Apollo Victoria Theatre

Summer 2010 Tour

Date	July 18, 2010
City	London
Venue	Apollo Victoria Theatre

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Setlist

Thanks to @LeoSalvia and @GreekPsyche for updating the setlist on Twitter!

Bells For Her
Precious Things
Silent All These Years
Dragon
Northern Lad
The Power of Orange Knickers
Marianne
Space Dog
Beauty of Speed
Virginia
Rattlesnakes [Lloyd Cole]
Yes, Anastasia
Me and A Gun
Garlands
Hey Jupiter

Encore

Deseperado [The Eagles]
Personal Jesus [Depeche Mode]
Take To The Sky

Video

Precious Things (posted by simonjcrossley)

The Power of Orange Knickers (posted by marckarlock)

Marianne (posted by marckarlock)

Rattlesnakes (posted by rayoliteuk)

Me And A Gun (posted by miky2011)

Garlands (posted by marckarlock)

Hey Jupiter (posted by rayoliteuk)

Desperado (posted by simonjcrossley)

Personal Jesus / Body and Soul (posted by marcincupial24)

Personal Jesus > Take To The Sky (posted by rayoliteuk)

Photos

Reviews

Lisa071573 says:

Tori sounded lovely tonight, although I have to say that I’m slightly disappointed, as the show felt a bit short to me (right around 1hr 30min – she was scheduled for 2 hrs, but came on late and left early). Also, both Bouncing Off Clouds [supposed to be before Orange Knickers] and Pretty Good Year [before TTTS] were listed on the setlist and not played. Despite the shortness, it was still great to see Tori and she sounded fantastic. The Victoria Apollo is home to the musical Wicked, so right above the stage was perched a giant dragon, so I was expecting Dragon to make an appearance. Personal Jesus (sans Body and Soul completely except for a few “with your Body and your Soul” refrains) was wonderful, and Take to the Sky included the “I Feel the Earth Move” portion. I was especially surprised by Me and Gun which I don’t think I’ve seen since the 2001 tour. Unfortunately I took too long a nap and made it to theatre too late (barely) for the meet and greet, but my understanding is she stayed out for a long time and talked to everyone, including some random passersby who had to ask who she was before having their picture taken with her. I’m kicking myself for not going to Dublin and hoping for a longer setlist tomorrow night in Paris. Oh, and Tash was all dolled up in a cute outfit and a long pink wig, wandering around the theatre :).
Bigbee says:

3 words…..best…..show…..ever!! Not only did I get to reach out and touch faith with my own personal jesus I got to hug her too!!
Rachel says:

This was my 3rd Tori show and by far the most amazing. Her voice was strong and beautiful and she really seemed to be enjoying herself. She sung Garlands, Northern Lad, two songs which I was so happy to hear. Surprisingly a beautiful, emotional acapella Me and A Gun was sung, which Tori had a standing ovation for when it was over.

By far, this was the most enjoyable show ever. She just gets better and better. Her voice was so strong and clear, not a bit shaky.

I also think the audience there was amazingly kind and generous, to each other and to Tori, everyone seemed to know each other like some big family and I really appreciate what that brings to the experience of a Tori show.
Leo says:

My third show and second acoustic having caught both the London Savoy and Sinful Attraction shows last year. I must say, and incredible improvement over both of them. So many great songs made an appearance in particular Marianne, Yes Anastasia and Dragon with all of them being phenomenal renditions. My favourite was possibly Hey Jupiter, even though it pops up a lot I felt that was probably the best version I’ve ever heard. Particularly stunning!

I think she’s back on top form and this isn’t a show I’m going to forget in a hurry. My only complaint would be that it felt a tad short, but otherwise pretty faultless!
Emily says:

My fourth Tori show and perhaps my best. She was definitely on top form, her voice sounding amazing, and I think this the gains top spot for me mainly for Me and a Gun. I never thought I would have the opportunity to hear it live, and it was absolutely stunning; the atmosphere was so intense, it was amazing. Also Northern Lad I’ve always wanted to see live, and I was going to ask her for it at the meet and greet but chickened out, so was very happy to get it! I also think Precious Things was the best I’ve ever heard it.

However I do agree with others the set was a little short, which was a shame!
Jimbo says:

Totally brilliant! Lovely to see her solo after seeing her with the band at the end of last year… her voice really shines in solo shows. I’m still in awe of the incredible left hand playing she did throughout Personal Jesus… she was standing, kicking, yelling, but the riff didn’t waver! Low point for me is Garlands which I find a bit dull (even on record) but everything else was incredible… She needed something a bit tender after Me And A Gun. The audience was absolutely silent throughout that song which added to the potency. I hope I have that much energy in 15 years! Brilliant!
menju56 says:

I came out of that grinning from ear to ear. It felt like such a special show. I’d say it was the best of the solo shows I’ve seen and full of moments where I was so surprised that that particular song was coming. “Bells for Her” made for an exquisite opener. She had a slightly different delivery of the “here” in “Silent All These Years” which gave it new life. The high notes in “Northern Lad” were shiver-inducing, powerful and spot-on. When she started “Marianne,” I thought, ‘I know this, this is familiar’ but I couldn’t place it. Then she came out with “tuna, rubber…” and there were whoops of stunned recognition. She played the hell out of the piano like I’d never seen her before. This show felt like she was reconnecting with the piano in a big way – the bass notes of “Marianne” before “the weasel squeaks…”, the pounding rhythm in “Space Dog,” later I thought “Personal Jesus” even had a boogie woogie quality, and she did some nice subtle improvisation on “Take to the Sky.”

She seemed to love the clapping along on “Space Dog” and “Beauty of Speed,” and on the latter even stamped her foot in time to the clapping for a while. On “Yes, Anastasia,” she sang “we’ll see how brave you are, T,” which I perhaps over-literally took to mean “how brave [I am] to hit the upcoming high notes.” To my ears she didn’t nail it quite as well as Milan but it was still a passionate and frankly breathtaking performance. I thought at that point that the set would take a turn for the mellow; it felt as if things were building up to “Anastasia.” But my god then came “Me and a Gun.” Just a spotlight. Couldn’t see her features, could only make out the orange hair. It was spooky to say the least and you could hear every saliva swallow. And then after all that, a sublime “Garlands.” I couldn’t believe it! The high notes in “Hey Jupiter” were spot on as well. And it was a perfect encore, starting smoothly with “Desperado” but then a fiery “Personal Jesus” and she was completely into “Take to the Sky.” I understand “Pretty Good Year” was on the set list before “Take to the Sky” and while it’s one of my favourites, I understand why she didn’t play it – “Personal Jesus” into “Take to the Sky” was an incredibly energetic way to finish with a flourish.

It’s my sixth Tori show and it felt like the most special. She was so into it and full of passion. There was a noticeable lack of talking to the audience beyond a customary ‘hello’ after “Precious Things,” and saying how special it was to play at a West End theatre, but if that was a bid to maintain her focus and concentration throughout, it paid off. When she came off after “Hey Jupiter,” she touched the piano as if to thank it. Us Europeans are very fortunate to be able to witness these shows.
Mary says:

Amazing, amazing, amazing!! Good to see Tori back on top form and really enjoying herself. Her voice (all cold free etc) still totally awesome after so many years.

So many old faves coming out, was wondering if she’s been re-reading the Irish Times interview too and thinking back. Me and a Gun – never thought I would get to see that live so feel like it was a really special moment for all us die hard Tori fans

Brilliant – when’s the next one?!
Matt Evans says:

Up to the end of Beauty of Speed I was literally jaw-to-the-floor; I must have seen her 15 times at least but it was just phenomenal; her vocals were off the hook and the sound was amazing!! ‘Space Dog’ was the best i have seen – she started playing the bass part really low, then talked over the top and said “that’s the German Space Dog, we want the English Space Dog” then moved up a couple of octaves.

The set tailed off a bit towards the end of the first bit though I reckon – nice version of ‘Garlands’ but.. meh… ‘Me&AGun’ I can live without … ‘Virginia’, whatever… Can’t believe she was going to play ‘Pretty Good Year’ and didn’t… AGGHH.

Encore was awesome – agree with Jimbo above, the left hand work out was something else!!!

I know she doesn’t talk much during shows but… really… it was barely more than “hey how’s it going”. Whatever though, she seemed really into the show.

Overall: incredible. A few set list changes and it might have been my favourite ever Tori perfomance… Top 3 anyway! still never seen ‘Gold Dust’ live :-(
Christoff says:

Well, that was awesome. Just phenomenal. I’ve never ever seen Tori like that before. She had a face like thunder when she came on. She punched the piano so hard during Precious Things, it’s a wonder she didn’t break her fingers. Or the Bose for that matter. She looked angry. Somebody seemed to take a battering last night. Northern Lad was immense. She mellowed a bit during Space Dog and looked a bit more chilled for a few songs.

Me and a Gun: words cannot explain. People so often say “not a dry eye in the house”. This time I truly believe that. Tori got a standing ovation as she ended it, having REALLY struggled to sing the last couple of words. It seemed like forever as she sat there, trying to finish it. She did and the ovation was not a celebratory/congratulatory one, more of a “We really wanna hug you right now T”. I think if the orchestral pit hadn’t been in the way, somebody would have done. There was incredible applause, but no cheering, no whistling. Just complete love for Tori up there on her own. It was THAT intense. Heartbreaking.

Straight into Garlands which I requested for the umpteenth time. She promised me she’d play it for me tonight and she did. Just fucking wow. She dropped two songs from the set and finished 15 mins early. Something didn’t seem right. Others have said it was a tad short. I disagree. It really didn’t seem to matter and I can’t believe 18 songs passed that quickly. It was all over in seemingly about 20 minutes. Bouncing Off Clouds was meant to be between Northern Lad and Orange Knickers, and Pretty Good Year was listed as between Desperado and Personal Jesus. Incredible night. On one hand it was the most flawless, mesmerising, spellbinding, intense performance I’ve ever seen and probably ever will see. On the other hand it was sad, worrying at times and just plain heartbreaking at others.

She is the fucking greatest.
Rich Butler says:

Not even man-flu and feeling generally poorly could prevent me attending my 13th Tori concert!

A truly unique and, I know this sounds corny, but a magical performance too.

Highlights for me were Marianne and Garlands. Absolutely beautiful and lush. Space Dog though probably steals it as standout track. It generally does when it makes a setlist I’m attending though! Love the version of Precious Things on this little mini tour too. I wasn’t overly keen on the slight growly vocals on Bells For Her but Yes, Anastasia made up for that.

My only main disappointment was that the Wicked dragon didn’t come to life during Dragon!!

All in all, the show is up there as one of my favourites.
Mordak says:

Unbelievable! what a show! Great venue and great performance. I literally don’t know what to say!
EV says:

Last night was most likely the most incredible night of my life. I have seen Tori play before, but never like last night. I had never the amazing opportunity to meet her before the show, and truly, that was a dream come true. She was so gracious, sweet, magical and more than I ever could have hoped for. The concert was perfect. Every song shimmered.. I am still feeling the glow. All my love to all of you Tori fans, it’s so lovely to feel the magic of Tori amongst others who adore her too.

I will never forget last night. Can’t wait to see her again! :) xoxo evz.
GazR says:

Superb throughout.

The venue was ideal – the large dragon peering down onto the stage and the wheels/cogs on each side provided the perfect picture frame for Tori & the Bosey. I too was sitting in anticipation, thinking how apt it would be to get “Dragon” – and so it was!

I couldn’t have imagined a better playlist – something for everyone with no “fillers” at all. Highlights for me were Northern Lad and Yes Anastasia.

The crowd were great too – the eagerness to participate with the clapping along and the mid-show standing ovation (after Me & A Gun) is unusual for an English show – so I guess there were a few Americans in.

The encore was very upbeat, with Personal Jesus and Take To The Sky. Personal Jesus seemed like Jerry Lee Lewis meets Depeche Mode, such was the speed of Tori’s piano playing.

I’m now counting down the days to the Amsterdam show and hoping for just as good a night as London, with the added bonus of the orchestra behind her.
Reggie says:

2nd Tori Amos concert, first time I got to meet her, and of course, I cried overcome with emotion; But not as much as I did during Marianne! What a set list! She didn’t play Flying Dutchman like I requested but Take to the sky, Yes Anastasia, Marianne and Me and a Gun ALL made up for that, from beginning to end it was an amazing concert and it was great to meet the other fans as well!
Mike(y) says:

A great set – less of the usual set contents than usual, but an excellent set of stuff, very appropriate for the venue. I’ll echo the comment from other posters that there were some great bass riffs. Some of the arrangements of the usual favourites had been tweaked slightly, and worked really well. Vaguely surprised to hear MaaG back in. (8½/10)

Sound – excellent, probably the best I have heard. I thought the electric keyboard sounded particularly good: I loved the deep tremolo on “Rattlesnakes” . (10/10)

Tori’s voice – excellent. Once she warmed up, she was hitting the high notes as well as I’ve ever heard, with an almost complete absence of the self-indulgent affectations that have lost her a lot of us original fans. (10/10)

Audience communication – virtually none. Pretty much what we expect, but it is something I miss from the old days. Numbers were basically just back to back (1/10). She did look like she was having fun, particularly with the “German Space Dog” comment.

The set came to a very abrupt interval when her monitor receiver dropped out onto the floor. She completed that number, unplugged it and ran, leaving a roadie to fetch it before the encore.

All in all, an excellent evening!
kayduu says:

I don’t think it was a late start for Tori, at 8.30pm as scheduled, but other show-goers are right in that the show did seem to move at quite a pace and did therefore feel like it was over a little too soon (although it was 10.15pm at show-end, so not especially early really).

In kingfisher blue tunic & metallic gold leggings & heels, Tori sparkled like a mounted gemstone. Never one to miss a bit of symbolism, maybe Tori intended the blue to suggest the Virgin Mary (we all know Tori’s thoughts on the Marys, after all). Vocally, she was on very good form and there were lots (possibly even all?) of the high notes that we expect from the original album versions (especially her very early work – eg – the “We’ll seeeeeeeeeeeeeeee” in “Yes Anastasia”). This is always really thrilling to hear, of course, and makes you feel like you’re getting value for money, as she’s giving the songs her all.

The theatrics seemed less, in this slightly introspective performance, than I’ve seen Tori give before though (I’m one of those people who goes along expressly to see the exaggerated hunching & crouching & grinding) but there was lots of playful leg-kicking. The songs (& especially the sedate, though no less beautiful, “Bells For Her” opener) set the scene for a slightly more sombre evening, but not sombre in any negative sense, it’s just that there were no “Bouncing Off Clouds”, “Body & Soul” or “Wednesday” crowd-rousers. In this sense, and with hindsight, it seems as though it may all have been steadily building towards the very surprising “Me & A Gun”, performed almost unlit & eerily in the shadows. Predictably, you could have heard a pin drop during that particular song (and unfortunately a mobile phone went off somewhere – when will people learn to switch the damn things off – very selfish and hopefully that person felt suitably shamed and learned a lesson).

My personal favourite (and a first for me) was “Garlands” – a very poignant follow-up to “Me & A Gun”, fittingly melancholy, yet still easing everyone gently out of the shell-shock that will always (intentionally) be “Me & A Gun”. “Virginia” was another first for me and provided some fine piano moments with its lilting waltz rhythm. And “Precious Things” will always be spine-tingling live, with the energy of its opening & the spitting anger of its lyrics – this is always Tori at her She-Warrior best, I think! It’s always such a tantalising joy (for Tori, as well as the audience, I’d guess) to listen to the meandering song openings and try to guess which song they will become!

I’ve seen Tori six times now and won’t be sorry if I never hear “Hey Jupiter”, “Space Dog” or “Rattlesnakes” again (they’ve never been favourites of mine and she seems to favour them quite a bit live). It’s good to hear what other people cherish in a show though, and so I’m glad that these songs really ‘make’ the occasion for some ☺ It’s all about the mix of course, and about getting a representation of the albums across the decades. And for some it’s about the afternoon ‘Meet & Greet’ too, which Tori dutifully turned out for, and which we stumbled across purely by chance, as we stopped off at the venue at approx 4pm just to check show timings at the box office!

One day I will hopefully get a good central seat closer to the stage, where I can see her hands as well as face (why are there never close-up screens at these gigs!?) It’s always great to just be there though, sharing the specialness with others, and most specially of all with my wondrous boyfriend, who has now been to four Tori shows with me because he knows how much I have loved her music over the years and because he wants to share my excitement – now that’s love, I reckon! A huge thanks to him; my very own ‘Northern Lad’ Yorkshireman!
me and me says:

The poster who says she only played for 90 minutes is wrong, i looked at my watch at the start and as soon as lights came up – she came on only 5 minutes late (8.35pm instead of 8.30), and left at 10.20pm (the times on the door said she would play 8.30 to 10.30).

It felt shorter, yes, but it wasn’t really.

Brilliant show!!!!! Tori’s on fire :)
Benji says:

Absolutely fantastic show! I admit now to being a very bad fan when it comes to the tours – only been to Dew Drop Inn and Beekeeper shows before – but I have been such a huge Tori fan since Little Earthquakes. This show felt like Tori had stolen my iPod and played my “Tori Faves”. High points were Northern Lad and Desperado…Low points? None really though it would have been nicer for Tori to have been a bit more chatty. Cannot wait for the next one!!
Lisa071573 says:

An addendum to my original post – I rechecked my photo of the setlist, and PGY was supposed to be before Personal Jesus, not after (I goofed). Regarding the length of the show, I’m sure Tori came on at least later than 8:37pm by my watch and closer to 8:40pm. It was 10:20pm a few minutes after the show ended when I checked my watch standing by the stage. At any rate, it still felt short to me and I was quite surprised when she waved goodbye after Jupiter.
Neil says:

This is the 6th time I have seen Tori live, but this show is the one I will always remember.

Me and a Gun rightly will hold everyone’s attention but Dragon, Northern Lad, Marianne, the best Space Dog ever and the fabulous encore session all played a huge part for me.

Her voice was the best it has been in a decade, with the high notes fully in play and the annoying twiddly affectations almost entirely ditched for the most “straight ahead” but rawly emotional show she has ever played in London (a city where she has never seemed entirely comfortable playing live).

After, at least for me, two relatively disappointing recent album releases (a few diamonds surrounded by filler) this concert firmly reconnected me with Tori and reminded me why she is unique and simply without equal at her shining best.
Ivan says:

I went from Madrid to London just to see her, and it was worth the effort! Will she ever come to Spain?

For me the highlights were Yes Anastasia, Space Dog, Northern Lad and Take To The Sky. It was awesome, viva Tori!

http://galosengalia.blogspot.com/2010/07/tori-and-piano.html

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