Paramount Theatre

Tour

Date	July 13, 2009
City	Oakland, CA
Venue	Paramount Theatre

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Set List

Thanks to @clintyghost, @JasonAg and @m2thaizzo for posting the set in real time on Twitter!

Main Set

Give
Siren
change my pack improv
Cornflake Girl
Flavor
Space Dog
a sorta fairytale
Beauty of Speed
Curtain Call
Icicle

Lizard Lounge

…Baby One More Time [Britney Spears]
Maybe California

(band returns)

China
Martha’s Foolish Ginger
Fast Horse
Mother Revolution
Carbon
Precious Things
Strong Black Vine

First Encore

Police Me
Bliss

Second Encore:

Big Wheel
Tear in Your Hand

Video

Change MY Pack improv (posted by sheaalyssa)

Baby One More Time (video by lindseymero audio by robertschrader)

Mother Revolution (posted by lindseymero)

Flavor (posted by apab48)

Photos

Reviews

Sabrina says:

What a wonderful set! The Britney Spears cover was unexpected but just clever as all get out. The people were friendly before the show (meet and greet) and after! Yay Oakland!
Lucas says:

a fantastic show. still working out the kinks, to no detriment at all. Tori was in a great mood. she has really outdone herself with the band – many, many new arrangements for old classics, including icicle with strings and full backup; gorgeous! light on AATS material, actually, and a few beekeeper pieces we haven’t heard in a while; only BFP was absent, really. a wonderful, wonderful show.
Lauren says:

This show was epic!!! Give was awesome, Flavor was beautifully arranged. Curtain Call was incredible live. Icicle was beautiful.
I can’t believe she covered Britney Spears! She totally changed the meaning of the song though, without changing the lyrics. She sang it with a little bit of a somber tinge to it, and then went directly into Maybe California. She got a standing ovation after the Britney cover, which was awesome. Everyone kept screaming all throughout it, I think it was just a huuuuuuuuuuge surprise. Fast Horse, Carbon, and Precious Things were great too, and Strong Black Vine was 100x better than the album version.
Some notes…
-Jon played a bunch of different instruments, which was cool
-Even though it was the trio it actually sounded fuller than many songs from the ADP tour did with the full band.
-Big Wheel got a massive response from the crowd.
-Tori mentioned the DVD, or the ‘movie’ as she called it, and how they filmed it there and it was coming and she hadn’t forgotten about it or anything but had just gotten overwhelmingly busy.
-Meet and Greet went great! There was a loooooong wait, but it was worth it, and the barricades were super long so everyone was all stretched out and not crammed at all, and I think she might have gotten to everyone. Tori is really sweet and lovely in person.
-One EskimO was great live, and they are all really sexy.
Wonderful show…
Bruce says:

I’ve been going to concerts in the Bay Area for going on 40 years, have seen a lot of great shows, including Springsteen at The Paramount on the Born to Run tour. Tonight’s goes straight into the hall of fame. There simply is not anyone else in her league these days. The stripped down band worked much better than the lineup on the American Doll Posse tour. Great set list. I hope they recorded that one…
Shea says:

Tonight’s show was wonderful! I LOVED Flavor, Icicle, the Britney cover ;), Fast Horse, Strong Black Vine,Police Me… Can’t wait for tomorrows show in San Jose*
Davey says:

I love seeing Tori at this venue because she’s always in a good mood…she remarked that it is a magical place (not sure if she was referring to the Paramount or the Bay Area in general…probably both), but she reminded the audience that she taped footage two years ago for a concert DVD that “she hasn’t gotten around to yet,” but “is coming” (!!!) I almost wished tonight’s concert had been filmed instead because it was superb. She fucking killed that Britney song. The audience gave her a partial standing O, but sat down again because she immediately went into maybe California. I hope someone posts a video of Baby One More Time…probably there will be one because I can’t tell you how many video iPhones there were in the rows in front of me. Oh, one more thing, she said the song fairy told her she had to play the song, but I think she also said something about there being a picture of stars who played previously at the Paramount, and “this star” (which turned out to be Britney—she made us guess a bit) was in the lobby but that she wasn’t…and the whole audience awww’d…and then that she told Tash that she was going to play the Britney song and she said “no way, Mummy, you don’t know that song”…and then she said something about not knowing all the fucking songs she plays…didn’t quite get that…maybe someone else can explain. Anyway, a great evening…probably the best I’ve seen in the Bay Area, and I’ve been seeing Tori since 1994.
Jessika says:

Phenomenal show… Tori was clearly very happy to be there and was having lots of fun.

Siren was great and right after she finished, Marcel came running out. She said “First of all, this is Marcel Van Limbeek. He is one of my dearest friends; works on all the records. Hello, Marcel! He is behind me and he is frantically changing my pack. But sometimes – oh, that’s MUCH better! – sometimes you just have to change your pack.” That led into the improv: “Sometimes you have to change your pack (x2), so that’s what I’m doing. Sometimes you have to change your pack, or when they start again (?- bootleg got fuzzy here). Sometimes you’ve got to change your man (x2), just like your shoes. Sometimes you’ve got to change your ACCOUNTANT, yes you do, cuz tax is due. You’ve got to change your friends sometimes. You’ve got to change your old religion. Change it ALL, diet- to something sweet – Husband, that’s where you come in. You’ve gotta change my hair – I change my hair every goddamn day! You’ve got to change your pack (x2). I’m not a beer fan (friend?), but I am more like the grape variety kind (? -fuzzy again). I’d love to change my pack, cuz I am one for a very good ass.” It was classic and the band joined her a bit. She intro’d the guys and then played a great version of Cornflake Girl. Space Dog was stellar and I loved hearing Icicle with the band.

At the start of the Lizard Lounge, she played Bosey for a second and then said “So some of you may remember, we made a little movie at this very spot…I haven’t gotten to that yet, but it’s really good, so it will come out. This is a magical place, I love it here. There are pictures of lots of people out there that have played here… They don’t have my picture up (made a sad face and the audience booed and said “Awwww!”), but that’s okay because I’m here in the flesh! But there IS a picture of a young lady out there… Who?! I got a little faery coming to my hotel this morning and said ‘You’re playing me today.’ and I said ‘Tash, I’m gonna play this song.’ She goes ‘You’re kidding me.’ I said ‘No, I’m not kidding you.’ She said ‘You don’t know that song!’ I said ‘I don’t know ANY of the fucking songs I play!’ So, you haven’t guessed who it is yet, have you?” She said something that people laughed at, but I couldn’t hear it – I only heard the lines “She has to have hair on her body… It’s important!”. She went into “Baby, baby, how was I supposed to know?” and the place went wild. Her version dripped sex, loneliness, and sass… She blew that 16-year-old-twerp-in-a-catholic-schoolgirl-outfit’s version away and made the song sound like a well-written love song! ;) She closed the song with the line “Hit me baby… You always do… Hit me baby, one more time.” Typical Tori took us from laughter straight into tears with a powerful Maybe California.

The band came back for China which was nice. Carbon played nicely, but I agree with other EWF that it needs a little more time. I was SO happy to hear it though – been wishing for that girl! Precious Things didn’t have the girrrrrl part, in fact, she didn’t even sing “girl”… Not sure what’s going on there? It still rocked though and Strong Black Vine got a big response.

Police Me and Bliss were fabulous and when she came back out to do Big Wheel, she had everyone clapping. Tear In Your Hand was classic and bittersweet, then the night was over. I wish there was another Oakland show tonight!!! :)
Wednesday (aka Lin) says:

The show was amazing. The set was nothing like anything I would have expected. Flavor was so great. Baby One More Time by Britney was amazingly beautiful. Be sure to check out the YouTube videos we captured! Other highlights were Mother Revolution with the band, Carbon, Martha’s Foolish Ginger, Beauty of Speed, & Icicle. The lighting is amazing again this tour, although my friend’s and I agreed that the light show during Precious Things is seizure-esque. Tori was in such a wonderful, friendly mood, smiling all along. One of my favorite shows from all I’ve been to. Looking forward to tonight in San Jose! Don’t forget to check out my pics and videos!
Melody says:

I had such a great time! T’s voice was pristine and I loved the set! The change your pack improv and the Britney cover were a laugh riot. Also, I adored Martha’s Foolish Ginger, and since I know she wrote while she was in the Bay Area, I was so grateful she played it.
Rachel says:

Sadly I don’t think her shows are quite doing it for me anymore.

The set was really boring, and the only time she truly got into it was Hit Me Baby One More Time. The more “lively” songs were just embarrassing (Police Me and Big Wheel…seriously?). She seemed like she was in good spirits and was having fun, but she just lacks the fire and passion which made her live shows so memorable. It’s not a matter of sounding good—she always will sound great. But to me the magic is gone. Honestly I would much rather spend $70 on something else.

I hate to say this, because I don’t want to believe it, but her shows are now as uninspired as this new album. For anyone who has been on the fence on going to any of these shows, I’d sit this one out.
DVAzz says:

Over all great show. Started off feeling a bit forced. She got into it by the third song and was on from that point on. Notable SF Bay Area staples- Fairytale, Martha’s Foolish Ginger and Tear in your Hand. I am not with her on Strong Black Vine though- Am i missing something here? It just doesn’t do it for me.
C. Austin says:

It was amazing. She sounded so good. I and the crowd went wild when she played Baby One More Time. The band version of Icicle was sooo good. It was like a new song. I almost cried during China and Maybe California. I wasn’t a big fan of Big Wheel before, but for some reason it worked well in this tour. I’ve found that over the years that when she’s touring a new album, the new songs sound better during the following tour. Because she so close, I’m toying with seeing her again in San Jose. I’m hoping she sings Flavor and Give there, since I missed it last night :(. Wish me luck.
Hayley says:

Awesome show and fun M&G! Tori was beautiful and spunky :D Sarah, Jason, Char and Jim it was nice to meet all of you!! This concert is def in my top 3…had a blast and the band was really rocking it. Give and Siren are a bad ass pair. The improv was fucking funny and then Flavor…love it. BOS does nothing for me but i was surprised with Icicle b/c I usually don’t like it. It was awesome. Um, the Britney cover was, well, AMAZING :D She mentioned that she IS STILL working on the ADP DVD but that it is looking good. Yay!! I expected MFG and it was great. Mother Rev was a welcomed shock. Fast Horse and SBV are just great. She really rocked these 2. Police Me has been a fave of mine since the album release so it was awesome to hear this one. Got busted filming this one so will only have a partial vid. What’s up with people getting busted filming during this one!? Loved loved loved Bliss as always and Big Wheel was a ton of fun. Can’t wait for San Jose tonight!! Hope to see you guys out there!
Becky says:

The Paramount Theater is such a fabulous venue for the Goddess to perform in… it’s obvious that she loves it here! The first part of the set had a lot of forceful energy – she just kept bringing it…

*Siren is always a treat – it’s one of my favorites

*Flavor – just gorgeous

*Curtain Call – hands down my favorite on the album & it was incredible live… can’t wait for you all to hear it!

*Icicle – WOW! The electric cello creates this very haunting background – it’s very moving, very powerful.

+ Before she went into the Britney cover, Tori talked about all the pictures of people on the walls in the hallway… and how she was a little disappointed that she wasn’t out there herself. ;) Apparently she & Tash discussed the idea of her singing “Baby One More Time”… it was very amusing – love the Tash stories!

*Maybe California – this song bums me out, but it is beautiful

*Fast Horse – also one of my faves… so much fun! She plays the synth, piano, organ & (I’m thinking) the Wurly throughout the course of the song – I was off to the left & couldn’t ID every instrument, but she had an awfully long stretch… it was something to behold!

*Carbon – another gorgeous performance – I love this song (I really had few complaints with this set-list – yay)!

I hope we get Welcome to England in San Jose… I thought the crowd was pretty decent – gone are the days when she could talk to us without someone shouting at her every 10 seconds, but maybe I’m just that old, eh? ;) The set-list was great… can’t wait for tonight.
melanie heim says:

Tori was very giving and kind yesterday… staying in the sun for a hour meeting everyone that wanted to say hi to her!

some of us even got to sit up front, her new bodyguard is a great match and she has great energy!

Tori seems very happy and she is flying on the keys throughout this show.

I enjoyed every minute!
Lexadex says:

It was an amazing show as always! I especially loved Flavor – gave me the chills. I’ve posted a few little clips on my youtube channel for y’all to enjoy.
Carl says:

Loved the fact she played so much new stuff - my 18th Bay Area Tori show since 1992
Julie says:

A fabulous, high-energy show. Tori was in a great mood and glad to be at the Paramount. Her set was tight and the lights were amazing. Tori did a great improv “Change your pack” while the crew rushed on to change her vocal pack. She turned this into a witty, 2-minute improv and Matt joined in on drums. Cute and clever.

Tori mentioned that the taping done in Oakland last year during the ADP tour was going to be released. The footage was good. We should stay tuned for that.

Highlights for me were Siren – beautiful and moving!

Spacedog – Driving beats and excellent vocals

Curtain Call was particularly well done with a full sound. All players complimented each other well.

Tori told a cute story before her Lizard Lounge cover. She said that in the hall there are photos of famous performers that had been at the Paramount. She, however, was not one of those featured on the wall. “But that’s OK, “ she said, “ because I am here in the flesh!” Then she said she was going to play a cover from one of the females featured on the wall. She said that Tash came into her room this morning and Tori said “I am going to play a song by this artist today in my show.” And Tash said “But mom, you don’t know that song.” And Tori said “Tash, I don’t know any of the fucking songs I play.” Then Tori asked the audience if we guessed who she was going to play yet. Some people shouted out artists, but we were wrong. Then Tori began her Britney Spears cover.

Her interpretation of the song was brilliant and had the audience enthralled. She slowed it down a lot and emphasized “Hit Me, Baby, One more time. You always Hit me, so hit me baby one more time.” It was dark, beautiful, ironic and funny. An excellent cover!

Other highlights – Fast Horse was brilliant. The kinks in this song appear to be worked out, and the band really came together.

Mother Revolution was great! And Carbon with a band was marvelous! Overall an excellent night. Thanks Tori, I’ve seen you live since BFP and am really impressed with last night’s show!
Sarah says:

I had such a wonderful time! Overall the show was wonderful. She will make you laugh one minute and the next make you cry. Hit Me Baby One More Time was fucking amazing - I love how she can make a song like that make chills go through your whole body. Maybe California was beautiful. Icicle was amazing with the band. All was wonderful nothing bad about any of it. I had a great time meeting everyone at the meet and greet. It was nice to meet you Hayley and Matt had a great time with you. Love to you all!
Ryan says:

This was my first show of the tour.. and it felt like every other show of every other tour. I love Tori but seeing her live, though she’s impressive, is starting to feel like a re-run of ‘I Love Lucy’. Great episode…but you’ve seen it countless times.

Oh and her cover of ‘Hit Me Baby…” isn’t that original. She pretty much performed it almost EXACTLY like the way Undercover Love performs it.

I’d rather her shows go into uncharted territory instead of pander to long-time fans. She only played one song I can’t stand (Police Me) yet.. somehow the old classics that mean the world to me felt empty. She wasn’t low energy either just… robotic..proficient…predictable.

Hell, she had a ‘Change your pack’ improv in Seattle on the ADP tour. Enough already.
Emily says:

I loved this show, so much more than the ADP tour. I think seeing Tori as Tori and not one of her dolls was very refreshing: losing the masks of her alter-egos revealed an attitude and persona that were as warm as I remember from her past shows in the 90s.

The setlist was great, despite there being a strange lack of any Boys songs (I did notice that many were played in her previous Portland show, however.)

Neil got mentioned three times tonight (Space Dog, Carbon, Tear in Your Hand): anyone else notice that?

Highlights for me included:

• the upright bass in China— I don’t think I had heard it played live like that before; the song is not one of my favorites, but this performance was just beautiful

• Baby One More Time was, of course, a huge treat— one to add to the great list of covers included in the “Original Bootlegs”

• Precious Things had incredible energy— this is another one that seems to be overplayed at her shows, but the band proved to be an incredible asset.

• Siren, Space Dog, Tear in Your Hand— lovely, lovely, lovely

• Big Wheel was tons of fun

The one downside was the intense strobes during Beauty of Speed and Police Me. Ow. Let’s not have a seizure, shall we?

Terrific show. Tori was completely on top of her game. Really looking forward to any photos and vids from this and future shows in the tour.
NohochMuuch (Jonathan) says:

This was my 5th time seeing her at the Paramount and absolutely the best of the 5! She had such great energy and seemed to me to be in a really playful mood. Baby One More Time was too amazing for words. The “change my pack” improv was great. The lighting on this tour is extremely well done, and the setlist was awesome! Thanks Tori!
Matt says:

This is one of my favorite Tori shows (out of my 10) I’ve been to. The Britney cover reminded me of Tori’s 96 vocals and it was mind-blowingly awesome. Other highlights included Siren, Give, A Sorta Fairytale, Bliss, and a bunch more. Also, I was shocked that i LIKED “Icicle.” usually i hate it but it was awesome. Tori really rocked it in Oakland this time around! San Jose was also awesome! Can’t wait to pick back up the tour ASAP. I enjoyed meeting Jason, Jim, Lisa, Sarah, and Char… and of course hanging w/ Hayley is always fun! <3!
Saxon says:

Give was my favorite song from the new album, and it was first. Siren is one of my all time favorites, and it was second. PLUS, I had my best seats ever, right there in the pit.

The pathos was succulent in Curtain Call, and the magic barely dented by an apparent desire to save her voice on some of the power words in other songs. I even felt the wolf in the house at one point. Wonderful evening, and the fact that the crowd wasn’t full of jackasses…priceless.

(Although the crooner out by the stage door afterward forced me to be more circumspect in my own abnormal attraction to Tori. What’s with that?)
Mary says:

Although I have only had the euphoric pleasure of seeing T 5 times, Oakland is, by far, my most favorite YET! Holy Fu*k was this my kind of show! Every single song was a huge favorite of mine. It was also quite special for me as I went with 2 fellow EWF (Hi my Lauren & Jane!!! Heart you forever!!! lol) AND after loving Tori for 7 yrs now, I finally met her for the very first time (No 7 year itch for me, haha!). She was so sweet & kind, as were the other folks waiting (Didn’t catch many names but, Hi Ricky, Darci, Abram(sp?) & Abram’s Daddy! & great to see Amy again as well!!).

The “Change my pack” improv was too cute, & Jon was in a super fun-giggly mood, too. Cornflake Girl was TIGHT followed by Flavor, which I already liked, now I love, very fragile & moving. I could NOT stop crying at Fairytale….it brought back soooo many memories as that was the single that came out right when I discovered Tori then I became a huge Adrien Brody fan cuz of the video & just had the thrill of meeting him last April & Fairytale is the 1st T song I heard live in ’03 so yeah, so much came back!
Curtain Call was heartbreaking, while the lighting effects were so strong. It seems like she really gets into that one, & you can see its personal. OMG, Icicle! Was that a bass or cello Jon was playing?? It was so disturbing…..but not as disturbing as what was about to come…..The Lizard Lounge. She explained that a fairy visited her & wanted her to play this song, someone yelled “Joni Mitchell?!” & she yelled back, “No she has hair!” & that when she told Tash she was going to play this, Tash said, “You’re kidding me, right?!” LOL! Then, the crowd went insane as she began….“Oh, Baby, Baby…” but this was NOT a joke performance…..it was very clear this was in reference to domestic violence & it was haunting & she followed it right up with Maybe California.

I had just recovered from crying my eyes out at Fairytale & the meloncholy of the Lounge, when she went into CHINA! OMFG. My Mother loves that song & every time I have seen T, she asks me if she did China, & its always been “Nope”…..so it was gorgeous to not only get China, but with the BAND! who added so much: ) I nearly wet my pants at Martha, never in a million years did I think i’d get her!!

I could go on & on, really (LOL) but bottom line: every song was fab….esp. Precious Things & must say, was thrilled she did cheesy Police Me as the encore. I know not everybody gets into that one, but I love it!
Best show ever!!!;-)

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