News: Salt Lake Tribune Concert Review (November 30, 2007)

David Berger favorably reviewed of the November 29th show at the E Center in Salt Lake City for The Salt Lake Tribune. The article was published in the November 30th edition of the paper. Thanks, again, to Kimberly for the link!

Tori Amos and band perform ferocious set that satisfies

By David Burger
The Salt Lake Tribune

Piano songstress Tori Amos and her three-piece band gave a surprisingly robust, solid meat-and-potatoes performance at the E Center Thursday night. It was loud, often fierce and very satisfying.

It was a surprise because, of course, Amos strikes some people as very touchy-feely, the kind who eats mushrooms rather than meat and potatoes. And I’m not talking about shitake.

Amos played against type to her advantage throughout a two-hour set that included two encores.

Playing in front of an adoring crowd she called “magical,” Amos played a rocking set that leaned very heavily on her first three albums – “Little Earthquakes,” “Under the Pink,” and “Boys for Pele” — to her audience’s delight.

Amos and her band of two guitarists and a drummer opened the show with a one-two shot that served as a forceful sign of things to come. First came a pounding “Cruel,” from “From the Choirgirl Hotel,” and right after came a charged, intense version of “Heart of Gold” that out-Neil-Younged Neil Young’s original laid-back version.

Throughout the show, Amos showed the charisma and stage presence that you can’t take your eyes off of. One minute, she’d be doing one-handed push-ups in front of her imposing Bosendorfer piano. The next, she’d be straddling the piano bench with her legs wide open, one hand on the piano to the left of her and one hand on a keyboard to her right. Simple, elegant and colorfully lit drapes that included a canopy over the piano surrounded the musicians.

In the middle of the show, Amos played a short – too short – set just by herself on the piano, offering a gorgeous “Mother” and an elegiac “Merman.”

The only criticism of the performance was that on several occasions the band overwhelmed the delicate nuances of Amos’ piano playing.

But otherwise, the concert ended on strong notes, with the first encore providing ferocious takes of “Precious Things” and “Pretty Good Year,” and the last encore featuring “Hey Jupiter” with Amos on the organ.

The opening act, Yoav, impressed the crowd with a short 25-minute set and was one of the few opening acts you’d wish had stayed longer. He proved to be every bit of the “D.J. with an acoustic guitar” that he claims to be, creating otherworldly sounds on an ordinary guitar.