News: The Courier Mail's Brisbane Concert Review

Sally Browne’s review of the Brisbane concert appeared in Sunday’s Courier Mail. along with this amusing little photograph of the opening doll, Santa.

Amos plays ‘Santa’ to rapturous cheers

By Sally Browne
September 23, 2007 12:00am

They had paid to see Tori Amos, but the audience who waited patiently at the Brisbane Convention Centre on Saturday night weren’t quite sure who they were going to see.

Which of the five characters from the whimsical redhead’s latest album American Doll Posse would be gracing the stage first? Amos has been opening each show of her tour dressed as a different member of her “posse”.

In the end, it was Santa, the “girl’s girl”, based on the Greek goddess Aphrodite (although more likely to be seen with a cocktail glass in her hand), who took to the stage in a swishy dress, her blonde bob glowing, striking a pose to rapturous cheers.

Santa opened the show with the strong Body and Soul, from American Doll Posse, and kept the audience enchanted through a number of songs attributed to her character including My Posse Can Do and You Can Bring Your Dog. There was plenty of theatrics at the piano, as she flicked her head seductively, moving staccato like a clockwork doll and generally giving the crowd a lesson in sexiness.

Then, after a costume change, out came Tori, herself a character in the posse, dressed in a long red wig and a glittering catsuit, looking like Agnetha from Abba’s fiery twin.

A caricature of herself, Tori played many of Tori’s best-known songs, including Crucify, Cornflake Girl and Silent all These Years. Her movements were far more masculine as she faced the audience, one hand on her Bosendorfer grand piano, the other on her keyboard. Bliss, from To Venus and Back, was a bewitching voodoo snake dance. Hotel, off From the Choirgirl Hotel, began with some space-age jungle synth sounds.

Unlike 2005’s pared back show, for most of the night Amos was joined on stage by a full band, who looked like they were having a good time.

You wouldn’t think Amos would have rowdy fans, but the one time she did speak, she was drowned out by random shouts from all corners of the audience. She spoke on behalf of her girls in the royal we: “We love you people.”

The highlight of the evening came in a humorous piece about “homospirituality”, which featured lyrics about her daughter asking “What’s a homo?” and had the audience in stitches.

Amos came back for two encores but there were murmurs from the crowd afterwards that they expected her to dress up as more of her characters. At least one more for the encore would have been nice.