MY TORI AMOS TRIP
 DECEMBER 2002
Vancouver, Seattle, Portland

    Today in my journal I am going to tell you all about my tori amos trip 2002! Last week I went on a wonderful journey to see my favourite singer/songwriter Tori Amos at three stops on her west coast tour! The first was in Vancouver (Dec 9th/02 Queen Elizabeth Theatre), the second in Seattle, WA (Dec 10th/02 Key arena), and the third and final in Portland, OR (Dec 11th/02 Chiles Centre)! Read on to hear about all the wonderful experiences including concert setlists, reviews, pictures and more!
    PART ONE: VANCOUVER BC: The day started out with me and my sister ashley, friend diana, and old singing buddy ursa heading down to the queen elizabeth theatre early in the morning to the meet and greet! Boy were we cold! We met up with our friend mike, and had a wonderful morning holding our spot in line and meeting other tori fans! Some wonderful people came along like Jared, Mike, Josh, VibratingKitty, Jenn Boyd and her friends, and my dear old friend Raquel (who wound up hanging out with us the whole tour!) It was a wonderful day!
    At around 3pm we were herded into the gates, and started to wait for tori! We sang like angels in the pouring rain waiting for the red-headed-beast to come say hi! Finally she arrived wearing a little hat and an army jacket! She was very sweet, signing autographs and taking photos! My friend Jenn boyd requested NORTHERN LAD, Ursa gave tori a wonderful book and a pile of presents that excited her very much! When she came up to me I was quite nervous and I got a hug from her, she took a photo with me, and while thanking her for so many wonderful years of music I managed to fumble out a request for my favourite song SISTER JANET... she wrote it on her hand and was off! It was a meet and greet to remember!
    After that we went to a wonderful dinner out at whitespot downtown and chatted tori with some fans...    
    The concert itself was amazing! We had great seats in 5th row right in the middle.... the setup for the stage was gorgeous - very heavy on the lights and effect, with a glowing backdrop and a mountain range motif... Tori's piano and Suitcase/Wurlitzer were placed in the middle with the drum kit to the right and the bass setup on the left! It was a sparse arrangement for a full band show, but it sounded great, and tori and the band did a wicked job of creating as many sounds as possible using what they had!
    WAMPUM PRAYER started the show, sung offstage a capella, and as soon as it was over the curtain dropped to reveal the band playing a long drum/bass intro. After a few moments tori skipped onto stage with a big smile, grabbing energy from the crowd, and stood at the piano and started the familiar chords to A SORTA FAIRYTALE. This was a good opening number - sounds far more intense and less polished than the studio version, but really brought out the emotion of the song. BLISS came next - the lights were wild and her performance was great! The drums in this song kick ass... CRUCIFY was next - an extended 10 minute version with slow verses sung just to the drums and bass, and then the bridge/chorus part went back into the typical recording style... it was great though - one of the best versions I've heard! TAKE TO THE SKY, SWEET SANGRIA, and PRECIOUS THINGS followed.... the energy was building and her performance seemed to be getting stronger and stronger throughout the show - I noticed that tori wasn't going quite as wild as she used to in the past, but precious things was still quite intense with her trademark crotch grab, and incredible grrrrrrrrrrrl bit... next she played HORSES which has always been one of my favourites - it was so beautiful with the band! Very quiet and subtle drums, but the gorgeous lights and piano just created an atmosphere like nothing I've ever seen. One complaint was that it was a strange song to put in the middle of the set - definitely a good closing number. WEDNESDAY was fun and upbeat - this one is obviously played a lot and really showed in the solid performance.
    At this point in the show the ROADSIDE CAFE sign lit up and came down, and tori did her 'secret time' three songs by herself at the piano. After a little improv and story she went into JACKIE'S STRENGTH - one of her best, which had me and my friends in tears. Next was SISTER JANET which was obviously the highlight of the show because she played it for me! It was only the 2nd time on the tour this song was played so it was a very special moment. It was a beautiful performance, and I was happy to know that she has now played this song for me once on each tour since 1996! Again, we cried! MARIANNE was next, and followed perfectly after SJ thematically and musically. It was very emotional and intense.
    The band returned for YOUR CLOUD - a new song I didn't really care for until I heard this live version - stunning! CORNFLAKE GIRL followed - one of my least favourites, but it still rocked... then GIRL - a highlight as well! I'm really happy she's bringing this song back into the set! AMBER WAVES - a new favourite, sounded incredible live - followed by HOTEL which was absolutely sublime! The lights during this were great, and it was so cool to watch tori pounding away on the same key during the middle bits. The main set finished with I CAN'T SEE NEW YORK (epic!) and SPRING HAZE which has such energy during this tour! The build-up, the lights and the sound made this song sound better than ever! It was a great finish to the set!   
    First encore was TAXI RIDE, HONEY, and SPACEDOG - this was like the best encore ever! For one, we made our way to the front of the stage so we had the perfect view, and were only a few feet away from tori! TAXI RIDE was so perfect - one of the highlights on this tour... very bitter sweet, and it really seems to sum up a lot of the themes on the new record. HONEY was beautiful with the band, and quite a rare treat - and SPACEDOG - OMG - obviously like one of her top three best songs ever - had us all in tears again!
    The last encore was nice as well - THE WAITRESS tour debut... wild! She did the short version, similar to the album, but a very heavy and intense chorus - where she would wail "I believe in peace" then throw her head back and scream "BITCH!" it was awesome... definitely as heavy as she got during this show. The last song of the night was PUTTING THE DAMAGE ON... a strange choice to close with, but still a very nice finish. This is a song a lot of people seem to relate to and love dearly!  
    All in all, this show was amazing!
    PART TWO: SEATTLE, WA: My travel buddies for the American shows were Ursa, and Matt I (a new fan, who I'm converting! hehe) so we drove down (in horrible weather) to Seattle - it was quite a fun trip with a stop at a big American McDonalds, many gas stations, and other strange foreign places! We couldn't find the hotel in Seattle, and got lost in HELL - Seattle is not a very pretty city when it's raining! Finally we arrived at the luxurious ONE STAR Travelodge we were staying at! Boy was it ever nice :P - it looked like a murder scene... but anyways, it had style.
    After checking in and getting settled, we walked up to the key arena for the meet and greet - There we saw many old friends! Matt, Raquel, vibrating kitty, Colette, and WAYLON (who I met last tour, and was so very happy to see again). We had a lot of fun at this meet and greet chatting with people, learning about seattle, and listening to Matt I say loud and vulgar things to keep us entertained! Even though we showed up late, we still managed to get a pretty good spot in the gates, and we were excited that we were going to be able to say hi to tori again!   
    Soon it started to get dark, and VERY cold... we all hudled together and thought warm thoughts, planned dinner, and spoke of shows and tours of yesteryear to keep warm! Before we knew it Tori had arrived! She looked great, and I was the first person she came up and talked to! She was very sweet, and I thanked her for the song the night before... she was kind enough to autograph a photo I had of me and her, and that was that! Ursa was next and requested RIVER (a song I love sooo much) and it made it on the official setlist but didn't get played at the last minute unfortunately.
    After the meet and greet, we bought some good seats from a scalper, went for a fun food court dinner at seattle centre, and then headed back to the hotel, where Matt and me downed a few cheap American beers before the show!
    We got to the venue and decided to have a few more drinks before watching tori... so we enjoyed some overpriced, but overpoared wine at the venue, and chatted with some fans we met! Everyone seemed to be in a great mood, and the key arena wasn't that bad of a venue for a sit down show! Our seats were front row but on the extreme left bleacher.
    The show was again incredible... Tori had a lot of energy tonight, and so did the crowd! We were lucky enough to be sitting within an arms reach of our dear friends Jenn Boyd, and Raquel! It was a lot of fun! WAMPUM PRAYER and A SORTA FAIRYTALE opened the show again, and I was so into it! Perhaps it was the many drinks I had liberated before the show!!! LITTLE EARTHQUAKES was next and it was absolutely incredible! What a great energetic way to get the show started... this song rocks. Next was another favourite CAUGHT A LITE SNEEZE - great with the band... loud, hypnotic drums. Tori didn't quite put the energy into it as she used to in 98, but it was still a treat to hear! SWEET SANGRIA, TAKE TO THE SKY, and LIQUID DIAMONDS followed - and Liquid Diamonds was one of the shows highlights! Such an amazing song, and it doesn't come around very often - it brings back great memories of the 98 tour, and that time in my life, AND it was performed very passionately. PANCAKE, WEDNESDAY, then the band left the stage.
    Secret time tonight was again amazing - BAKER BAKER a song I never heard her do in concert (in all of my 16 shows!) made me cry, followed by a solo performance of CARBON (one of my very favourites from the new album) also made me cry, but then she started into fleetwood mac's LANDSLIDE (which has become her own song - she's been covering it in concert for 10 years) totally blew me away! This was the best part of the show, and one of the best parts of any tori show - It was undescribable!
    When the band came back on they did NORTHERN LAD which was so great because it's Jenn Boyd's favourite song, and she had requested it the night before. Great performance! CONCERTINA, then an amazing SUGAR (another one of my favourites), CORNFLAKE GIRL, a wild performance of PRECIOUS THINGS, then I CAN'T SEE NEW YORK, and SPRING HAZE to finish off the main set!
    Durring the encore break me and matt skipped over the barricade and made our way to the front of the stage, and again watched tori from front and centre! TAXI RIDE and WAITRESS were played in the first encore. TEAR IN YOUR HAND was the second encore - another hilight... very beautiful. And a strange choice for last song YOUR CLOUD finished the show! It was a great show, but not as good as the night before, OR the night to follow....
    The next morning me and Matt enjoyed a bit of the seattle city on a rainy day, and went to the space needle which was kind of fun, but weird and american as well... After that we got in the car and began the long, rainy drive to portland!
    PART THREE: PORTLAND, OR: Portland was the best... always... The city was so fun, the people were so cool, and the concert and the whole evening reflected that! It was the best part of the trip, and one of the greatest tori concerts I've ever seen!
    We went by the meet and greet for a bit to see our friends, but didn't really get a chance to meet tori this time - Matt and I went to our nice hotel (the silver cloud, in industrial portland near the 23rd district) which was sooo much better than the one in seattle! We rested, and got ready for the last show of the tour (for us anyway...)
    We arrived back at the venue to meet up with our friends for dinner, and went to the coolest place (even though we got lost and matt matt and matt drove around for an hour in scary dark creepy areas of portland looking for it) MacMillians or something which was a theatre/restaurat/performance space built into an old school house! Great food, great service, and a totally fun night! We met up with our old friend Kelly and her friends! As well Raquel joined us for dinner. We were all very emotional knowing that soon the trip would be over, and it would be a long wait till we see tori next!
    When we finally got to the venue we met up with everyone - colette, ursa, lisa (recovring xtian), and my dear friend Chris Robins... it was great to see everyone again, and thanks to some tips from some friendly tori fans, me, matt, and colette managed to get our seats upgraded to FRONT ROW from steve the bodyguard! It was sooo cool, we were extremely excited!
    So we took our seats and enjoyed (for the third time) the opening act HOWIE DAY, who I must say it like by far the best opening act tori has ever had, and one of the best solo acts I've ever heard! He was young, and beautiful and talented! His songs were inspiring, mournful, and uplifting all at the same time, and he set the stage for a night to remember.
    Tori took the stage again with WAMPUM PRAYER and A SORTA FAIRYTALE, and I knew right from the start we were in for a special night! Her performance was right on, and her energy was different! You could tell she really loved this city and loved playing for us!
    BLISS came next, and was even better than in Vancouver! Again, the lights were spectacular! SWEET SANGRIA followed, and I realized how much I LOVE this song - it's great in concert too, and always fun to watch tori get funky on her piano bench and switch between the suitcase piano and the bosendorfer. BLACK DOVE was next, and despite a few technical difficulties with her mic, it was a highlight of the night! This song is so powerful and classic sounding, and it had us all on the edge of our seats. She followed it with SPACEDOG, and I cried again - what an amazing song. The new, long CRUCIFY was next, and was a joy to watch. PAST THE MISSION - another favourite sounded great, and quite true to the album version (I must say I liked the solo 2001 version much better...) and WEDNESDAY to send the band off.
    Secret time tonight was the best EVER! She started with ALAMO a song she has never played this tour, and MAYBE played 5 or 6 times in history... it's very rare, but always been a favourite b-side of mine, and it was very spur of the moment, but exquisite! MOTHER was next, and I cried again because it's another one of my top 5 tori songs ever... it was beautiful. Then came another highlight of the show (this show had SO many highlights!) MARY. Another favourite b-side, and the debut for this tour! Something I never expected to hear, but always wished I would... what a treat... it was a great performance too.
    The band came back on for the debut of 1000 OCEANS which sounded perfect... i don't know why they don't play this song more often. She played the whole thing with one hand on the bosey, and one on the suitcase piano. Jon Evens played stand-up bass on this number. They picked up the pace right after with a raw performance of PANCAKE, followed by GIRL. PLAYBOY MOMMY came next, and was a great surprise... TAKE TO THE SKY (funky and sexy!), I CAN'T SEE NEW YORK, and the best ever SPRING HAZE finished the main set with a bang! We all rushed to the front of the stage for the encores.
    IN THE SPRINGTIME OF HIS VOODOO with the full band rocked so much! We all danced and got really into this one! The whole crowd was in the palm of her hand at this point, and everyone was in the best mood! Tori was smiling away and switching between pianos and dancing, and really enjoying playing this number! Another song that I'm glad has returned into her sets... VIRGINIA was next... a beautiful new song... the end was painfull and sad, and I could see the tears in tori's eyes as she sang the end of this so sweetly. The band left stage again, and tori was alone and sang HERE IN MY HEAD for us solo. This was the best part of the show... you could hear a lot of the audiance singing along softly, which suprisingly wasn't annoying, but made it sound like a choir backing her up... she was very subdued and quiet in this song, and it hit me like never before. beautiful.
    The second encore was perfect... TAXI RIDE... had everyone dancing, and the energy was there, but so was the emotion. You could really tell she was singing it for the late kevyn aucoin - at the end she lifted her head up and blew a kiss towards the sky. It was very touching. The last song of the night - another favourite of mine - PANDORA'S AQUARIUM. Tori was smiling, and she sounded mature and wise and wonderful, and it was the best ending... I had a smile on my face the entire time - this song means a lot to me and it left me with a great feeling about the entire night, and the entire tour!

    Thank you to all the wonderful fans I met, you were all so sweet... and to my travel buddies Ursa, and matt... you were both so great to hang out with...

previous entry - next entry