Picture courtesy of KGSR
Last Wednesday I had the opportunity to finally see the famous chanteuse/piano player during her recent tour (now over). A former co-worker named Summer (linked to Picayune) invited me to tag along because our mutual friend Melia moved away. I thought it would be an awesome opportunity to gain some additional insight of Tori’s material via Summer’s fandom/expertise; I have a few albums, all of which I do like, yet I wondered if the live experience was any good.
In short, the answer was a resounding yes.
Over a year ago, I had Tori Amos on the list of pianists/performers who could be traced back to Liberace and based upon her skill, Mr. Showmanship would’ve loved her if he were alive today.
As for the music, I was grateful for Summer’s presence. Firstly, I haven’t gotten around checking out Tori’s current release Night of Hunters (I buy music and it gets queued up, so this process puts me about three months behind). Secondly, I don’t think having any familiarity with Hunters would’ve mattered; the set was composed of more obscure material according to Summer (B-sides, soundtrack stuff, lesser-known tracks). How I expressed my relief at the evening’s conclusion as I confessed that the only thing I readily recognized was the Fleetwood Mac cover “Landslide.” The content still didn’t matter much to me, the lady’s skills were phenomenal and again, I was won over by her enthusiasm. The Bass Concert Hall proved to be the perfect venue too. A standard rock spot wasn’t appropriate for this acoustic show: a grand piano, an electronic keyboard and a string-quartet from Poland backing up.
So I’m definitely more sold on Tori since I can hear how she has more in common with my favorite female songwriter/singer/eccentric Kate Bush. Hell, I wonder why they’ve never teamed up yet.
Next step. Hoping I can return the favor to Summer by inviting her to see a performer I have a great passion for. I fear it may be a rather long list.