Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Off Topic Tori Amos!

I don't know how familiar any of you are with the music of Tori Amos, but she's my favorite musical artist. I originally had this as a blog on myspace, but I thought I would share it with you all.
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Last night was my first ever Tori Amos concert.

I'm a big Tori fan (but not one of those lunatic "Toriphiles"), I have been for years. As much as I've enjoyed other concerts I've been to (Josh Groban, Michael Buble, Imogen Heap to name some of the best), I feel like this is the show I've been waiting forever to go to.

So, Tori finally goes on tour again to promote her latest album, American Doll Posse. For those who aren't familiar with Tori, let me give you a little insight.

Tori, as a musician is brilliant. As a person, she's crazy. Literally, she's one of the most bizarre and "out there" people I've ever heard interviewed. I love her, and I've come to terms with the fact that she's a total whack-job. I know that most people need to have a Ph.D in Folklore and Mythology, and at least a BA in Women's Studies to follow what she's saying. But she's got such a pretty voice and her music is really gorgeous to hear.

In keeping with the natural bizarreness of Tori, her new album climbed to new heights of weirdness. She created herself 5 different personalities (alter-egos, if you will), all modeled after goddesses and distinguishable by different wigs.

Here is a short intro to the American Doll Posse:

Isabel


Isabel (HisTORIcal) is based upon the Greek goddess Artemis and is the voice of the tracks "Yo George", "Mr. Bad Man", "Devils & Gods", "Almost Rosey" and "Dark Side Of The Sun". She is a photographer and is the most outwardly political. On tour, she "covered" the Tori songs "Sweet Dreams", "In The Springtime Of His Voodoo", "Tombigbee", "Virginia", "Scarlet's Walk" and "Sweet Sangria", as well as performing a cover of the Exorcist theme, "Tubular Bells"

Clyde


Clyde (CliTORIdes) is based upon the Greek goddess of the underworld Persephone and is the voice of the tracks "Bouncing Off Clouds", "Girl Disappearing", "Roosterspur Bridge" and "Beauty Of Speed". Clyde "wears her emotional wounds on her sleeve, but remains idealistic. She is looking at the effects of not being a whole person. She is trying to figure out what she believes in and she is dealing with having been disappointed in her life" .On tour, she "covered" the Tori songs "Little Amsterdam", "Rattlesnakes", "Black Dove (January)", "Juarez", "Little Earthquakes", and "Upside Down".

Pip


Pip (ExpiraTORIal) is based upon the Greek goddess of war, wisdom and strategy Athena and is the voice of the tracks "Teenage Hustling", "Fat Slut", "Body & Soul" (with Santa), "Velvet Revolution" and "Smokey Joe". She is a "warrior woman" and is confrontational. On tour, she "covered" the Tori songs "Bliss", "Cruel", "Heart Of Gold", "The Waitress", "Blood Roses".

Santa


Santa (SanaTORIum) is based upon the Greek goddess Aphrodite and is the voice of the tracks "You Can Bring Your Dog", "Secret Spell", "Body & Soul" (with Pip), "Programmable Soda", "Dragon" and "My Posse Can Do". She is sensual and passionate. On tour, she "covered" the Tori songs "Cruel", "God", "Sugar", "She's Your Cocaine" and "Hoochie Woman".

Tori


Tori (TerraTORIes) is based upon the Greek gods Demeter and Dionysus and is the voice of the tracks "Big Wheel", "Digital Ghost", "Father's Son", "Code Red" and "Posse Bonus".[6] She appears to be a caricature of the artist herself, with promotional images released depicting the character holding sage and with a Bible in one hand and the word 'shame' scrawled across the other.

So. That's the Posse. Here's a quote from Tori about them:
"What I'm trying to tell other women is they have their own version of the compartmentalised feminine which may have been repressed in each one of them. For many years I have been an image; that isn’t necessarily who I am completely. I have made certain choices and that doesn’t mean that those choices are the whole story. I think these women are showing me that I have not explored honest extensions of the self who are now as real as the redhead."

On this particular tour, Tori starts off as one of these personalities and plays a short set before changing back into herself, or the "Posse" version of herself. Last night, Chicago had Santa. Santa was pretty cool. I was just glad it wasn't Isabel, because her wig is awful.

"Santa" emerged onstage in a cute little blue dress and adorable gold shoes doing a sexy little dance and started the show off with "Body and Soul". After "Body & Soul" she went into vintage Tori with "She's Your Cocaine", followed by more ADP: "Secret Spell", and "Dragon", the older stuff with "Raspberry Swirl". She might have sang more as Santa, but I don't remember.

After "Raspberry Swirl", Tori had a costume change and changed into herself, lol. She came back onstage wearing probably the most godawful thing I've ever seen in my life. It was a gold sequined one-piece catsuit thing (with blue shoes), but it was so unflattering on her. It clung and sagged in all the wrong places. Her right arm had a sleeve but her left did not, and the way it was cut I thought her left breast was going to pull a Janet Jackson at numerous times throughout the show.

Anyway, she came back out with "Big Wheel", then slipped back into her older, more mellow songs. Included were: China, Concertina, Cornflake Girl, 1000 Oceans, Your Cloud, Take To The Sky, Cooling, and Tear in Your Hand. She also did some more ADP with "You Can Bring Your Dog" (actually that one she might have sang as Santa), and closed the show out with "Code Red".

The only song in the mix that I didn't recognize was "Hotel". It turns out I have it, but I'd never heard it before tonight. It was actually kind of funny because in the middle of the song she stops and says "I f*cked this up so bad. Start from the second verse," then looks back at the audience with a big "Who, me?" grin.

No songs from The Beekeeper, which I thought was strange. "Santa" spent a lot of her time touching herself provocatively, which I thought was amusing. Despite the fact that this was an all-ages show, parents who are at all familiar with her music should know that some of her lyric topics include things of sexual nature, her own rape, human sacrifice, and drug-induced hallucinations. Perhaps next time it would be wise to hire a sitter if you don't want your pre-adolescent children exposed to this.

She came back onstage for an encore of "Precious Things" and "Hey Jupiter".

All in all, it was a very satisfying set. I was glad she played so much of her older stuff, seeing as this was my first show. I wish she'd played "Bouncing off of Clouds" and "Roosterspur Bridge" (my favorite song on ADP) from ADP. I wish she'd played "A Sorta Fairytale" from Scarlet's Walk. Emily (my best friend and date last night) wished she'd played "Jackie's Strength," but other than that, we were really happy with the songs she chose.

I bought some stuff from the vendor. I called the venue earlier today to ask if the merchandise stand took credit cards. The lady on the phone apparently lied to me and said yes, but it turns out they didn't. So, as there was only ONE ATM for the entire venue, I had to wait in line forever to get cash. I bought one of those ridiuclously overpriced photo programs, along with this necklace:



The back says "The fear in the boy, the fire in the man", which is a lyric from my favorite song on ADP. That "TA" logo on the front I'm thinking about tattooing somewhere on my body (as opposed to somewhere off my body, right?).

I bought this shirt:

Front:


Back:


Anyway, it was a great experience. She scheduled another Chicago show for tonight, but alas, I am too broke to go a second time. But definitely count on me being there next time she comes back.

I saw her when I was in Boston. It was really crazy, I went with people I didn't know, but we had a great time. Your concert sounds a lot more interesting conceptually though. The most scandalous parts of the one I saw were various inappropriate uses of the piano stool, which I know is common her live performances.

The highlight when I went was definitely "Take to the Sky" and I didn't hear my favorite song which is "Liquid Diamonds." I admit though that I haven't listened to ADP. But definitely if she comes by my area I'll see who I can drag with me to see her. Seems like she played a lot from my fave album (Choirgirl)

Glad you had a good time!

alcyone

I appreciate Tori's willingness to come forward about her own experience with sexual assault. She has inspired many other rape survivors to speak out and seek help through organaizations such as RAINN .

That's one of my favorite things about her. Tori actually co-founded RAINN.

Tori is awesome.

I snagged tickets today to see Tori on Dec 8 when she comes to the Bay Area (and she's playing here three days--I'm impressed, but then again, it's the Bay Area).

I'm dragging the S.O. with me. I don't know how he'll fare under so much estrogen, but I figure if he drags me to his underground hip hop concerts (and in fact we'll be seeing Ozomatli this week), he should deal with some of my stuff too

ah marriage,



alcyone