DOGNAMEDJESUS.

hveasey:

Tori Amos- Sugar (Milan 2011)

Because I’ve heard the majority of Tori Amos performances since 1996 due to my obsessive bootleg collecting, it takes a lot for her to really truly blow me away. I almost always enjoy her performances, but there has to be something unique or special for it to make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. This Sugar is one of those special performances. The first thing I noticed is the absolute confidence and power she’s projecting out into the audience. That “yeah, you just try and fuck with me, see what happens” attitude that was so prevalent in every performance from 94-01 and which seemed to completely disappear after 2005 (unless she was playing a character) is back in spades, and its making the performances feel unpredictable again. I’ve heard over 100 performances of Sugar (I told you I was obsessive!) and there are moments here where I don’t know what’s going to happen with her inflections and tempo, and that’s thrilling because every performance becomes about those particular moments and feelings, with no disconnect between the artist and the material.

The next thing to stand out about this performance for me was how tender it was. There’s still the anger and moments of fury that have been a part of Sugar since 1998 (a performance where “you’re just a pussy, my sweet boy” isn’t delivered right is a shitty performance), but  “when they find you out…”  has an empathy and quiet sadness that gives the song another dimension. Even as she’s ready to take this boy to task and call him on his bullshit, there’s still an understanding of his pain. And of course, if we learned nothing else from the 90’s, we should know that utilizing the quiet/loud (or sad/angry) dynamic makes both parts of a song more powerful.

Finally, how amazing are those ending high notes? It seems like somebody went back in time and gave Tori her 1998 voice again. They’re so clean and expressive, giving a difficult song a perfect finish.

OK, I think I’ve gushed enough for now. But trust me, I could probably go on for a few more paragraphs.

After hearing this, I hope even more that she plays this in Austin. This and Siren. I could die happy.

(via allabouttoriamos)


Posted: Wed November 9th, 2011 at 9:50pm
Originally posted by hveasey.

Tagged: tori amos divas live alternative rock 90s music

29 Notes


  1. howmyheartbehaves reblogged this from hveasey
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  6. earwithfeet said: I love when you write about Tori <3 Thank you for sharing your experience and thoughts
  7. adrowningwoman reblogged this from allabouttoriamos
  8. dognamedjesus reblogged this from allabouttoriamos and added:
    After hearing this, I hope even more that she plays this in Austin. This and Siren. I could die happy.
  9. allabouttoriamos reblogged this from hveasey
  10. kaleidoscoptics said: I’m glad you’re posting again. Might motivate me to start actually writing real posts again.
  11. hveasey posted this