It's gotta be pretty cool to be Tori Amos. She can do anything she wants musically, and her fans will eat it up. As far as I can tell, she has complete freedom from her record company to put out anything. I mean, who else would be able to release an entire album of cover tunes? Anyways, because of this, I was both excited and apprehensive going into the show this past Saturday. I knew that it wasn't gonna be a cookie-cutter show. I knew that she wasn't gonna just play all of her singles and a few other tunes. Despite my love for her singles, this didn't bother me, because I prefer an interesting show as opposed to the same show being played night after night. However, since she was touring on a (in my opinion) less than stellar album (reviewed here) I was worried about the setlist. With the last two albums being concept albums, I could easily conceive most of the night being songs from just Scarlet's Walk and Strange Little Girls. Well, I was wrong. Tori was able to seamlessly blend old and new in an amazing night of emotional music.
The show opened with a pre-recorded version of "wampum prayer" before Tori (along with a bassist and drummer) came on stage and went right into "a sorta fairytale" (the first single off of her new album). You could tell she had a lot of energy, and she put everything into the song. She went straight to some old stuff after this, bringing out "Little Earthquakes," the title track from her first release. Again, a very well-done song, with vocals and piano mixing beautifully. She then went into Pancake, keeping the set raw and emotional. She continued to mix up this first part of the set, with Sweet Sangria and Wednesday off of the new album, and Space Dog and Sugar representing older stuff. Wednesday was especially good, with a lot of crowd interaction between Tori and the crowd. It was obvious that Tori was having a great time out there.
After Wednesday, the band left Tori on the stage alone for a three song solo set. She did "China" and "Twinkle" along with an unreleased song called "Never Seen Blue." While these aren't my favorite Tori songs, the solo set was very well done, very quiet and emotional.
The band came back out to join Tori once again, as they ripped through the unreleased track "Honey." After that was Cornflake Girl, which was the only really "big hit" played all night. "Don't Make Me Come to Vegas" followed, sounding much better than the album version. After that was "Amber Waves," which was one of my favorite songs off the new album, and just a good all-around song. A drum intro started immediately after this song, and I knew that we were in for something kick-ass. I was not disappointed, as Tori started unmistakable piano intro to "Precious Things." Absolutely an amazing song, perfectly done. The main set closed out with "I Can't See New York" and "Spring Haze."
After about a one minute break, the band came back out for the encore. They opened with "Taxi Ride" before going into "Take to the Sky" and a beautiful rendition of "Horses. After leaving the stage once again, the band came back for a final song "Tear in Your Hand."
Well, there's no way I'm going to complain about 23 songs, 2 hours, and "Precious Things." Tori did a great job of linking old and new songs together and giving the evening a great flow. There were the up-tempo songs that you just had to dance to, and the more low-key emotional songs. I wouldn't have complained if they had played a few more of my favorite, but she played "Precious Things," so I was satisfied. She also did a great job of sticking to the stronger material off of the new album, and she completely left out the entire "Strange Little Girls" album. Overall, a great night with great song selection.
Tori honestly could not have sounded any better. Her voice was on for the whole night, and the energy level was high. My only complaint would have been that she should've stuck with her piano more instead of the keyboards. However, that's just my preference for her.
Opening for Tori was Howie Day. This guy was really cool. Just him, an acoustic guitar, and a ton of loop and delay pedals. He layered harmonies, bass notes, and percussion (all done on his acoustic) to create his songs. Very different, very talented.
This is no longer the "angry Tori" of years past. Simply beautiful music, filled with emotion, Yeah, she was pissed sometimes. There was a bit of male-bashing. But that's just par for the course. The focus was on Tori playing her heart out, not on any sort of agenda.
Overall, this was one of the best concerts of the year. No disappointments at all. If you're at all a Tori fan, go see this tour. The studio versions of the songs on Scarlet's Walk didn't do them justice. Definite contender for my Concert of the Year.
