Q&A: What happened with the iTunes pre-release ticket sweepstakes?

Question: Have you heard any news in regards to the contest winners being chosen yet or not for the pre-sale sweepstakes that you had posted on the site earlier in September? Your site linked over the the official Tori site for the entry contest and it basically stated that 2 winners would be selected for the 13 US leg venues with front row seats. Any updates on this would be appreciated! Thanks! — Clay

Answer: According to the sweepstakes rules, winners were to be notified by U.S. mail and email on or around the 25th of September. As far as we know, winners were notified privately and there are no plans to make any sort of public announcement.

Update: Several lucky people have let us know they’ve been notified that they did win this contest so if anyone did, you should know my now!

Q&A: Is Tori Doing Meet and Greets This Tour?

Question: Do you know if Tori is doing meet & greets on this tour as she has in the past? — Jack

Answer: She is, yes. But as always, only when there are no conflicts, scheduling or otherwise. (The otherwise could be anything ranging from bad weather to security issues.) So there’s never any 100% guarantee. You just have to go and hope.

For anyone wanting to know how meet and greets work, check out our “M&G Info” link under Useful Tour Stuffs in the righthand column over on the Tour page. We haven’t updated it yet this year, but meet and greets have worked generally the same way for years. The info should at least get you where you need to be when you need to be there. And if anything’s working dramatically different this time around, we trust people will let us know so we can update.

Q&A: Did Tori write the music for the other instruments on Night Of Hunters?

Question: Other than loving it, I have no knowledge of music. I’ve been listening to a lot of the Night of Hunters original inspiration pieces, and I’ve noticed how much feeling the non-piano instrumentals — particularly the strings, as on “Shattering Sea” — have imbued into the Tori Amos versions. Did she write the music for the other instruments, or “just” the piano and vocals (which alone is a tremendous accomplishment)? I know Shenale arranged the compositions, but I don’t know if that means he wrote the parts for the other instruments or set the tempo or…? I’m very curious! — dmc

Answer: We’ll let John Philip Shenale answer this one for you:

As an arranger and orchestrator, that is what I must do: write what the octet+ plays. The emotion, the dynamics, style — these things and more are my responsibility. And they must be notated, then played by this fantastic group of musicians. The scores that are offered through iTunes are my production scores. My map. As I have from the very beginning of my working with T, we listen, we talk. I send her a mock-up of what I think it would be, make any changes, and I finish the score and parts for the instruments. Piano and vocals were brilliantly composed and performed by T. She provides the tempo, the unity, the center, harmonic base, raison d’être. I hope that’s clear.

Very. Thanks, John!

Q&A: Is There A Way To Keep Track Of Songs On Tour?

Question: I can’t seem to pull it up or find the correct name for it, but I adored this feature you had where you kept track of what Tori played on any particular tour and did a percentage of how many times she played it and in which city. I love that stats page and I would like to volunteer (if you need help) to do this tour. — Melinda

Answer: You’re thinking of Sped Erstad’s Tori Amos Setlist Database, which is linked in the right column of our Tour page under “Useful Tour Stuffs.” And it’s back for the Night Of Hunters tour. Go nuts!

Q&A: Is There Night Of Hunters-Specific Merchandise At The Shows?

Question: Any word yet on whether there is NOH specific merchandise (t-shirts) being sold at the concerts? — @umokaywhatevers via Twitter

Answer: Yes, all merchadise on the Night Of Hunters tour is NOH-specific. And that includes t-shirts.

Q&A: Will There Be An Extension Of The Night Of Hunters Tour?

Q: With regards to tour dates, have you heard anything that may lead you to believe Tori will be adding additional dates, particularly in the US, following December, 2011? —Matt

A: Sadly, no. We have confirmation that the sun will set on the Night of Hunters tour in December.

Q&A: Where Can Copies of WHAT?! Be Purchased?

Q: I was wondering if you could let me know where to get a copy of the WHAT?! Magazine Spring 2010 issue [with Tori on the cover]. —Carrie

Issues of WHAT?! can be purchased from R. D. Franks, a fashion book shop located in London. WHAT?! is listed under Magazines > Fashion Media. The order form doesn’t seem to allow you to specify which issue you want to purchase so you might want to call or e-mail the shop to clarify your order and get a shipping quote if you are ordering from outside the United Kingdom.

Thanks to Kaz and Greg for the tip!

Update: Bobbywithahammer reports that he picked up a copy of the issue at The Soho Bookstore on Old Compton Street in Soho, London. So clearly there are lots of places out there to pick it up if you’re in the area. If we come across any other places to mail order it from — for those outside of the UK — we’ll update this article.

Q&A: When will The Tori Store re-open?

Q: Any idea when the Tori Store will open again? It has been saying 1/18 forever now. — Greg

A: Yes, bit of a delay. The folks at The Tori Store are working on it and expect to have it back up and running soon, hopefully within the next couple of weeks.

Q&A: Will there be Legs & Boots for the Sinful Attraction tour? pt. 2

Q: I am really starting to wonder if there will be any boots of this tour. Any word at all?? I’ll be heartbroken if there aren’t any. — Melinda

A: Just a few hours ago, after the Amsterdam show, Martijn/@martijntulp told us, “I ran into Mark backstage, asked him about the Legs&Boots: they’re not happening this tour.” So the word is “bummer.”

Q&A: Will there be a second leg of the US tour?

Q: Will there be a second leg of US tour dates, maybe in the new year? — various

A: No, there will be no more US dates added for the Sinful Attraction Tour. This is it.