When Tori announced her world tour, I got tickets for the Copenhagen gig for me and my sister, and I ended up booking a week off, so I was lounging around Mona and Thomas' apartment the day of the concert.
I had been debating with myself all morning whether I should go down to the venue early in the afternoon, juuust in case Tori would come out and sign autographs and stuff before the concert.
In the end I didn't, partly because of the layout of the venue itself, and partly because I have a lousy track record anyway, doing stuff like that. (Apart from getting to shake hands with Edge at the Eason book signing session for 'U2 by U2' of course. I'm still kicking myself that I didn't ask him about how the Welsh yoga was going).
So, once Mona got off work we had a quick bite to eat and then made our way down to the Falconer Center. Ah, the wonders of public transportation on the continent! You sure learn to appreciate it, once you've had to depend on Dublin Bus for a while! But I digress - ranting about what passes for public transportation in Ireland is not the purpose of this post. It's Tori.
Of course, I had to get a tour program and a tshirt - a really cute blue one with a line from 'Bouncing Off Clouds' and a wee blue aeroplane on it. I was very excited! My first Tori concert! Weeeheee!! They finally opened the doors and let us in to find our seats. Ours were roughly halfway down the floor, in the middle. Thankfully, the floor is slanted, and it felt a bit like sitting in a cinema - brilliant visibility.
The opening act was Seth Lakeman and his band who were very impressive. They played a kind of Celtic folk that was very infectious without being at all diddley-aye. Definitely one to check out.
And then! Isabel opened the show with 'Yo George', which for me was the only slight flaw all evening - this was a European, not an American show, and I just felt that there were other songs that would have worked better. Anyway, she was awesome. She was sitting between a keyboard and her beloved Bösendorfer piano, and was sometimes playing each with one hand, singing into one of the microphones above each instrument with her back to the other instrument. Tori rules! During the solo section I swear, you could've heard a pin drop, we were that quiet. Especially during 'Winter'. What a totally fantastic song that is. I've given the album information in the setlist below:
As Isabel:
Yo George (American Doll Posse, 2007)
Sweet Dreams (Little Earthquakes era B-side (1992), re-recorded for her retrospective Tales
Of A Librarian 4 years ago)
Tubular Bells (Mike Oldfield cover)
Devils & Gods (American Doll Posse, 2007)
Mr. Bad Man (American Doll Posse, 2007)
Almost Rosey (American Doll Posse, 2007)
As Tori:
Big Wheel (American Doll Posse, 2007)
Caught A Lite Sneeze (Boys For Pele, 1996)
Liquid Diamonds (From The Choirgirl Hotel, 1998)
Cornflake Girl (Under The Pink, 1994)
Bells For Her (Under The Pink, 1994)
Siren (Great Expectations soundtrack, 1998. This is one of my all-time Tori
live favorites, and I'm so happy she played it!)
T & Böse (short for Bösendorfer):
Silent All These Years (Little Earthquakes, 1992)
Mr. Zebra (Boys For Pele, 1996)
Winter (Little Earthquakes, 1992)
Band comes back:
Putting The Damage On (Boys For Pele, 1996)
God (Under The Pink, 1994)
Code Red (American Doll Posse, 2007)
Encores:
Precious Things (Little Earthquakes, 1992)
Bouncing Off Clouds (American Doll Posse, 2007)
Cruel (From The Choirgirl Hotel, 1998)
Hey Jupiter (Boys For Pele, 1996)
There were no tracks from her in my opinion most weighty concept albums prior to American Doll Posse - Scarlet's Walk and The Beekeeper. Although, I know she has played 'Hoochie Woman' from Beekeeper previously on this tour.
Of course I would've liked to hear stuff from those eras live as well, but I think that these albums would probably be harder to dissect in order to incorporate the songs into a new structure, because they are part of a cohesive structure of their own. In any case, I think it speaks volumes of her musical power that she can play songs from all her nineties albums and none of them have aged a bit. I hope she never gets tired of playing 'Cornflake Girl'!
She flitted on and off the stage like a glittery sprite, and she made the venue feel like we were just a couple of thousand of her closest friends in her living room. I can't wait to see what she will be like at the Oxegen festival here in Ireland in a couple weeks time!
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