Tag: concert

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Two weeks ago (April 25, specifically) we went to a Tori Amos concert in LA. It was a vastly different experience from the others we’ve been to. You see, she started out as basically her and a piano, and each album has added more and more layers of instruments. It always reminds me of a scene in Death: The Time of Your Life (Neil Gaiman has been friends with Tori since she was working on Little Earthquakes) in which Foxglove’s manager(?) is explaining that as she gets more popular, they have to book bigger and bigger venues, and beyond a certain size just a girl and her guitar isn’t going to cut it: she needs to hire a band.

Well, the “Original Sinsuality” tour provided some clues going in: It was a short tour, the venues—in this case UCLA’s Royce Hall—were comparatively small (which is why the show sold out in 10 minutes), and it was named after a “quiet Tori” song. She dispensed with the band entirely. It was just Tori Amos, a grand piano, two kinds of organs and another keyboard I couldn’t quite identify. We heard songs you never hear in concert (“Yes Anastasia,” “Doughnut Song”) or wouldn’t expect to (“Toast”), even when she takes a break from the band and does a piano set.

So, onto a review: Continue reading →

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While the stage hands were setting up for the Alanis Morissette concert last night, we noticed a sign on the stage that looked like this:

Caution: Trip Hazard

As far back as we were sitting, we couldn’t read the words, (although “Caution” was obvious, and since it was next to a bundle of cables and showed an off-balance stick figure, the meaning was clear) but it stayed up during the show, and eventually the cameras caught it in the background, and we could read it.

At that point, or possibly after the end of the song, I leaned over to Katie and remarked, “You know, ‘Trip Hazard’ sounds like a good name for a band. Or maybe an action hero.” She replied: “Can you imagine Trip from Enterprise in a superhero costume?”

And there was much laughter.

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The Orange County Fair usually has some pretty good concerts lined up. Last year, they were all free with admission, but this year, they opened up a separate venue and kicked up the price. Tonight it was Joan Osborne and Melissa Etheridge, which was a very cool concert. The volume got turned up too high too fast, but each of them put on a good show. I have to say, Melissa Etheridge has the most expressive face I’ve seen on a vocal performer in a while. They had two huge HDTV screens showing whatever the cameraguy of the moment was focusing on, and when it was on her, she could get a round of screaming out of the audience with just one note and an eyebrow. This concert made me sorry I didn’t pick up any more of her CDs during the big Wherehouse closeout a few months ago. Ah well, there are sales ahead….

The title of the post, by the way, is a misheard lyric from “I Wanna Come Over;” the real line is “To hell with the consequence.” We ran into another opportunity for humor during “Bring Me Some Water” when Kelson pointed out that not only did she already have a bottle of water, but someone had put it in a little holder on the mic stand–which was visible on the video screen. Of course, my brain started writing alternate lyrics. (Apologies to all necessary parties, including those of you who don’t know the song.)

*****

Somebody brought you some water
Can’t you see it’s there on your stand
You took it off the stage, right there at the front corner
A minute ago, with your hot little hand

Somebody brought you some water
Think I saw you sippin’ before
The music’s got my mind, and the music’s got my soul
But tonight I think logic, I think logic’s out that door

*****

Side note: They have some damn yummy fruit at the Terri’s Berries booth right by the theater. Must remember this for the Alanis Morissette concert in two weeks.

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Driving back from the Tori concert, fortified with Frappuccinos, we were trying to figure out the distribution of songs per album. Kelson commented that there were several from singles, and that she could probably release an album of just B-sides and have it sell well, which prompted us to start naming all the B-sides we could. At one point we were stuck, and then we came up with her version of “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” I started singing the chorus, Tori-style, and a few seconds after I stopped, Kelson said, “You know, it just proves how out of it I am……right after you started, I was about to try to turn up the volume.”

I definitely need to sing more.