San Diego Concert

[prock@teetot.acusd.edu (Andrew Prock)]

Well I just got back from the concert in San Diego this evening.
All in all I was impressed.  Dandelion Wine opened up for them and
the duo was a refreshing intro to what was to come.
They reminded me a bit of another band that is VERY local to San Diego
called Reckless Abandon, with a little less angst.

Anyway let start, or start again, by saying that I just picked up Tori's 
Little Earthquakes a little under a week ago, and was delighted to be able
to go to her show, and thankful that I had not picked up the CD latter 
this week.

I was seated in the fourth row to the right of the stage, which turned out
to be a rather good location.  The way she sat at the piano gave me
an almost direct view of her face.  Although it would have been nice to be
in the front row.
The audience was a bit rambunctious, with some twit yelling at the top
his lungs "I love you Tori" more than once.  And more than a fair share
were sincere in being there.  But I did spot a couple of yupsters who were
probably trying to be fashionable in catching the up and coming Tori Amos in 
concert.

Her performance was rather straight forward all of her released covers 
were performed as well as one other song which I did not recognize from
her album.  I think I read somewhere that her live performance was a very
intense rendering of the recorded music.  I totally agree.  Her performance
of Me and a Gun was the most moving live musical experience I have ever had.

Yet I must say that I was a bit dissappointed that her performance 
was a good deal very like her CD.  Now I realize this comes from not having
an extensive discography and only yourself to work with, but I would have 
enjoyed more talking from her and maybe even an instrumental.  She did
"jam" during several of her songs, most notably Precious Things where 
she illustrated the full extent of her voice, a very powerful demonstration.

All duing the show I was fascinated by the different emotions that she 
displayed.  In general she presented herself as sly and a bit elusive,
not at all what I had been expecting from the descriptions I had gotten from
the mailing list.  But during several instaces most notably while singing
Me and a Gun.  Her face reflected a kind of well I can't describe it really.
Suffice it to say that I felt she was visualizing and her face reflected what
she saw. 

Or maybe not.  I never was a good judge of people.
A
Of course like all shows there was the mandatory double encore.  And after
the show she did come out for hugs, autographs and fan appreciation.
I guess that as soon as all that was done she went back up to L.A. for 
whatever comes next on the agenda.

So I had a good evening and I can safely say after experiencing Tori both
at home and live that she is a very gifted woman who I will follow with 
interest as she develops musically and performance-wise.


Andrew Prock