Happy Birthday Tori!

As Leo Season 2018 growls itself to a close and we prepare our mailboxes for an onslaught of birthday Google Alerts, the Undented Dork Posse wishes our Lioness a happy and lovely birthday! Enjoy your day, Tori! Hope you can’t drive 55! ;-)

Remembering Cyndi and Raven

Very sadly, we’ve recently lost two long-time Toriphiles: Cyndi Crawford (Ciara Raven Blaze @ciararavenblaze on Twitter) in February and Raven Rogers (Sweet Sailor @RavenTweetTweet on Twitter) in June.

We’ve known Cyndi since the mid-‘90s when she joined the Really Deep Thoughts mailing list in her teens and she’s been a dear friend ever since. Like many of you, we knew Raven from tours and meet & greets on the road and on the various Tori fan sites on the Internet as well. She, too, has been a good friend to us and Undented as well. Tragically, both have passed at very young ages and left gaping holes in the Tori community, in our hearts, and in the world. We’re having a hard time processing this loss and miss them more than words can express.

GoFundMe pages to raise funds for their survivors and memorials have been set up for each of them. If you can, please consider helping out. Cyndi’s is here and Raven’s is here. We know it would be appreciated.

You have touched my life
So that now cathedrals of sound are singing
Are singing

The waves have come to walk with you
To where you will live in the Land of Youth
Land of Youth

You will not ever be forgotten by me
In the procession of the mighty stars
Your name is sung and tattooed now on my heart
Here I will carry, carry, carry you
Here I will carry, carry, carry you forever
— Tori Amos, “Carry”

Our deepest condolences to all of Cyndi’s and Raven’s families and friends.

~ woj and Violet

A Short Meditation On Presales

From participating in and following along with others participating in the Verified Fan pre-sales today, it’s safe to say that they were something of a mixed bag or, in other words, they were pretty much like any other pre-sale for Tori tickets!

This one had the added level of disappointment for those who registered but were not selected to receive a code but otherwise, all the usual characteristics were there: a selection of seats from throughout the entire venue (as opposed to just the best seats), ticket churn making it appear that the presale had sold out quickly, a few hiccups with links and ticket vendors, and a healthy dose of confusion. On top of that, the fact that a large number of seats are already being listed on the resale market, it doesn’t seem that the chief goal ot this presale method – ensuring tickets end up in the hands of fans rather than scalpers and touts – was achieved. So while more than a few folks seemed fairly happy with the seats they ended up with (us included!), it’s not clear that the extra layer was as effective as it was touted as. Over time, this approach should improve but with anyone able to register with just a valid Ticketmaster account, the back-and-forth between ticket sellers and ticket scalpers is going to keep on going…

Regardless, a second round of presales are taking place on Thursday for nearly all shows. They’re all listed on the show pages in Tour. Most of these are either Live Nation or Spotify presales but there are a few radio station presales as well. Live Nation presales are open to anyone who has a registered Live Nation account or uses the Live Nation phone app. The Spotify presaes appear to be available through the concert links on Spotify’s Tori Amos artist page which will require a Spotify account to access. As for any local media presales, if we find the details on them, we’ll pass them along. Keep an eye on our Twitter (or over on the left sidebar of Undented) as we’ll post updates on them there (as well as in Tour).

Vinyl And Deluxe Editions Confirmed

Buried in the tour announcement yesterday, beneath all the hoopla about the Verified Fan pre-sales, were some additional details about the formats of Native Invader. None of this seems to have been mentioned on ToriAmos.com or official social media channels yet but embedded in the press release that many venues used on their listings for the performances is the following (emphasis ours):

Tori Amos is one of the most successful, prolific and influential artists of her generation. Native Invader is Tori’s fifteenth studio album, following 2014’s Unrepentant Geraldines – her eighth Billboard Top 10 album — and will be made availble in various physical and digital configuarions, as well as vinyl later this fall. The physical CD package will be available in standard as well as deluxe offerings; the latter includes a hardcover book and two bonus tracks. Native Invader’s evocative album cover art was unveiled over Tori’s social media platforms on July 6th.

So, as one might have guessed, there will be a deluxe edition of the album with bonus tracks. No word yet about whether there will be bonus tracks for specific retailers though. And, gotta say, that hardcover book sounds intriguing!

Also nice to see that a vinyl release is coming! Yay! however, given the recent completion of the album and the longer wait time for manufacturing and pressing vinyl, it won’t be available on the September 8th release date. Boo! Additionally, it’s not yet clear if the vinyl will have regular and/or deluxe editions.

Tour Dates! Ticket Sale Info! Oh My!

Update: The splash page on ToriAmos.com has been updated with the date for the North American leg of the tour and ticket information, including pre-sale and general sale information. We’re a little stacked so here’s a quick’n‘dirty cut’n‘paste. We’ll get the tour dates added to the Tour section later today.

Update: All dates have been added to the Tour section!

We have some amazing news regarding tickets for the Native Invader North American Tour. We are working with Ticketmaster who have a great new presale platform called “Verified Fan” which separates human fans like you from the scalpers and bots and giving you a better chance at getting tickets to the show. Once you register, the system randomly picks a select number of verified fans who will get a one-time use only code to get tickets.

Registration Begins: on 7/10 at 9:00 AM PT and closes on 7/11 at 2:00 PM PT

(Step 1)

GET VERIFIED: https://toriamos.tmverifiedfan.com/

(Step 2)

IF VERIFIED AND RANDOMLY SELECTED, you’ll receive a one- time use offer code to access tickets. you’ll receive two text messages: your purchase link and timing followed by your single use offer code. Keep your phone handy — your notification will arrive 2-4 hours before the presale. Please also watch your email, if they have any issues with text delivery, such as an incorrectly entered number or blocked carriers — they will email you your details prior to the presale. The presale begins promptly on Wednesday 7/12 10AM (venue local).

FOR THOSE NOT RANDOMLY SELECTED: General On-Sale for the tour is Friday 7/14 at 10:00 AM LOCAL

NATIVE INVADER NORTH AMERICAN TOUR DATES

October 24 O’Shaughnessy Auditorium Saint Paul, MN
October 26 Orpheum Theater Madison, WI
October 27 The Chicago Theatre Chicago, IL
October 29 State Theater at Playhouse Square Cleveland, OH
October 30 Massey Hall Toronto, ON
October 31 Michigan Theater Ann Arbor, MI
November 2 The Orpheum Theatre Boston, MA
November 3 MGM National Harbor Washington, DC
November 4 Tower Theater Philadelphia, PA
November 7 Beacon Theatre New York, NY
November 8 Beacon Theatre New York, NY
November 10 Atlanta Symphony Hall Atlanta, GA
November 11 Durham Performing Arts Center Durham, NC
November 12 The Ryman Auditorium Nashville, TN
November 14 Mahalia Jackson Theatre New Orleans, LA
November 16 The Pavilion at Irving Music Factory Dallas, TX
November 17 ACL Live at The Moody Theater Austin, TX
November 19 The Paramount Theatre Denver, CO
November 22 Schnitzer Hall Portland, OR
November 24 The Paramount Theatre Seattle, WA
November 25 The Hult Center for Performing Arts Eugene, OR
November 26 The Paramount Theater Oakland, CA
November 28 The Balboa Theatre San Diego, CA
November 29 The Mesa Arts Center (MAC) Phoenix, AZ
December 1 The Theatre at Ace Hotel Los Angeles, CA
December 2 The Theatre at Ace Hotel Los Angeles, CA
December 3 The Theatre at Ace Hotel Los Angeles, CA

Don’t forget: as was tweeted and facebooked and instagrammed at the end of last week, there will be an announcement today on Facebook. We presume it will about the album and North American dates for the tour but we’re willing to be wrong. The whole thing goes down at 9:00 AM Pacific / 11:00 AM Central / 12:00 PM Eastern / 5:00 PM BST (check that link for your local time).

Tori is making a big announcement this MONDAY on Facebook Live at 9:00 AM PT / 11:00 AM CT / 12:00 PM ET / 5:00 PM GMT! Check it out! pic.twitter.com/V9xQY2feIZ

— tori amos (@toriamos) July 6, 2017

Tori Shares Native Invader Cover Artwork

Over the past few days, several unconfirmed tour dates have popped up on ticketing sites, radio station websites, and local music blogs. And just as quickly as they appeared, they disappeared leading us to think we have a little longer wait until the full set of dates on the North American leg of the upcoming tour are announced — presumably with a flourish and a fog machine coughing out a puff or two of smoke!

Given that, it came as no little surprise when, sans fanfare, the cover artwork for the new album just appeared on Tori’s Instagram this morning! As mentioned there, the artist is Paulina Otylie Surys and you can check out more of her work on her Facebook and Instagram accounts.

In the meantime, bask in the glow!

Update: Just went up on Tori’s Twitter and Facebook that there will be an announcement on Facebook Live on Monday, July 10th at 9:00 AM PT / 11:00 AM CT / 12:00 PM ET / 5:00 PM GMT. Presumably, this will be the long-awaited dates for the North American leg of the tour supporting Native Invader…or maybe some tips for selecting the best, affordable red wines? Guess we’ll see!

Tori Announces New 2017 Album And Tour

After a series of image teasers posted on social media over the past week, Tori Amos announced the name of her new record, Native Invader, that will be released in September and posted this new picture that may or may not be the cover artwork (clicky clicky to embiggen). More details about the record are expected to be released come Monday via all the usual social media channels, we assume.

A tour to support the album was also confirmed with the dates for the European leg to be announced on Monday, April 24th – which means tickets will be going on sale for them pretty soon, one would expect!

Update 2: Dates for the European leg of the tour have been posted on ToriAmos.com. Tickets for most shows go on sale this week while a couple won’t be for sale until the following week. Dates are:

September 6 Cork, Ireland Cork Opera House On sale 28-Apr-2017 09:00 AM
September 7 Dublin, Ireland Bord Gais Energy Theatre On sale 28-Apr-2017 09:00 AM
September 9 Ghent, Belgium Capitole Gent On sale 28-Apr-2017 10:00 am
September 10 Luxembourg, Luxembourg Den Atelier On sale 28-Apr-2017 10:00 am
September 11 Paris, France Le Grand Rex On sale 26-Apr-2017 10:00 am
September 13 Amsterdam, Holland Carre On sale 27-Apr-2017 10:00 am
September 14 Utrecht, Holland Tivoli On sale 27-Apr-2017 10:00
September 16 Frankfurt, Germany Jahrhunderthalle On sale 28-Apr-2017 10:00 am
September 17 Milan, Italy Teatro degli Arcimboldi On sale 28-Apr-2017 10:00 am
September 18 Geneva, Switzerland Theatre du Leman On sale 4-May-2017 08:00 am
September 20 Linz, Austria Brucknerhaus On sale 28-Apr-2017 10:00 am
September 21 Zurich, Switzerland Volkshaus On sale 4-May-2017 08:00 am
September 23 Copenhagen, Denmark DR Koncerhuset On sale 28-Apr-2017 10:00 am
September 24 Oslo, Norway Oslo Konserthus AS On sale 28-Apr-2017 10:00 am
September 26 Hamburg, Germany Laeiszhalle On sale 28-Apr-2017 10:00 am
September 27 Essen, Germany Colosseum On sale 28-Apr-2017 10:00 am
September 29 Berlin, Germany Tempodrom On sale 28-Apr-2017 10:00 am
September 30 Munich, Germany Philharmonie On sale 28-Apr-2017 10:00 am
October 1 Vienna, Austria Konzerthaus On sale 28-Apr-2017 10:00 am
October 4 London, UK Royal Albert Hall On sale 28-Apr-2017 09:00 am
October 5 Manchester, UK Palace Theatre On sale 28-Apr-2017 09:00 am
October 6 Glasgow, UK O2 Academy On sale 28-Apr-2017 09:00 am

Update 1: Danish ticket site billetlugen.dk has leaked some information about Tori’s upcoming new record and the European tour, as well as posting a new photo.

Native Invader will be released on September 8th on Decca Records. The tour starts in Ireland on September 6th and there will be a date in Denmark on September 23rd. Read on for some comments from Tori on fifteenth record!

The songs on ‘Native Invader’ are being pushed by the Muses to find different ways of facing unforeseen challenges and in some cases dangerous conflicts. The record looks to Nature and how, through resilience, she heals herself. The songs also wrestle with the question: what is our part in the destruction of our land, as well as ourselves, and in our relationships with each other?

In life there can be the shock of unexpected fires, floods, earthquakes, or any cataclysmic ravager – both on the inside and outside of our minds. Sonically and visually, I wanted to look at how Nature creates with her opposing forces, becoming the ultimate regenerator through her cycles of death and re-birth. Time and time again she is able to renew, can we find this renewal for ourselves?

P.S. Oh hai!

Bergen In The Books

The first half of this summer’s European dates came to a close this evening with a main stage performance at Bergenfest in Bergen, Norway.

The 75-minute set included “Girl,” “The Waitress,” “I Can’t See New York,” “Take To The Sky,” and her version of Depeche Mode’s “In Your Room,” which has been a mainstay in her sets this summer. The complete set list, thanks to the tweets of @taxxigirl, has been posted in our Tour section. We’d love to share your take on the performance if you were there so please consider send in a review for the site.

And so, as quickly as it started at Primavera Sound two weeks ago, this early summer round of shows concludes. But don’t fret for too long: a second round of summer shows, a trio of festival dates during the first week of August, will be on us before you know it: Stockholm Music & Arts on August 1st, Lokerse Feesten on August 6th and A Summer’s Tale on August 8th. Tickets for all three festivals are still available, if you are so inclined…

Isn't It Good, Norwegian Wood

Earlier tonight, Tori performed at the Norwegian Wood Festival in Oslo, Norway. Her festival-length show was the middle-part of three woman bill, nestled in between Rae Morris and Patti Smith — not a bad evening of music by any measure!

Tori’s set kicked off with “Little Earthqualkes” and included the hits such as “Precious Things” and “Cornflake Girl,” as well as a number of covers: Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” Depeche Mode’s “In Your Room,” Elton John’s “Someone Saved My Life Tonight,” and The Beatles’ “Norwegian Wood,” the festival’s namesake. Guess she couldn’t resist the temptation…but then, neither could we…

With thanks to @MrProgrammable who live-tweeted the show, the complete setlist is up in the Tour section. Your reviews, photos, and videos are always welcome!

Saturday brings us to the other Norwegian music festival this weekend: Bergenfest! Tune back in tomorrow to see how the last show of the first half of this summer’s dates pans out. After that, there are no shows until the first week of August.

In the Spring Becomes The Rose

Anyone who was worried that Tori would repeat herself at the second of her two-night stand at Helsinki’s Finlandia Hall shouldn’t have expended that energy. When all was said and done, there was only one song that was repeated between the two nights (which one, of course, is left as an exercise for the reader and we expect to see the answer on our desk tomorrow morning promptly at 8 o’clock!).

Tonight’s set had a decided rosy theme with appearances of “Here. In My Head,” “Blood Roses,” “Code Red,” and a cover of “The Rose,” made famous by Bette Midler. Other interesting inclusions were “Siren,” “Marys of the Sea,” “Amber Waves,” and “Past the Mission.” The complete set, thanks to the efforts of @sunjan and @adora_boy, both of whom live-tweeted the show, is posted in the Tour section. Videos of several songs have already surfaced on YouTube and those have been added there as well.

As always, we welcome your reviews of the show! If you would like to post your thoughts on the concert and performance, just use the comment form at the bottom of the setlist page and we’ll get it added to the site as soon as we can!

After these two nights, we have a short respite before the next two shows on this little summer jaunt around Europe. We hope you enjoy a coujple days off before the two Norwegian festival appearances at the end of the week: Norwegian Wood in Oslo on Friday and Bergenfest in Bergen on Saturday. Stay tuned!