you for a while

Been waiting MONTHS for last night to come and, although I never should have worried, neither sexy-Miss Clyde nor whimsical Tori failed to deliver a magnificent show. This show had all of the elements of a good ADP concert: Theatrical costumes, a tour debut , amazingly beautiful improv, audience interaction, and die-hard fan favorites (i.e. Take Me With You…but I’ll gloat about that one later).

Let’s start with Clyde, who came on stage in what I call her purple ninja PJs, or maybe I should say her sultry purple ninja PJs…I don’t want to downplay how stunningly gorgeous she was. She wore strappy, red, high-heeled, how-does-she-play-two-pianos-with-those shoes that had every girl in the room making an addition to her Christmas list. As has been tradition in past shows, Clyde waltzed onstage with a veil stretched over her head, bowing to the audience before she began playing the opening song: Bouncing off Clouds. Bouncing makes for a great opener, most everyone in the audience new it, clapped along, and was simultaneously blown away, for the 1000th time, by her two-piano technique.

Next up: LITTLE EARTHQUAKES! A personal fave of this blogger. Although no on in the audience new it at the time, this song marked the beginning of what was to be a very true-Toriphile-friendly setlist. Instead of pulling out Leather, Crucify, or SATY–her more popular LE songs–she decided on this epic closer. Little Earthquakes was performed flawlessly and powerfully. I thought I would miss the backing vocals during the “give me life” refrain, but I did not. In fact, the power with which Tori Amos’ lone voice executed those lyrics brought me to tears. I imagine it did the same for many in the audience.

Juarez was an interesting choice, although it makes a lot of sense when performed by Clyde. Juarez tells the tragic story of a group of women murdered in the desert and Clyde, herself a survivor, tells this story with conviction and believability. This song was another treat for fans, as she could have opted to go with the more well-known Venus release, 1,000 Oceans.

Next up was Upside Down…with the band! I’d never heard this song performed with the boys and although I was unable to decide if I liked it until halfway through the song, I eventually settled on, “Yeah, this rocks.” There were a few Cincinnatians in the audience who hooted and hollered after the “Cincinnati, I like the word” line. Its a shame this wasn’t recorded for a boot–these shouters would have been immortalized. Again, that Upside Down was chosen over Winter suggests she knew the Louisville audience was hard core.

I am not going to complain much throughout this review. Louisville couldn’t have asked for anything better. But I will announce that I missed the harmonies on Beauty of Speed. So much so, in fact, that I was a bit distracted and didn’t enjoy the song as much as I should have. The harmonies “make” Beauty of Speed (imho) and, while the song is as poignant and beautiful without them, I was still left wanting. But only a little.

The 2007 version of Little Amsterdam was worth the entire $50 admission price. Clyde must have been into “telling stories” this evening…both Juarez and Little Amsterdam are interesting narratives that can very easily be turned into major motion pictures. Kentucky must have put Clyde and Tori in touch with their southern roots (although some will argue that Kentucky is not southern, but Appalachian…but we’s all tawk thuh same)…later during the improv she sang about being a southern girl living in England. But that is jumping ahead.

Thats a wrap on Clyde. Of course, the Professional Widow remix played whilst Tori changed wigs/costumes. Someone in a newspaper review complained about how long she took to change. I totally disagree. Tori, adorned in her Tori-wig and her multicolored sequined jumpsuit, was back out on stage lickety split, especially considering how much effort it must take to deal with those wigs.

Tori practically skipped onstage…so genuinely happy to be playing for us Ears with Feet. Like her “sister” Clyde, Tori opened up with another American Doll Posse hit, Big Wheel. She let the audience handle the “don’t you forget” line as she reveled in her MILFness. After Big Wheel she went right into Space Dog, choosing to sing the last section first as a solo/improv (the so sure those girls are in the Navy part). After the last lyric, “and now those girls are gone,” the boys came in with the famous Space Dog bass/drum line. Tori, as she even does on the Under the Pink record, made a dramatic transition via a gutteral note and a slap on the piano to signify the break in between the verse and the “so sure” chorus.

Tear in Your Hand–another example of an obscure song winning out over more popular songs on the Little Earthquakes album. Neil Gaiman makes a cameo appearance in both this tune and Space Dog. Maybe he’s been on Tori’s mind lately? Or maybe I’m just making arbitrary connections given that I’m in the middle of Neverwhere right now. Tori kept it real with TIYH, singing a version very close to the album version we all know and love.

Right before Cornflake Girl, the official band introduction song, Tori asked the audience what we were doing before Christmas because she would like to take us all on the bus with her. That we were even better than “those New Yorkers.” Yeah for Louisville Tori fans! She always likes playing here. In other shows, she’s mentioned that Louisville holds a nice space in her heart as it was one of the first American cities she played on the Little Earthquakes tour. But I digress. She introduced the boys (who were in rare form this evening) and then together they belted out a high-intensity version of Cornflake Girl. Does this woman never get tired? Cornflake Girl looks so incredibly exhausting!

The new version of the Doughnut Song, which played next, was gorgeous beyond words…Jon’s bass magic was prominently displayed. You could tell he really likes this tune (Precious Things seems to be Mattie’s fave). Despite the percussion, which is more muted on the album, this song remained beautifully intense and was a great treat for us. Glorys of the 80s was next and although this is not a favorite song of this blogger, it is a fun one to watch live. Tori pointed to Matt Chamberlain during the “bugle boy model” line, perhaps this is an inside joke?

So, the boys went a way and Tori played what was HANDS DOWN the best song of the night: Take Me with You. Take Me with You is a relatively new one to us so we are still drinking it up like water. I am almost tempted to say that this was the best moment of any Tori show I’ve been to…and I’ve been to 7 or 8 now. Take Me with You is stunning solo. This song is on my mp3 player and I’m usually listening to it when I’m jogging (i.e. miserable). The opportunity to sit down and truly listen to and be moved by this song is indescribable. I know several people on the Afterglow and elsewhere who are quite jealous of me at the moment

Somewhere over the Rainbow was beautiful, as always. This song speaks for itself, although I will say that I much prefer the breathier Unplugged version. Regardless, Tori Amos blows away Katherine McPhee and even Connie Talbot anyday.

Whoops…I forgot to mention the improv, which I alluded to earlier. From what I could gather, Tori was singing a song about she and her mother…”Southern” women who were no longer living in the South–Tori in England and her mother in D.C. The refrain was “You can take the girl out of the South, but you can’t take the South out of the girl.” The bottom line was that while Tori may live far away, she knows where her roots are and has a deep appreciation for them.

The boys came back and played Amber Waves. This is where playing more obscure songs off albums backfired on me. I would have much preferred to have heard A Sorta Fairytale or Taxi Ride to Amber Waves. But thats just me…Amber Waves is not one of my favorites. Next up was Spark, which sounded different (in a good way) with the organ-sound as opposed to the synth keyboard. At the end of the song she touched her belly and then her chest, referencing the baby(ies) she miscarried who now live in her heart.

Code Red was a performance of epic proportions…from Tori’s stage antics, to the intensity with which the boys played, from the lighting (bright red, of course), to the lyrics Code Red was entertainment in its purest form. This was the fourth and final song performed off of the new American Doll Posse album.

Fans are so used to the two encores routine that we don’t even get up and beg for it anymore. Tori came out and gave us Precious Things as a gift, although it lacked the intense passion it had on the Venus tour. She surprised everyone with the debut of Father Lucifer. That she had changed up the arrangement was evident in that she had to reference a piece of note paper while playing. Everyone in the audience was delighted to hear this song. We all cheered, cheered, and cheered some more especially when Tori gave the “girls who eat pizza and never gain weight” the finger. The bridge was Steve-McQueen-bridge-esque, but not the exact one she performed on Storytellers. And, finally, Tori Amos wrapped up the evening with the Dakota version of Hey Jupiter. A stunning closer to a whirlwind evening. No complaints (well, major ones anyway) from this blogger.

On the way home, my husband and a friend of ours discussed reasons why Tori chose such a die-hard-fan friendly set of songs. Truthfully, no obvious “favorites” other than Cornflake Girl and maybe Precious Things were played (that is, if you don’t count the new stuff). Hubby conjectured that she knows how intense Louisvillian Ears with Feet can be, especially since MikeWhy, creator of the unofficial-turned-official Tori Amos website “the Dent” lives here.

One more quick note before Yoav gets some attention. The lighting was incredible and set the perfect mood for every song. I will say that the bright white lights on the floor of the stage that point directly at the audience were a tad on the annoying side though. I smiled at the cute cheesiness when a rainbow was projected on the curtains during the “feel those colors changing” line in Beauty of Speed. The bright red light during Code Red was exotic and complimented the meaning of the song very well. I’ll also second what another reviewer said about Tori Amos preferring the lower octaves these days. The high notes were there, but she preferred to belt out in her good, solid alto voice.

I really liked Yoav. He seemed really appreciative of Tori taking him on despite the fact that he has yet to record an album. He is a talented guitarist and on-the-spot sound engineer reminiscent of Howie Day. He performed for only a half an hour, but was still able to convince many fans in the audience to buy his work when it does come out. In his coolest bit, he looped a sound he made while singing directly in to the hole of the guitar. On stage looping never ceases to captivate audiences…it should definitely be considered an artform if it is not already.

Five stars, two thumbs up, one million kudos and a double high-five for Tori Amos in Louisville. Could NOT have been better.

Louisville Setlist:

Clyde:

Bouncing Off Clouds
Little Earthquakes
Juarez
Upside Down
Beauty of Speed
Little Amsterdam

Tori:

Big Wheel
Space Dog
Tear in Your Hand
Cornflake Girl
Doughnut Song
Glory of the 80s

T & Bo:

Take Me With You
Over the Rainbow

The boys are back:

Amber Waves
Spark
Code Red

Encores:

Precious Things
Father Lucifer
Hey Jupiter

Filed under: ADP Tour on October 29th, 2007