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| Tori Amos @ the Paramount Theater (Photo: Kevin Keating) |
It's been on my bucket list to see Tori Amos at some point in my life, and last night I was finally able to scratch it off! I've been a fan of hers since the release of her first album in 1992, Little Earthquakes, but for some reason, have never been able to catch her live. Luckily, the stars were finally aligned last night at the Paramount in Oakland and the energy was palpable. Coincidentally, only a block away was the first of three nights for Bob Dylan at the Fox, so parking was more of a nightmare than usual in downtown Oakland. Needless to say, I missed most of the opener -- an identical sister duo named Companion. The last two songs of their set featured the two singer songwriters at center stage, each with acoustic guitars. From what I heard, I was impressed and a bit sad that I hadn't left the house earlier to ensure I was able to get parking!
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| Tori Amos & Ash Soan @ the Paramount Theater (Photo: Kevin Keating) |
Companion's set ended at about 8:30pm and shortly after 9, Tori emerged from the right side of the stage to the capacity crowd at the Paramount. She was joined by Oakland's own, Jon Evans on bass guitar and Ash Soan, hailing from the UK. Tori took a seat behind her grand piano at center stage, Ash in his drum kit on the right, and Jon on a small riser on the back left of the stage, and the trio launched into "Juarez". From the very beginning of the night, the crowd was on their feet and remained that way through at least the 4th song of the night, "Don't Make Me Come to Vegas." After that, Tori would get standing ovations interspersed throughout her set, but folks generally sat back down for the next song up until "Devil's Bane" when folks in the lower section stood up and moved forward toward the stage to create a mini pit -- plenty of people then walked down from the more distant rows and didn't return to their seats for the remainder of the night.
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| Tori Amos @ the Paramount Theater (Photo: Kevin Keating) |
Two things struck me overall from Tori's set last night. First was the actual performance. For a pianist accompanied by a bassist and drummer, I wasn't going into the show with expectations that I was going to see a KISS show, but I impressed with the subdued energy that the three emitted from the stage. Tori stayed front and center the entire night only standing up to leave the stage before returning for the encore. She had four keyboards surrounding her... A grand piano with a small digital keyboard sitting on top, and another pair of keyboards behind her. At times, she'd have one hand on the grand piano while straddling her seat so she could have her right hand on one of the two keyboards behind her. Jon on bass remained on his small perch but I absolutely loved his bass lines throughout the night. He would also trigger samples or pre-recorded Tori vocals with a foot pedal system to accompany Tori's live vocals; and then there was Ash on drums/percussion in the back right of the stage with his interpretations of Tori's repertoire. The trio simply sounded great and worked incredibly well with each other, tastefully augmenting each arrangement while creating space and depth in the songs that brought new life -- especially into Tori's older tracks.
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| Jon Evans, Tori Amos, and Ash Soan @ the Paramount Theater (Photo: Kevin Keating) |
The second highlight was really the lighting. And my photos don't do it justice, but the stage lighting was tasteful and compelling without being over-the-top. The lighting enhanced the mood of each of the songs and at the same time, welcomed us in the audience into the meaning of Tori's lyrics and the sounds that the trio were producing. It was magical.
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| Tori Amos @ the Paramount Theater (Photo: Kevin Keating) |
Overall, it was a great night and I'd highly recommend catching Tori on her remaining dates of the tour if you're reading this from outside the SF Bay Area. If you're like me, I'll certainly be catching her the next time she's back in the Bay. Thanks for reading and be sure to follow us on social here: Instagram | Facebook | Twitter.
