Tori Amos

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.