oh wow
TORI AMOS!!!
I was in Bristol this weekend, as I tend to be most weekends, and I didn't leave until yesterday afternoon. I stuck around until Mike (the guy who used to live in Tim's current flat) left to go back to Australia, then spent some time with sputnikheart, who was also still in Bristol. We both needed to catch a train - she to her parents' house in Somerset, and I to Exeter. I missed my express train by about a minute, but Chelle's train was right after mine and on the way to Exeter, so I got some extra chit-chat in. I wasn't in a rush; it was all good.
Eventually I arrive at Exeter (my connecting train was delayed for about 20 minutes just outside St Davids station), and exiting the station I see a woman clad completely in black with super-high heels and long, straight, bright-orange hair walking across the parking lot. Upon first glance I think to myself "hurr, that chick looks like Tori when she was at that comic con", thinking it was just another university girl wearing couture and Manolos instead of a denim mini and Uggs. Then I caught a sliver of her face - the nose and mouth looked suspiciously familiar. She threw her chewing gum wrapper into the trash bin as I passed, rubbernecking to determine whether it was really her, and crossed back to the other side toward a car. As inconspicuously as possible, I crossed over as well, keeping my distance as I watched a man let her into the car.
When he came around to the driver's side, I asked "Is that Tori Amos?"
"It is," he replied.
(note: things start to get a bit hazy around now)
At this point either Tori or the guy (bodyguard? I don't think it was Mark) opened the driver's side door and she said "Hi honey!" waving and smiling and flashing her crooked Tori teeth (!!!).
Having no idea what to talk about, I told her that I'm headed back to the US fairly soon and asked when she was going to be touring.
July, she said, but she was doing Leno and Letterman first, and I think she might have mentioned something about Tash.
I don't think I conversed much more than that, being rather self-conscious about being an annoying fanling and keeping her from whatever she was off to, so I just asked if she would mind if I took her picture. She said it was fine and sat tight while I fumbled with my camera, trying adjust the settings and apologising for holding her up ("Argh, sorry! I'm sorry!" "It's okay!").
Once I snapped the photo I thanked her profusely and told her it was nice to meet her ("Nice meeting you too!") and headed off toward my house, giddy and giggling and murmuring "holy crap" to myself. If I hadn't missed that first train this serendipitous chance meeting would never had happened! How fucking awesome.
At first I couldn't help wondering "wtf is she doing in Exeter of all places?" When I got home it occurred to me that she might have been coming back from an event in London - the connecting train I took was the service from Paddington Station - and where she lives in north Cornwall is pretty much a straight shot westward from Ex. As it turns out she played a solo show at the Savoy Theatre of which I was completely unaware. DOH! But hey, if I *had* gone, I would have missed running into her all by myself!