[ATTENDED: May 9, 2022] Tori Amos
I last saw Tori Amos over 20 years ago. I was a die-hard looney fan back in the 90s. That has since passed. I saw her a lot of times in the span of five years and then I was kind of over her. I still enjoyed her music but the fanbase was getting too intense for me.
I wasn’t even sure if I’d be able to get tickets to this show, I though it would have sold out immediately. But when the presale was announced, I was able to score third row. When I was a huge fan, I was never anywhere closer than half way back. So this was sort of a last hurrah for seeing her. If I had gotten these tickets twenty-five years ago I would have ben beside myself.
Turns out that the intense fanbase is still there and they may have been unhappy that I was in that third row seat because there was a coordinated effort by the folks in the first three rows to control the audience. Not in a “you must do this” way but in a “this is how it’s done” way. It almost felt like church–which is very funny given Tori’s upbringing.
Tori’s band (bassist Jon Evans and drummer Ash Soan) came out and did a little jamming before Tori walked out in a lovely flowing kimono type thing and the highest spikiest heels that one might ever see on a pianist.
She opened with “Juárez” from To Venus and Back. Not my favorite song from the album (I would have loved to hear “Bliss”), but a promising start to the idea that she was going to be playing from all over her career. Plus, the all sounded great–the band was excellent and Tori’s voice sounded in good form. She also made a lot of eye contact and gestures to the folks in the front row–just like the old days, but I could actually see them.
After playing a song I didn’t know (I have American Doll Posse, but couldn’t tell you when I last listened to it), she jumped all the way back to play “Little Earthquakes.” The crowd went berserk (as they should) and then we sat back and enjoyed it. Because this was part of the coordination from the front row, as soon as the second song was done, they turned around and motioned for everyone to sit, like they knew the next song was going to be a slow one and we should sit now so we didn’t sit during the song. It was weird (although not unappreciated). (more…)