Tori Amos

Only two more days until the Charlotte show! I am getting so excited reading the setlists for this tour and cannot pinpoint which doll will show up on Tuesday. I’m really hoping for Clyde but she just hit Kansas on Nov. 9th so now I’m not so sure. I’m sure it’ll be an emotional show either way. She always pulls out all the stops in North Carolina!

Here’s a round-up of recent newspaper reviews and concert details:

The Cleveland Free Times published a review of the Nov. 1 performance at the State Theatre. “Pip” opened that show and reviewer Anastasia Pantsios seemed well-versed in Tori’s catalog of songs old and new.

Greg Kot with the Chicago Tribune posted a review of the Nov. 5th show at the Auditorium Theatre. I particularly loved this line:

“As usual at an Amos concert, it was a bad night for patriarchy in all its forms.”

Read the full review here.

“Isabel” graced the Northup Auditorium in Minneapolis with her presence on Nov. 7. Highlights of the show were “Graveyard” and “Code Red,” but many fans were disappointed that Tori didn’t really speak to the audience during the show, and some reported that she seemed annoyed and bored while playing “Cornflake Girl.”

“Clyde” landed in Lawrence, Kansas at the Nov. 9th show and played “Beauty of Speed,” “Girl Disappearing,” “Juarez,” and the tour debut of “Frog on MyToe.” See the full setlist here.

“Santa” hit Omaha, Nebraska on Nov. 10th and charmed the audience with “Raspberry Swirl,” “She’s Your Cocaine,” and the tour debut of “Bug A Martini” (complete with martinis for the entire band!) and “Peeping Tommi.” See the full setlist here.

Jimmy posted some awesome photos and accounts of his VIP experiences and meetings with Tori over on his blog. Go check them out when you get a chance!

“Pip” came out to play at last night’s second Chicago show at The Vic, and from what I’ve read so far, she literally took no prisoners. Men in the audience (especially those in the front row) feared for their lives. The show opened with an intense version of “Cruel,” during which “Pip” inserted the line, “I’ll rip your c**k off.”

If that wasn’t terrifying enough, the first act it ended with a version of “Me and a Gun” unlike any audience members had ever heard before. First the first time ever live, the band accompanied “Pip” during the song, and there were props involved. Scary, scary props. As she sang, “Pip” took out a large butcher knife and rubbed it back and forth across her leather pants. Towards the end of the song she pulled out a gun, and pointed it at her head before aiming it at the audience. Unlike the Nov. 5 Chicago show, last night had two encores. This concert will be available for download at Legs and Boots.

Here’s the complete setlist:

Act 1 - Pip
Cruel
Bliss
Teenage Hustling
Fat Slut
Smokey Joe
The Waitress
Me And A Gun

Interlude
Professional Widow

Act II – Tori
Big Wheel
Sugar
Almost Rosey
Cornflake Girl
Liquid Diamonds
Caught A Lite Sneeze

Winter
“i can’t f**k this up” improv
Happy Phantom

Band Returns
Digital Ghost
Hotel
Code Red

First Encore
Precious Things
Bouncing Off Clouds

Second Encore
Hey Jupiter

Check out a recent interview with Tori on “Pink is the New Blog.” You can listen to an audio version of the forty-minute interview and see the photos Tori graciously took with the interviewers afterwards.

Tori is scheduled to perform on Chicago radio station WXRT 93.1 FM at 10:30 a.m. this morning. Even if you’re not in Chicago you can go to the website to tune in live.

“Santa” is a popular lady these days. She opened the first of two shows last night in Chicago at the Auditorium Theatre. Highlights of the show included “She’s Your Cocaine,” “Your Cloud,” and the debut of “Raspberry Swirl,” which the crowd greatly appreciated. She included one of her famous improves that paid homage to Hillary Clinton. Fans were a little disappointed that the show ended after only one encore, but one fan on Undented mentioned that they think the auditorium has a strict time limit of ending all shows on “school nights” promptly at 10:30 p.m. So either the curfew, or the fact that she flubbed up “Hotel,” were deciding factors on ending the show early. Here’s the rest of the setlist. Can’t wait to see what she plays at tonight’s second Chicago show!

Body & Soul
She’s Your Cocaine
“love Chicago” improv
Dragon
Secret Spell
You Can Bring Your Dog
Raspberry Swirl

Costume Change
Act II (Tori)
Big Wheel
Concertina
Tear In Your Hand
Cornflake Girl
Your Cloud
Take To The Sky

Solo
“everyone knows the trouble I’ve seen” improv (on Hammond)
China
Cooling (“Brambles” bridge)

Band Returns
1000 Oceans
Hotel (flubbed)
Code Red

Encore
Precious Things
Hey Jupiter

I recently came across an interesting interview with Tori that was featured on Blender.com back in October. Tori talks a little about how she developed the concept for the American Doll Posse album. The video is very well-edited, with footage from shows and the ADP photo shoot interspersed with her interview.

I hope everyone had a great Halloween! Mine was fun, but I’m still upset I missed out on viewing a Tori Halloween concert. Apparently, the Pittsburgh show on Oct. 30 was a smashing success. “Santa” opened the show dressed as a sexy angel, and later in the show she changed to red devil horns. Appropriately, “Father Lucifer” made an appearance on the setlist, as did:

Body and Soul
Hoochie Woman
Dragon
Secret Spell
She’s Your Cocaine
You Can Bring Your Dog
Big Wheel
Father Lucifer
Sugar
Cornflake Girl
Putting The Damage On
Caught a Light Sneeze
Mr. Zebra
Silent All These Years
Sister Janet
Digital Ghost
Happy Phantom
Code Red
Precious Things
Bouncing off Clouds
Hey Jupiter

All the crew members were dressed in Halloween costumes and the stage was decorated accordingly with pumpkins and graves. Matt Chamberlain was dressed as Spiderman, Dan Phelps as Flava Flav, and Jon Evans was Dracula. You can read first-hand accounts of the show here. The show can be pre-ordered through Legs and Boots.

Which brings me to a gripe. I have checked out the bootlegs portion of www.ToriAmos.com. My complaint is that the shows are there with a setlist for you to download. But you can’t purchase individual songs (say, like you could on itunes) or even preview what any of the songs sound like before you purchase. That makes me hesitant to shell out $9.99 or $14.99 for the whole set, and I’m wondering if other fans are put off by this as well. I’d love to hear from any fans who have gone ahead, bit the bullet, and ordered one of the bootlegs. How was the sound quality? Were you pleased with your purchase?

Christopher John Treacy wrote a review of the first Orpheum show in Boston for the Boston Herald. “Pip” opened the show and blessed the crowd with “Teenage Hustling,” the much welcomed “Etienne,” and “Precious Things.”

On Oct. 23, Matt Ashare posted a review of the second show at the Orpheum in Boston on the Phoenix’s website. “Clyde” opened the show and songs performed included “Girl Disappearing,” “Space Dog,” and “Spring Haze.”

Joe Sweeney’s Oct. 25 review appeared in The Buffalo News, after “Clyde’s” performance at Shea’s Performing Arts Center. Highlights included performances of “Take to the Sky,” “Your Cloud,” and “Here. In My Head.” But apparently the most memorable moment of the night was when Tori’s timing got thrown off during “Big Wheel,” causing her to yell out a string of cursewords in frustration.

Wow. Joey DiGuglielmo wrote an extremely comprehensive (and positive) review of “Isabel’s” Oct. 26 show at DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C. for the Washington Blade’s blog. He even included the twenty-three song setlist for the geeks in all of us. Thank you, Joey!

Ticket Sale/Venue Update

If you were planning on attending the Nov. 26 show in Austin, TX, sadly, you’re out of luck. Undented is reporting that Tori will now be playing at the Majestic Theatre in San Antonio due to renovations going on at the venue in Austin that won’t be completed in time. No VIP tickets will be available for the San Antonio Show. The change in venue isn’t showing up yet on Ticketmaster or www.toriamos.com but hopefully it will soon.

All you fans who are planning to attend the Pittsburgh show on Oct. 30 are in for a real treat. Undented reported that the Benedum Center show is going to be Halloween-themed! Apparently Tori’s entire crew will be dressing up, and she’s requesting that the fans follow suit. Oh, to be a fly on the wall at that show . . . For all fans who will be in attendance, please let me know how it goes and I can share your tales in a future blog post.

Back by popular demand! Fresh from the success of the 2005 boxed bootlegs set, Tori has upped the ante and will be offering digital downloads of certain shows from this tour at Legs and Boots. Recordings will be made available within a few hours of a show’s completion for $9.99 as 256 kbps mp3s. For those who like their music compressed without the quality loss, FLAC files will be available as well for $14.99. Gotta love that instant gratification, especially if you’re salivating over a particular set like I often do during the tours.

I’m working on a round-up of all the newspaper reviews of the tour that have hit the presses in the past few weeks. Stay tuned for that.

In the meantime, I’m interested to hear about some of your experiences with the VIP ticket sales. Was it worth the extra money? Did the meet and greet go smoothly? How was the sound check? What kinds of goodies were in the gift bag? Let me know!

Go to THIS LINK to purchase the VIP Tickets for Tori Amos’ 2007 American Doll Posse Tour.

VIP Tickets for the following shows go on sale TOMORROW, August 2nd!!!!

*Tue, Oct. 9th show at Palace Theatre in Albany Gold ONLY
*Sat, Oct. 13th show at the Landmark Theatre in Syracuse Gold ONLY
*Wed, Oct. 24th show at Shea’s Performing Arts Center in Buffalo Platinum & Gold still available

What’s the big deal about VIP Tickets anyway?

Well, I’ll tell you.
Platinum Package includes:
-One (1) reserved ticket in the first 10 rows of the venue
-Special viewing of a portion of Tori’s sound check
-Meet and Greet with Tori before the show
-An exclusive Tori gift bag
-Crowd free merchandise shopping

Gold package includes:
-One (1) reserved ticket in the first 20 rows of the venue
-Special viewing of a portion of Tori’s sound check
-An exclusive Tori gift bag
-Crowd free merchandise shopping

More dates with VIP Tickets will be announced soon.

So loosen up those fingers, add the Ticket Master link to your favorites and say Omm! a few times for good measure…

Tori Amos, U.S. Tour 2007, American Doll Posse Tour, VIP Tickets, Update, Ticket Master, On sale, Albany, Syracuse, Buffalo

I received this email a couple of hours ago, but my power went out so I was unable to post it right away. This email comes directly from The Tori Store:

The Tori Store has now partnered with Ticketmaster to provide Tori fans with VIP Ticket Packages for the upcoming North American leg of the American Doll Posse Tour. Going on sale this Thursday (Aug 2) at 10 am EST will be the VIP Ticket Packages still available for the following shows:

Albany Gold (ONLY)
Syracuse Gold (ONLY)
Buffalo Platinum
Buffalo Gold

Please note there are an extremely limited number of packages available and they are sold on a first come first serve basis.

Also, due to the Pittsburgh show not being a Ticketmaster venue we will NOT be able to sell any further VIP Ticket Packages for this show.

Tori VIP Ticket Packages can be found at the Ticketmaster link provided.

Stay tuned for information about more on-sale dates for additional VIP Ticket Packages coming next week.

For more information visit The Tori Store.

Thanks,
The Tori Store

So does this mean all the stuff you told us about the VIP tickets only being on sale through The Tori Store doesn’t count anymore?

Yes, that’s exactly what it means. The VIP Tickets WILL NOT be on sale through The Tori Store, as previously indicated. I suppose when their website crashed (and crashed hard, from what I gather) they begged and pleaded with Ticket Master to offer these tickets.

Will I need a password to get these tickets, like with the pre-sale tickets for the concerts?

Not from what I understand so far. It should be a fairly simple transaction, if you can get them before they sell out, that is…

Tori Amos, American Doll Posse 2007 Tour, VIP Tickets Update, Ticket Master

Most of the various press articles that the tour announcement on ToriAmos.com from last week spurred held similar information, most of which one would expect for a tour release article.

There was, however, one that promised a “follow up with a twist,” as well as confirmation of another set of bootlegs from this tour to add to her success with the 2005 Tour Bootlegs.

Tori Amos and the American Doll Posse Set Out On U.S. Tour This Fall

NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–After playing to sell out crowds in Europe and Australia this year, Tori Amos is heading state-side this fall for the U.S. leg of her world tour. Kicking off in Albany, NY on October 9th and finishing in Los Angeles, CA on December 17th, Amos, joined this time around by her band, will be playing close to 50 dates on this US leg. iTunes and Ticketmaster are partnering with Amos for an exclusive ticket pre-sale starting Wednesday, July 25th.

Most recently, Tori released her 9th studio album entitled American Doll Posse on which she introduced a quartet of new alter-egos named Santa, Pip, Clyde and Isabel. The critically acclaimed album - which the New York Times called ““Her most entertaining album in years” - entered the charts at #5, making it her sixth album to debut in the US Top 10. This places Tori among an exclusive club of female artists that includes Mary J. Blige, Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, Janet Jackson, Madonna, LeAnn Rimes, Britney Spears and Barbra Streisand.

Sydney Morning Herald Article (July 26, 2007)

The Sydney Morning Herald article previewing the September tour in Australia.

Brett Winterford
July 26, 2007

Tori Amos invents a posse of imaginary women to take her politics to the world.

Concept albums are tricky things. They are so often too forced, too smug, too moral. American Doll Posse, Tori Amos’s ninth studio album, risks becoming these and more. After all, it’s not only fiercely political but sees Tori Amos reinventing herself as five separate personalities, with each one responsible for different songs. Yet instead of changing her image just to remain current, Amos is using the identities to criticise a culture lacking in strong role models for young women.

“Women today, under this right-wing Christian America, they are a compartmentalised version of what a woman is supposed to be,” she says. “They are either career women, which means you’re a bitch, or you’re a mother. It’s too simple for me. In the Christian tradition we were only given Mary Magdalene and Mother Mary. But there’s so much between those two extremes that represent what women really are.”

Tori Amos, American Doll Posse, 2007 Tour, Australia, September, North America

Well, at least it’s not my job to coordinate all these updates; I just have to try and keep up with them.

These come via my email subscription to The Tori Store and ToriAmos.com:

*A second show at the Orpheum Theatre in Boston has been announced. This one will be on Friday, October 19th. Tickets for the second show (the first show went on general sale yesterday) go on-sale Friday, August 3rd at 10:00 AM EST. At this time, it is unknown whether or not there will be a pre-sale for this show.

*VIP Ticket Packages will NOT be available in the following cities: New York, Toronto, Detroit, Louisville

*Here is a reminder of the list of shows that go on sale within the next week, or that are already on sale:

10/9 Albany On-sale Fri, 8/3 10am EST

10/11-12 NYC On-sale Fri, 8/3 10am EST

10/13 Syracuse On-sale Fri, 8/3 10am EST

10/15 Philadelphia (already on sale)

10/18 Boston (already on sale)

10/19 Boston On-sale Fri, 8/3 10am EST
** this show just added!**

10/21 Montreal on-sale Sat, 8/4 12pm EST

10/23 Toronto On-sale Mon, 7/30 10am EST

10/24 Buffalo On-sale Fri, 8/3 10am EST

10/26 Washington DC On-Sale Now!

10/27 Detroit On-Sale Now!

10/28 Louisville On-sale Fri, 8/3 10am EST

10/30 Pittsburgh On-sale Fri, 8/3 9am EST

Remember, more tour dates will be announced shortly…

*An alert reader from undented.com reported that the venue for Tori Amos’ Minneapolis show on November 7 will be the Northrup Auditorium. Tickets have not gone on sale yet, but the box office indicated that they would most likely go on sale some time in September.

*Another update from ToriAmos.com mentions that in order to get tickets for the Montreal show, you need to follow the link to the venue’s website, the Place des Arts and follow the instructions through their website. Tickets for the Montreal show will not be on sale through Ticket Master! There is a ticket reservation system with a listing for the performance and tickets will still be available at the date and time listed: Saturday, August 4th at 12:00 Noon, EST.

Tori Amos, American Doll Posse Tour, North American Tour Updates, Albany, NYC, Syracuse, Philadelphia, Boston, Second Boston Show Added, Montreal, Toronto, Buffalo, Washington DC, Detroit, Louisville, Pittsburgh, Minneapolis Venue, Montreal Tickets

Tickets for the Louisville, KY show will go on sale to the general public NEXT Friday, August 3rd at 10:00 a.m. NOT today, as previously announced.

The Tori Store is up and running (hoorah!) but the VIP Tickets are not available yet (booo!). There will be mass emailing with plenty of advance notice as to when they will be available again. So my advice is to go to The Tori Store website and follow the instructions for

Email Newsletter Sign Up.

This will create your account, if you don’t already have one, so that you will receive the email when the VIP Tickets are available, AND it will ease the check-out process, as you will already be established in the system.

There is also a FAQ Section about the VIP Tickets, detailing the differences between the Gold and Platinum tickets, where and when to arrive…

1. What do I get with my Platinum VIP Ticket Package?
2. What do I get with my Gold VIP Ticket Package?
3. I don’t see my date for sale. When will the rest of the shows go on-sale?
4. When will I receive my ticket for the show?
5. When should I plan to arrive at the venue?
6. Will I meet Tori?
7. How long are VIP Ticket Packages available to purchase?
8. How do I get added to your mailing list?
9. None of these answered my questions. How do I get into touch with you?

My understanding is that NOT every show on this leg of her tour will allow VIP Tickets, for one bureaucratic reason or another. So if your city isn’t listed as having VIP Tickets yet, keep checking back. But if the tickets are on sale for the show in your city and there are no VIP Tickets listed with The Tori Store, looks like you’re outta luck. Unless you want to travel to the next closest city, which for me would mean going to Atlanta, which would mean 10+ hours in the car each way, so let’s all hold hands and say “Ommm” in the hopes that VIP Tickets will be available for the FL show.

Tori Amos, U.S. Tour, American Doll Posse Tour, Louisville, KY, Sale Date Change, VIP Tickets update, FAQ

An important VIP ticket message from the folks at The Tori Store, that comes via undented.com:

Hello patient Tori Store customers,

As many of you are well aware, we had many problems with our VIP Ticket sale. First off, sincere apologies for this. We knew the demand was going to be amazing and were told the technology we had in place would be able to handle this. Unfortunately not.

Having said that, there are a lot of orders that were successfully placed and those people have been emailed and notified.

We would like to point out that before our server crashed we did sell out of VIP Packages for the following…

Syracuse Platinum
Philadelphia Gold
Philadelphia Platinum
Boston Gold
Boston Platinum
DC Gold
DC Platinum
Pittsburgh Platinum

Additional packages are still available for:
Albany Gold
Albany Platinum
Syracuse Gold
Buffalo Gold
Buffalo Platinum
Pittsburgh Gold
and will be back on sale shortly. As well as packages for over 20 more dates.

Please note we were able to capture the check-out queue successfully and responded to those who were in line before tickets sold out. If we have not individually responded to you then it means your attempt was not successful regardless of whether you had tickets in your shopping cart or not. Please remember this is a very limited supply offer.

We will be continuing with the VIP Ticket sales but orders will not be fulfilled directly through our servers. We will be sure to send out emails announcing new and additional on-sale dates and where you need to go to purchase. All this information will also be available on the front page of The Tori Store as soon as it is available.

Once again, apologies for all the confusion and frustration. As regular customers know this is not a usual occurrence. We did everything we could to rectify the situation in real time but after a while we had no choice but to take the site down. The Tori Store will be back up and running Thursday morning, excluding any VIP Ticket Packages.

Thanks for your patience,
The Tori Store

So if you were one of the people who had the tickets in their cart, check all 12 of your email addresses to see if The Tori Store has accounted for yours or not.

One more thing: The VIP Tickets are non-refundable and non-transferable.
What does that mean?
If someone else purchases tickets for you (qualifying for a non-transferable clause): As is always the case online, when you purchase with a credit card you are required to include both a billing address and a shipping address. If someone else — your mom, brother, roommate, summer school teacher, pit bull, whoever —purchases VIP tickets for you and puts them on their credit card, as long as they use the address that is on your personal ID/Driver’s License as the SHIPPING ADDRESS, you will be able to get your tickets. In other words, as long as the billing address or shipping address — one or the other — is the one on your personal ID, you’re good to go.

The Tori Store is still not online yet, but keep checking!!!

Patience truly is a virtue.

Tori Amos, U.S. Tour, VIP Tickets, Tori Store, Update

Okay, so here’s the real deal:
The pre-sale tickets for cities previously listed, but I’ll list them again because I’m so nice:
Albany, NYC, Syracuse, Philadelphia, Boston, Buffalo, Washington DC, Detroit, and Louisville, are ON SALE NOW!!!!

You must go to the Ticket Master website (open that link in a new window) AND you must have your password from when you pre-ordered American Doll Posse from iTunes.

What if I didn’t pre-order American Doll Posse from iTunes?
You will not be able to order the pre-sale tickets. The tickets are being sold through Ticket Master, but you need to have the password from your pre-order purchase of the album through iTunes, NOT your TicketMaster account password.

What about the VIP Tickets? Can I still buy those if I didn’t pre-order American Doll Posse from iTunes?
Yes and no.
Yes, you must go to The Tori Store to order the VIP tickets. Only certain cities have VIP tickets available. However, due to the fact that the new site launched only days ago, there has been a breakdown within the site and the message reads as follows:

Due to the overwhelming response from fans for the VIP Ticket Packages, we have experienced unforeseen extreme technical difficulties and have had to temporarily take down The Tori Store in order to fix these problems. We apologize for all the frustration that this can caused. We are working very hard to resolve the problems as soon as possible. VIP Tickets will go back on sale. We will let everyone know via email when that will be so you can all plan accordingly. Please bear with us.

Thank you,
The Tori Store

So the best advice I can give is to make sure that you have an account set up with the new Tori Amos website so you will receive an email alert when the VIP tickets will be on sale again. VIP Tickets are ONLY FOR SALE through the Tori Store, so don’t check Ticket Master for those.

Confused yet?

Email or comment with any questions and I will do my level best to answer them.

Tori Amos, American Doll Posse Tour, North American Tour, U.S. Tour, VIP Tickets, Update, Pre-Sale Tickets, iTunes, Ticket Master

Pre-sale info has been added for NY, Detroit, and Toronto.

Please note that the regular on-sale dates will be the Friday immediately following the pre-sale date.

10/11 Madison Square Garden, NYC
iTunes pre-sale begins Wednesday, July 25th, 10am Eastern

10/12 Madison Square Garden, NYC
iTunes pre-sale begins Wednesday, July 25th, 10am Eastern

10/23 Toronto, CANADA
Circle Of Friends pre-sale begins Thursday, July 26th, 10am Eastern
**you need to be a member of Hummingbird Centre’s Circle Of Friends to participate in this pre-sale

10/28 Detroit, MI
iTunes pre-sale begins Wednesday, July 25th, 10am Eastern

There have been some disgruntled Tori fans with regard to the iTunes exclusive pre-sales. (Hell hath no fury like a Tori Amos fan scorned…isn’t that the saying?)

The deal is this: if you pre-ordered American Doll Posse through the iTunes Store, you received a log in ID and password. The log in and password given to you for the album pre-sale will be the same for the concert tickets pre-sale, which will begin July 25th at 10am. You will receive another email from iTunes when more shows become available for this promotion.

As I mentioned in a previous post, the shows with pre-sales so far are the following:
Albany, NYC, Syracuse, Philadelphia, Boston, Buffalo, Washington DC, Detroit, and Louisville.

But it is my understanding that you should still be able to purchase pre-sale tickets through the TicketMaster website, as it states the pre-sale dates and times. I can’t seem to find any confirmation or denial of this. Anyone with any information leading to the resolution of this hot topic will be rewarded with… the knowledge that he or she helped resolve the issue… or …something…

Tori Amos, Updated Pre-Sale Ticket Information, American Doll Posse Tour, North American Dates, U.S. Tour

The following shows will have a pre-sale date of this Wednesday (yes, that’s tomorrow!) at 10:00 a.m. The link will take you to the TicketMaster site with more info:

Albany, Syracuse, Upper Darby, Boston, Buffalo, Washington D.C., and Louisville.

In addition, the Madison Square Garden show is listed as going on sale on August 3rd, so the pre-sale for that show will most likely be next Wednesday.

updated tour information, Tori Amos, American Doll Posse, U.S. Tour Dates