Saturday, June 09, 2007

a piano's homecoming

tori amos has once again found her way to vienna, and brought "her" home - her piano, that is. no matter how many times i see her with that bösendorfer of hers, i am fascinated by the relatioinship the two of them seem to have. tori does not just play piano with her hands, she plays piano with her entire body. and it is pretty obvious she does not think of the instrument as an inanimate object.

it was my first concert in the new concert hall added to vienna's stadthalle, a venue i don't like all that much for concerts; but this new part is much better. it's got a nicer atmosphere, and the sound is definitely better.

before tori came on stage, seth lakeman played a few songs - my friend babs and i both enjoyed those, and were quite impressed with his playing the violin AND singing. check seth out on myspace.

here's tori's setlist, courtesy of undented.com:

Act I – Santa

* Body & Soul
* My Posse Can Do
* Programmable Soda
* Secret Spell
* Dragon
* You Can Bring Your Dog

Interlude

* Professional Widow

Act II – Tori

* Big Wheel
* Caught A Lite Sneeze
* Liquid Diamonds
* Cornflake Girl
* Doughnut Song
* Glory Of The 80s

Solo

* Improv
* Upside Down
* Mother

Band Returns

* Father’s Son
* God
* Code Red

First Encore

* Precious Things
* Pancake

Second Encore

* Bouncing Off Clouds
* Hey Jupiter

i did expect there to be some of her "noisier" songs, after listening to her new album, american doll posse, quite a few times, although i was not at all sure which she would choose. it was a pleasant surprise to have her play something off her older albums as well, and perhaps not the obvious choices; it was quite a good mix. she gets an extra point for playing god, which is such a fantastic song

God sometimes you just don't come through
God sometimes you just don't come through
Do you need a woman to look after you
God sometimes you just don't come through
and hey jupiter, one of her songs i could never get tired of hearing.
thought I knew myself so well
all the dolls I had
took my leather off the shelf
your apocalypse was fab
for a girl who couldn't choose between
the shower or the bath


i loved big wheel, it is quite a sexy, sassy, powerful song, i find, especially the way she plays it (see above re entire body).
So baby maybe I'll let your
Big wheel turn my fantasy
Don't you throw your shade on me
I've been drinking down your pain
I'm gonna turn that whiskey into rain
Wash it away
Wash it away
Wash you away boy
it was also lovely to hear programmable soda, caught a lite sneeze, cornflake girl (which, of course, was the song that made me fall in love with her music many years ago), and upside down.

she was not very chatty yesterday, only said it was lovely to be back in vienna, and that it had been a while (too true), and it was like coming home. i've seen her very talkative and rather quiet before, you never know what you'll get. *s*

of course, while the musicians she works with are great, and the music is wonderful, i still love her best when it's just her and the "böse".


i did take some pics / videos with my new phone, but am not sure how they turned out. i tried to buy a pc cable yesterday, but gave up after four places told me that no, they did not have that at the moment, but to try next week. sigh. i'll try and find some pics online though.

meanwhile, here is a video, enjoy. (love tarantino's intro! *g*)


song of the day - pretty obvious now, is it not: big wheel by tori amos.

2 comments:

Michael Parker said...

Hey Michi, Tori is an exceptional artist and one of my favorites as well. Little Earthquakes is one of my all-time favorites! This Big Wheel is very reminiscent of that album. Great stuff!

michi said...

hi michael - thanks for dropping in. :)

tori has been one of my "music goddesses" for many years now, and she has been an inspiration as well.

this was the 4th time i saw her live - 3 times in vienna, once in london.

and i agree re little earthquakes, it is one amazing album.

the new one reminds me of scarlet's walk and from the choir girl hotel, a lot.

m