On the Road Again
Live Reviews:

Tori Amos
July 25, 1998
The Molson Amphitheatre, Toronto, ON

If the mark of the successful artist is the size of the venues that they play then Tori Amos is moving up in the world. Her latest tour, in promotion of her fourth album From the Choirgirl Hotel, has Tori not only playing to larger crowds but also carrying a cast of supporting musicians, ostensibly to help carry the larger sound of her new album to fruition.

So was the siren songbird lost in the house that beer built? Yes and no. The venue was full of Tori's devoted fans, an eclectic mix of uptown, downtown and small-town folk, new fans and hardcore Ears with Feet (the name of one of Tori's fanzines, and the term that the readership use to describe each other).

None of that audience seemed disappointed by the selection or quality of her songs; even with the presence of a full drum kit, bass and lead guitars, Tori's voice alternately screamed and soothed through big-sound renditions of earlier tunes like Crucify, Cornflake Girl, Horses and an indescribably raw Precious Things. (along with cuts from her new disc, Spark, She's Your Cocaine, and a nifty techno-lightshow for Raspberry Swirl). In terms of pure musical content and presentation, the show was fantastic.

It was the other side of the Amos appeal that was missing, as the empathic relationship between Tori and her audience was curiously absent. Her normally verbose interaction with the crowd was limited, and although Tori was as consumed by her music as ever, she seemed unable to (or somehow prevented from) forming her usual bond with the crowd. Whether this was due to the size of the crowd, the atmosphere of the amphitheatre or the on-stage presence of the band is unknown. What is for certain is that the bench-straddling beauty's performance was honest, powerful and entertaining -- but missing that one critical ingredient.