely coherent in a couple places. More than usual. But hey, it's a live performance and she was having fun... To go along with that, though, she also seemed to be adding in lyrics to several songs, this was more than just hearing stuff that's usually in the backing tracks etc. I couldn't quite make out what she was saying.. but there were a few places where she added these lines with a sort of haunting simplistic melody to them, in Little Amsterdam, Cornflake Girl, Sugar, Mother, and maybe one or two other songs. If anyone else who was there could provide more details, I would be grateful.

She played an amazing amount of stuff I'd given up on ever hearing in concert...some of it was even on the printed setlist!! I've gotten into the habit of writing up a setlist during the concert, of course.. she started with beauty queen/horses, and then jumped right into.. Take to The Sky! one of my favorite b-sides. Then a version of caught a lite sneeze that was a little weird for my tastes, then Little Amsterdam, which I *think* she added some lyrics to. Then Cornflake Girl, which she had done at the Wang with Caton, too.. I like it much better that way compared to the backing-track she used in the under the pink tour, so I was in a good mood then. And then... she played Little Earthquakes! She almost never plays it in concert, too. *wow* it was amazing. at that point she said something about having been doing a couple of requests, people screamed some out, and she said, nope, I've already got them written on my hand. she added something like, "but just wait, maybe I'll play what you were going to request. or maybe not, maybe you lose." really playfully. Then she played Sugar, followed by Mother, followed by Precious Things, which was nice except for the grrrrrl, which is getting a little absurd these days.

Then the highlight of the night, for me, was Flying Dutchman. I've never had the guts to call it out in the middle of a concert, besides, it's kind of rude to and it probably wouldnt happen. But I was *thinking* it all night, and she actually played it!!!!!!! It was on the printed setlist, too. She ended up the normal set with a cover of Love Song by the cure (I didn't know that's what it was till later), then Talula and Me and a Gun. (I guess she's been putting those together at the end of the normal set for a while. hmm.) She came out and played This Old Man, Putting the Damage on, Baker Baker, and Father Lucifer and ended the concert with a cover of Purple Rain on the organ that was pretty cool.

the audience was pretty well-behaved once she got into the concert. there was one point towards the end where someone near the front got her attention and then for some reason decided to tell her that she'd gone to see the movie "trainspotting" in israel and it was in hebrew. tori's response was something like, "i've done a lot of things in hebrew. I'm a minister's daughter, I'm going to try *anything*." =)

it was apparently a great night for Tori, too... I went to find the stage exit and found it successfuly. One of her security guys was being great, very friendly and very willing to deal with all the people there and said that she did want to come spend some time with us if we'd be well behaved. amazingly, everyone was.. when they brought out the barriers to keep things under control, i got in front pretty easily, and then she came out and actually spent at least half an hour walking down and hugging people and having little one minute conversations with each of us, asking names and stuff. I got to talk to her and hold her hands, and I thanked her for Flying Dutchman and she said it doesn't come out very often. =) well, I knew that. the only disappointment was finding out that either the pendant I gave one of the security people at Northampton 2 years ago never did get to her, or else she didn't remember it, or whatever. at least I asked. oh well. she was adorable. and even her anal security guy Joel (the blond one) was smiling and being pretty nice. He seemed embarrsed when I looked right at him and said "wow, you're actually *smiling* for once." heh.

by the way, is the person who won the printed setlist while we were waiting for tori to come out on the list? The security guard (non joel, he's got long dark hair and is sort of short and stout) offered to give it to whoever told the funniest joke while we were waiting. the winner's joke was "Why can't Miss Piggy count to 100?"

"Because when she gets up to '69' she always gets a little frog in her throat." =)

Anyway, that's about it.


From a posting to the rec.music.tori-amos newsgroup by Amy Battis (amybatt@shore.net)

Hey gang, delurking here for a minute to tell you all how magnificent last night's show was. Apparently someone got a hold of Tori before the show, and did a ton of requests, which she fulfilled. This was my first time seeing Tori, and safe to say not my last. And Harborlights (capacity 3,600) was perfect for the show.

What I can remember offhand: Father Lucifer, CALS, Talula, Little Amsterdam, Beauty Queen/Horses, Precious Things, Cornflake Girl, Me and a Gun, Little Earthquakes. I was hoping for Crucify, Silent All These Years and Hey Jupiter, but no such luck....Talula was the highlight of the night for me, excellent!

She did an AMAZING cover of I Will Always Love You by The Cure (she introduced this by saying she "had a disagreement with a friend, don't you hate that? When I have a disagreement with this friend, this is the song I think of" Is it true that she's friends with Robert Smith, and if so, can anyone confirm he was there last night, as he's in town for his show Thursday?) And she closed the show with the cover of Purple Rain, which was great (proved to me it's a well-written song, just performed badly by its original artist the first time around, IMHO!)


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Tori's Performance In Wallingford Connecticut, September 1

From a posting to the Precious Things mailing list by Chuck (cjmacs@cris.com)

hey folks!

saw tori in wallingford ct last nite at the oakdale theatre. great show! certainly better than i was expecting considering the size of the place. of course, the rush to the stage at the end of the show was uncalled for... as she started singing her second encore and the hundreds of alternateens surged down the aisles, her highness coyly quipped "they think i'm metallica!".

highlights: "father lucifer" (first time hearing her do this live- phenomenal!), "little earthquakes" (a pleasant surprise), "flying dutchman" (my fave tori b-side), "purple rain" on the harmonium.

strange phenomena: tori's bobby mcferrin impression during "caught a lite sneeze" (after hearing that she's been playing "do re mi" from the sound of music, i wouldn't be surprised if "don't worry, be happy" was up next...), the even-more-bizarre-than-before "cornflake girl" dance (what does she think she's kate bush or something????), and "london girls" as an encore, with her crotch-grabbing antics :-}

also the sound at oakdale theatre, while clear, was disconcerting. as mike curry mentioned to me, it was all far left and far right with no center at all.

overall impression was that her voice is getting weary...she deliberately skipped a lot of the higher notes, and was certainly more throaty and guttural than usual. maybe all that low pressure from hurricane eduardo is affecting her sinuses...she did note that the harpsichord LOVED the atmospheric conditions.

overall impression: 8 on a scale of 10


From a posting to the Precious Things mailing list by Meredith (meth@delphi.com)

Allow me to annotate Chuck's comments a bit... :)

I thought the mini-stage rush at the end was quite amusing, actually. With the exception of the bozon who trampled us in his rush to vault over seats to get to the aisle (and end up standing a mere three or four feet ahead of where his seat with the unimpeded view was anyway), everyone was quite well behaved, and left in a very orderly fashion after the show as over. I'm sure the security people were getting nervous, though. But, since everyone was cool about it, I don't see anything wrong with getting to finally see the expression on Tori's face after spending the entire show way in the back. Did you notice Caton? He wasn't paying any attention to what was going on, and when he finally looked up and saw the sea of faces staring back at him where there had been none before, he just cracked up and totally lost it. It was really funny. :)

Set list, as far as I can recall, was:

Beauty Queen/Horses
Yes, Anastasia (final third of it, anyway)
Blood Roses
Father Lucifer
Cornflake Girl
Donut Song
Little Earthquakes
Leather
Flying Dutchman
Crucify
Caught A Lite Sneeze
Talula
Me And A Gun

Twinkle
Cloud on my Tongue

Pretty Good Year
London Girls
Purple Rain

She was in a really good mood, and it showed. She also figured (rightly) that most of the people in the audience had already seen one or both New Haven shows last May, and said she intended to mix it up a bit and give us a few surprises along the way. "Little Earthquakes" was a treat, and Caton really added to the intensity with his atmospheric background noodling. I gladly traded sitting through "Leather" and "Crucify" *one*more*time* for not having to endure "Precious Things" again (I'm sorry, but that 30+-second growl in the middle and the orgasmic screams it induces from the teenies in the audience just makes me want to retch all over). The highlight of the show was definitely "Father Lucifer", though. The three bridges in sequence instead of on top of one another, the lights, the music, the Bronski Beat snuck in at the end... sigh.

"Flying Dutchman", my second favorite b-side (next to "Honey", which is one of my all-time favorite songs by anyone, anywhere) was really neat to hear, too. Tori prefaced it by explaining that she wrote it for a friend of hers who taught her many things, among them the Sandman comics (which means Rantz, right?), and he got married this week but she couldn't be there for him, so she was going to play this song for him. It was gorgeous.

I agree that Tori needs this week off that she's got, though. She should spend it asleep and not talking. I greatly envy those of you who are going to see her at Harborlights in Boston on the 9th, the day after her little vacation ends -- I'm sure she's going to really put on a great show there.

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