Very late concert report: Tori Amos at Oxegen, 7 July 2007

I just remembered that I have completely forgotten about a concert report! *gasp* Pia, how COULD you!!!

So *ahem* without further ado, I better give you:

Tori Amos, 7 July, Oxegen 2007, Punchestown Racecourse, Co. Kildare

Oxegen is a 2 day festival (used to be called Witnness) held in the lovely Punchestown Racecourse, otherwise known as the Mud Pit (I kid you not, we saw people who had apparently taken mud baths without bothering to undress first. Absolutely EVERYONE was wearing wellies (flowery, funky, boring ones. Mine are from Dunnes, and have tiger stripes. *Grrrrrowl*. I learned a very hard lesson in Marlay Park in June about wellies). Some of the mud bathers seemed to think everyone else liked mud too, and were flinging mud about without a care in the world. No thank you! More on that a bit later.

We had bought the tickets primarily to see Tori, seeing as this was her only Irish date on the American Doll Posse Tour. The lineup was actually pretty impressive for both Saturday and Sunday (we had tickets for Saturday only). We drove up from Dublin, and were only mildly impressed with the parking facilities (any empty field around the course had been propositioned it seemed). It was definitely NOT to the standard that I had seen in Marlay Park for the Peter Gabriel/Crowded House gig (see previous concert report from June). Anyway, it could've been worse. We put on our wellies, and made our way up to the festival ground, taking a massive detour, because the signposts for the main entrance seemed to have gone AWOL. Anyway, met up with the rest of the posse and found a good spot, ie dry, spread our blanket and sat down.

Oxegen had 5-6 stages, some of them inside tents. We had a good view of the Main Stage from our blanket, currently occupied by Avril Lavigne (love your hair, doll). I remember seeing only 2 other bands before we had to go to the Pet Sounds stage to prepare for Tori - Goo Goo Dolls and The Fratellis. Goo Goo Dolls were really good, and it was pretty awesome to hear 80.000 people singing along at the top of their lungs to 'Iris'. You could see yer man the LV (don't know his name) being amazed by that response. The Fratellis were emphatically bad, their rhythm section being literally all over the place. Okay, Toriphiles, time to head for the tent!

We actually saw Badly Drawn Boy as well who was on before Toir, because we figured we'd have to get in there early to get a good spot. I do a fairly good impression of an eel, if I may say so myself, and it helped us get into the 2nd and 3rd rows in front of the stage. Yay! (Later, I read on a Tori tour site that some people had actually been there all day in order to get in front for Tori. Maybe they just weren't very good at being eels. Hmmm..)

Anyway, we waited and waited for Badly Drawn Boy to finish. He started late, due to technical issues, which didn't help, because at the other end of things, he actually kept playing while they were wheeling Tori's Bösendorfer onto the stage, and until they simply unplugged him. Take the hint, dude! It's not that he was bad or anything - based on the audience's reaction to him, I'd expected most of the first 3 rows to leave at the end of his gig, so we could get an even better spot. But, no. They didn't. They went even madder when Tori - sorry - when Pip took to the stage, laying into a vicious rendition of 'Cruel' (complete setlist below, with album info as well).

Oh, and remember the mud bathers described above? Well there was one of them right next to me in the audience, drunk as a skunk, naked to the waist and covered in mud, who was locked in a world of his own together with his maybe-girlfriend, who had her back to the stage the entire time. Towards the end of the gig they left. Thankfully. Don't know what they were doing there in the first place, because they sure weren't
paying ANY attention to the performance!

On that note - back to Tori. The set was relatively short, seeing as this was a festival slot and not a full Tori concert. Pip rocks! For those of you, who don't know who Pip is, see my earlier post with review of the American Doll Posse album, or check out Tori's website - then it will make a bit more sense :) I had sort of hoped for Clyde, because she's the doll I can relate to the most, but hey, at the end of the day, I'm happy just to have seen her at all.

I don't think I will ever tire of 'Cornflake Girl' live, it is simply so infectious. Tori has the same vibe about her that U2 have when playing old songs live - it doesn't seem to ever get boring for them! Which is a really good thing! It means they have a strong connection with us, the audience, and that is part of why I love their music so much - it's not made in a bubble for a bubble. It has heart and soul and blood and sweat and tears.

This is Tori during 'Cornflake Girl':
SETLIST
As Pip:
Cruel (From The Choirgirl Hotel, 1998)
Body And Soul (American Doll Posse, 2007)
Fat Slut (American Doll Posse, 2007)
Bliss (To Venus And Back, 1999)
The Waitress (Under The Pink, 1994)

Interlude: Professional Widow remix (Boys For Pele, 1996)

As Tori:
Big Wheel (American Doll Posse, 2007)
Cornflake Girl (Under The Pink, 1994)
Bouncing Off Clouds (American Doll Posse, 2007)
Code Red (American Doll Posse, 2007)
Precious Things (Little Earthquakes, 1992)

Concert Report - Tori Amos, Falconer Center in Copenhagen, 13 June 2007

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!

American Doll Posse

Tori Amos has released her 9th studio album on May 1, called 'American Doll Posse'. There are five girls in the Posse, all with their own personae, hairstyles, wardrobes, characters - Tori, Clyde, Pip, Santa & Isabel. They are all singing different songs on the album. Sound weird? A bit, but only if you don't already know a bit about Tori. The Posse together make one whole woman.

On Tori's website (in the Bio section), the Posse are listed together with the Greek archetype that they draw from, because in ancient Greece all aspects of the feminine were considered divine and had incarnations within the Greek pantheon. For example, Clyde draws from Persephone.

If you want to know more about what Tori is doing and what this all means, check out her website.

So far, after just one listen, the songs that I instantly love turn out to all be Clyde's songs. Some of the other songs will require a few more listens, but that's okay.

Really can't wait to see this album played live! Can't wait to see Tori at any rate! I hope she does a Piano Bar thing again!

For those of you who don't know what the Piano Bar is, it's something she has done on previous tours. You can send in requests for cover versions that you would like her to play, and every night she picks a couple. It may or may not be the same concert you end up going to, but it's still a very cool idea I think. I already have a song in mind....it's a U2 song of course....am not going to say which one it is though.....hehehehe. In fact, she has already played a U2 cover once - a brilliant version of 'Running To Stand Still'.

I think she is a very strong singer, both with regards to voice and material. I'm not saying that I understand what her songs are about, not by a long shot, but they are just so darn catchy. They tend to stay in my head even if I have no idea what they mean (at least not on a conscious level). Like, right now, I have 'Playboy Mommy' on constant repeat in my head. Last week it was 'Spark'.

Some of them are straightforward enough ('Yo George' springs to mind). Most of them are not. I like that though - you have to work a little bit to get it, do a bit of homework. Also, it means her albums make for interesting listening for years to come - I know most of the album 'Scarlet's Walk' off by heart by now, but I'm still no closer to the heart of some of the songs. That was my first Tori album (thanks Elisa, for introducing me to Tori by playing the gorgeous 'A Sorta Fairytale' from this album. I've just ordered 'To Venus & Back' which will complete the album collection).

What I also like about her, is that she really has something to say if you care to listen. It's not just some bubblegum-pop-3 minute sweetness, it actually has a weight and a substance. She is rooted somewhere, she takes the time to grow the songs, to research her subjects, tap into the spirit and channel it, whatever it is, and I love that.

So, you can listen to Tori purely for her gorgeous voice and infectious grooves, or you can dig into the world in and behind the music. Either way, it's definitely worth it...

English - Currently listening

Tori Amos - Little Earthquakes

Great album - this week I've had a selection of songs from it constantly playing in my head.

A friend put me onto her Scarlet's Walk album (which is fantastic), and another friend gave me his copy of Little Earthquakes a while back, but I'm only now listening to it, and finding another gem :)