Tori @The Embarcadero, San Diego, CA Sept 14 2005

[Mary]

The night was truly unbelievable in every possible way.
I couldn't believe how beautiful Tori sounded and all the favorite songs of mine/ours she threw into the setlist. I also couldn't believe how horribly rude some concert-goers were.
More about both unbelievables below, as I go song-by-song attempting to capture the good and bad sparks that flew throughout the night.

The setlist:

Original Sinsuality
Amber Waves
China
Goodbye Pisces
Spark
Way Down
Virginia
Rattlesnakes

Piano Bar (cover songs):
People Are Strange (The Doors cover)
We Belong (Pat Benatar cover)

Sweet Dreams
Doughnut Song
Black-Dove (January)
God/Running Up That Hill
The Beekeeper

1st Encore:
Here. In My Head
Sweet The Sting

2nd Encore:
1000 Oceans
Putting The Damage On

Tori on the stage in San Diego*:

*Photo not mine; credit to 'daystars' at @forumz.

Ok, down to business....

This concert was going to be special for many reasons:
1. I wasn't expecting to go since we are in the middle of Survivor: Escrow; Sean surprised me and got tickets anyway. He is SO the man.
2. We were able to get a ticket for Alison, our 10 year old daughter, too, thusly making this her first concert. Perfect. Alison has been listening to Tori's music since she was in the womb! She was so excited.
3. It's Tori! Isn't that the best 'special' reason?! Yes, yes it is.

The venue, a lovely bayside spot on a peninsula-type plot of land in the marina, was hidden behind the convention center in downtown San Diego and notoriously hard to find. No prob, my aunt and uncle who live near there gave us directions plus we had printed out directions. Problem, we got lost anyway. We had Starbucks for dinner and I was realizing that soy latte entree I had wasn't going to hold me all night. Oh well. Poor planning on my part and I've starved for less worthy causes than a Tori show. So be it. We walked in at 8:25 and I KNOW Tori usually goes on an hour and a half after the tix time which was 7pm. We hightailed it over to the bathrooms first. Oh, I'm sorry, not bathrooms. Port-a-potties. In the DARK. I was already in worry-mode trying to keep Ali right next to me. We heard the sound-systemed Interpol music come to a stop and then cheering just as we were walking out of there and into the gates. Tori was on the stage. My daughter missed seeing Tori walking out on the stage to take her spot at the piano, darnit.
Oh well, our rush was over we would take our seats and enjoy the show.
The seats: folding white chairs.
The stage: situated at the edge of a dirt and nubby-grass plateau overlooking the bay, where the breeze would come up and whoosh around Tori's hair and her flowy dress while she played for us under the night sky. Very cool.

Not cool: when we took our wobbly seats, we noticed there was a guy and girl right smack in front of us, liplocked with their arms all over the place including bumping into the people next to them. Uh, obviously they did not know the basic courtesy rule about viewing a concert: Do NOT put your heads together all the time because the people behind you can't see and have to look around you and so then do the people behind those people, until you have a domino effect of vision-challenged Tori-loving grumpy concert folks.
And worse: they were loud. Really loud. Snookypooky name calling loud. Cell phone screaming to their friends loud. Spilling their cups of wine all over the place and giggling about it loud. Did they not realize they were in public? They were twenty-something brats and didn't give a damn what anyone around them thought. "Shhh, please" the girl next to them said. I added my 2 cents and switched it up a bit: "Please. Shhh." They were oblivious. My patience was wearing thin and Tori hadn't even sang one full song yet.

Sean, Ali and I sat side by side for the next 2 hours as vision-challenged, sound-challenged Tori-loving grumpy concert folks. I was the grumpiest by far.
Still, I was determined to not let these people in front of us ruin our show.

Here's what I can remember....

Original Sinsuality-
good spark = Oh, she was pretty in blue! Red hair, blue dress, bright lights. Spectacular. She sounded awesome and her voice carried well in the outdoor venue. This of course is the standard opener song for the tour. No surprises here, just enjoying the vision of her and the moment of arriving to hear her. Ali smiled at me really big when she was in her seat and said 'Thanks SO much for bringing me, I can tell I'm going to love this.'
bad spark = The people in front of us stunk of drunk so bad I was feeling nauseated every time the wind blew in my direction. Uh-oh, we got noisy wino jerks in front of us for this show. And Ali's here. Ok, let's try to ignore these fools...

Amber Waves-
good spark = Yay, a Scarlet's Walk favorite of mine. The 'healing machine' part was fantastic! She slowed down a bit for the last 'just leave it alone'. Gosh, it was really nice. She was smiling a bit toward the end and I was getting ready for her hello and told Ali to listen for it.
bad spark = Seriously, this gross guy and gross girl in front of us are getting obnoxious. They should get a room. He has a deep voice and he won't stop rambling things to her and they're both giggling. And they smell. Hello, Tori is up there. Unlock your stinky loud bodies and look up there so we can all see, too... Ok, that laugh was rude. Just rude. I have to say something "Shhh, we're trying to hear, please". No response. Kissy-fondle-giggle-hairflip-winespill-rude.

Tori says hello:
Tori cracks me up. She's so damn smart. I know for a fact that she has her assistants "research" every town she plays in so she can know what the latest happenings are (she talks about this in her book). She zoomed right in on San Diego's "Stripper-Gate" scandal this past summer and used that in her hello, saying that she understands the about how politics are these days and she totally supports the strippers of San Diego. The crowd laughed. On she went saying "God knows, you know, I support the strippers, I could talk about that all night..." She said she totally knows all about the Champagne Room because, are you kidding, she has to deal with the record labels. Ha! We were cracking up. It was hitting me now that she had just played her 'porn star' song and how it fit with the theme of her hello. She was downright chirpy talking to us and giggling. She said "so this is a lovely little complicated town here, isn't it?", picking up on the fact that the venue was unbelievably difficult to get to. Then, with a squinty-eyed look, "You're the dark horse aren't you, San Diego?" and "See, Los Angeles has nothing on you people... they come down here and steal your stories then go make movies about them.. I know, I understand how it is." The crowd was just digging the conversation. I like a smart performer who knows what's up with her audience. That's Tori, alright. It was a very memorable hello, even though I had to tune out the bozos in front of us to hear every word (because I was trying to memorize what Tori said so I could post about it later, of course).

[Mary]

China-
good spark = This is one of the few old Tori songs that I actually like better live than on the record. I just love the calmness she has when she plays this. It's a certain kind of calm that's not shown very often in other songs live. I can't describe it, really, but I still have a vivid memory/feeling from seeing her play it years ago. So I was thrilled to get this song just for that calm at that moment AND because I was thinking 'oooh, I wonder if this means she'll do Goodbye Pisces, too?'. On the way to the show we listened to The Beekeeper in the car and it occurred to me that I'd like to hear Goodbye Pisces. I know she's linked the two songs with the Chinese theme in past shows, so I was hopeful. When Tori sang 'maybe you got lost in Mexico' the crowd cheered her mention of its favorite border-hoppin' place.
bad spark = God, this is a test isn't it? You're testing me with this couple in front of me aren't you? It's 3 songs now, God. Please, for the love of...well, ME, please send down lightning bolts and zap this rude loud couple all the way to Newwww Yorrrrk so that I can enjoy this show. It's getting bad, God, really bad. I want to hurt this guy. Please help. Amen.

Goodbye Pisces-
good spark = Yes! The same girl who was now my Shhh-shing partner also let out a 'yes' when this came on. She and I were probably both hoping Tori would make the connection and follow up China with GP. This song is fantastically light and pretty on the piano when she starts it. Tori's voice on this was out-of-control perfect! The 'breaking porcelain' line made me think of Carly, as usual, and man Tori really belted out the 'doll you got used to' part. She finished it so smoothly with those yada-dadas (which I used to not like, remember?!). They had fitting aqua-colored lights on the stage for this.
bad spark = She has really long blonde hair, this gross girl in front of me. What if I can find some gum in my purse and pull a Miranda on her...hehe... God, really, I'm becoming evil now. I'm failing this pathetic test miserably. This couple is out of control and NOW we have the added issue of rude loud-talkers a couple rows back. Grrr, who's idea is it to sell alcohol to stupid people at these things? People should come with Stupidity ratings and if you rate out of the accepted stupid range for a concert, you get no alcohol. God, Really. Please do something or I will. Send back-up, 10-4.

Spark-
good spark = THIS IS SPARK! But I didn't know it at first because Tori was doing the most lovely improv with the organ - something about: She is up there, are you happy now, something something else, then: have you found your spark now?, all while she looked up into the sky and reached up on the last note and the word 'spark'. Holy Ice Cream Assassin, I was about to hear my all-time favorite Tori song which I've never heard live before! I knew it was coming because there was no way Tori would say 'spark' and then not play it. No way, she couldn't be that Cruel! haha... Good God in heaven, I see why you've been busy now and not coming to my rescue! You were bringing me Spark! LOL Seriously, this was intense. Tori switched between organ and piano and just worked the song so magically. The 'how many fates turn around in the overtime?' line was stellar, with her hair all flowing all over. Whooo, I was loving it. I didn't want it to end. During the song a helicopter flew overhead. When I say overhead, I mean we could almost feel it. It was crazy. Tori held the word "heeeeeeere" to attempt to sing over the noise and we showed appreciation for the attempt by clapping for her.
bad spark = Ok, this isn't funny. This gross guy just yelled into the cell phone of gross girl with a high-pitched barking sound 3 times. He is stupid. And drunk. And she is all of those things, too, laughing at him. And now I'm getting nervous because what if they get out of control and belligerent? I just want them to leave now. They are clearly not going to shut up or stop moving all around in their seats. Just go, you dumb gross people. Leave. Please. You are not even watching the show, why are you here? This is my favorite song, you gross rude people! Sean can't take it any more, either. He taps the guy on the shoulder and calmly but firmly tells the guy that none of us can hear because of him, and that we have our 10 year old daughter here and could they please stop fondling each other all over. Gross guy gives Sean one of those thumbs-up tongue-clicky moves as if to say 'Ok, got it buddy'. I join in saying really important words like "Yeah. Exactly." (I HATE confrontation, but not as much as being made to feel completely robbed of a good show so I was speaking up) But does he stop? Noooo. He sarcastically winks at me like "Yeah, lady, whatever." and I lose it. I'm fuming. My blood is hot, my heart is going to jump out of my skin if I don't get up.... Other people around us are shhh-shing the guy, too. Meanwhile, 3 rows behind us the 2 noisy jerky guys are still talking very loudly. I hear one of them say something about lawnmowers. WTF? The guy directly behind me has his blood boiling, too. I can feel it. So does the girl who was my Shhh-shing partner. It's like we have an unspoken blood-boiling club building and all we wanted to do was come and enjoy our Tori in peace. We are all getting on edge...

Way Down-
good spark = Tori did those jumpy little piano notes that I know are in the song Way Down and then she went into a long piano intro and at first I thought she was changing her mind. I knew whatever she was playing was something I'm sure I've heard before, but not that I could recognize [I've since discovered that she was in fact playing some of 'Tubular Bells', aka theme to The Exorcist, but I never would have guessed that. She's played it before on the Dew Drop Inn in '96 with Father Lucifer, apparently.]. It went on for about 30-40 seconds, maybe longer. I was fascinated by her intensity playing this. She was partly standing up, I think, just working the piano keys with a fierce kind of grace. Then, sure enough, she went into Way Down with the lyrics and my jaw dropped. Way Down?! Had she even DONE Way Down this tour? Or like, any of say the last 2 or 3 tours?! I can't remember ever seeing it in a setlist since I've been following setlists. And part of me was really getting giddy thinking 'OMG, if she does Little Amsterdam after this I might die of pleasure!' I wish I could say that I remember how she finished this song but I can't. I was up and out of my seat before it finished.
bad spark = After switching around our seats for a better view that didn't exist because of that two-headed monster ahead of us and asking said monster repeatedly to shush I had had it. When he laughed that one more loud time and fell into the girl, my Shh partner, on his right, and Ali crossed her arms in frustration from the noise, THAT was the final straw. My Shh partner thought so, too. We got up at the same moment, as if choreographed, and off we both went together to get Security. I told Sean I'd be right back and told Ali to sit close to Sean. I was SO pissed.

Virginia-
good spark = I do not remember anything about this song other than a vague "she will betray..." which told me I was missing Virginia. Nada. No recollection of one of the songs I had on my wishlist. Other reviewers today said it was amazing, though. How nice that they got to hear it. Sigh.
bad spark = Shhh partner, who I now knew as Alicia, joined me as we spoke to the nearest usher, then a security 'agent' who couldn't move to come help us, then a security 'guy with an earphone' who took us to another guy, and finally to the Security Supervisor, all of whom heard our angry cries (and I really had tears in my eyes at this point as we traveled all over that damn dirt and grass place) to please go kick out Gross Couple from their seats. We explained the fondling, the rocking in the seats, the yelling and laughing and drunkeness and the overall RUDENESS of the 2-headed stinky monster that wasn't even watching Tori and ruining the show for the rest of us. Ms. Supervisor walked back with us to our section and we happily ratted out the couple. A girl nearby gave me a thumbs-up and the guy behind me said "Finally!". But Ms Supervisor told Alicia and me that she had to give Gross Guy and girl a warning first, which she did, all while the next song was starting....

Rattlesnakes-
good spark = Ooooo, my favorite Strange Little Girls song! She slowed this down compared to how she does it with the full band (which we heard at our last San Diego Tori show) and played it on the Rhodes. It was very pretty, but I have to admit I like the normal pace better. Still, I was loving it and so was Ali. SLG is an overall favorite album for her. The stage was kind of foggy and the lighting was perfect for adding a mysterious kind of feel to the song. When Tori sang the last 'rattlesna-a-aake' she made the final syllable sort of echo and fade. Very neat.
bad spark = Ok, they are behaving. Sort of. They still are joining heads but now at least they are looking at the stage. As long as they stay quiet this can be bearable. Now if we could just get those guys in back to shut the heck up. Grrr. Sean, Ali and I play musical chairs one of many times throughout the evening so that we can get Ali in a spot where she can see the stage.

[Mary]

Piano Bar
this is the portion of the show where Tori plays cover song 'requests' (which were already requested and picked, of course). She tells us that we (San Diego) did really good picking the covers. She said 'you know, some towns just really SUCK at picking the songs and you think 'Are they serious?'" She was making us laugh again. She said something like "You guys had a LOT of requests for this and I'm not sure about (playing) this, so if you hate it go find the people who picked it and beat 'em up".

People Are Strange-
good spark = GET. OUT.! Whooo, a Doors cover. She really worked it. I hope there's a recording of it. All the drunk and noisy people in the crowd were singing along now, probably happy to hear a song they knew. Still, the energy in the crowd was great.
bad spark = The Gross couple seems mellow now, but the jerk guys behind us are raising their obnoxiousness volume. Grrr...

We Belong -
good spark = She was supposed to play this the night before but didn't so I wasn't surprised to hear this. Verrrry pretty. I'm glad she kept the pace of the song pretty true to the original because I've imagined her doing this slower and deeper on the verses and thought I might not like it as much like that. Once upon a time back in the 80s this was my 'Spark' song. So I was thrilled to hear Tori cover it. Sean was at the merchandise stand for this song, getting Ali a surprise t-shirt. He said from back there he thought Tori had moments where she actually sounded like Pat.
bad spark = Gross girl is not watching the show at all now, trying to tell Gross guy something seemingly important. Probably that she needs more alcohol. I wish she could talk without opening her mouth because her breath is killing me here. I'm also thinking about how when I post about being at this concert I'll probably spend far too many keystrokes on these stupid drunk losers who were ruining the show.

Sweet Dreams-
good spark = LOL, I wanted to do the hand jive immediately! What a treat getting this. It's an Ali-fave so she was tickled, too. The very wonderful girl sitting to our left, Noel, offered to let Ali use her binoculars to see Tori better. I thought that was so sweet and kind of her. She said she understood how it is for kids and she was happy to lend them. She probably felt bad for us having to be seated behind such jerks. Alison was watching and grinning for the WHOLE song. This made me grin, too. "Mom, I can see Tori pull her hair off of her lipgloss! She's pretty!" In the middle of the politically-inspired song she paused to lift up her finger to the crowd and say "No touchy!" referring to the Stripper-Gate story again. Heh, Tori. So funny. Sean returns and slips the t-shirt in my lap for hiding. He says thanks to Noel for being so gracious. Tori was having FUN for this song, for sure. She was in a bright bluish light and bouncing all over the place. She did lots of hand-flips and such. And then TWO helicopters flew overhead during the song and she looked up a little and I swear she rolled her eyes as she sang over them. The whole setting was striking me as so bizarre now. Tori out on the water, helicopters overhead, gross drunk people mixed with really sweet and caring people. The smell of exhaust from trucks mixing with the jalapeno nachos the girl a few seats down was eating and all these bright lights twinkling and fading for the music. The world is weird.
bad spark = OMG, Gross girl is standing up to go somewhere and her pants are falling down. Good God. She pulls them up and Gross guy gives her one last grab before she STUMBLES out into the aisle, passing Alicia and her friends, who are all trying not to laugh at Gross girl falling all over the place. (It was really funny!) She reeks of ugly intoxication as she goes by, ewwww. Argh, I hated that Alison had to see (and smell) that. At least Gross guy is single-headed now. I can seeeee! Please, God, let her be gone a long time. Maybe she's going to the bathroom and you could arrange a nice dunk in the dark and scary port-a-potty for her?! Whooo, she would smell so much better after that!

Doughnut Song-
good spark = This is Sean's song. He loves it. I know it. He's digging it. It's beautiful. It's not as amazing as the UCLA performance we had in April but it's damn pretty. She does the 'over and over, over your shoulder' part and I'm amazed that her voice is still holding out in the somewhat breezy and cool night air. This song flew by bathed in green light and foggy swirls and I was able to watch her play every note on the piano. Dreamy. This pretty much seals the deal right here that I won't be getting Marianne, but I'm ok. I'm just glad I can see and hear!
bad spark = Gross guy simply cannot sit still. Without gross girl to fondle and hang on he doesn't know what to do with himself. (Gee, how about watch the freaking show?) He turns to Alicia now and starts chatting it up with her, even touching her arm (Sean was watching getting worried here a bit seeing that he's mister prosecutor of sex crimes and such. I'm still on edge because I'm worried about Alison paying attention to all of this.) I cannot believe his nerve. She must tell him to shove it because he finally gets quiet and faces forward again.

Black Dove (January Girl)-
good spark = Tori split herself between the organ and piano for this and it was just amazing to watch her. She grabbed her torso all over the place on the 'my blue dress' line because, you know, she was wearing a blue dress. I laughed. She totally rocked that part of the song. The screen hanging above the stage had been showing swirls and patterns all night but it wasn't until THIS song that I started paying attention to it, really. It showed a space-themed image, appropriate for 'the other side of the galaxy'. Having already been treated to the helicopter noise earlier, Tori gave out a little laugh on her 'you're not a helicopter' line. I payed attention for it because I thought she might give one of her flip-offs or something, but I think she's getting tame in her lovely old age, hehe. Noel let Ali use the binoculars again and Alison was very appreciative as this is her favorite FTCH song. Sean was thrilled, too, as this is a favorite for him. Purplish and bluish lighting helped create a great feel for this song as she played it. I remember there being some red mixed in somewhere, too.
bad spark = [There is no bad for this entire song! Can't you tell? I could pay attention to the lighting and everything! Gross girl stayed gone and gross guy was sitting still and jerky guys 3 rows back were even pretty quiet. All was good]

God/Running Up That Hill/God -
good spark = Yes, I know I've overdone the title, but this is how she played it. She started with "Do you neeeeeeed a woman to look after you" and I was FREAKING OUT inside knowing I was going to get my God/RUTH! She only sang the one line from God as an opener, and quite slowly. Then she sang "If I only could, I'd make a deal with God" and went on with the RUTH song for a bit before going into "God sometimes you just don't come through...". Oh my, was this interesting. And good, really good, just as I had expected. I couldn't take my eyes off of her for the whole thing because she seemed so emotional singing it. Before the song was even over Sean leaned over to me and said "Find a copy of this!" The 'tell me you're crazy' was sooooo good, especially. I noticed that for the 'gets a little toasty here' Tori reached her hand up and touched her back.
bad spark = Oh my God, Gross girl is back and she's carrying 2 glasses full of wine. Are you kidding me? We are all doomed. I need a 9-iron alright. Ok, Mary, don't let her bug you. Ignore, ignore, ignore... Meanwhile, it's impossible to ignore the jerky guys behind us as they are laughing and talking as if they are the only people in the world and are half-deaf. It's horrible...

The Beekeeper-
good spark = Tori plays this with all the poignant seriousness the song requires and that makes it beautiful. But that's really all I can say about the live performance because I find that the song is just too long. I LOVE the song on the album, it's one of my top 5 favorites. But I found it hard to pay attention for it all.
really bad sparks = When the song was just starting there was TOTAL chaos. Of course we had the typical stage rush, as Tori fans know this is their cue to get close for the encore songs. But it's really disruptive and with all the hell I'd been dealing with up to this point I was just plain angry that I had to deal with the pandemonium of a drunken stampede. Ugh. The guy behind me had also reached his limit. I'm not exaggerating when I describe this: He stood up in a rage, turned around and yelled at the top of his lungs with his finger pointing at the 2 jerks behind him, saying something like "You need to shut up! You have been talking during the whole f-ing show and I'm tired of it!!!" All of us around him, about 4 rows worth of people, were watching him come unglued. He went on pointing "You, sitting next to these jerks, say something and tell them to shut up! This is f-ing ridiculous." Still pointing but now at the jerks "Yes, I'm talking about you, YOU are rude. And YOU, stop talking now!" The light was shining on the jerks faces and they were laughing under their breath. I felt so bad for the yeller guy behind me. He sat down and everyone was speechless except for me because I said "Amen!" Then I started to get teary because it was making me feel so sad that we had to yell and scream at each other at a Tori show. If Tori were out in the audience she would have been completely ashamed of the whole thing. I told Alison everything would be ok and held her to me. People were moving all about now and it was just really weird. I simply couldn't concentrate on Tori's singing at all so this song really seemed to drag for me. Gross girl and guy are getting even louder now but everyone is loud and Security is off having sandwiches or something because there are people starting to stand on their chairs so they can see over the stage-rusher and nobody is doing anything about it. It's the most aggravating 'end' to a Tori setlist I've ever experienced. I was so worried about the people around me I didn't even get to see her go off the stage.

Encore 1

Here. In My Head-
good spark = Ah, the b-side again. I was hoping for Alamo or even Upside Down, but HIMH is always nice. The problem for me was that it was just that, "nice". I remember hearing it the first time in Santa Barbara last tour and being so blown away by it. But this time it was a little flat to me. Alison smiled and said she liked the song and I could tell she was having a good time despite the chaos.
bad spark = To our left a guy is screaming at the girl 2 rows above him who is standing on her chair. Security is now getting over the fact that Tori fans rush the stage and stay there and nothing can be done. So Security is trying to get people off their chairs all over the place in the venue now. Imagine if you will trying to listen to Tori sing a slow and pretty song while a dozen or so fans are yelling "get off your f-ing chair, we can't see" and Security is running about with flashlights shining. Ugh. We were standing now and Gross couple was gone, thank God, but that guy to the left is now reaching out and trying to flip that girl's chair because she turns around and makes faces at him as he's yelling at her. This was so not pretty. I almost told Sean "let's go" but I knew there were 3 songs left and I'd hate myself later if I left now.

Sweet The Sting -
good spark = I love how Tori puts out the sultry vibe for this. The audience was on its feet and swaying and we swayed along. Ali likes this song so she was bee-bopping along a bit. The song seemed to lighten the mood of the crowd, thankfully. Alison thought it was cool that Tori does two encores.
bad spark = We really couldn't see at all now. People were filling in all over the place up front and I decided to just be happy to hear. I could tell Sean was nervous and frustrated and also kind of bored by this song. There was so much chattering going on in the crowd, especially in the rows behind us. It seemed like a Friday night pick-up bar, not a Wednesday night singer/songwriter concert.

Encore 2-

1000 Oceans-
good spark = Another "it was pretty, but..." songs. I don't know, I think I was just so drained by this point in the show that I would have rather had something more 'up'. I was still hoping for Marys Of The Seas by this point and that would have been great. Still, it was pretty and she did a seemingly extra high "I can't believe" that was gorgeous.
bad spark = We sit down now because we're tired and we can't see. I tell myself I'll never see Tori in a venue like this again. The jerky guys are still back there making all kinds of dumb comments and laughing at themselves for being dumb. I turn around and give the bigger guy, who's easily 300 bills, the evilest eye I can muster and he sips his beer and points to the friend next to him as if to say 'it's him not me'. I just shake my head at him. He burps my way. Jerk.

Putting The Damage On-
good spark = Well, the good thing is that she's closing with one of my most favorite Boys For Pele songs. And if I'm not going to get Marianne, this is the next best thing for me. So I am happy. Sort of. There are 2 very sweet 20-something girls in front of us now drinking coffee who make a point to stand apart so Alison can try to stand and see Tori sing one of her favorite songs. That was nice. Tori's voice seemed to be getting a little tired on this and she did few more whispery parts than the song usually has, I think. She finished the song and gave her cute double-waves and blew us kisses goodbye.
bad spark = The show is almost over and I realize I've spent so much of it being either enraged or on edge. I am so tired I just want to cry. On the line "it's just your ghost passing through" the jerky guys were laughing again. They ruined my favorite part. I came *this close* to walking over there and hitting the big guy over the head with my purse. If Alison hadn't been there I might have actually done just that. I've NEVER been made to feel so angry in a public place before. I left so disappointed.

As we walked out I passed the sound booth and pointed out to Ali who Tori's husband was. They had a few setlists, but I didn't get one. I got chummy with a girl who was holding one and, as she and her date walked out with us, she shared the paper with me so I could see it. We looked at the changes: Tori had been set to play Pretty Good Year instead of Sweet The Sting and Marys Of the Sea instead of 1000 Oceans. Damn about that last switch. Oh well.

Tori played a very good show and I was well aware that MY perception of it was very skewed because of the surrounding audience. But she really was just as amazing as always. She treated us to many 'water' related songs in the setlist for obvious reasons. She also seemed truly comfortable and happy. She played at least one song from each of her albums/eras (3 from my most favorite!), two b-sides and really did 4 cover songs. That's a pretty damn good setlist.

We took our long walk back through the edge of the marina, up the walkway past the big hotel of the convention center and into the underground parking lot to get to our car. Alison gabbed the whole way, saying thank you thank you over and over to us, that she had the BEST time and that she couldn't believe how good Tori was and how good all the songs sounded. Whew, I was so relieved that she enjoyed the concert. We explained to her that the crowd wasn't usually that poorly behaved and how shocked we were by it. Still, I wouldn't blame the poor girl if she didn't want to go to another concert again! As for me, I know I'll see Tori again. I'll just have to hope that the audience is better.

We got back to the car and gave Ali her Sweet The Sting t-shirt. She LOVED it. I'm glad I had Sean take a photo to remember the moment even though I was so exhausted and halfway in tears.

[*Herry*]

Oh, Mary. Thankyou so much for typing all of that out. Although it was a rollercoaster ride, I really enjoyed reading all of your sparks. I really felt like I was sitting with you for that little while.

I'm so glad Ali seemed to have a good time - I'd love to talk with her about her first Tori concert one day

It certianly is a mad, wild, weird world.

[Lemon Pie]

wow, it's amazing how you have the energy to describe the whole concert to us. Thank you very much! Too bad you had to deal with those jerks... hugs!

Btw, I managed to find some of the songs from this and other Tori concerts for this year, I loved People are Strange and Virginia is much better live than on album!! www.yessaid.com/download-2005.html