For my birthday Theric bought a pair of tickets for us to go and see Tori Amos. Tori has been my favorite female musical artist since I was about 12 years old, and while my youthful enthusiasm for all things Tori has waned quite a bit as I have gotten older and had the opportunity to love and care about more things than just music, I still think she is an amazing artist. Her songs can still bring up in me emotions that I can only think to call rapturous and transcendental. All the words to all of her songs still maintain a very large residence in my brain--play me a few bars of any song from any of her pre-2003 albums, and I could probably sing you the entire song.
My first Tori Amos concert was on the Dew Drop Inn Tour in 1996. According to my online research I saw her on either July 12 or 13, at the Paramount Theatre in Oakland, a stunning Art Deco period movie palace. The concert Theric and I attended last night was also at the Paramount. It was so neat to see her again in the same place I saw her preform for the first time ever, on nearly the same date, 13 years later. That first show I attended I went with one of my best friends from high school, this time I went with Theric, my best friend for life and beyond.
It was a great show. Tori gives a great performance and while her style of her concerts have changed over the years and there are some things that I really miss from her earlier concerts, this concert was still fantastic. One might not think a piano can rock, but Tori makes her piano rock, really hard.
She released a brand new album back in May and while Theric gave it to me for my birthday I am ashamed to admit that I have not yet listened to it for various reasons, one of which being that we no longer have a stereo. The best stereo sound quality can be found in our car. So, I was a bit concerned about going to a concert where I would have little familiarity with the material. All other Tori concerts I have attended in the past I go knowing the current album backwards and forwards--not so this time. But I had decided that this would be a good and never experienced by me, way to hear the new material. And while it was a good way to hear the new songs I was most pleased hear many other songs that I knew already. The set list had more than one song from her first album, and nearly every other one in between.
It was a fantastic set list:
Main Set
Give
Siren
---change your pack--- improv
Cornflake Girl
Flavor
Space Dog
a sorta fairytale
Beauty of Speed
Curtain Call
Icicle
Lizard Lounge
…Baby One More Time [audio only. turn up the volume so you can hear her intro] (yes, really! Tori covered a Britney Spears song! [short video] and it was amazing. I love how she can take pretty much any other artist's song, cover it, and make it sound like one of her own creations.) Maybe California
Fast Horse
Mother Revolution
Carbon
Precious Things
Strong Black Vine
First Encore:
Police Me
Bliss
Second Encore:
Big Wheel
Tear in Your Hand
The unborn Thteed seemed to enjoy it too, I think. It spent most of the time wiggling around with unusual vigor. I suppose this could have also meant that it was unhappy with the situation, we do not usually listen to music at such loud and overwhelming volumes at our house.
It was a great evening and an excellent birthday present.
Thank you Theric.
Thank you Tori.
