News: Florida Today Concert Preview (November 16, 2007)

Thanks to Kimberly again for find this Florida Today article promoting the show at the King Center in Melbourne tonight. Give is a look-see on their website or jump the cut to read it here.

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The many faces of Tori Amos

Singer-songwriter creates five personas for ‘American Doll Posse’ CD and tour

BY BREUSE HICKMAN
FLORIDA TODAY

During Tori Amos’ latest tour, concert-goers have been known to shout accolades such as “I love you Isabel!”

But no doubt, fans also lavish affection on Pip, Clyde and Santa.

These women in Amos’ head are given voice on her latest CD, “American Doll Posse,” and they’re joining her on stage thanks to swift costume and wig changes.

Considering this marks Amos’ first time she’s been backed by a band in a few years, it might seem a little crowded at first.

“It’s a pretty theatrical show,” Amos says by phone from a tour stop.

When she began writing the album, “I knew the songs were not just from one voice. I knew I was either making many records or I was making one record with many voices. And then I started to think about image and women. We can get trapped into an image.”

Since the early ’90s, Amos has researched women of ancient myths — Greek or Christian — to explore roles women take on.

“I didn’t just jump into it. But I didn’t take it to this level until I began writing this record,” she said.

Amos’ “dolls” also take turns singing from Amos’ catalogue, which dates to 1991’s “Little Earthquakes.” That album featured the career-fueling hit “Crucify.” The alterna-hits “Cornflake Girl” and “God” followed and still find room in Amos’ shows.

She doesn’t finalize which songs — or who will sing them — until just before the show.

“Sometimes I get a little surprised,” she says. “(The song) ‘Waitress’ is really Pip, but Tori might cover it, too. It’s very different energy depending on who sings what.”

Her latest CD’s concept seems almost a continuation to 2001’s “Strange Little Girls,” in which Amos embodied song lyrics written and sung by men.

Anyone who dismissed Amos as a spacey, New Age chick certainly would have choked on their corn flakes hearing her creepy rendition of Eminem’s “ ’97 Bonnie & Clyde.”

You don’t need Pip or Isabel to tell you the song “Yo George” on her new CD is an anti-president Bush rant, or the present administration was the impetus of her latest musical foray.

For someone who never had a chart-topping hit, she has sold more than 12 million records worldwide.

She continually intrigues her cult following by teetering between the classical style pop first heard on “Little Earthquakes” to the more beat-driven late ’90s-era, such as her dance hit “Raspberry Swirl.”

No matter the style, Amos’ piano is the heart of her recordings and live shows — whether she plays solo or is backed by a band.

One thing remains consistent: her war against the established patriarchy, one she’s waged since she left her conservative Christian upbringing.

“I’m not just going after the patriarchy,” she says. “I’m stalking it.”

That’s not to say she has anything against men. Young males have always comprised a large part of her audience.

Her father is Methodist minister. She insists they talk often.

Has he heard what she’s sung about him?

“My father says to me, ‘Tori, what would you would have written if I were a dentist?’ “

That can only be a rhetorical question.

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The details
Who: Tori Amos
When: 7:30 p.m. Sunday
Where: King Center for the Performing Arts, 3865 N. Wickham Road, Melbourne
Admission: $49.75 and $54.75
Call: 242-2219

Musical progression

1991, “Little Earthquakes”: The record becomes a hit in Europe six months before it’s released in the United States. Her piano playing and vocal range brings comparisons to Kate Bush.

1994, “Under the Pink”: Amos stresses her classical leanings, as heard on the 10-minute epic “Yes, Anastasia.” She also records using an upright piano.

1996, “Boys for Pele”: Featuring the alternative radio hit “Caught In a Light Sneeze,” the record finds Amos playing harpsichord and clavichord. The song “Professional Widow” becomes a dance floor hit remixed by producer Armand van Helden.

2001, “Strange Little Girls”: Amos covers songs by Depeche Mode, Neil Young, Slayer and other songs written from a male viewpoint. She also covers Eminem’s “ ’97 Bonnie & Clyde,” in which she whispers about killing and dumping her lover’s body while her child looks on.

2002, “Scarlet’s Walk”: A concept album loosely based on Amos’ cross-country travels, the CD marks Amos’ first for Epic records after leaving Atlantic.

2007, “American Doll Posse”: Using different characters to tell the songs, Amos also releases a few hundred two-record vinyl sets. The idea, she says, is to better present “Posse” as a four-act play.