Date: Thu, 1 Sep 1994 18:49:40 -0700 From: gregb@netcom.com (Greg Burrell) Subject: REVIEW: San Francisco (8/31) Greetings to all readers, Once again this is Greg out in sunny California. Last night I was fortunate enough to attend Tori's second bay area show at the Orpheum Theater in downtown San Francisco. I left work at 6pm and headed up to Berkeley to pick up the lovely and charming Lila (hi! :) As I was on the highway I wondered how this concert would be. Faithful Readers :) may recall that the San Jose show was somewhat low key; she seemed very tired at that concert. Via the magic of the Internet and the kindness of RDT Digest readers (yes, I too had withdrawal pains), I've been able to "virtually" follow Tori across the country. Each concert report was more alarming as I could see shw was getting more emotionally and physically exhausted from the rigors of being out on the road. In fact, I felt selfish for being happy that she was doing so many shows in my area. I'm sure she could use some rest. :( The Orpheum Theater is located in downtown San Francisco and seats about 1500. Tickets were available at the box office for $25 each, cash only. I also noticed that there were several scalpers selling tickets out front. You might try to get a good deal from one of them. There were a LOT of empty seats at the concert. Bill Miller took the stage at 8:10 and again he put on a great show. He was really funny and musically talented and his stage personality makes you feel like he's just a regular guy. I wished he could have played longer. Hans Mayer (spelling?) is still with him and in fine form on the bass and mandolin. Hans doesn't say a word, but still has a very relaxing stage presence. (And yes, he DOES look like Yanni. :) After a 30 minute break (Led Zeppelin music played over the PA), Tori came on stage to the theme from "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly". Here is the set list with my comments: Little Earthquakes - ooh, not one that she does very often these days. Tori must have been warmed up and ready to go because she sounded great on this one. It gave me the feeling that it was gonna be a great night. Her voice sounded much better, less "dry" and scratchy than the San Jose show. My theory is that she had just been VERY tired at that concert from having been up all day. Leather - at the San Jose show this one had sort of "dragged", like Tori was just routinely doing the song. However, tonight she was really into it. She used her smiles and body movements as playful accents to the song and it was very obvious that she was really having a lot of fun with it. The Waitress - not one of my favorites but Tori really seems to like this song. I'm glad that she plays for herself also. Her voice sounded good on this, very strong. She altered the piano at the ending, and it brought out a "violent" feeling that worked with the theme of the song. story - Tori told a story about wanting to give her virginity to Robert Plant. She said, "I don't know who it would be these days that girls would want to give their virginity to" and a woman yelled out "you". We all laughed and Tori said, "you know, that might not be a bad idea...". :) She then told the story about her parents playing church music while she was upstairs with her own music. Icicle - the story was a good lead in and the song sounded fun and very positive. Precious Things - Wow, this was amazing! It sounded like a completely different song than the version she had done the night before in San Jose. At this point you could tell that Tori had a lot of energy and was putting her all into the music and singing. The stregnth in her voice as she sang "these precious things..." was chilling. God - the light show was less annoying than San Jose, but maybe that was due to my seat location? She seems to really like the bass line of this song. SATY - a great version of "Silent All These Years". She really conveyed the sad feeling of the song when she sang "years go by will I still be waiting...". She sang "you'd best pray that I bleed soon, how's that thought for you?" with just the right sarcastic twist. story -- Tori told a new (for me, at least) story about how her songs have personalities. Some of them are catty and bitchy, "Why didn't *I* get on the album, I'm much better that she is". Tori's voices and expressions were just hilarious! :) She that one particular B-side had been bugging her and closed the story by saying "this one is really annoying, but I love her." Daisy Dead Petals - an associate of mine had been at the San Jose show and was shocked to see how tired Tori seemed. She wrote a supportive and positive letter to Tori and then asked one of the stage people to give it to her. In the letter my associate requested either DDP or "Sister Janet". The melody to this song is really catchy and playful and again Tori seemed to be having fun with it. Bells - I gotta say, that sound is really cool. Anybody have a piano they don't want? MAAG - From Tori's position on the piano bench I could tell what song she was going to sing. Then, before she started several women yelled out in unison, "Take To The Sky". I was quite annoyed that they were rude enough to disrupt Tori when she was obviously emotionally preparing herself for this song. She sang well, though and didn't slur the words as has been reported elsewhere. Angie - Wow, what a suprise, I had been expecting "Baker Baker". Tori sang with a VERY strong voice on this. The power and emotion she put into that ascending note towards the end caused us all to break out in applause. She really drew it out and for a moment I was afraid she wouldn't be able to hit it. A great version. Well, that ended the main set. After disappearing briefly, Tori came back and did the first encore set: Cornflake Girl - Tori had fun playing this and clearly enjoys the piano parts. She played very energetically and whenever she had a free hand she'd use it to pull up the straps of her blouse (dress?) as they'd fall down her arms. But there came a point towards the end when she didn't have a free hand, and her blouse fell down! She was wearing a black bra underneath but didn't look at all embarassed, she was just having too much fun with the song! When she finished she turned to the crowd and said, "Last time I wear THIS fucking thing!" And we all burst out in laughter. That was a cool way to handle it. American Pie/Smells Like Teen Spirit - I sometimes forget that there are a lot of Tori fans who aren't able to get this RDT digest. After Tori sang a few lines of this song I heard murmers of recognition in the crowd. This was repeated again when Tori played the opening notes of SLTS. Well, Tori left the stage to a loud applause. After a moment she came back and did a second encore: Cloud On My Tongue - A really nice and sweet friend of mine likes this song a lot and it made me think of her (hi Sharon! :) Tori did a very good version of this. Take To The Sky - Well, before playing this one Tori said, "the squeekiest wheel gets the oil" (in reference to the women who had yelled out the song request). She used her free hand to tap out the rhythm on the piano and the bench. The crowd clapped along for the beginning, but that died out. Probably because we were all caught up in the song. Famous Blue Raincoat - Tori introduced this song by telling us that she covered it recently and we'd find out about that in January. Then she told us how she used to drive around in a truck, wearing high heels and it made her feel good. She'd put on this tape and "its one of those songs that you feel just describes your life." I'd never heard the original or her cover, but I really liked this. I can't wait to get the CD. Then Tori left the stage again, to a standing ovation. The applause didn't die and she came out again and did, Winter - I have to say this wasn't as good as the night before in San Jose. But its perhaps my favorite Tori song and a great way to close the show. Overall I thought this was an excellent concert. Such a HUGE contrast to the previous (San Jose) night. Simply amazing! Just beyond words. I left the auditorium with a feeling of calmness and happiness. I was so glad that Tori obviously had fun and enjoyed the performance. The crowd was very appreciative and that seemed to add to her energy. A minimal of yelling and only one or two flashbulbs went off. After the show Lila and I wandered around outside. We saw a bus and thought that's where she'd exit the theater. We spotted a man wearing an RDT T-shirt and so we went up and introduced ourselves. A nice guy, (Hi Steve!) and I hope that we can have an RDT get-together at the Berkeley show (contact me if interested). So the three of us waited and I was wondering why there wasn't a bigger crowd? Well, some stage crew guy came out and told us that we were waiting in the wrong place! :) So we went aroudn the other side of the building and saw a huge crowd of people waiting by the limo. Tori came out and made her way to the limo. She talked to a few people and gave a few hugs. The women who'd yelled out "Take To The Sky" thanked her and they all jumped forward and gave her hugs. That mean-looking security guy was there and not very sympathetic or understanding towards the fans. I guess he's just doing her job, though. But I didn't think it was necessary to yell at those women. All in all, it was a GREAT evening. Tomorrow: a review of the second San Francisco show. -Greg ("he writes letters...")