rdt-digest Friday, 1 March 1996 Volume 01 : Number 101 [...] Manchester Gig (25th Feb) [...] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Charlie Farrell To: "'RDT List'" Subject: Manchester Gig (25th Feb) Date: Fri, 01 Mar 96 23:54:00 est Being fairly new on the list, I didn't know whether it was expected for someone to contribute reviews etc, since some people like the experience to be a surprise. Anyhow RDT 100 featured the following message, >Date: Thu, 29 Feb 1996 13:19:07 -0800 >From: "E. Stephen Mack" >... > I have the review by Janet Susan Robertson for > the first concert at Ipswich, and I also have a review by Stuart > Ellershaw from Sheffield, the second concert. > >Does anyone have any other reviews? I'd love to archive 'em. > >Thanks, >Zeigen so I dug out my scribbled notes from this gig and wrote the following; ( I have a review from the Manchester Evening News, which I can scan in, if anyone is interested.) It was my first time seeing Tori live and I was very much looking forward to the whole experience. It was heartening to see the Apollo sold-out and with an audience of all ages - for once I didn't feel old going to a gig, as there were plenty of people in their 30's (like me) and above. As the lights went down, the stage curtains parted to reveal a starry backdrop with Tori seated stage-centre, with the piano to the right and harpsicord to the left. She went straight into Beauty Queen and Horses, followed by an unusual interpretation of 'Loosing My Religion', which I didn't recognise until she reached the chorus. it was certainly an interpretation that will take some time to grow on me. Silent All these years and Father Lucifer followed, with Tori adding the familiar piano theme from Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells onto the end. She then played Little Amsterdam, Agent Orange and Space Dog before taking the opportunity to chat to the crowd. She thanked us for responding so warmly and enthusiastically and compared the reaction with the 'more refined clapping' that she received from the audiences 'down south'. She commented that as she had a northern boyfriend (well he's from Lincolnshire), she was becoming more aware of the differences between 'down south' (I.e. London and the south East) and 'oop North' ( which Londoner's like to believe starts at Watford (a small town 15-20 miles north of London)). Further extracts from BfP followed - Talula, Donut Song, Not the Red Baron (complete with slide show of 1st World War biplanes - the Red Baron had a Fokker Triplane, but I don't remember seeing one of these in the film). Tori then played Precious Things, a very jaunty version of Happy Phantom and Mr Zebra. In introducing Marianne, Tori mentioned how it was written about an old school friend who had been some one who outwardly had always been very happy and friendly to each and everyone. She was someone who had been almost 'too good', but who had tragically killed herself, which had prompted Tori to write the song about her. Following Marianne, Tori played CALS and then Me and a gun which brought a respectful silence to the whole crowd before they errupted into applause to call her back for encores. I can't recall what the first encore was (shame on me), but she followed it with quite the most delicious version of Winter, which only served to bring home to me that this is, and probably always will be, my favorite song of hers - just breathtaking. Another short break followed, during which time the harpsicord was replaced by an organ, and Tori came back to tease the audience with a snippet from Icicle before launching into Tear in your Hand. She finished with Hey Jupiter on the organ. In all, she had played for almost 2 hours, but it had passed in a flash. Even my sister who came to the gig with me and who was not familiar with much of Tori's work, was astonished at how quickly the time had flown. It was a great gig and I look forward to seeing her once again in London on the 9th March. ==== Well I hope I haven't said anything too controversial or inaccurate. The official Tori mechandise that was on sale in the foyer include a nice selection of white or grey t-shirts featuring phots from the booklet for Bfp and a black t-shirt with 'Recovering Christan' in large lettering on the front. I was sorely tempted to buy one, but I bought a 'Dew drop Inn' shirt instead. Perhaps I'll pick one up at the Albert Hall. -----------------------------------------------------------------------