Amos brings a gang of ‘Strange Little Girls’ to solo tour
By Tamara Dunn
Arts & Entertainment Editor

Beware of a show that calls itself “strange.” This is the label of Tori Amos’ “Strange Little Tour” as she made a stop at Ovens Auditorium in Charlotte Oct. 4. The concert was not only a homecoming for the North Carolina native, but it marked her first solo tour in seven years. But was she really performing solo?

The tour is promoting Amos’ latest album, Strange Little Girls, a compilation of covers originally performed by male singers. Instead of producing a karaoke style album, Amos applies her own twist to the songs, giving the lyrics’ female characters a voice. Also, Amos dressed the part of each character in her songs for the cover art and liner notes.
With the premise of the new album’s message and the lack of a band providing additional sounds, the show began with a slashed black cloth in the background and an enlarged photograph of one of Amos’ characters. The speakers blared “’97 Bonnie & Clyde,” Amos’ rendition of Eminem’s contraversal rap about explaining to his daughter why he has killed his wife. Backstage, Amos provided the vocals to the soundtrack while the audience was subdued by the visuals on stage and the song. The ironic combination of a dazzling light display with a chilling description of murder gave an intense feel that would linger throughout Amos’ two-hour set.

The cloth dropped and revealed Amos’ instruments: on centerstage, her trusty piano within a “full- body turn” range of a Rhodes keyboard and a Wultizer on the farthest left end of the stage. To her right, a single table draped with black tablecloth displayed three of Amos’ new personas. The piano-Rhodes combination was used to its fullest potential as Amos performed “Little Amsterdam,” a song she rarely performs live. Between verses, Amos switched from the piano to the Rhodes in a single whoosh, making gun-trotting moves like a cowgirl as she did so. Her self-choregraphed gestures added joviality to a song that not many audience members recgonized. This playfulness was also carried into widely known songs on the setlist such as “Leather” and “Past the Mission.” Her forgetfulness was comical yet forgivable as she repeated some of the same verses in “Concertina” and had to restart “1000 Oceans.”

Like her characters in Strange Little Girls, some of the songs were cleverly disguised. One that led to a sudden shift in the atmosphere was “Glory of the 80s.” In studio form, the song is heavily laced with percussion and synthesizers, and the thought of how it would sound with only a piano was unimaginable. Amos started to play the opening of “Precious Things,” and the audience strongly reacted with adoration. Without warning, the music changed, providing an uneasy feeling but a satisfying turnaround for a heavily engineered song.

Other standouts in the set were a cover of Tom Wait’s “Time” and “Cool on Your Island.” These subdued the audience, as both songs were mostly unknown. “Time” highlighted Amos’ whispering voice as she politely played her piano, and the lighting effects on stage echoed her resonance. The ballad was beautiful although it was not her own, but she took possession over it as she performed. “Cool on Your Island” was another rare treat as the song dates back to her ‘80s wannabe pop queen era with the band Y Kant Tori Read. Playing the song exclusively on the Rhodes gave the song that one-hit wonder feel, yet it didn’t seem almost two decades old.

Amos’ attachment to North Carolina was prevelant throughout the concert. She told a tale of how her one-year-old daughter, Natashya, knew they had reached the border when she woke up with delight. Amos also broke into an improtu version of James Taylor’s “Carolina on My Mind” on the Wultizer before starting a new version of “Crucify.” Even her parents attended the concert, making it like a family reunion.

However, nothing was as strong or moving as her performance of “Me and the Gun.” With only a harsh white spotlight directly on her face and no instruments to play, Amos softly told her tragic tale. At first, hearing the song excited the crowd, but a hush slowly filled the auditorium. The performance was like watching a private confessional with a large glass window exposing the person inside. The chilling effect reached its climax as she muttered “Have you been to Carolina where the biscuits taste so sweet?” Another dose of ironic juxtaposition in the set paired “Me and the Gun” with her cover of “Over the Rainbow,” another song disguised with an introduction from “Twinkle.”

Overall, Amos did not perform a solo act. She combined her strange characters and instruments to perform 20 songs by different personas. They toyed with the audience’s heads away from the expected drove them past what they knew.