Tori Amos

What a busy bunch the APG Gals have been lately! First, an announcement from Tori’s management:

If you’re planning to attend the Chicago shows on Nov. 5th or 6th, don’t plan on waiting around for a Meet n’ Greet unless you have Platinum VIP tickets. Management has alerted fans that Tori is already booked solid while in Chicago. Thanks for the heads up guys!

And now, a review and tour round-up:

Chris Azzopardi conducted a fantastic interview for the Oct. 25 issue of Between the Lines, a weekly GLBT publication in Michigan. Read the article to find how how Tori answered Tash’s question about “What’s a homo?” and where Tori first came across the MILF term.

Isabel opened the Nov. 2 show in Indianapolis. Old favorites such as “In the Springtime of His VooDoo,” “Professional Widow,” “Bells For Her,” and “Mother” all found their way into the setlist.

Lilledeshan Bose wrote a preview article in the weekly publication MKE for the Nov. 3 Milwaukee show. I always love it when the reporter is obviously a fan, and knows Tori’s songs and background. The article announces that there is a live DVD of the ADP tour in the works so the gals will all be documented for posterity. Tori dropped a bomb at the end of the article — she won’t be doing another album for awhile following this tour. She’s been commissioned to write a musical for the British National Theater.

The writers at OnMilwaukee also posted their own review of the show, as did John Gilbertson with the Journal Sentinel.

Clyde opened the Nov. 3 show at the Riverside Theatre, and highlights of the show were “Strange,” “Carbon,” “Horses,” and “Father Lucifer.” Tori was a little rusty playing “Strange,” flubbed it up and then turned it into one of her famous improves that led into “Carbon.”

Bouncing Off Clouds

Add to My Profile | More Videos

Tori was the featured artist on “Myspace Music” yesterday. The feature is no longer up, but you can still download a shortened radio edit of “Almost Rosey” from Tori’s Myspace page, and an animated video for “Bouncing Off Clouds” was also added to Tori’s Myspace profile:

In tour news, Pip opened the show in Cleveland show last night with rocking renditions of “Teenage Hustling,” “The Waitress,” and “Blood Roses” to name a few. The two encores included “Precious Things,” “Hotel,” “Bouncing Off Clouds,” and “Hey Jupiter.”

Are you an aspiring videographer? Tori is holding a contest to see which fan can come up with the best video for “Bouncing Off Clouds.” She will supply the video footage, and contestants use it and their own footage and images to make their entry. The winning video will be posted on www.toriamos.com and the winner and a friend will be flown to a show on the U.S. tour. Four First Prize winners will each win an 8 GB iPod Touch. Deadline for the contest is Nov. 24, so get editing! Read all rules here.

Tori Amos Site Mentions

I recently came across a website that should be fun for fans jonesing for video footage of the current tour. It’s still in the process of being built, but there are still several concert footage clips that you should check out.

This site is a personal fave of mine. The “Diagnosed Portion” has tons of songs available for download, including some from the recent European Tour. Audrey, the webmistress, is always looking for high quality mp3s, so contact her at himh.inc@gmail.com if you have any you’d like to contribute.

Whenever tour time hits, I always reminisce about the tours of years past and look forward to the shows to come. My life has changed so much since I went to my first Tori show that it almost seems like a different girl attended that show in Knoxville, TN.

That was the night that I got to see Tori perform during the Plugged 98 Tour, and while many fans didn’t really dig the concept of Tori performing with a band, I was blown away. The opening number, “Precious Things,” left me stunned, speechless, almost in tears, and . . . thrilled.

My roommate and I decided to hang around and wait outside the tour bus in hopes that we would get a glimpse of Tori. I clutched the “From the Choirgirl Hotel” CD tightly in my hand as I listened to fans around me discuss highlights from the show and talk about Tori as if they knew her personally. I guess that’s a habit most of us fans have. More and more fans began to fill the alley where the bus was parked and I began to feel claustrophobic as the crowd crushed me from behind. Tori came out and I could barely make out her red hair over the rows of people in front of me. She signed a few autographs, then gave a sweet wave and climbed onto her bus.

I have to admit I was disappointed, but I was still on a high from the show. We headed across the parking lot for the car and head to stop at a pedestrian crossing. At the same time, Tori’s bus pulled slowly up to the red light, right in front of us, and stopped. One of the curtains on the bus was pulled aside, and a little hand puppet that resembled a court jester appeared. It danced around happily until the bus pulled off a few moments later.

Somehow I knew it had been Tori. I was kicking myself for using all the film up in my camera (this was pre-digital camera age!) on the show. None of those shots turned out, and this one probably wouldn’t have either now that I think about it. A short time later I was browsing the now defunct website The Dent when I came across an article about “Mr. Puppethead (a.k.a. Tori). He had made numerous appearances like the one I had witnessed throughout the Plugged 98 Tour.

I felt so special that Tori had reached out to me. And even more special when I got her autograph a few months later at the Spartanburg, S.C. show.

Unfortunately, the roommate who experienced “Mr. Puppethead” with me is no longer a friend. We had a horrible falling out, as so many female friends tend to do, and I actually saw her a few years ago at a Tori concert in Charlotte. She looked furious, and ready to confront me, but I think she noticed then that I was pregnant. Thankfully she backed off, and I tried to forget about the lost friendship and enjoy the music. But it was hard. At least I know we both still share a love for Tori’s music, even if we can’t experience it together.

Saturday morning, I woke up with “Girl Disappearing” playing inside my head. Sunday, it was “Digital Ghost” and this cloudy Monday morning finds “Beauty of Speed” going round and round.

It’s not as harrowing as it seems. This is the normal course a Tori Amos album takes for me. First, I listen to it a few times to become familiar with the songs, next I analyze most or all of the songs by reading the lyrics as I listen to the songs, then I set them free to do what they will. Typically, I wake up with one or two songs stuck in my head sporadically and/or some of the songs attach themselves to past or present relationships or epiphanies in my life.

This is the first time that three different songs have echoed in my head on three consecutive days. What I’ve determined from this so far is that “Girl Disappearing” most likely has her roots in the Mary Magdalene story, of which Tori is so fond. There was recently another special on public television about who Magdalene really was and why she all but disappeared from our stories and knowledge. This may have prompted the connection.

“Digital Ghost” and “Beauty of Speed” are two of the songs that speak to me of the special relationship I mentioned in Reconciling the Feminine. Invariably, there will be at least one (usually more) song from the Tori Amos albums subsequent to our fall, that connects she and I. Reminds us that what we had was real and is still alive, however small a part it may play in our current lives. This is reassuring and also a little sad.

“Bouncing Off Clouds” and to some extent, “Roosterspur Bridge” also serve as this pipeline of sorts… the next time I talk to her, I’m sure I’ll find that she agrees.

Tori Amos, Beauty of Speed, Bouncing Off Clouds, Digital Ghost, Girl Disappearing, Roosterspur Bridge, American Doll Posse

Lyndsey Darcangelo, a fellow 451 Press blogger, posted this wonderful blog about female relationships, and it reminded me of a Tori Amos interview I read a looooong time ago. Unfortunately, it was so long ago that I have not been able to find it online. It was after the release of Under the Pink, she was responding to her B-Sides from Little Earthquakes, which included The Rolling Stones’ “Angie,” Led Zeppelin’s “Thank You,” where she’s singing these songs written about women and she *gasp* doesn’t change the pronouns!! She goes on to say that there isn’t really anything out there to define or even explore the depths of female relationships, and yet the relationships of the females have always been sort of the thing that’s held everything else together. Whether it was the knitting circle, tupperware parties, tea times, etc, etc… we women have always had an unparalleled support system, but we’re not allowed to talk about it. Or if we should talk about the love and emotion and connection we feel with another woman, we must be lesbians. That is the only category that exists to define what women can be to each other outside of the “friend” label.

So yes, she is singing about women, and Under the Pink decidedly speaks to/about many different kinds of relationships that women have: with one another, with themselves, with men, with God. The haunting notes of “Bells For Her” recounts a tragic story of two women, a relationship that inevitably ends, possibly because one of the women falls in love with a man. “Can’t stop what’s coming, can’t stop what is on it’s way…”
“The Waitress” speaks to all of us who have secretly (or not so secretly) hated another woman for no real reason. “Cornflake Girl” tells a tale and draws the line between the two types of women we can choose to be: Cornflake Girls or Raisin Girls. “Yes, Anastasia” is such a heavy song, one that contains many layers of the feminine… without getting into them all, let it be said that it is definitely about women and their many levels of relationships.

I experienced one of these powerful female relationships, myself…
She was my everything. She knew me better than I did, and vice versa. We finished each other’s thoughts and sentences, we were together all the time, we never fought, we always understood and there was no one else who felt what we did at that time… Soul sisters, soul mates, twin spirits, born less than a day apart…
We were perfect and I loved her and just as so many fragile, adolescent relationships before and since… we suddenly fell apart over the course of a year and a half. One crack lent itself to the next one and so on, until we shattered into a million pieces… and I still miss her. There was never anything sexual between us or about us. It was so much bigger than the mundane, primal level of sex, but most people naturally assumed there was something going on between us. We’d usually just laugh it off, sometimes play into it, but always wonder why people felt the need to categorize us.

This is probably definitely why Tori Amos’ music is so incredibly powerful to me. She was there with us for the duration… she spoke to every turn our relationship took and it seemed uncanny at best, down right eerie at worst, that someone else understood. Someone else had been through what we had and wrote about it and sang about it and told the world.

So here I am, all these years, tears and healed wounds later… I have never found the kind of connection I shared with her. I love my husband to pieces and I wouldn’t trade him for anything, but there’s just something about a woman in your heart …

Tori Amos, Under the Pink, Little Earthquakes, Feminine, Relationships, B-Sides, Female

Tori Amos was holding a contest for fans to create the video for her single “Big Wheel” from the album American Doll Posse. Here is the winning video, created by Wes Sutton:

Click here to view the other 75 entries.

Click here to see Tori’s live AOL Music performance, click here to listen to her BBC 2 Interview from this last Tuesday, and check out this video interview with Tori posted at lexpress.ch which was done during Tori’s recent visit to the Montreux Jazz Festival. In the clip, she reflects on the Festival as being the starting point of her career, the power of seduction, and her future as a touring artist. While she doesn’t say she’ll never tour again, she does say that she’s not planning another big world tour.

Tori Amos en interview au Montreux Jazz Festival - L’Express et L’Impartial

Tori Amos, recent news, interviews, BBC 2, Montreux Festival, Big Wheel Contest Winner

Of the dozens of reviews I found over the weekend, a trend seems to reveal itself:
The “critics” are only mixed to a certain degree, with the majority of them claiming American Doll Posse as Tori Amos’ best work since insert favorite album here. A lot of the reviews say that Scarlett’s Walk and The Beekeeper were “too heavy,” that Strange Little Girls was too… well… strange, and that people were losing faith in Tori’s ability to compose/perform like she used to. The main complaints about this album have been stated as having “too much conceptual malarkey” from Rolling Stone , and this from a lengthy review on Pop Matters (American Doll Posse) is a little bit too bogged down with its sometimes preachy, non-descript politics and too many of the usual suspects in the mix.

This came as a surprise to me (although not completely), which is why I enjoyed researching what people are saying about this album. I have never really paid attention to the critics in any arena. Film, books and music are highly personal and although a mention of something coming out may draw my attention, I certainly don’t let what someone else thinks sway my decision to see/read/listen to anything. So to read all these people saying they thought Tori was slipping, that motherhood may have been taking too much out of her, etc, etc was a wake up call, of sorts.

Most likely because I have a sort of blind faith in what Tori does. I may not understand it, or even necessarily enjoy every note of every song on every album, but she resonates such integrity that I at least respect her journey; as well her willingness to share her journey with the rest of the world, as I’ve mentioned before. And so, I normally buy her albums in spite of whatever the critics or users are saying.

The other trend that emerged was the user reviews were almost all between 8-10 on a 10-point scale. The actual people out there who are listening to this album are totally satisfied and even excited about the 9th studio album from Tori Amos. One user from this website put it quite well:

At first listen, its good. Second, its too heady, you sense she’s tried to hard. Third time, you still sense its worthiness. Fourth, you get it. Fifth listen and then on its a guilty pleasure and you’re hooked.

Metacritic’s website also has a handy break-down of what the main critics are rating this album.

Spin Magazine says “No longer just singing to the converted, this consummate cult icon now sounds committed to taking on the world.”

Whatever the case, people are talking about this album. They are talking about the album AND the tour, which is proving to be a fantastic display of Tori’s talent and creativity. I can’t wait until her U.S. Tour dates are posted, and I can only hope that she come further south than West Palm Beach this time…

Tori Amos, American Doll Posse, Review, Spin, Rolling Stone, Metacritic, Critics, User Reviews

Here is a 4-part video interview with Tori Amos from a VH1 series called Box Set. This You Tube member actually posted these separate clips, which is good because for some reason I can’t open the Tori link from the VH1 web page. The clips have been spliced together, which makes it difficult sometimes to follow which video/song/album/co-creator Tori is talking about, but it’s still a great series.

Part I:
Tori talks about her auspicious beginnings with Y Kan’t Tori Read, the inspiration for founding RAINN, and finding your voice.

Part II:
Tori talks about creating Under the Pink, questions the idea of God (surprised?), and Boys for Pele being a volatile time in her life.

Part III:
Tori talks about Talula, Hey Jupiter, Spark, Jackie’s Strength, Bliss

Part IV:
Tori revisits Crucify, talks about her daughter, Natasha, Strange Little Girls, Scarlett’s Walk, September 11th , The Beekeeper and Big Wheel

Tori Amos, VH1, Box Set, interview, albums

Hello to all the Tori fans out there!

I’m very excited about this opportunity to share my love for Tori Amos in this kind of forum. For my first post, I’d just like to give you all an idea about what I have in mind for this site. Any and all feedback, comments or suggestions are, of course, welcome! If there’s something you’d like to see, something you are sick of seeing, please post a comment or send me an email and let me know.

I’ll be keeping you up-to-date with recent Tori happenings, news, plans, etc., but I’d also really like to delve into what her music has meant to me. This is where you come in as well: It’s one thing to know and to discuss what Tori’s music and vision has meant to me personally, but it is not until ideas are shared, that can magic be found… and I really feel that Tori has so much magic within her, and she’s been so gracious as to share with the rest of the world the gifts she has been given… It’s only to our benefit to find out what others have felt, seen or experienced with Tori’s music, so that we may be able to gain another perspective.

As I go through her albums, or songs, please jump in and add your experience with the topic at hand.

Her book “Piece by Piece” with Ann Powers is another great source of inspiration, one in which Tori is really very open to personal experiences in a more literal way than when she writes songs, so I’ll be referring to that book as well. If you don’t have it yet, I highly recommend it. You can buy it here

I look forward to this journey, as I hope you do…
Classic Tori:

Maggie V.