It’s been a while since I’ve been able to see Tori Amos live. I last saw her in November 2017 at the MGM Theater in National Harbor (Maryland) for the Native Invader Tour.
Since then, Tori Amos has released the album Ocean to Ocean (2021), a record that formulated during the pandemic. Locked down in Cornwall, England, without being able to travel as she was accustomed, she was encouraged to write an introspective catalog, along the veins of Little Earthquakes.
Now, finally able to hit the road, she’s hitting 28 US cities following her tour of Europe. And, as Wolf Trap’s audience witnessed, she’s playing to her fullest, despite a recent tumble in North Carolina that caused a broken fibula and torn tendon in her ankle.
Some people may not find a seated piano performance exhilarating, but Tori Amos has a dramatic flair that can take your breath away. Dressed in a flowing split-sleeved robe and matching pants (in the hot July air at Wolf Trap’s Filene Center) and a brace for her injured ankle, she worked her way between the grand piano at her front and a set of keyboards at her back…sometimes playing both simultaneously. She also had a brace on her broken foot, but that didn’t seem to hold her back at all.
Her Bösendorfer grand piano has toured with her since 1994. And Tori isn’t completely gentle with the chords played on it…there are times when she’s almost pounding at the keys. In fact, she ended “Lady in Blue” with a loud banging crash. During the song, she had also flipped the bird to punctuate the lyric “I can play too” with further expression, much to the delight of the audience.
Backed by John Evans (bass) and Ash Soan (drums), the former Maryland native went through a catalog of her hits, including the ever-popular “Cornflake Girl.” It was mesmerizing watching her switch back and forth between piano and keyboards…and sometimes play them both at once.
Amos’ voice is so different and distinct, mixing in breathy sighs in “Gold Dust” and whispering a faint “sometimes that happens” in response to one of her lines in the song “Purple People.”
Deep, intense, and, at times, humorous, she’s a master songstress that takes you on an emotional ride.
SETLIST
God
Ocean to Ocean
Crucify
Hey Jupiter
Wednesday
Lady in Blue
Gold Dust (no backing instruments)
Purple People
Virginia
Addition of Light Divided
Black-Dove (January)
Cornflake Girl
Encore:
Bliss (with “Running Up That Hill” interlude)
The Waitress
Words & Photos: Deanna Escobar