Okee dokee folks… Tori Amos brought her Ocean to Ocean tour into Veterans Auditorium on Monday, May 16. First of all let me say that I was a Tori Amos fan at the beginning of her career. A BIG fan. So much so I ALMOST named my dog Tori. By the end of the ’90s I had fallen off the Tori train as I found her music to be more and more monotonous. That is the way I felt about tonight’s show. It was monotonous. Her 17-song set mostly stayed away from her more popular songs but did cover material from her nearly 30-year career. Her first few albums contained her best work, but she only played a couple of songs from those early releases- an (unfortunate) extended version of “Crucify,” the set ending “Cornflake Girl” and the first song of the encore, “Precious Things.” She also performed the title track from her latest CD, Ocean To Ocean as well others from that disc “Addition of Light Divided” and “Devil’s Bane.”
Amos’ voice is not as strong as it was in the earlier days. She relies on vocal effects and processing to beef up her vocals. The overall band sound seemed mechanical. There were pre-recorded choruses, drum machines, loops and other sounds to augment Amos who was only backed by her keyboards, bass and drums. The drummer, though playing live, overplayed quite a bit even on places where it should have been more subtle. His live sound was more like a drum machine than organic. A lot of times the music suffered from the “one long song syndrome.” This show was really more for the die-hard Amos fans. Tori could have let go a (light) sneeze and the crowd would have loved it.
I was honestly disappointed in the show. As I said I was a HUGE Amos fan. I’ve seen her live a few times. I was fortunate to have seen her with just a piano at Lupo’s back in the early ’90s and a few years later sit in for a private sound check that had just a couple of people in attendance. I even met her back then. So having to express my dissatisfaction with the show is not something I am enjoying. I was looking forward to her show after not having seen her live in a while. At this point I see no point in hopping back on the Tori train, it has left the tracks. Sorry.
Don’t forget there is so much more online from Motif! I have the Roots Report Podcasts, interviews and event reviews at MotifRI.com and lots of concert photos (Including Tori Amos) on the Motif Facebook page fb.com/MotifRI. Please check it all out! That’s it for now. Thanks for reading. www.JohnFuzek.com
