Tori Amos - The Paramount Theater in Oakland, CA
This review is about a week late, but it has taken me a bit of time to digest the Tori Amos concert Farrah, and I saw it last Friday. Tori is touring in support of her latest album, American Doll Posse. I wasn’t a huge fan of the new album, but after watching Tori’s performance, it makes me want to play the album every day. I guess that’s what good concerts do to you.
The Venue
I like going to The Paramount Theater in Oakland. The theater looks great and the sound has always been well producing in the handful of shows I’ve been to there. Parking is very convenient, located directly across the street. The staff is nice and helpful, showing each attendee their seat.
The Performance
Photo by ericskiff as posted on Flickr.
In Tori’s latest album, she sings her songs through various personas. I believe she performed first as Santa, then for the second half as Tori. Yes, I guess Tori is one of Tori’s personas. Her set list included:
- Body and Soul
- She's Your Cocaine
- Hoochie Woman
- Secret Spell
- You Can Bring Your Dog
- Raspberry Swirl
- Big Wheel
- Crucify
- Sugar
- Cornflake Girl
- Bells For Her
- Caught a Lite Sneeze
- Winter
- Cooling
- Virginia
- Hotel
- Code Red
- Precious Things
- Bouncing Off Clouds
- Hey Jupiter
We enjoyed the concert overall. I especially enjoyed Caught a Lite Sneeze, even though I saw her perform this song before. I believe Farrah enjoyed her new song, Bouncing Off Clouds
When we entered The Paramount there were several signs noting that the show was being taped. Farrah and I have only been to one previous show that was being filmed, Jack Johnson at the Greek Theater. [sample video] The Greek Theater is a big venue, so filming wasn’t obtrusive. Unfortunately, where we sat in The Paramount a boom crossed our viewing path often. This made parts of the performance frustrating to watch, breaking up the rhythm of the show for us.
End Result
Overall it was a good performance. I think it was the first time I’ve seen Tori do costume changes. This added a different element to the performance.