News: Michigan Journal Concert Review (October 30, 2007)

Erin Marquis reviewed the October 27th Detroit concert at the Fox Theatre for The Michigan Journal. We love how the reviewer wrote either American Girl Posse or American Doll Posse. Make yer mind up!

Artist Tori Amos amazes audiences at Detroit’s Fox
By Erin Marquis
Issue date: 10/30/07

Tori Amos has come to the Motor City, bringing tunes from her strongest album yet, American Girl Posse, as well as an array of split personalities, new styles and an awesome opening act. From just another ‘girl with a piano’ to a poetic legend, Tori Amos has taken her fans on a journey of bitterness, loss and self-actualization. After more than 10 years on the scene she has turned her extremely personal music toward more external problems in the highly anticipated American Girl Posse tour.

The opening act, a young musician named Yoav, was absolutely amazing. He is definitely one to keep your eyes peeled for. It’s easy to see why Amos wanted him to open for her American Doll Posse tour. He creates stings, drums and even horn sections out of his one guitar and soundboard. His lyrics are moving and playfully poetic, while his voice speaks of wisdom beyond his years. Not to mention performing a great rendition of the classic song from The Pixies ‘Where is My Mind?’

The actual American Girl Posse consists of five different distinct personalities that Tori has created to represent the compartmentalized selves that exist within every woman. These women are fashioned after Greek goddesses and have their own look, sound and even blogs.

Amos has said she had a problem with playing different roles in life rather than just being one whole being, so she decided to bring these various sides of herself to life with Isabel, Clyde, Pip, Santa and of course, Tori. Each of these women is credited on the album for singing different songs. They have different sounds, sing of different subject matters, and are all very distinct from one another. Amos represents at least one per show, using wigs and costuming to bring that persona’s power and vitality to life with the first half of her set.

Detroit’s Fox Theater was graced with Santa, a blonde bombshell vixen modeled after Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love. She shimmied out onto the stage like a novice burlesque worker and belted out songs about lust and love with very suggestive dancing in between pounding on the piano. Part concert, part cabaret, this woman took on a life of her own, eerily separate from the singer who portrayed her while still being connected. When it was time to turn back into Tori, who is a caricature modeled off the actual Tori Amos. With a long bright red wig and flashy costumes she becomes Tori Amos amplified.

This may appear pretty much like a gimmick, but a gimmick from Tori Amos is worth paying attention to. By becoming these other women throughout the night, changing from character back to her fully-realized self, she began to tell a story with her own music. It was subtle, but unmistakable, as the mood turned from sexy and confident to sad and introspective and ended the night on both bitter and hopeful notes.

As she played, she became caught up in an almost spiritual trance, rising slowly with the bass and drum beats that she borrowed from her Native American roots, and the crowd responded tremendously. For a singer whose entire gig is spent at a piano, the show had a surprising amount of energy and theatrics.

During the show she had very little interaction with the audience. The only time she addressed the crowd was to stop in the middle of one of her most famous singles “A Sort of Fairytale” because her corset was uncomfortable.

“Stop, stop everything, this thing is killing me! One second, I’ll be right back” she said as she ran off the stage, but was applauded when she returned in a bright green spangled jumpsuit, sans corset.

There also seemed to be a problem with the bass and drums over-powering the piano parts in the first half of the set, leaving mute the very instrument and person a nearly soldout Fox theater had come to see. She eventual reverted to just her self and the piano, creating a very private atmosphere in the huge theater. When she paused, you could hear a pin drop, reflecting the emotion and electricity in her voice and music. The Detroit stop of The American Doll Posse tour was pure Amos, and a real delight.