Tori Amos: Magical Show at SPAC

SARATOGA SPRINGS -Tori Amos had a day off on Monday.
She celebrated her 42nd birthday at the Spa Park springs and was inspired to write three songs, she told the crowd of 5,000 at SPAC Tuesday night.

They had gathered to witness Amos' solo performance of her Original Sinsuality/Summer
of Sin Tour.

Amos commanded the sparse stage, which was decorated by the ancient symbolism of a half-bitten apple and the tree of life from which was coiled a tongue-flicking snake.

At one end stood the grand piano, which she alternately pounded and caressed, her eyes
fixated on a spot in the distance. She was both introspective and alluring, simmering and seductive. Reeling her off-the-shoulder piano rolls with a breathless voice, she was
at her best in the exotic intimacies she projected in the song 'Icicle.'

Then she would swivel around, face left, and attack the organ, spitting out syllables and
writhing to the sassy intensity of 'Siren,' her head thrown back and appearing not unlike a possessed concert genius of the middle ages.

Amos performed an 18-song set - on multiple keyboards - that spanned her entire career, including early songs 'China,' 'Mother' and 'Sugar.'

She elected to stay away from her better-known hits, instead challenging listeners to tune in
for a two-hour ride into her hypnotic symphony. Those courageous enough to take the chance were treated to a performance that took on all the intimacy of the songwriter's creative vision.

Amos drew comparisons to British singer Kate Bush early in her career. On this night, during the cover song segment called 'Tori's Piano Bar,' Amos met the challenge head on. She performed -- for the first ever time she announced - the Kate Bush song 'And Dream of Sheep,' and followed with a fine rendition of Cat Stevens' 'Moonshadow.'

It was on her own material that she excelled, at times straddling the bench where she was seated, often with one hand on the piano and the other on the organ. Her voice clipped the lyrics of her prose to create counter rhythms to the music as the bright beams of back-light silhouetted her form.

The best of these were the deep, funereal tones of 'Spark,' as an illuminating silver frost turning blood red, and the intense surrealism of 'The Beekeeper' - the title track of her most recent release - its deep humming organ stirring the base of the spine and buzzing the nervous system while her voice vibrated through the open-air hall and soared deep into the clear August night.

A pair of Los Angeles-based bands appeared earlier in the evening.
The Like performed a brief and pleasant psychedelic-Beatlesque set at dusk. Also appearing were The Ditty Bops, a strum and fiddle ensemble, bringing a bluegrass meets the Andrews Sisters mix into their 21st century eclecticism.

By Thomas Dimopoulos
The Saratogian, Aug. 25, 2005.