Toris Amos Manchester Apollo Sunday 6 September 2009
Review by Laura
I began listening to Tori around the age of 14, discovering her on a mix tape my friend had created for me. Since then I’ve bought a number of her albums and always expressed an interest in seeing her when she next came to England. SO, when a few months ago dad told me of some up-coming British dates, I did my best to persuade him to book tickets. This wasn’t a difficult task and so on Sunday afternoon around 3 pm, dad and I took a slow drive to Manchester, not quite sure what to expect from the evening’s concert.
We arrived at the Apollo in good time and noticed a gathering of fans grouped around the stage door. After joining them it became clear that they were expecting Tori to make an appearance. However, as the time approached 7, when the theatre doors were due to open, it became clear that no such appearance was to take place, so dad and I took our positions in the long queue to enter the building.
After Dad got a programme and I bought a t-shirt, we took our seats in the centre of the tenth row of the stalls, with an excellent view of the stage. The support act (?) took to the stage around 8 o’clock and proved to be quite interesting. They had a unique sound, traditional folk fused with complicated rhythms, keyboard effects and trumpet solos. Dad and I both enjoyed their 30 minute set.
At 9 o’clock Tori finally appeared to a very enthusiastic reception. Her opening number was a highly energetic version of “Give” which fused seamlessly into “caught a lit sneeze”, both of which received an excellent response from the crowd. Tori’s voice was incredibly strong, live performance perhaps doing it more justice than any recording I’ve heard of her. As well as her vocal ability, I was also impressed and fascinated by her piano playing. I’ve never heard somebody both play and sing so well simultaneously.
After opening on such a high, the rest of the concert did not disappoint. Tori gave each song she performed a new energy, favourites such as “Cornflake Girl”, “Welcome to England” and “Precious things” sounding better than ever. The audience appeared to be mesmerised by her and were completely silent throughout, apart from the long and enthusiastic applause which greeted and followed each number.
After closing with a spectacular version of “black vine”, tori re-appeared to perform “Big Wheel” and “Tear in Your Hand”. Despite the set being a little over 2 hours, the time flew by and before I knew it I was back in the car, driving home. Dad and I both agreed it had been a fantastic night. I’d have liked to have seen her perform “winter” or “Jacky’s Strength”, never mind though, maybe next time.
website: http://www.toriamos.com/
setlist:
Give
Caught a lite sneeze
Cornflake Girl
Icicle
Pancake
Space Dog
Lust
Jamaica Inn
Welcome to England
Northern Lad
Take me with you
Mother
Putting the Damage on
The power of orange knickers
fast horse
precious things
black vine
encore:
Big Wheel
Tear in your hand
No comments:
Post a Comment