Tower Theatre

American Doll Posse Tour

Date	October 15, 2007
City	Upper Darby, PA
Venue	Tower Theatre

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Setlist

Thanks to Jason Schlemer and “Robert Schrader* for sending us the setlist.

Act I – Santa

Body and Soul
Sugar
Hoochie Woman
Dragon
You Can Bring Your Dog
Secret Spell

Interlude

Professional Widow

Act II – Tori

Big Wheel
Crucify
Spark
Cornflake Girl
Purple People
Liquid Diamonds

T & Bö

improv
Leather
Cloud On My Tongue

Band Returns

1,000 Oceans
Hotel
Code Red

First Encore

Precious Things
Pancake

Second Encore

Bouncing Off Clouds
Hey Jupiter

Video

Improv (filmed by Robert Schrader)

Improv (filmed by Quentin)

1000 Oceans (filmed by Kurt)

Photo Sets

FMQB Photo Pass

Photos

Reviews

Robert Schrader says:

Santa was off the chain, but Tori kind of phoned it in, if you axe me.
Jasmine says:

Tori’s voice was incredible tonight. I saw her a few days ago at the Friday show in NYC, and we got Santa both times. I would have preferred a different doll for the different songs, but tonight’s show was really fun. Tori wasn’t as playful, and some of the songs weren’t as intense, but the quality of her voice really made up for it.

Spark was really great tonight, and Purple People was a huge surprise!! I thought that Cloud on my Tongue and 1000 Oceans were both really moving, especially back to back. Like I said before, her voice was just perfect tonight, especially on the high notes of Hotel and Hey Jupiter.

During Santa’s set, you could see Tash watching off to the right of the stage on a little balcony with some adults. She didn’t stay too long. I wonder how she liked Santa pouring mojitos for the band during the intro to Hoochie Woman! It was pretty funny.
Jeffrey Anne says:

Hoochie Woman, Purple People, and Liquid Diamonds were highlights. Santa served the band “real” mojitos as Hoochie was starting. She seemed to like Mr. Evans tonight – she literally overflowed his cup. She then wiped her sticky hands on her chest and face…yum!

Shoutout to Alicia from Roxborough who was sitting next to me! We had fun, did we not? Dr. and Mrs. Amos were in our row tonight. They were rocking out to Santa and Tori but I think they had enough by the time the band came out a second time after “T and Bo”. I am beginning to think some of the tamer dolls come out when the ‘rents are in the audience. Tori’s parents were there Friday in NYC and it was Santa that night as well.

Meet and greet was lovely today. Seemed really long and not rushed and I think everyone there got to meet her. I will send pics soon, I promise!

Have fun tomorrow in Connecticut, kids! Can’t swing cutting grad school classes TWO days in a row… Until Boston!!
Shannon says:

I thought tonight’s show was awesome. It’s probably the only show I’ll be getting to for this tour and Tori made sure I was not disappointed.

Tori was absolutely awesome tonight. I really think she likes taking on the different personas of her posse because she was really working it as Santa. I think I was in a trance for the entire show. It absolutely rocked and the song selection was wonderful. It’s tough to pick a favorite part but Bouncing off Clouds, Big Wheel, Hoochie Woman and Liquid Diamonds stand out as highlights. Just when you thing Tori can’t get any better, she does.
Maryam (littlebluegrl) says:

Tori was amazing as usual.. I was part of the VIP group and her soundcheck was so awesome to watch – she did Purple People and Tear in Your Hand.

I snapped a bunch of photos from the show, and I'm hoping that they turned out well – if so, I'm posting them for you all :)

We saw Dr. and Mrs. Amos in the crowd, which was nice to see.. at one point, we think we saw Tash in the balcony backstage watching her momma when she came out.

Another note – Tori told us this was the first show to be part of the Legs and Boots!

The improv was so touching, I wish I could remember the whole thing, but it involved something to do with poison ..

Santa with mojitos was awesome – she is so spunky! :)
Matt says:

So I saw Santa for the 2nd time (NY was my first time seeing her) and she was MUCH improved this time. Her intensity and energy to me seemed much more on. Even though this setlist and Friday’s were so close, something about last night was MUCH better. Tori seemed more into it and her setlist was intense, especially with Purple People/Liquid Diamonds/Improv/1000 Oceans. Also, during Pancake, she literally GRABBED the microphone during the “it seems in vogue to be a close misogynist homophobe” line which was amazing. All in all an AMAZING show. Tori was so great. I really hope I can get out to a fourth show on this tour. We’ll see…
E says:

Those above have summed it up pretty well. This was my first show this tour and I almost didn’t get to go. THANK GOD I DID! She never talks much but it was really brief last night (one quick segment) because she recorded the show for bootleg. She just said they talked about where to bootleg and they said “New York, and I said, No, New York gets everything.” Then she assured us that the mojitos were “the real thing, no fake shit.”

She danced more in this tour, I think, than she’s EVER danced in tours past. She played standing up, easily through half the songs. Swaying her arms, dancing across the stage, almost did some robot-esque move at one point. The scene where she danced all around the stage pouring mojitos to the band was priceless. She started overpouring Jon’s and intentionally moved in front of the spotlight where you could see it splashing everywhere then rubbed the ice around her neck and chest before playing Hoochie Woman.

More than half of the songs she and the band REALLY rocked out too. It wasn’t anything like some of the recent tours which have been a little more subdued and majority her and the piano. She literally danced to 4 of the songs and danced the end of the Professional Widow dance mix the band plays. The venue was ok … a bit dated but ok and my only complaint was the lighting. The lights at the back of the stage and on the sides kept shining directly in our faces (where we were sitting, to the left of the stage) and staying there through full verses of songs. Thus we couldn’t see anything but the man in front of us. It wasn’t enough to change my opinion of the show though. The lighting for Hey Jupiter this time couldn’t have been better though I liked the blue dots a lot.

Purple People and Liquid Diamonds alone were worth the price of admission to me. The crowd clapped along to Bouncing off Clouds through at least 3/4th’s of it which added a nice and unexpected feel. More enjoyable than the usual half-hearted clap-alongs to Take to the Sky. She also had/has the crowd sing on Big Wheel, after she said the MILF part, we filled in the Don’t you forget!

Once again she reminded me why no other musician and no other live show can ever live up to a Tori show.
Ryan says:

I saw Santa on Friday at the second NYC show and much preferred her Santa in Philly – thought it was much more on – and the mojitos were a great touch.

Tori also told the audience that this show was the first to be part of the bootleg series. She said when they asked her which city should be the first she thought (not exact quote) “New York. No. They get everything. It’s like the Brady Bunch. Marcia got everything and Cindy was just kind of cute. But I have a soft spot for Jan. And Philly gets treated like Jan. So that’s why tonight is the first.”
hil says:

I made my first meet and greet, but of course she said “bye guys” with 2 people in front of us… i was so devastated! i hope she comes back in ny/pa soon so i can try again..

the show was great, but i was disappointed that we got santa (i saw her nyc on friday) and that got a lot of similar songs/songs that aren’t my faves. the sound wasn’t as good i think, and our seats felt too detached (whereas in nyc we were pretty close/not on a balcony!). i don’t know, i guess it just didn’t have the same mood for me as the other show. but other than those disappointments, i still loved it.. code red, bouncing off clouds (great lights/visuals!), liquid diamonds, purple people, and cloud on my tongue were highlights. can’t wait to see her again, and i wish i somehow got connecticut/d.c. tickets!
Playboyjudas says:

Ok, So, I just woke up after driving home after the show last night. I must say that it was just awful. I had the worst time ever. and by worst time ever I mean best time ever! It was, of course, fabulous! I was really hoping for Pip to visit Philly but Santa was so much fun! Personal highlights for me were Body and Soul, Sugar, Hoochie Woman, PURPLE PEOPLE, Dragon, Liquid Diamonds,Spark, Code Red totally rocked, Hotel blew me away, and the improv about friends serving poison kicked ass. Tori’s voice sounded incredible. This show was probably tied with the Chicago Navy Pier show from the Lottapianos tour as my favorite one so far. Can’t wait to see her in Buffalo! Now where are the damn legs with Boots?
Buckethead says:

I agree with Mr. Schrader, though I do really like Precious Things when she does it with the band, and Tori seemed very into the show during Leather and Cloud On My Tongue. Hey Jupiter was unrecognizable from the version(s) I’ve come to know and love.
Christine says:

Well, Christmas came early for me when Santa danced onto the stage! This was my first show of the tour and I was literally praying for a Miracle on 69th Street.

I have been to 11 shows in the past 15 years and I have never seen Tori so jovial. Her playful antics and huge smiles were infectious. Maybe, it was the mojitos??? Either way, I loved it and felt very grateful to be in such a unique theatre with such a monumental artist.

I can’t wait for the DC show. I wonder if Pip or Isabel will show-up. It’s so difficult to predict because Tori has so much history in that town (and so does this country). It will be interesting to see…
Tom M. says:

Well, I got to see two shows this tour, NYC 2nd night and this one. I was a little disappointed to see Santa at both shows, but she is my favorite, so it wasn’t too bad. While I enjoyed the set list more in NYC (Winter, most badass Doughnut Song ever, Carbon), I thought Tori had a lot more energy tonight. She also seemed to distinguish Santa from her normal self more at this show than in NYC.

I wish I could remember which song this happened but during the chorus (I think it was Crucify), the lights made the stage look like the Emerald City from Oz. It was a really cool effect, and in general, the lighting was very good.
- Sugar sounded so great, very intense
- Hoochie Woman was a fun and sexy surprise.
- Dragon sounded much better than in NYC.
- Crucify was slow and languid. Really beautiful.
- Spark thundered and soared. So much better than in NYC. Nice that she is playing this gem so much
- Purple People is not one of my faves, but it was a nice surprise. I really like the keyboard arrangement on it this tour.
- Liquid Diamonds was really gorgeous and I love the way she let it build up slowly in the beginning. The lights were very underwatery, like we were beneath the surface and sunlight was filtering down to us.
- The improv was deep and intense. It reminded me of Apollo’s Frock and made me wish she’d play it.
- Cloud on My Tongue was perfection. Beautiful cold lighting.
- Hotel should’ve been a surprise but when she played Liquid Diamonds, I had a feeling that we’d hear this one, too. Tori’s voice was perfect and she killed on the high notes.
- Code Red was so loud and fierce. Again, better than NYC.
- Pancake was a fun surprise and sounded good, but I wish that Tori’s keyboard had been louder; she was a little drowned out by the bass.
Sigh. No more shows for me. Thanks, Tori. Come back soon.
Melissa, www.MythicaMusic.com says:

Before I go into my review, I have one request for all Tori fans who go to see her in the future – PLEASE SIT DOWN AND STAY SEATED!!! The whole night I felt like I was witnessing a huge game of Musical Chairs. People getting up, going back, then the same people getting up again not 5 minutes later. A lot of people were getting annoyed with the constant and rude movement. If you know you want to drink a lot, buy 2 drinks instead of one and take them both back to your seat. Also ladies with small bladders, please for the love of God go pee before the show! It’s rude to keep getting up and down. And if you have to get up, at least wait until the END of the song, and not in the middle of the best part!! It’s rude and obnoxious. I didn’t pay $50 to see you gallivant down the aisles all night.

Okay, that being said….

The show last night was absolutely INCREDIBLE. We got the best seats in the house because we were one row directly in front of the sound guy (who I assumed was her husband…at the end of the show I complimented him on his live sound, and he answered back in a British accent…I also gave him my band’s CD with a note for Tori. I hope she listens to it!!)

I was very happy to hear Spark and Hotel. I had pretty much lost all hope of hearing Spark since I thought she would have put it to bed after having Tash, but I was glad to see she brought it out. At the last words “here, here, here” she pulled her hands to her stomach…an incredibly moving and sad gesture. I applaud her for pulling through such a painful song with such grace and energy.

I agree with Jasmine – Tori’s voice was top notch at the show. Being a singer I am really picky about some of Tori’s intonation during her live shows, but her voice was amazing, especially in Code Red, Hotel and Spark. I love her choice of synth sounds for Hotel on her electric keyboard. So cool and futuristic!

I loved seeing Santa – she’s one of my favorite characters. I liked Santa’s outfit, but I didn’t like Tori’s. Something weird 70s Elton John-ish, and it wasn’t flattering around her midsection. She looked like a mermaid. I think she could have picked a better outfit.

Can’t wait to see her in D.C.! I can’t wait to see her bring the claws out on “Dubya”!

PS. We have EXCELLENT pictures from last night’s show in Philly. Keep an eye on my blog to see them!
[Ed. Note: if you want to send a few photographs our way, we'd be happy to host them as well!]
Wynia says:

I LOVE Tori!! The concert was amazing. Your music has gotten me through some hard times. Thank You Tori.
Josh says:

Well, this was my second time seeing Tori live, and I thought last night was one of the best live experiences I have ever had. I saw her on the Summer of Sin tour, and she was trying hard, but you could tell that she was tired and worn out. Last night was so intense and her voice was the best I’ve ever heard it.

I think what made this show (and tour) special is that not only does Tori have a really great album out, she is genuinely having the time of her life on stage. Watching Santa strut and dance across the stage was seeing an artist in her prime finding new ways to surprise herself and her audience. “Body and Soul” was a rocking way to start the show, and “Sugar” was astonishing to finally see played live. I never liked “Hoochie Woman” until last night, and “Dragon” was incredibly performed.

As far as Tori herself goes, “Big Wheel” is one her most fun songs in years and a great choice to begin. “Crucify” and “Spark” were both very slow and intense – you could hear how powerfully they were coming to her last night. Then she lightened the mood by playing a spirited “Cornflake Girl.”

The Improv that she played was actually one of the best songs I’ve heard, and I’m glad that I will actually be able to hear it again (go Philly for being the first Boot!!!). “Leather” was just as emotionally charged as it is on Little Earthquakes, and “Cloud on My Tongue” was simply beautiful.

“1000 Oceans” was a beautiful surprise. And the band and Tori really tore apart “Hotel,” so much so that by the final “I’m still alive. I’m still alive,” it seemed like Tori was about to completely break down. As the lights came up for “Code Red,” Tori was laying down on her bench and rose up to perform the song. The end was immensely powerful.

And I finally got to hear her play “Precious Things.” My life was completed a little :-) And when “Bouncing Off Clouds” began I just closed my eyes and danced in my seat. There was no where else in the world I rather would have been.
Michelle says:

This show was great. First of all, the venue was great. It was my first time at that one. I thought the Tower Theater had beautiful details. The security very helpful getting you to your seat. And it was pretty clean compared to the TLA or the Tweeter Center. The surrounding neighborhood was less than desirable. The best thing was the sound quality at this show. I felt that I could really hear Tori in a way that I haven’t hear her in the past at the Tweeter Center.

I didn’t score VIP passes but I was lucky enough to get row DD in the left. Four seats from the front which was great.

I was hoping to see Pip as I prefer the songs associated with her the best. But am in love with Santa. I loved to seeing Santa/Tori skip across the stage. She really won me over. I never liked Hoochie Woman until last night. My favorite part was the encores. I loved those four songs. “Precious Things” has just as much energy if not more than on To Venus And Back.

I thought the lighting was wonderful. I prefer this set to the Scarlet’s Walk set.

The other times I saw Tori it seems like the band was more to compliment Tori. This time it seemed like they all rocked out together. I liked that. I do feel like the bass was a little loud and drowned out the piano.

Her opening act sucked. I couldn’t stand that guy. Yuck!

I feel so fortunate that my mom’s friend was able to get my program signed by Tori. That was so cool. I hope she does a summer mini-tour.
Richard Handal says:

A weekend ago I traveled the 150 miles to Philly to attend the concert of a dear friend. She was received with great warmth and enthusiasm by the audience, as was Tori on Monday, except, by contrast, something with Tori’s concert was different: the performance didn’t deserve the Philly-style exuberance which was showered on her.

I found the entire opening set with Santa to be full of life. Tori’s contemporization of the psychological energy once realized by the ancient Greeks as Aphrodite, was a great deal of fun. The antics with a pitcher of cocktails—counter-intuitively—seemed to add to rather than detract from the music at hand. Santa was onstage from 8:53 to 9:24, and the final encore was done and the lights up at 11:05. This of itself should raise a red flag that not all was right with this concert. Why would she run over curfew and risk incurring some large union overtime fees? Because she was more concerned with the recording of the concert than she was with the performance of it, that’s why.

This was the consensus reached by both myself and a friend, who had also attended the two prior concerts in NYC and Syracuse, so she was able to confirm my suspicions that Philly had been woefully “blessed” by the official recording of this concert. After Big Wheel kicked off the main set, clockwork instrumentalism set in for most of the rest of the evening. This is not supposed to be a cooking demonstration, this is a music performance!

I enjoyed Purple People with its lengthy and obscurantist instrumental introduction, and Liquid Diamonds and Hotel were welcomed, as was 1000 Oceans. Always instantly moving. The newer arrangements are creative, and I don’t even mind if she continues to need to transpose down or otherwise adjust some of the vocal lines. But when she started hitting that first repeating piano note of Leather, it was all I could do not to scream. I realize that this is a personal affliction. I used to enjoy Leather, back before she took to playing it more often than prudence would allow. There’s a difference between pleasing a crowd, and pandering to the audience.

Save for glistening moments otherwise, this concert was marred by four musicians who were engaging in nearly zero interaction among themselves. Everyone was just going along as if they were at their factory jobs. Here and there Matt and Jon would look at one another and palpably engage, as did Matt and Tori once in a while, and that was just about all there was of that.

At least Matt and Jon are often clearly engaged with the music. I can’t for the life of me figure out what the hell Dan Phelps is supposed to be doing. He might as well have been doing needlepoint up there, for all the usefulness of his guitar work. I guess it should be considered good luck for the audience that his navel-gazing noodlings took place off to the side, both literally and musically; if we could have heard them more, they surely would have taken us away from the music the other players were trying to make, like sticking a newly sculpted private part onto the famous statue of David.

As it was, there was little definition in the shape of sound to anything this fellow was doing. I expect he’s playing what he’s been told to, and it isn’t up to him. And he’s probably a decent guy; maybe he has a family and some talent. He doesn’t deserve to be excoriated, but it’s a difficult argument you’d be making that he’s adding much of anything to these proceedings. With the digital ghost that was Steve Caton’s original guitar samples now missing from Spark, 100% of the guitar work now has 0% personality. I’ve heard a lot of music and musicians in my time, and this stands as nearly a unique achievement, and I’m saddened
to report this.

So, how many of these official concert recordings are they supposed to be making, anyway? Am I to get another concert such as this in D.C. at my only other concert this tour? Can Tori come to know that what she plays at some concerts will be officially released, yet not be intimidated by that into mediocrity? If I were interested in seeing someone who’s trying to perform onstage for extended periods without making any mistakes while spewing non-committal feel-goodisms, I’d be attending some political rallies for Hillary Clinton.

I am not.

I’ve seen professional music writers condemn all this business with the archetypes as pretentious. They can’t escape their superficial, snarky ways of thinking, and they don’t understand it. The higher purpose in Tori’s application of current cultural images onto these psychological constructions, is to encourage people to own not only their own shadows, but to bring to consciousness and integrate all the facets of themselves that they have come to repress, often, because of the need to act in the “right” and “proper” ways they feel are expected of them. To get out from under social conditioning enough to begin seeking one’s own path is scary and difficult, made all the more so if one has for many years been going instead down paths that others have made. To turn around and start blazing one’s own trail, first requires getting past a great deal of deeply ingrained fear. This fear needs to be faced and then dealt with, before one can move past it. I always experienced Tori as being quite fearless in many ways: this one area being otherwise stands carved next to it in high relief.

Tori’s been performing at an extremely elevated level for a long time—surely longer than most of us will ever know, even from recordings. I’ve attended enough blocks of these concerts over the years that I recognize exactly what’s going on here. This is the same kind of self-consciousness I’ve observed when attending video tapings for television. Her controller/observer starts driving the bus. This might make for fewer “mistakes” during a performance, but it does so while robbing it of its soul. I even saw this effect during the last two concerts of 1998. I went to 19 of the last 20 concerts on that tour. The changes in her onstage demeanor and performances at those last two concerts, which were filmed by someone she trusts, were palpable.

I don’t know anyone who goes to Tori Amos concerts to see if she can avoid making a largely meaningless—and easily discounted—arcane technical error. Everyone I know who attends concerts, goes to them wanting to have an authentic experience in their life, so watching and listening to a brilliant performer playing it safe is a big disappointment. An expensive one.

I feel that she needs to take some of the same advice she’s tacitly dispensing through her use of the archetypal images on this album and tour. She needs to move past her personal fear of failure, so that her controller/observer can be put back in his rightful place of balance with the piano girl, rather than him shoving her to the side so he can take the wheel all by himself.

The opening Santa set in Philly allowed Tori to be less self-conscious than she would be over most of the remainder of the evening. That’s so interesting. She was getting outside of the architecture of fear when she was playing Santa. Perhaps some people end up leading inauthentic lives by playing characters, because it helps them to be less self-conscious. I hope she manages to find a better balance for the sake of everyone attending the rest of these officially recorded concerts.

Perhaps an alchemist can help Tori find her own cinnabar juice for the times when she’s being recorded, as she’s helped others to find theirs.

I may be a despicable person, but when Truth speaks through me I am invincible.
—Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869-1948)
Jesse says:

For the Philadelphia show:

This was Tori’s best show I’be seen since ’94. I’ve been to 58 shows so that’s pretty damn good.
the librarian says:

well, i have to first say that we arrived at the venue at 1130 am my pregnant friend and i to only find not a single fan waiting around. we walked around the tower theater and found nothing came back to where they were unloading trucks to run into Cody and have her tell us there was no meet and greet to only find that there was one by the backstage door and i only find that out by the pics on this website. it makes me sad. we did hear the end of soundcheck by the backstage door and heard a bit of tear in your hand and purple people.

i thought the show was good it was one of the better shows in philly i have seen, i have seen her every time she has come to philly since 1994 and i have to say i think she always gyps us and i thought this time we got a really good show.

as i read the other reviews it makes me sad that some people feel the need to overly criticize her shows and not just enjoy it.

like the guy sitting next to me.

like one of the reviews on here.

im sorry i wish i had the money to go and follow her where ever she goes and one day i maybe able to but i hate the obnoxiousness that i find people have after seeing her 10000 times and getting to the point where they see differences.

i get boots i know she does better on some nights than others, but i enjoy it for the fun of it and just hearing her play.

all in all i thought the lights and colors were beautiful and the contrasts of her teal jumpsuit and orange wig were very sharp.

i enjoyed hearing spark as i haven't heard it in a while live and loved hotel.

i wish people would just relax and i wish there were no vip tixs.

Reviews are no longer being accepted for this show.

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