News: Boston Herald Concert Review (October 20, 2007)

Christopher John Treacy, who you may remember previewed the two Orpheum shows for The Boston Herald, also reviewed the first of those shows for the Herald as well. The published version of his review is on The Herald’s website. However, Christopher was nice enough to send us the full review which is included below the cut. Thanks to Michelle for spotting the Herald piece and to Christopher for sending us the full text!

Tori Amos with Yoav, Thursday at the Orpheum.
By Christopher John Treacy

When Tori Amos first enlisted a touring band to help her support 1998’s “From the Choirgirl Hotel,” fans freaked.

Lucky for Amos, most held tight while a new audience embraced her electrified sound. And yet, the disparity between the band and solo performances remains tremendous – two completely different things, really.

Both with and without accompaniment Thursday night, for the first in a pair of Orpheum gigs, Amos demonstrated not just two but three distinctly different stage dynamics – a range of performance skill that dwarfs most of her singer/songwriter peers.

While many will dismiss the complex mythological concept behind her latest “American Doll Posse” CD as obtuse psychobabble, Amos’ commitment to it shone through Act I as Pip, the posse character channeling Athena – a virgin Greek warrior-goddess with pent up aggression to spare.

Dressed in rubber leggings and a black wig, Pip’s dark, edgy selections matched old (the opener, “Cruel,” followed by “Bliss”) with new, (the glammed up gnasher “Teenage Hustling” and haunting “Smoky Joe”), while Amos’ alter ego writhed and wriggled, grabbed at her crotch, lunged at her keyboards, got down on all fours, spasmodically seized, shook and panted before flipping off the crowd on her way off stage. And while it may have seemed over the top, it was effective – you almost believed the woman on stage was truly an imposter.

When Amos resurfaced as herself in a sequined jumper, the contrast was startling. Elated, playful and all smiles, she and her trio threw added grit into the spirited gospel-tinted single “Big Wheel.” The warm-toned new millennium “Crucify” found her playing dual keyboards, and the early b-side “Take to the Sky” profited from an updated, more percussive arrangement.

With bassist Jon Evans and precision drummer extraordinaire Matt Chamberlain, Amos’ ‘plugged’ outings transmit a tribal feel that can border on bombast. Newbie Dan Phelps’ guitar softened the blow this time around, but song choices kept Amos down in her lower register, cutting substantially on the vocal ear candy. Though some would speculate she’s disguising a loss of range, the three song solo set proved otherwise.

After indulging in an amusing improv about Miss Massachusetts (in attendance) and Donald Trump, she segued into the delicate stunner “Jackie’s Strength” followed by a hair-raising “Etienne,” pared down from her days in Y Kant Tori Read. Her spot-on crystal clear singing was a reminder of how Amos became a comforting companion to a generation of malcontents, making it easy to understand why her oldest fans prefer her without rhythmic adornment.

When the band returned, you almost wished they hadn’t. But powerhouse encores of “Precious Things” and “Bouncing off Clouds” were mighty redeeming.

Israeli-born South African-raised Yoav opened with a handful of progressive pop songs that he skillfully orchestrated on an acoustic guitar using loops and pedals – nothing new, but executed with more artsy flair and creative chutzpah than loop-happy Howie Day.