Floating City

Beacon Theatre Show, Night #1: A typical New York show

December 2, 2011
Beacon Theatre
New York, New York

Shattering Sea
Landslide (solo)
Suede
Way Down (solo)
Cloud On My Tongue
Leather
Putting The Damage On (solo)
Jackie’s Strength (solo)
Mr. Zebra (solo)
Fearlessness
Maybe California
Star Whisperer
Twinkle (solo)
Gold Dust (solo)
Toast (solo)
Siren
Your Ghost
Nautical Twilight
Cruel

Encore:
A Multitude of Shades
Baker Baker
Spring Haze
Precious Things
Big Wheel

I have not been following setlists at all this tour, and I am completley not loving the new album (it's boring), so hopping into the tour experience was a bit weird and otherworldly, since I was not at all mentally prepared.  I was mostly excited to see everybody.  New York shows do tend to be a little lacklustre, but they are exciting because I always see so many familiar faces.  The Beacon Theatre is one of my favourite theatres ever, and I have never had the pleasure of seeing Tori perform there. 

I showed up without tickets, and managed to get some that were basically in the ass end of the orchestra behind the soundboard.  I think I probably would have enjoyed the show a little bit more if I had managed to get closer.  Everyone told me that the Philly show was like amazing, so I was a little bit disappointed by this show.  This has much less to do with the strings than with the setlist itself.  This show was very much a New York show: as Tori is aware of the music industry presence when she plays the city, she tends to play it safe.  The shows inevitably are restrained and filled with unadventurous song choices.  This show was no different.

I am finding myself a little more skeptical of these shows than perhaps some other fans.  I am very specific in what I like about the shows: I want it to rock.  I absolutely love the band.  The strings thing is something Tori probably should have done a long time ago and it was really amazing to see her live shows with such a different treatment, but it's still not my preference. But perhaps I will feel differently once I have a couple more shows under my belt.

The adventure that was the Zurich show

July 14, 2010
Live at Sunset
Zurich, Switzerland

Little Earthquakes
Beauty of Speed
Cloud on My Tongue
Wednesday
Black Dove
Virginia
Rattlesnakes
Carbon
Ribbons Undone
Icicle
Concertina
Famous Blue Raincoat
China
Curtain Call
Space Dog
Precious Things

Encore 1:
Bliss
Putting the Damage on

Encore 2:
The Power of Orange Knickers
Take to the Sky

The morning of the show, E. and I had to drive an hour in the wrong direction back to Milan.  There, we had to go visit the orthopedic surgeon who had to review E.'s x-rays.  She was then informed that she needed surgery, and a pin put in her foot.  E. borrowed a pair of crutches from her friend Alessandra.  It was then decided that we would go to the show instead of skipping it.  I know this sounds insane and super hardcare, but at this point in time Elyse was still quite mobile and doing well.  Her foot got worse with the drive, seeing as it was difficult to elevate and it started turning blue and purple.

Then we headed to the show.  The drive through the Alps was really breathtaking.  We saw beautiful blue alpine lakes, quaint towns situated in valleys, and towering peaks.  It was gorgeous and very Swiss.  We found the road signs with German names amusing, and had fun attempting to pronounce them in an overdone German accent.  We finally reached Zurich, and went to our room to decompress.  We got room service, since E.'s condition had deteriorated a bit.  We arranged for transport to the venue.

The show itself was alright.  I feel like it was difficult for me to enjoy this show for a couple of reasons.  For one, I had growing concern for E.'s injury and whether it would be safe for her to drive herself home or not.  Also, after the explosiveness of the Milan show, it almost felt redundant.  We caught a bit of a thunder storm during the show, and were treated to both lightning strikes, rain, and a rainbow.

HIGHLIGHTS:

Wednesday: OMG! Yes!  I have been wanting to hear this song again for seven years! Finally!  The only thing missing was Matt Chamberlain.

Black Dove: "I have to get to Texas" parts were epic.  I admit that I found this song a bit boring for many years, but it is growing on me again.

Solo show in Milan (con formaggio)

July 13, 2010
Villa Arconati
Milan, Italy

Beauty of Speed
Girl
That Guy
Caught a Lite Sneeze
Doughnut Song
Space Dog
Dragon
Northern Lad
I'm on Fire
Bouncing Off Clouds
Gold Dust
Siren
Rattlesnakes
Yes, Anastasia
Bells for Her
Take to the Sky

Encore
Personal Jesus/Body and Soul
Hey Jupiter

My presence at this show was a bizarre matter of happenstance.  The way the dates slowly trickled out for this not-a-tour lead to logistical problems for a great many fans.  I had never intended on crossing the Atlantic for any of them.  But as luck had it, this summer my boyfriend and I finally took our  month-long trip to Italy.  (We have been planning on doing this trip for many years now, and this was our most opportune time.)  The purposes of this trip had nothing to do with Tori Amos, and more of my desire to really dig deep and spend some time exploring this rich and amazing country.  (I have always found ways in the past to skip Tori shows in Italy, knowing I would just be frustrated seeing one or two cities.)  The day before, I left Mike in Rome (to fly back to Canada) and I took the train up to an obscure town in Tuscany where my dear touring partner E. lives.  We drove up to Milan together.

We got there early enough for the meet and greet. We were worried that we would be late.  However, the meet and greet ended up being enormously late.  We were also joined by E.'s fantastic Italian friends, who were just awesome.  We spent the afternoon hanging out with a bunch of Tori fans from all over the place who all hid in the shade from the absolutely hot/humid sunny day (molto caldo). We joked that there were so many countries represented at this meet and greet, that we should have had a world cup of rock paper scissors to kill time.  Tori finally came out and I must say, she looked fantastic.  She looked much more natural and happy than the last tour.  And I think she has put on a little bit of weight, which looks absolutely fantastic and 100% better.  We were very far back in the crowd at the meet and greet when Mindi started warning everyone that there was no time.  But of course Tori stayed to talk to every single person.  I spoke to her very briefly.  She recognized me, and I told her I had already been in Italy for a month.  Then we exchanged words extolling the virtues of Italian wine.  I would have loved to have asked her a couple of questions, but I was accutely aware of the time limit and how many people were left, so I was courteous and made sure our exchange was very quick.

Announcement

My travel has been booked, and I am making it official: Floating City is going to be covering the Zurich show in July.  I am actually taking a completely unrelated trip to Italy with my boyfriend, and I decided to tack this on to the end. If I'll be in Europe already, why not? I will be travelling there with E. While I was not expecting to see Tori for at least another year, I am very much looking forward to this continuation of my Tori Amos adventures.  As always, the Floating City awaits.

Greetings from the dead

I unfortunately haven't anything Tori Amos related to post right now, since we are in that awkward between tour time.  I am only posting to be completely self-serving and announce that I have began a new blog: Suzetopia.  It is a television and pop culture blog, and I post every day. So please check it out! Us tour folk do have interests outside of Tori.

Artist's Den taping

December 9, 2009
Park Avenue Armory
New York, NY

Ruby Through the Looking Glass
China
Lust
Concertina (messed up)
Virginia
Black Dove (January)
Wednesday
Ophelia
Girl
Bells For Her
Toast

Encore:
Concertina (redo)
Maybe California

This was a "secret show."  The audience was only a couple of hundred people in a very small space, and many of us did not have entry into this show since it was for contest winners.  Nonetheless, we got in anyways. We waited outside until every one had been allowed in, and they let us stand at the back of the venue to watch.  Every one who wanted to get in and didn't have tickets was allowed to enter. The standing room space was not big and was kind of uncomfortable, so I spent parts of the show lying down in the pile of our winter coats in the big empty space at the back. I was tired, and standing for China? I don't think so.  I feel fortunate that we were able to go to the show at all. I don't think that I enjoyed this show as much as I could have, due to being stuck in the back, but it was awesome to get to watch the show with my friends (I watched with Carole, Sharon, Nicole and Marco IT).

This was a rather strange show.  Opening with Ruby? Bizarre.  But I also think that, like many shows this tour, you cannot really judge it unless you were there (based solely upon the setlist).  This setlist reads as some good, some meh, and a real lack of fan favourites.  But it was her vocal performance that put it over the edge.  She sounded good, and the high notes were crystal clear.  I am impressed with how well she has sounded for the duration of tour this year.  She hasn't sounded so good since 2001.  Even back in 2003, by now, her voice was rough and had clearly disintegrated a little bit thanks to her rigorous touring schedule and dozens of two-hour long shows.  But whatever she did this time, it's working.  I think her voice, the strange venue (an old armory) and the bizarre setlist made this an atypical show experience. I've definitely never seen Tori like this before.

HIGHLIGHTS:

Ruby Through the Looking Glass: I used to just adore this song, but I've fallen out of love with it over the years.  I think that Apollo's Frock is the best piano ballad on Scarlet's Hidden Treasures by far.  But I still can't get over the fact she opened with such an obscure song.  Weird.

Virginia: One of the best songs on Scarlet's Walk.  Beautiful and stunning as always (but still sounds better with the band.)

Wednesday: Yes! I have wanted her to revive this song (with the band) since 2003 to no avail.  But this solo version did nicely.  Sharon and I (ironically) did the eagle dance in our back corner.

DEATH CHAMBER:

Maybe California: While there are a number of songs here I would consider death chamber, none of them match the bullshittyness of this one.  I was disappointed because from the piano intro, I thought it was going to Amber Waves and got excited.  But then, it wasn't.  Sigh.  This song is just bad.  It's almost unbearable.

WNYC Soundcheck performance

Tori Amos is a part of the rhythm nation.

 

December 9, 2009
 WNYC’s Jerome L. Greene Performance Space
New York, NY

Star of Wonder
A Silent Night with You
Pink and Glitter

This was of course a short appearance, however, I think this may have been my favourite event that I attended this week.Tori looked really great, even though her outfit really looked like an Abnormally Attracted to Sin does Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation.   While I am not a fan of any of these songs (particularly the last two), the interview segment was really amazing.  Tori was in good spirits, and was really funny.  We all thought it was particularly hilarious when she joked, "I have a bullshit answer for everything!" This of course is true, as we all have become familiar with her favourite talking points.  This record they are: S-O-N, S-U-N, ancient Persians, minister's daughter, etc. etc.  This interview was definitely interesting and fun, and we all really liked it.

**Pardon the photo.  The memory card in my camera died this week, and I forgot to bring a spare (which I normally do). Instead, I have been relying on my iPhone for photography.

Greetings from the center of the universe

Peter Z., Ahmad and Marco IT

Nicole, Sand and myself.

Marco, passed out drunk, under a dog pile.

December 7, 2009
Manhattan Center Grand Ballroom
New York, NY

Lady in Blue
Star of Wonder
Gold Dust
A Silent Night With You
Silent All These Years
Pink and Glitter
Winter

I should start off by memorializing Maynard, my trusty laptop for many years. It was on this computer that I blogged every single one of my tour entries dating back to the beginning of ADP.  However, Maynard had seen better years, and it is time to now retire him (due to a myriad of hardware and software problems).  Now, I use my new laptop, which I have yet to name.  This is the inaugural entry, and boy am I already frustrated!  This new keyboard is a bitch to get used to.  I suppose it will come in time.

Last night I attended the live taping of the eTown Live Radio show taping.  It was... alright.  My reaction to the music is that the performance was lukewarm at best... I had low expectations in the first place.   Mostly, I was happy to see everyone all in the same place again, only if it was for a hot minute.  Christmas music is really not my scene, and I think A Silent Night With You is about twelve kinds of lame all at once.  I couldn't help but cringe when she sang that first line.  But talking to others, I have determined that I am in the minority.  Everyone seems gung-ho on this whole Christmas thing, but it just doesn't sit right with me.

HIGHLIGHTS:

Lady in Blue: Amazing as always, but always so much better with the band.

Gold Dust: Such a gorgeous song, and always my favourite.  The best part of the set by far.

DEATH CHAMBER:

Everything else.

My lack of response to this performance can perhaps be attributed to the fact that it is a radio show.  Of course I knew this coming in, but it really is always a neutered version of what Tori is really capable of.  No one expects her to pull out Ode to the Banana King.  But these events are fun for what they are, and I am glad that I attended.

Midwinter Graces: Responses

I normally like to wait a while to write my reviews of Tori's new records (including Abnormally Attracted to Sin, which I have yet to write about).  However, I cannot restrain my feelings on this, and it seems necessary before I embark this Sunday to New York for the promotional blitz that is happening all next week. I must unload my thoughts.

Midwinter Graces... Sigh.  Christmas (Capitalismas? Consumerismas? Take your pick.) music tends towards the trite, mawkish, insipid, cliche, schmaltzy, cheesy, totes lames, or one of ten other million adjectives.  And as many who work in retail or restaurants as any such customer service person can attest, listening to this stuff all day can easily put one into the mood for a spree of axe murders.  So perhaps my qualm is not so much with MWG itself, but with the entire concept.  I aknowledge that this is entirely a result of my own baggage.  Some people like myself are just racist against Christmas music.  And now two polar opposites of my world, my most loved musician of all of the artists that I listen to, and a genre of music that I can tolerate only slightly more than the pariah of all musical genres, country music, have collided. (If Tori makes a country album, I am throwing in the towel.)

 I first should mention the atrocious album cover, which has now even made a list of the worst album covers of the year.  I concur fully.  While Tori does look like an over-photoshopped robotic version of herself from a Final Fantasy spin-off, what is even more horrendous is the horrible flying gayngel on the back. Why is he wearing skinny pants? And the fact that this is her nephew, likely half her age, adds an entire new dimension of creepy.

The record itself, to be honest, I haven't listened to once the entire way through once. I just can't do it. I had to listen in shifts, taking breaks to crawl under a piece of furniture in the fetal position.  Had Tori relied on one of her greatest talents, and that is her propensity for collapsing the dichotomy between the sacred and the profane, the spiritual and the sexual, then this album had potential to be interesting.  I think this album would have benefit by offering some continuity with her earlier work, such as including a re-recorded slightly Christmasized version of Purple People (Christmas in Space) which is an actual awesome Tori song. And if we are talking covers, how awesome would have been a studio version of her cover of Joni Mitchell's River with a full string section?  But no avail. This is for all intents and purposes a relatively run-of-the-mill Christmas record.  With outright Christian Christmas songs on it. I would certainly argue that this record fails to avoid the pitfalls of holiday records.  And to this end, I refer specifically to singing some fairly same-old same-old songs, and the inclusion of such unforgivable, pedestrian stylizations such as sleigh bell noises.  And do not even get me started on Mac Aladdin's guitar playing, which is at its worst of the worst on this record.  And also, "The radio plays my holiday faves." Embarrassing.  I think she relies too much on pretty piano playing and her pretty voice.  A little bit of Pip-style growling would have benefit the entire record and defied the stereotype.

The journey home: Tour epilogue

My banana at the Pantheon.

I throw my change into the Trevi fountain

A rooftop terrace where we had an aperativo.  From here, you could see the Vatican, and a few other dome style churches.

Because I waited so long to book my flight home, there was not a great variety of flights to pick from.  On my way home to Toronto from Warsaw, I had an overnight layover in Rome.  This ended up working out, because E. was going to Italy for a week anyways.  My other option was a much shorter overnight layover in Helsinki, plus one more flight to get home... And I was not into that at all. So Rome it was.  This is a bit frustrating for me, since I am obsessed with Italy and have managed to avoid seeing Tori there at all costs.  All because I want to take a big trip there and see it all at once, instead of getting gipped and frustrated.  (At this point, it is early next summer that I am planning on finally taking this trip.)  But alas, I am glad that I went.

E. and I had a really good time.  We stayed with a friend of hers who was kind enough to let us crash.  We didn't do much or see much... What can you in six hours?  But I did manage to see Mussolini's palace, the Pantheon (it was closed though), and the Trevi fountain.  I went through all of my foreign change, and came up with a few handfuls of change containing the currencies of every country I visited, and also Canada.  I threw these handfuls into the fountain, and it was a nice way of saying goodbye to tour and Europe.  And as the myth goes, if you throw change in, you will return to Rome.  Hopefully this will come true.  This moment was special, as I bid farewell to tour again until next time. (But I will be back, you bet your ass.)

Then we went on an eating marathon which was kind of awesome... I may or may not have eaten gelato twice.  And also there was limoncello.  And many good foods of Italy. Amazing.

E. warned me that Rome is dirty and busy, which may be true, but Italy is amazing. I've always said that France is my favourite, but I know Italy is - I just haven't seen it yet.  And I have vowed not to miss the shows next time!