Days went by and suddenly it was time to see Tori in concert. I think I subconsciously downplayed my expectations and all but wiped the upcoming event from the horizon, having been somewhat disillusioned by her latest offerings, and generally disapointed by the last few musical events I went to (for some reason every time I expected transcendence and obviously often that just wasn't the case).
Anyway, we got there at 6p.m., and the proper set began at 9, so I was already a little bit restless. She started off with Give, which is a killer track, but one that did not grab me live. As far as I'm concerned its magic lies mostly in the hypnotic, oriental cadence of the chorus, but on stage it got chopped up and stretched out to the point where it missed all the checkpoints of the sonic imprint I so desperately wanted it to follow. Still, it's a very atmospheric number, and I started getting a slight tingle. She followed up with Hotel which is an awesome, convoluted Siamese quadruplet of a song, but I still found enough purchase outside the experience to note that my favorite piano counterpoint during the "I have to learn to let you crash down" was almost inaudible. Next up were band introductions, followed by Cornflake Girl. I remember thinking "Aw, that's nice..." and then blacked out. I resurfaced towards the end of the concert, during Jamaica Inn, which I loathe, but got immediately sucked back in for the encores. I can't recall a single thought I had during all that time, and I had a lot of trouble piecing the setlist together. It was literally the best Tori gig I've seen in 10 years (I don't remember absolutely anything about my first concert, back in September 1999, so it'll forver remain enshrined). The audience was amazing (one example: everyone started rhythmically clapping during the intro to Space Dog, even before the actual piano part came in; she almost fell off her stool with delighted laughter). And the performance was incredible. Flavor is just magical live, and we got a double punch to the tearduct in the form of solo Upside Down & Gold Dust. There was also the best version of Bells for Her I've ever heard, including all the bootlegs, with a really heavy piano & percussion jam (which might sound weird for those who know the song), and a balls to the wall spectacular rendition of Raspberry Swirl, which she finally made work live* with some rather inspired Donna Summer-esque vocal cascades.
She was totally in her element, and very visibly taken with the extatic response (seriously, Polish audiences deliver). And that actually translated into the setlist - I checked previous shows, and ours was the only one of the entire tour with two encores. It was also 3 songs longer than the usual set (aside from adding a second encore, she also extended the main part of the show by one song). All in all, she played for over 2 hours, and still only set the biggest fireworks off at the end.
So, based on this, and the Sia concert in Dublin, I now firmly believe that the key to a memorable experience is going to the last concert of a given tour. It's so logical it has to be right.
* it never quite did for me
Anyway, we got there at 6p.m., and the proper set began at 9, so I was already a little bit restless. She started off with Give, which is a killer track, but one that did not grab me live. As far as I'm concerned its magic lies mostly in the hypnotic, oriental cadence of the chorus, but on stage it got chopped up and stretched out to the point where it missed all the checkpoints of the sonic imprint I so desperately wanted it to follow. Still, it's a very atmospheric number, and I started getting a slight tingle. She followed up with Hotel which is an awesome, convoluted Siamese quadruplet of a song, but I still found enough purchase outside the experience to note that my favorite piano counterpoint during the "I have to learn to let you crash down" was almost inaudible. Next up were band introductions, followed by Cornflake Girl. I remember thinking "Aw, that's nice..." and then blacked out. I resurfaced towards the end of the concert, during Jamaica Inn, which I loathe, but got immediately sucked back in for the encores. I can't recall a single thought I had during all that time, and I had a lot of trouble piecing the setlist together. It was literally the best Tori gig I've seen in 10 years (I don't remember absolutely anything about my first concert, back in September 1999, so it'll forver remain enshrined). The audience was amazing (one example: everyone started rhythmically clapping during the intro to Space Dog, even before the actual piano part came in; she almost fell off her stool with delighted laughter). And the performance was incredible. Flavor is just magical live, and we got a double punch to the tearduct in the form of solo Upside Down & Gold Dust. There was also the best version of Bells for Her I've ever heard, including all the bootlegs, with a really heavy piano & percussion jam (which might sound weird for those who know the song), and a balls to the wall spectacular rendition of Raspberry Swirl, which she finally made work live* with some rather inspired Donna Summer-esque vocal cascades.
She was totally in her element, and very visibly taken with the extatic response (seriously, Polish audiences deliver). And that actually translated into the setlist - I checked previous shows, and ours was the only one of the entire tour with two encores. It was also 3 songs longer than the usual set (aside from adding a second encore, she also extended the main part of the show by one song). All in all, she played for over 2 hours, and still only set the biggest fireworks off at the end.
So, based on this, and the Sia concert in Dublin, I now firmly believe that the key to a memorable experience is going to the last concert of a given tour. It's so logical it has to be right.
* it never quite did for me
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