WaMu Theatre

Tour

Date	July 10, 2009
City	Seattle, WA
Venue	WaMu Theatre

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Setlist

Courtesy of the fine folks on the twitternets…

Main Set

Give
Siren
Welcome to England
Graveyard
Cornflake Girl
Icicle
Space Dog
Crucify
Sugar
Starling
Bells For Her

Lizard Lounge

Landslide (solo)
Baker Baker (solo)
China (band returns)

Fast Horse
Curtain Call
Carbon
Bliss
Precious Things
Strong Black Vine

Encores

Police Me
Digital Ghost

Big Wheel
Past the Mission

Photo Sets

Alex Crick (for SPIN.com)

Video

Give (posted by robertschrader)

Welcome to England (posted by robertschrader)

Graveyard (posted by robertschrader)

Cornflake Girl (posted by shanrick37)

Icicle (posted by robertschrader)

Crucify (posted by shanrick37)

Starling (posted by robertschrader)

China (posted by robertschrader)

Fast Horse (posted by robertschrader)

Precious Things (posted by shanrick37)

Strong Black Vine (posted by robertschrader)

Curtain Call (posted by robertschrader)

Carbon (posted by robertschrader)

Police Me (posted by robertschrader)

Big Wheel (posted by shanrick37)

Photos

Reviews

Jenna says:

While I hated the venue (The Paramount was way better!), and had to contend with hellish traffic because the adjacent baseball game), Tori herself was so spot on. Her voice was amazing, her presence filled the space and the set list was fresh! I loved it.
Robert Schrader says:

Upping my vids, also posting to twitter (@schradertravels) and youtube. Sorry my twitter didn’t work from inside the venue xx

It should also be known that Tori had Blondie playing as house music. Cute!
nothing but meat says:

Tonights show was amazing! So many shocks! Carbon, Icicle and China with the band!!!!!
I told her about my medical marijuanna edible buissness I started named Bake Baker and she slipped that into the show! lol
Strong Black Vine as a closer was a shock!
Fast Horse was the highlight for me!
Police Yourself was AMAZING but so many tech difficulties.
Also they struggled through Carbon, it WILL get better! So surprised!
Landslide was boring. lol
Harpsichord in Starling made me enjoy it all the better.
The synth changes in Welcome to England were better than the album.
I was shocked that she didnt sing grrrrrrl in Precious Things after facist panties. In fact she didnt even sing the word girl AT ALL!
I have A LOT of video to post on my youtube of Seattle and Portland when I get home on Tuesday!

you can see my vids from ADP tour till I post the new ones!
Kyall says:

This felt really special to hear so many LE and UTP tracks. Starling was in my opinion the least well received of the new material. Tori played a sitar sounding keyboard during it however. Audio problems on the mics make me think we won’t hear a recording of this. New version of Icicle was kick ass whereas crucify was close to an album version. Favourite of the night was baker baker.
Aaron says:

I had high hopes about tonight’s show for two reasons:

1) Being the first show of the tour, I figured Tori and the gang would have a lot of energy, and be fresh and fully alive in stage

2) I had intuited that the set list would be somewhat random… or at least, very different from the ADP formula

On both counts, my wishes were satisfied. Tori and the band were completely present, very alive on stage, and I thought, having a great time.

The set list WAS random. Tori played 6 (!!!!) tracks from Pink- Bells, Baker, Cornflake, Icicle, Past the Mission, and Space dog, and also Sugar (I think Sugar is a Pink b-side but could be wrong). Anyway, 6 from Pink and 7 (!!!!) from Attracted- Give, Police Me, Vine, Starling, Curtain Call, Fast Horse, and Welcome to England. I cannot think of another time she has so heavily favored any album/s in a single show. She also did a Big Wheel encore… I think it works great as an encore but never expected she’d played it this go around, since she played it a zillion times on the ADP tour.

High Points/Points of interest for me include:

She just happened to play the two songs I wanted to hear most- Fast Horse and Past the Mission. Mission was a perfect closer; Horse I think needs a little more practice before it’s fully realized, but still, I enjoyed getting to the live version.

ICICLE WITH A BAND. Holy shiz. Really really amazing and extremely well done. This song has never gotten enough love and this version is absolutely great. Real treat.

I was surprised by how well the Sin songs work live. Curtain Call is sooooo much better without that horrible guitar thing, and Starling was great and kind of fascinating. Give was a strong show opener and I love what she does with her voice in this. She played these well. Fast Horse and Strong Black Vine need a little more practice… they seem like super hard songs. Police Me was fun in a live show though weird for an encore. All around, they were interpreted quite literally from their album versions, which I wouldn’t have guessed, since the album is so layered/electric/produced, etc.

She consistently does Space Dog very well live. I love that song. I loved it tonight. Awesome.

The sound in the venue was quite good. There were a couple technical difficulties, though, with mics not being ‘on’ as she switched between keyboards and the piano.

CARBON WITH DRUMS AND BASS. That’s been a dream for the longest time, right? I too love the IDEA of that. The execution left a bit to be desired. All those time changes… it felt a bit awkward or stilted in places… the melodies weren’t as crisp and the sound a bit meandering at certain points. But much more interesting and better than solo Tori + Piano version. Whereas some songs were just meant to be played live, I have never seen live version of Carbon that meets the brilliance of the studio version.

I’m really excited to see what else she plays this tour. I think it’s going to take from all over the place and I love that.

It was great to see her so alive and engaged and ON. She’s not done, and the show ain’t over. Tonight’s show made this very clear.
Meister Eckhart says:

For having played so many Under the Pink songs during the first half especially, Icicle! she plaid them all with immediacy and genuine emotion, and ‘twas blissful! It was very pleasant and bitter sweet. She shared about her passed brother and then played the best cover of Landslide I’ve heard her play. Give/Siren were enthusiastic openers, and I have a much greater appreciation for Starling -beautiful and other worldly. The first half of the show was nostalgic and sweet and then ended with the angst of Precious and Strong Black Vine. The encores were more sweetness. I wanted to run up and give Tori an enormous hug. Like a family reunion, it was a gift to see Tori sharing her talents as Tori!
MelindaLu says:

wow…Wow!!! WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tori rocked the Wamu Theater tonight with a mix of super strong new material, some whimsical stuff from the past, fan favorites and everything!

We were so fortunate to have 2nd row, dead center seats. Our view was stellar and we were sort of freaking out. The opener was great and although we only caught the last 2 songs of their set, we look forward to a better listen of them tomorrow night. They are good enough to buy their CD, which we did.

Tori looked beautiful in a funky 2-toned silky green frock that was slit up in the front and way long in the back and she said she wore it in honor of playing in the Emerald City. Her hair is stick straight and looks like fire under the lights. Nice to see her hair again. I loved the last tour, but am just fine without the wigs. She also rocked a pair of shiny gold leggings with strappy gold mile-high sandals.

The set list that I was given did not include Graveyard. Little Amsterdam was supposed to be after Space Dog and A Sorta Fairy Tale was supposed to be played after China. Although someone else had a different set list than the one I snagged from the sound guy. I emailed that to Violet.

Highlights (besides every single song she played):
~Siren
~Icicle
~Starling (with a super groovy sitar-sounding keyboard)
~Bells
~Baker, Baker
~Fast Horse (I thought the sound was a bit muddy at first…but it got better. Staff changed out some keyboards)
~Curtain Call
~Carbon (First time with the band!!!OMG!!!!)
~Bliss
~Strong Black Vine
~Past the Mission

I know…it’s a LOT of highlights, and the pace of the show was dizzying, but that’s how I feel. Tori seemed really happy. Jon played guitar on 2 songs and upright bass with bow on 2 songs. YAY! The bass did not overwhelm the piano or vocals.

Tori’s voice was in fine form. I am liking AATS better and better as time goes by. To open both the record and the show with Give is very strong, haunting and amazing. It is the perfect opener for this tour.

The part of this show where Tori sends the guys off stage is now called The Lizard Lounge, and Tori told a sweet story about her brother Mark and how he loved a cold beer~~and that her husband likes to drink beer, too, but she will kiss him anyway. Tori doesn’t drink while playing because “I will fall off my piano”. She said that wherever Mark went, there was a cold beer waiting for him and that he always had the best advice to give her, even when she was a tiny girl. She also listed the music that he would smuggle to her behind their daddy’s back like The Doors, Jimi, Janis, The Beatles, Buffalo Springfield, Buckingham Natives(?) (a few people seemed to know what that is, but I don’t) and then she launched into Landslide by Fleetwood Mac. Other than that, she didn’t say very much.

It was my niece’s first Tori concert and my 50th one or so (I have lost count). We were able to give some beautiful long stemmed lavender blooms that we braided earlier in the day and wrapped the stems with ribbon with a card attached and gave it to one of the stage hands to give to Tori. In the card, I told her that I am going to be at the Portland, San Diego and LA shows and I requested iieee, Flying Dutchman and Riot Poof. Hearing any one of those 3 songs would be amazing..but the set list tonight was just superb and I really loved the whole thing.

Hey to Gina, Corey and the one and only Makayla!!! Love you guys! See you tomorrow night in Portland, Tori! Love you soooo much!!!! Thank you for such an amazing night of music!
toriless says:

I was a little surprised at the number of LE, Bees and UTP songs. I expect Give to start out all of her US shows. I’ve heard some really good performances of Precious Things (All WA shows since March of ’92 at the Backstage, most Vancouver and Portland shows) so I will not claim it’s the best version I’ve heard (the is my 27th year) but it was the only song that got a standing ovation at THIS show, excluding the encores.

The main floor was packed but the rear section was 90% empty. The crowd was mostly subdued but responded to her, mostly as expected.
Char says:

Tori looked ravishing! Master Teacher graced us with percision and skill as always but my goodness how she has matured with grace and charisma.

Always love to hear Siren! My favorites of the night were Icicle which was OFF THE HOOK and Strong Black Vine.

She gave a moving story about her brother…..

Overall I felt the energy was just smooth both by the band and by the audience. It flowed….

On a side, the meet and greet was very chill and respectful. The energy of EVERYONE was just absolutely that of love of collective-ness. No tension at all. That… is a true gift.

Off to Portland…..
Kelly G says:

First off: the meet and greet was absolutely lovely. Tori was gracious as always, and I managed to tell her what I wanted to say without screwing it up (those of you who have spoken with her understand…sometimes the thoughts, heart, and mouth don’t always coordinate when she’s standing right there looking at you).

The crowd was one of the best I’ve had the pleasure of encountering. Everyone was polite and seemed to enjoy talking to each other and watching/taking pictures of each other talking to Tori. Nobody blatantly hogged her time. There was no pushing, shoving, raised voices, stampeding, etc. which I’ve encountered at other meet and greets. Thanks to all of you—such wonderful energy today from the Toriphiles!

Okay, the show. The WaMu theater was rather sterile (especially compared to the Paramount). I barely heard her the first few songs; all I heard was bass (I was 8th row center). They seemed to have fixed it by Cornflake Girl, though. There were some technical difficulties with her mic during a few of the songs, but overall the sound was pretty solid. People have already written what she talked about, so I won’t repeat what’s been said.

1. Give: People flipped when she started with this. I’m the only person I met all day who doesn’t like this song, but I was happy to see the crowd enjoy itself so much.

2. Siren: OH MY GOD. She killed one of my all-time favorites! Loved it!

3. Welcome to England: again, not one of my favorites, but a solid performance.

4. GRAVEYARD!!! This was the highlight of the show for me. Pele songs are always welcome, and sadly this was the only one to appear, but those couple of minutes made my night. I heart this b-side!

5. Cornflake Girl: very cool intro…the way she did it in the 1999 Las Vegas show of the 5 1/2 weeks tour. She seemed “over” playing this song on the last tour, but looked like she had fun with it this time, and as always her enthusiasm is contagious!

6. improv before Icicle: WITH THE BAND. This was the 2nd highlight of the show for me. Nailed it!

7. Space Dog: as she’s done before with the Navy intro. Very pretty.

8. Crucify: with the band, but without the long “ah-ah-ah-ah” at the end of every line as she’s previously done. Either way is lovely…this way is shorter but just as fantastic.

9. Sugar! Rocked the house, of course. This song with the band never gets old!

10. Starling: the first off AATS that I wanted to hear. Beautiful.

11. Intro into Bells for Her. Again: this one never gets old. I was loving all the Pink that was showing up to play by this point!

12. Landslide: beautiful start to Lizard Lounge.

13. Baker Baker: requested at the meet & greet today, so I was happy for that person :-)

14. China: the band came back for this one, and the drums joined her on the 2nd verse.

15. Fast Horse: So here’s a rarity…I like the album version better than the live. Somehow this just didn’t gel. Maybe it will as the tour progresses.

16. Curtain Call: I was thrilled to hear this—my 2nd favorite song off AATS! Much prettier live, I must confess.

17. Improv into Carbon WITH THE BAND: this made me very, very happy. I’ve always wondered why she did this song solo for so long. Other people weren’t wild about it, but I thought it was brilliant.

18. Bliss: Solid. Good to see a Venus song show up.

19. Precious Things: okay, I loved this set list…this is yet another song that never gets old. I was disturbed that she didn’t do the “GRRRRRLLL” at the end of the bridge though; it’s such a key component to the live performance!

20. Strong Black Vine: sort of like Give…I knew a lot of people wanted to hear this, and it was fun watching their response to Tori and Co. rocking this one.

1st Encore

21. Police Me: I thought she’d start the show with this, but she started the encore instead. It worked!

22. Digital Ghost: not a favorite from ADP…as with the album version, I find the execution rather dull. That’s just me; I know others were ecstatic.

2nd Encore

23. Big Wheel: Oh yes, now we’re talking. THIS is ADP! The crowd was all over this one. Sadly, Tori biffed the best line “so you are a superstar, get off the cross we need the wood”…she fumbled about halfway through it before singing “I just blew those lyrics”. Awesome.

24. Past the Mission: very pretty and not “Hey Jupiter,” so it worked for me.

What a fantastic day. I’m very jealous of the many wonderful people I met traveling onto Portland today while I work 12 hours :-(

Thank you, Tori! See you in Durham!
Naomi says:

I flew all the way from Calgary AB to see her and was not disappointed. This was truly a wonderful day after my birthday present!

I wasn’t a fan of the venue and was expecting a concert hall rather than a concrete room with rows of metal folding chairs, but the sound was alright despite a few mic glitches. It was also a bit disappointing to see the house not full, but the people who were there were very appreciative.

I loved the show, but felt my favorite song from AATS, Starling, needs a bit more work, but should get better as her tour progresses. She looked wonderful and seemed excited to be there. I was a bit surprised on the lack of improvs, but the show was packed full of songs (24 compared to the last time I saw her in 2007 was only 18). The story of her brother Michael was touching.

Thank you Tori for making my impromptu birthday trip a memorable one!
not sastisfied says:

I’ll keep it short. I’ve been to many shows, but this was my least favorite, so much that I skipped the Portland show.

There were highlights, such as icicle, but the venue, was a joke, and the show seemed very rushed.

Big Wheel? I’ll be happy if I never hear that again. The whole encore set, was horrible, what happened?
Carolina says:

Loved it, I was transfixed by her shamanistic priestess healing songs as always. WaMu is a sucky place but I moved to the side where no one else sat so I had a great view. loved all the songs, no complaints, just happy to let it flow and have the music wash over me and heal me. strong black vine a very hot sexy number. wow I’m not a guy but if i was tori would have given me a boner haha she’s a hot mama. loved crucify and landslide, give. big wheel, past the mission. I loved how on a couple numbers her voice became a growl at the end. woo hoo! I could have done with less of the older songs and more of the new album, but really no complaints, I mean, c’mon, it is Tori after all. loved the green renaissance-y outfit for the emerald city and was riveted by the gold vinyl leggings,goes so great with the flaming horse mane red witchy hair, I really want to play a piano wearing those gold leggings. FABULOUS show, I’m still reeling! THANK YOU TORI THE MUSIC HEALED ME BIG TIME YAY!!!!!!!!!!!
Whirljack says:

I was ecstatic to see Tori after a two-year wait. The last time I had seen her was in December 2007, where she played a different venue in Seattle. I wasn’t sure how the WaMu theatre would hold up for her songs, but I was pleasantly surprised.

Tori opened with Give from her new CD and next played Siren from the Great Expectations soundtrack. These two songs seemed to give a preview of what the night had in store for us. She would spend the show vacsillating between her new material and a great deal of older material. For me, it seemed to mark a time in her life where she likes where she is and has made peace with where she has been. Tori’s setlists have always reflected her mood and general state of being, and I’m happy for her if this is true.

She played Graveyard ( a dream come true, since I’ve waited forever to hear this live!) and mentioned Michael. At first, I thought she meant Michael Jackson! I didn’t think this was likely and my answer came later in the concert.

She continued with Cornflake Girl and Icicle, which began a list of many tracks that she would play from Under the Pink. Although I’d heard these songs many times before, her current band setup made the songs new again. Icicle was a standout for the show. She added that wonderful stand-up bass and some drums to accentuate the notes that she had normally played herself. She was able to bring out emotional notes with the arrangement she used. She kept the general idea of the song going with the piano. The bass exemplified the mournful aspect of the song while the drums accentuated the conviction of the song. It’s also interesting to note that as Tori uses differing band setups through her tour, we can get another idea or feeling of what she’s talking about in the song. It’s one way her songs have evolved.

Next was Spacedog, always a favorite to watch her perform. Crucify was next. I have to admit that I wasn’t immediately thrilled with that choice. There was a period where the performance for Crucify didn’t change with the tours and it felt very stagnant and almost boring. However, with this performance, she turned that idea on its ear. She had the guitar and drums battling with the piano which brought out an entire dimension of power in the song. The turmoil within the songs lyrics became purely musical. Again, I felt like it was a testament to Tori being able to know exactly where the song comes from, yet not having to live in that space to express it. Needless to say, I erupted into smiles and applause after the song was done.

The show continued with Sugar (adding heavy drums) Starling (which had a distinct Mid-eastern flavor live) and Bells for Her, again with the amazing stand-up bass.

The Lizard Lounge was next. She began with a dedication to her brother Michael, who had a died a few years back, thanking him for the influence she had on him with music that wasn’t allowed in the house. She said she would not have been there if it hadn’t been for listening to Fleetwood Mac or Led Zeppelin, etc. She then played Landslide and Baker Baker. The meloncholy atmosphere reminded me of how Tori has always made me feel about loss. “She’s gone, but I’m alive, I’m alive.” We have a responsibility to go on with our influences even after the influence has gone.

She performed China afterward, always a heart-felt performance. Again, she sang and performed the song in a way where she respects the pain and heartache that led her to write it, yet has grown enough to hold the situation in perspective. She gave a fantastic performance; you could read the pain on her face. She made me laugh, though, when at the end of the tortured performance, after the lights went down, she stopped to touch up her lip gloss. Always the musical genius, but always the girl, too. Nothing wrong with that!

Fast Horse and Curtain call were next. Those were definitely two songs that compelled you to take a closer listen to the current CD. I got my wish, I heard Carbon again from my favorite CD. I’m glad she’s doing it as a core song on her setlist this tour. BLISS! My favorite from Venus and I was happy to hear it!

Precious Things and Strong Black Vine were the two songs that reminded me that Tori can play the rock chick, too.

Of course, an average rock chick would never sing these lyrics, but that’s why we love her. Her body and voice never moved better. Her vocals were strong and she’s never seemed happier to “go there.”

The encores began with Police Me and Digital Ghost. These songs intertwined for me because they give different perspective on the same situation. She then did an energetic performance of Big wheel. She was singing the second verse and screwed up the lyrics, but just said, “oh, fuck those lyrics.” Ever the pro, she just kept on about the big wheel!

She gave us a treat with Past the Mission. I’ve always loved her live delivery of this song and this time was no different. She ended the song on a nostalgic note. I feel that it was fitting because tonight I really felt that she is at a place in her life where she is happy and comfortable with herself. Seeing Tori grow and battle her demons all these years (and doing the same with her) really made me feel like tonight’s show was a celebration of that.
Lynn says:

Seattle is so lucky to be the first US stop! The meet and greet was probably the most easy going, laid-back that I have ever seen. Mindy is an excellent photographer btw.

I don’t know how Tori does it, but she always knows the songs that I need to hear. Everything changes when the songs are played live. Give was the perfect opener. Highlights for me were Bells for Her, Landslide, Bliss and Digital Ghost. Thank you Tori!

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