Tori report!
Well, well, well, that was definitely one of the best concerts I've ever been at. Even the incredible rudeness and irresponsibility of one of my friends who was going along was not enough to dampen the enjoyment. What else can I say?
Ben Folds opened the show and he definitely exceeded expectations, by far. First of all, he has the most bizarre piano-playing style I've ever seen -- halfway through a song he'll get up and sort of crouch over the piano, and hammer away at it like he's trying to subdue it or keep it from getting out of control. He must have been self-taught, or at least had a very strong dislike for whatever playing style he was taught, because no decent piano teacher would ever let their student play like that -- needless to say, his playing was of course beyond reproach; such a sense of timing, oy! Second, he spoke a lot between songs (which I always really like), and he was really, really funny -- and he combined that with playing some hilarious songs, especially three throwaway songs he wrote to finish his contract with a record company, including an absolutely unbelievable "dirty showtune." Third, he played "Hava Nagila" -- I was quite amused (though Brian and Christina were apparently even more amused watching me sing along. What, guys, haven't you ever been to a bar mitzvah? Oh, wait...)
During the break after his set, I got a call from Kim, and it was nice to chat (okay, and to bask in the bragworthiness of talking while you're waiting for Tori Amos to come out onstage!) -- though with the noise I could only hear half of what she was saying (sorry, Kim!)
And Tori, well. She started out with "Wampum Prayer" from her new album, which I thought was very cool considering that the stadium was on a reservation. Then she did "Little Earthquakes" and, ah, where else could you want to be in the world but there to see it?
Unfortunately the stage crew seemed to be conspiring to ruin her set. The sound quality was way off -- there was actual mic feedback (wtf? at a Tori Amos concert?) and either the mics were too close or turned up too high, but either way the sound was all a little dulled and unbalanced, and a lot too loud (which was not a problem at all with BF, for some reason). And the lights -- oy vey, who came up with this idea? The stage lights were all through the show veering off the stage to strafe the crowd. Sometimes it was just once or twice during a song; other times you could hardly look at the stage for ten minutes at a time as purple and yellow lights were cutting across your eyes every 2-3 seconds. What's up with that?
But the show was great. I was surprised how many of her songs I didn't know; but she did "Cornflake Girl" and "Precious Things" (the last song before the first encore), and all of my favorite songs from "Scarlet's Walk." Her performance of "Crazy" was long and slowed down a lot (like a lot of the songs she did), which I didn't like so much as the speed on the album; but the performance of "Wednesday" (probably my favorite song from the album, and apparently Brian's too) was absolutely flawless.
And -- have I mentioned how amazing her piano skills are? Mind, we were too far back to actually see her hands at work but you could tell from how it sounded how expertly it was being done; and as if the ability to play a piano that well weren't enough, she actually had a few songs where she was playing the piano with one hand and at the same time playing the keyboard set up on her other side with the other. Where do they train you to do that? How is that possible? Goddamn astounding.
Christina unfortunately had very much peaked early in Tori's show or maybe before; her headache was particularly agitated by the stage attack lights, so she was pretty much out of commision for the end of the show. Brian seemed to really enjoy it, though, and Erica and her two friends from Flag (with whom I'd shared a fun pre-concert dinner) looked beside themselves. I didn't get a chance after the show to see my friend Amy, who spotted us and came over to chat a bit before the show began, and seemed as excited about it as I was.
Suffice to say that next time Tori or Ben Folds are in town, I will be there...
Ben Folds opened the show and he definitely exceeded expectations, by far. First of all, he has the most bizarre piano-playing style I've ever seen -- halfway through a song he'll get up and sort of crouch over the piano, and hammer away at it like he's trying to subdue it or keep it from getting out of control. He must have been self-taught, or at least had a very strong dislike for whatever playing style he was taught, because no decent piano teacher would ever let their student play like that -- needless to say, his playing was of course beyond reproach; such a sense of timing, oy! Second, he spoke a lot between songs (which I always really like), and he was really, really funny -- and he combined that with playing some hilarious songs, especially three throwaway songs he wrote to finish his contract with a record company, including an absolutely unbelievable "dirty showtune." Third, he played "Hava Nagila" -- I was quite amused (though Brian and Christina were apparently even more amused watching me sing along. What, guys, haven't you ever been to a bar mitzvah? Oh, wait...)
During the break after his set, I got a call from Kim, and it was nice to chat (okay, and to bask in the bragworthiness of talking while you're waiting for Tori Amos to come out onstage!) -- though with the noise I could only hear half of what she was saying (sorry, Kim!)
And Tori, well. She started out with "Wampum Prayer" from her new album, which I thought was very cool considering that the stadium was on a reservation. Then she did "Little Earthquakes" and, ah, where else could you want to be in the world but there to see it?
Unfortunately the stage crew seemed to be conspiring to ruin her set. The sound quality was way off -- there was actual mic feedback (wtf? at a Tori Amos concert?) and either the mics were too close or turned up too high, but either way the sound was all a little dulled and unbalanced, and a lot too loud (which was not a problem at all with BF, for some reason). And the lights -- oy vey, who came up with this idea? The stage lights were all through the show veering off the stage to strafe the crowd. Sometimes it was just once or twice during a song; other times you could hardly look at the stage for ten minutes at a time as purple and yellow lights were cutting across your eyes every 2-3 seconds. What's up with that?
But the show was great. I was surprised how many of her songs I didn't know; but she did "Cornflake Girl" and "Precious Things" (the last song before the first encore), and all of my favorite songs from "Scarlet's Walk." Her performance of "Crazy" was long and slowed down a lot (like a lot of the songs she did), which I didn't like so much as the speed on the album; but the performance of "Wednesday" (probably my favorite song from the album, and apparently Brian's too) was absolutely flawless.
And -- have I mentioned how amazing her piano skills are? Mind, we were too far back to actually see her hands at work but you could tell from how it sounded how expertly it was being done; and as if the ability to play a piano that well weren't enough, she actually had a few songs where she was playing the piano with one hand and at the same time playing the keyboard set up on her other side with the other. Where do they train you to do that? How is that possible? Goddamn astounding.
Christina unfortunately had very much peaked early in Tori's show or maybe before; her headache was particularly agitated by the stage attack lights, so she was pretty much out of commision for the end of the show. Brian seemed to really enjoy it, though, and Erica and her two friends from Flag (with whom I'd shared a fun pre-concert dinner) looked beside themselves. I didn't get a chance after the show to see my friend Amy, who spotted us and came over to chat a bit before the show began, and seemed as excited about it as I was.
Suffice to say that next time Tori or Ben Folds are in town, I will be there...