Summer of Sin
08/21/05-6:03 PM
August 19, 2005: Tori Amos with The Like and Ditty Bops @ PNC Arts Center in Holmdel, NJ
Rich and I debated for a bit about whether we were going to go see Tori because it was raining when he picked me up, and our seats were on the lawn. We didn’t want to sit in the mud, so he suggested we drive there anyway to see if we could upgrade our tickets.
Sure enough, we upgraded from lawn seats to section 101, row N. Awesome! I love seeing shows that close. It was worth the extra $30.
The opening acts, The Like and Ditty Bops, were the first real entertaining opening acts Tori’s had since probably Howie Day. (Ben Folds doesn’t really count as one, either does Alanis.) Why hadn’t her management or whoever pick female-fronted acts before? The Like were entertaining, but the vocals were a little too low for me to understand. The Ditty Bops, however, for me, were very good. Nice mixture of bluegrass, folk sound. The two female leads were harmonious, so this was a sell to me. I picked up their CD for Rich and me, which is the first time I’ve ever bought an opening act’s CD.
So, here’s the setlist and my take on the songs:
Original Sinsuality: We missed seeing most of this because we were coming back from having the Ditty Bops sign our CD covers. Tori sounded great though.
Father Lucifer (about a minute or so): It would’ve been great to hear this except that her mic and piano kept cutting out. And, see, that happened to The Like too, so you would’ve thought they’d make SPECIAL care that this wouldn’t happen to Tori. Tori upholds a high standard of professionalism from her tour group, so I’m almost positive it had something to do with the venue workers and/or the rain we had, even though that was really a minor rainstorm. So, she tells us, “It’s the right-wing Christians coming after me.” To which, she then promises that we won’t be short-changed.
** short delay because of loss of power to monitors **
Little Earthquakes: You know that if she doesn’t go back to the original song, then she’s definitely upset about someone. I love this one live, so change or no, I was glad to hear this one.
Blood Roses: Oh yeah, who doesn’t love angsty-Tori. I definitely think she had a complete different setlist in mind before the monitor incident. I can’t recall hearing this live since maybe the first time I saw her live for DDI tour.
Yes, Anastasia: Just as beautiful as the time I heard in a few years ago for the SLG tour. I’m amazed how well this translates to just her and the piano sans orchestra.
Northern Lad: I almost cried during this song. It just tears you up. Plus, seeing her playing this just reminded me of why I’m still a fan of her live performances. So beautiful.
Parasol: Predictable choice, but I still love that line “safe in my frame,” and I do muchly prefer this over the album version.
Rattlesnakes: Given the situation with happened with the sound earlier, I see why this was chosen. Then some punk in backstage was being disrespectful in Tori’s line of vision. First she flipped him off. That didn’t seem to affect the guy. Then, she pauses the song to say, “Would you shut the fuck up? You’re in my light, and it’s distracting.” Or something to that effect. Some people think this was unprofessional, but after the unprofessionalism of the venue, I think she had every right to speak out. She ended up closing the song stronger than I’ve ever heard it.
Tori’s Piano Bar, where people can go online and request covers:
Lovesong (Cure cover): I’ve heard this before on live boots, but seeing her perform it was simply classic. Love this song anyway; her cover is what made me rethink my opinion of The Cure.
Purple Rain (Prince cover): This was awesome to hear! If I’m not mistaken, coffeejunkii played this for me during one of her visits, and I thought it was wonderful. Rich told me that she’s only done this like, one other time so it was definitely worth us coming out for.
Cars And Guitars: There’s a definite sensuality in her performance of this song, even though it’s not one of my favorites.
Cooling: Another one I almost teared-up during, but mostly because of a memory attached with this song. Still as stunning as the first time I heard it live.
Jamaica Inn: Not as strong as the album version. I think I just don’t like the transitions between organ and piano.
Taxi Ride: I love this song, and it’s always one I don’t mind hearing live. It translates so well here as well.
The Beekeeper: I wanted to hear how this would sound live, and while it was okay, I prefer the album version more.
First Encore:
China: I liked this when I first heard it, but I don’t know if I really like it live so much. She looked semi-bored playing it as we were listening to it.
Here. In My Head: Love love this song. I was glad to finally hear this b-side live, but I was slightly disappointed that changed up the “do you know… do you know” part.
Second Encore:
1000 Oceans: Such a clichéd way to end a show, but it is admittedly still beautiful to hear live.
Sweet The Sting: Mmm, this was nice. A sexy and empowering ending indeed.
Overall comments:
You could definitely tell that because of the sound thing happening, that that set the tone for the rest of the night. Tori seemed not totally there, and neither did the audience. Tori and the songs sounded excellent, but for me this seemed to be the most impersonal show (despite how close we were) I’ve ever been to. Not a lot of audience interaction; but from reading her memoir, sometimes the interaction *is* more about the performance of the songs. Nevertheless, I am definitely glad that I got to see her this time around.
August 19, 2005: Tori Amos with The Like and Ditty Bops @ PNC Arts Center in Holmdel, NJ
Rich and I debated for a bit about whether we were going to go see Tori because it was raining when he picked me up, and our seats were on the lawn. We didn’t want to sit in the mud, so he suggested we drive there anyway to see if we could upgrade our tickets.
Sure enough, we upgraded from lawn seats to section 101, row N. Awesome! I love seeing shows that close. It was worth the extra $30.
The opening acts, The Like and Ditty Bops, were the first real entertaining opening acts Tori’s had since probably Howie Day. (Ben Folds doesn’t really count as one, either does Alanis.) Why hadn’t her management or whoever pick female-fronted acts before? The Like were entertaining, but the vocals were a little too low for me to understand. The Ditty Bops, however, for me, were very good. Nice mixture of bluegrass, folk sound. The two female leads were harmonious, so this was a sell to me. I picked up their CD for Rich and me, which is the first time I’ve ever bought an opening act’s CD.
So, here’s the setlist and my take on the songs:
Original Sinsuality: We missed seeing most of this because we were coming back from having the Ditty Bops sign our CD covers. Tori sounded great though.
Father Lucifer (about a minute or so): It would’ve been great to hear this except that her mic and piano kept cutting out. And, see, that happened to The Like too, so you would’ve thought they’d make SPECIAL care that this wouldn’t happen to Tori. Tori upholds a high standard of professionalism from her tour group, so I’m almost positive it had something to do with the venue workers and/or the rain we had, even though that was really a minor rainstorm. So, she tells us, “It’s the right-wing Christians coming after me.” To which, she then promises that we won’t be short-changed.
** short delay because of loss of power to monitors **
Little Earthquakes: You know that if she doesn’t go back to the original song, then she’s definitely upset about someone. I love this one live, so change or no, I was glad to hear this one.
Blood Roses: Oh yeah, who doesn’t love angsty-Tori. I definitely think she had a complete different setlist in mind before the monitor incident. I can’t recall hearing this live since maybe the first time I saw her live for DDI tour.
Yes, Anastasia: Just as beautiful as the time I heard in a few years ago for the SLG tour. I’m amazed how well this translates to just her and the piano sans orchestra.
Northern Lad: I almost cried during this song. It just tears you up. Plus, seeing her playing this just reminded me of why I’m still a fan of her live performances. So beautiful.
Parasol: Predictable choice, but I still love that line “safe in my frame,” and I do muchly prefer this over the album version.
Rattlesnakes: Given the situation with happened with the sound earlier, I see why this was chosen. Then some punk in backstage was being disrespectful in Tori’s line of vision. First she flipped him off. That didn’t seem to affect the guy. Then, she pauses the song to say, “Would you shut the fuck up? You’re in my light, and it’s distracting.” Or something to that effect. Some people think this was unprofessional, but after the unprofessionalism of the venue, I think she had every right to speak out. She ended up closing the song stronger than I’ve ever heard it.
Tori’s Piano Bar, where people can go online and request covers:
Lovesong (Cure cover): I’ve heard this before on live boots, but seeing her perform it was simply classic. Love this song anyway; her cover is what made me rethink my opinion of The Cure.
Purple Rain (Prince cover): This was awesome to hear! If I’m not mistaken, coffeejunkii played this for me during one of her visits, and I thought it was wonderful. Rich told me that she’s only done this like, one other time so it was definitely worth us coming out for.
Cars And Guitars: There’s a definite sensuality in her performance of this song, even though it’s not one of my favorites.
Cooling: Another one I almost teared-up during, but mostly because of a memory attached with this song. Still as stunning as the first time I heard it live.
Jamaica Inn: Not as strong as the album version. I think I just don’t like the transitions between organ and piano.
Taxi Ride: I love this song, and it’s always one I don’t mind hearing live. It translates so well here as well.
The Beekeeper: I wanted to hear how this would sound live, and while it was okay, I prefer the album version more.
First Encore:
China: I liked this when I first heard it, but I don’t know if I really like it live so much. She looked semi-bored playing it as we were listening to it.
Here. In My Head: Love love this song. I was glad to finally hear this b-side live, but I was slightly disappointed that changed up the “do you know… do you know” part.
Second Encore:
1000 Oceans: Such a clichéd way to end a show, but it is admittedly still beautiful to hear live.
Sweet The Sting: Mmm, this was nice. A sexy and empowering ending indeed.
Overall comments:
You could definitely tell that because of the sound thing happening, that that set the tone for the rest of the night. Tori seemed not totally there, and neither did the audience. Tori and the songs sounded excellent, but for me this seemed to be the most impersonal show (despite how close we were) I’ve ever been to. Not a lot of audience interaction; but from reading her memoir, sometimes the interaction *is* more about the performance of the songs. Nevertheless, I am definitely glad that I got to see her this time around.