Tori Amos in Columbus, another review

[aruss@oucsace.cs.ohiou.edu (Andrew Russ)]

Review:  Tori Amos at the Newport, Columbus  OH  92.8.7 with E



    I decided to make the 1.5 hour trip basically at the last minute, to 
reward myself for major progress on my thesis, so i took off around noon, 
after placing my order for one ticket ($12.00 (day of show) + $1.55 
ticketmonoploy fee + $3.00 credit card charge = $16.55).  Went up, did 
some browsing in some book and record stores in Grandview -- didn't buy a 
single thing (amazingly enough), and went over to the Newport, where the 
show was.  It was about 6:15 and the line was already down the block.  
Doors open at 7:00.  I went off to kill some more time, then got back in 
line shortly after 7.  The line moved pretty quickly.  At the door they 
stamped _both_ hands and handed out copies of a promotional CD single by 
(E) (that is, "a man called E") -- two songs from the LP (the one with 
the French horn and the one with the backwards guitar).  
    Inside, i found most of the seats had already been taken, so i kept 
wandering around, looking for a place to sit or stand for watching the 
show.  Wound up in front of the soundboard, where there was a black riser 
i could sit on.  It was actually one of the best places to be to see the 
show as you can see over the crowd in the pit and see the whole stage.  I 
sat down on the riser and waited for the show to start.  I read a couple 
newspapers and the promotional magazine that had little stories about 
everyone appearing at the Newport this month and a history.  The Tori 
Amos one was extremely uninformative, but what do you expect to find in 3 
or 4 paragraphs.  
    At 8:30 or so, a DJ from CD101, Columbus's commercial ex-alternative 
station, came on to ask us to make some noise an welcome a man called 
"(E)".  (E) played keyboards and brought a guitarist (Parthenon Huxley) 
and a bass player ("Warren Zevon.  Just kidding, but doesn't he look like 
him?").  i forgot his real name).  E did about half a dozen moderately 
inspired songs.  E came across as someone who just liked to write songs & 
sing them, but beyond that there didn't seem to be any real conviction.  
(In contrast, Tori now has a strong reason to write songs.) Parthenon did 
vocal impressions of the French horn and backwards guitar at the 
appropriate places.  I thought E's songs were pleasant enough, but when E 
did a version of "I'm Only Sleeping" i realized that that song was a LOT 
better than E's own material, and i decided it wasn't because i'd already 
heard it, but because it was better written.  The tempo was a bit faster 
than E's own songs, too.  Then some rowdies in the audience requested 
"Free Bird" (the standard joke), so E played it.  Kind of interesting & 
fun, and the anarchic piano at the end was funny, but ultimately it 
punctuated the insignificance of the opening band.  Another thing:  E 
kept taking off articles of clothing during the show -- it was very hot, 
probably even worse on stage.  First the coat and hat, then the tie, and 
finally the pants.  
    Well, that used up about half an hour, and the crowd spent the next 
half hour ordering drinks, sitting down, or jockeying for position in the 
pit.  Some Newport functionary came on stage and announced something to 
the effect that Tori's management made a request and the bar would close 
at 9:30.  The hustle of last call ensued, and this time two CD101 DJs 
came back on and asked the crowd for a big cheer.  The lights went down 
and Tori came on.  
    She came out and sat down at the piano.  A nice grand piano.  
Wardrobe notes:  Yep, Tori probably was wearing a one-piece with 
essentially no back.  Yellow and green colored.  She also had on a pair 
of jeans with a belt made out of a long piece of cord, the ends hanging 
down below her knees.  She looked great.  Though not a good judge of 
height, i'd say Tori is rather tall.  The first thing she said was "Boy, 
you didn't know you were getting a sauna with this show, were you."  She 
started off with "Little Earthquakes," punctuated by cheers, plus some 
random talking and bottle rattling.  After the first song, Tori asked us 
to pick up the bottles that were rolling around ("I'd appreicate it.  
Thanks.")  That worked for about a song and a half, when in the middle of 
a song, Tori stopped and lectured us.  "Look, we need to talk.  Some 
people came here to listen.  If you don't want to be quiet then you can 
go get your money back and leave.  I mean it.  You're the worst audience 
i've had yet."  Or something pretty close to that, with an additional 
sentence about how it would be really good karma if you would shut up 
because when you're up here -- at least some of you may end up on stage 
sometime...  "Hey, I'm just being honest.  I have to be."  The audience 
quieted down a bit after that, and a few people may have even gotten up 
to leave.  Me, i wasn't saying a word (and neither were the people near 
me), but i still felt a bit guilty.  Sort of like when you're in class 
and the teacher comes in when everyone except you is talking and you're 
worried she'll just give detentions to everyone.  At the same time, i was 
thinking, well what did she expect?  You play a rock and roll club, which 
is basically what the Newport is, you get a rock and roll audience.  I 
started wondering whether she should really be touring if she gets so 
easily upset at the audiences she gets; it seemed a bit immature -- sort 
of a Sinead O'Connor type hangup.  But i gradually decided that, you 
know, _she's_right_, maybe because the talking was very distracting from 
the music.  On the other hand, her pointing out the noise made me notice 
it that much more, and then i kept worrying she might just walk offstage 
in protest.  As far as crowd noise went, the talkers moved to the lobby 
and the rear of the auditorium.  Being by the soundboard, i heard talking 
behind me and the music in front of me.  But Tori continued for the full 
hour plus two encores (about an hour and a half in all), so i guess we 
got our full show's worth.  One heckler(? what else to call them?) called 
out "I love you Tori," and Tori immediately responded with a cursory "I 
love you too" retort.  This was interesting because i heard the exact 
same exchange on a recording of a 1977 Peter Gabriel show.  Maybe it's 
something you learn when you start performing.  :-)  Talking afterwards 
to someone else who was at the show, he seemed to think the noise was a 
typical Columbus audience.  Oh, one thing i noticed on the way out was a 
sign that had fallen on the floor:  NO REFUNDS.  
    Oh yeah, the music.  That was why i came, to hear the music and see 
the performance.  You can't let the noise distract you, right?  I didn't 
follow the songs closely to recognize each one and make up a set list, 
but i recognized all the songs, except the four covers, as coming from 
the Little Earthquakes album.  "Little Earthquakes" to start, "Silent All 
These Years" was early, and apparently the song came from Tori's non-
relationship with her grandmother, which started with an argument when 
Tori was 7 over whether virginity was a good idea or not.  Tori thought 
it wasn't (or at least that's what she said).  "Me and a Gun" came late 
in the show, with an intro:  "I saw the movie Thelma and Louise and it 
made me deal with something that happened to me.  That's what you do in 
life when something happens to you, you deal with it."  That song sounded 
to me a lot like a spiritual when she sang it -- like a prayer.  like 
Swing low, sweet chariot.  I guess it's obvious enough from the CD, but i 
really noticed it in concert.  "China" was notably absent from the set.  
Towards the middle of the show, Tori talked about how every Sunday she 
went to church, sometimes twice.  Comes with being a minister's daughter.  
And the family would come home and they'd have dinner.  Chicken.  Always 
it was chicken.  And then in the evening her friend would come and bring, 
concealed under her coat...RECORDS!  "And i put this one on and i just 
went weenieweenieweeniewee" and she made a wiggling gesture with her 
fingers at her crotch.  And it was this song:  "Whole Lotta Love", which 
segued into "Thank You".  The first encore was "Smells Like Teen Spirit" 
and one of hers.  The second encore was two of her songs (i'm pretty 
sure, but i think the posted setlist has only one) and "Angie" 
(appropriate ending -- "Ain't it time we said goodbye.")  She did get two 
batches of flowers from audience members.  
    I was impressed.  Her piano/performance technique is worth a little 
mention.  Early on, and throughout the performance, especially when she'd 
put her head back and then lunge forward over the piano, she reminded me 
a lot of Jerry Lee Lewis (You know, "Great Balls of Fire" -- maybe Tori 
should try that one out sometime).  She also sometimes would crouch or 
lean over the piano and play, which gave a kind of witch impression of 
her.  The performance was exceedingly histrionic, which made the concert 
very exciting to be at, though i suspect if the Little Earthquakes album 
was recorded like that i'd probably find it not as interesting to listen 
to after awhile.  But at the concert it was totally teriffic.  There was 
a lot of spontaneous clapping in the middle of songs (was she upset at 
those people as well as the ones who were talking?).  It was a rowdy 
audience.  The vocals were also really histrionic and extra breathy -- 
lots of "heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeres" and "yooouuuuuuuuuuhooooooooooos".  
Again, something that would be really annoying on the album if done as 
much in concert, but it was fine live.  The piano playing was really used 
as punctuation for the raw singing.  There were times Tori would sing a 
line, play a couple notes, sing a line, play a few more notes, wait, sing 
and play together, play, stop playing, sing, etc.  The dramatics really 
came in when she would stop or start playing the piano, really.  
    So i'd say it was definitely a great concert.  Make plans to go when 
she makes her way over to your town -- she seems to be touring a lot.   I 
was really happy i went, even with all the talkers in the audience.  My 
guess it that even so, Tori would probably consider it one of her worst, 
or one of her least favorite, on account of the audience.  Apparently at 
least part of the show, hopefully all of it, was simulcast over the 
radio, including at least the beginning of E, too.  No i don't have a 
copy, so don't ask -- i didn't find out about it until afterwards.  

                                   andrew