Lafayette, Louisiana

1 Beauty Queen 2 Horses 3 Leather 4 Lovesong 5 Little Amsterdam 6 Cornflake Girl 7 Honey 8 Little Earthquakes 9 Christian Soldiers/Icicle 10 This Old Man/Putting the Damage On 11 Precious Things 12 Caught A Lite Sneeze 13 Talula 14 Me And A Gun 15 Twinkle 16 Somewhere Over The Rainbow 17 Mr. Zebra 18 Hey, Jupiter Entire concert available in mp3.

Haunting, comforting, eerie, and soothing with a touch of humor. The first words I thought of after the concert. I have not experienced many concert that have as strong of an impact on the audience as a Tori Concert.

The Opening Act was by a Josh Clayton Felt. He is a soloist with a funky guitar sound. As he tuned his way through the songs, he only got better and the crowd loved him and so did I.

As curtains rose and stars lit in the backdrop, Tori came out with sandals, black tank-top and worn blue-jeans. Pausing with a short wave to the audience, she captivated them with an a capella of Beauty Queen and led the audience into Horses on her Bösendorfer. Without hesitation, she brought the people to a place where everyone knew her, she swept the crowd with Leather. Just when you think you know where she may go, she sings a song I have never heard, Walking With You.

Lovesong was literally a ride in itself with her harpsichord. A second layer of curtains rose for the song and a video of a computer rendered roller coaster ride began on a triangular shaped screen. During the entire performance, visions danced on this screen to add more entertainment to the evening. I found out later that this was a rendition from the Cure.

When Little Amsterdam crept into the air, the eerie sound of a guitar soloist accompanied. The added sounds to this song slowly crept as other industrial props began to creep out of the darkness. I told myself that she could not surprise me this evening, then she did something I did not expected, she danced.

A driving drum beat provided by the guitar soloist set the mood for Tori's dance on the stage. With this, she literally jumped into Cornflake Girl and then relaxed the audience with Honey. Then, you finally got it down. You knew you were about to go on another ride. Yes. Little Earthquakes just rose out of the ground.

Then I felt I was in church again. Onward Christian Soldiers was being played and then Tori abandoned it and left it for Icicles. With this innocence pouring out of her, she let it ride with This Old Man's childrens' song and let it trail into Putting the Damage On. This song is one of my favorite songs of Tori and I was very happy to hear her play it.

Tori just seemed like an inexhaustible being. She kept going with Precious Things, Caught A Lite Sneeze with a driving rhythm, and Talula. Every once and a while during the concert, she would grab a sip of water. I thought she need a barrel.

And there was another a capella Me and A Gun. I felt violated when she sang. I do not know why. I am not a woman, or girl, and I know I can never know what they feel when violation happens. Rape. The song had a steady sound until she cracked out the words FLAT ON YOUR STOMACH and I thought. Oh, my God. I felt like I heard this song for the first time, but truth is that I have heard it about seven times or more. Enough said.

Picking up her self, she sang Twinkle which I thought was an excellent transition and apparently this was to be the last. Oh, but the crowd would not and did not want the night to end. Encore. Encore. I told my friend Jared, "She has two or three more to go. I know this."

She swept the audience with her rendition of Somewhere Over the Rainbow and left. I knew she would be back. Encore. Encore. Yes. She came back. With crews replacing her harpsichord behind her with an organ, she played Mr. Zebra and spun around to her organ and played Hey, Jupiter.

There was a fellow that sat to the right of me and he had some binoculars. I borrowed them during the concert and the expressions on Tori's face was intense. She poured all of her energy into each song. I knew that she was giving each song a part of her soul to make it come to life. It was spectacular to see her up close.

During the intermission between the opening act and Tori's concert, a fellow behind me wanted to look at my program. Reluctant, I said, "Sure." He apparently had connections with the people who worked with Tori and had backstage passes. He showed me a picture his daughter with Tori. I was very jealous. With a slight hesitation, I asked if he could get Tori to sign my program and he said, "Sure." So, after the concert, I gave him my program and waited in the front with Jared. After most of the people left, he came out and I had a Tori autograph. This was great because she has not autographed for the public during the tour unless you had connections on the inside. I lucked out. I thanked him and I looked at the signature. I know Tori's signature and this was the real thing. I was very happy.

Just as Jared and I were about to leave, we saw the tour bus and a crowd of people. Jared and I jumped to try to catch a glimpse of Tori. I was not at the front, but at least the crowd was not large. I did catch a glimpse of her. Lucky people who were at the front were able to talk to her and get hugs and pictures. I only got a glimpse and a signature on my program. I would of preferred a hug from her or to touch her hand which I did attempt to do without success. Regardless, I thought this was a pretty good concert, but for some reason I feel that my first one was the best. I do not know why, but I guess it was because she was fresh. This concert was towards the end of her tour, so she was a little drained. Oh, well. Still, it was a fantastic concert that I will always remember.

~Jase. Oh, I was wearing my long-sleeve Under the Pink tour shirt that I ordered from RDT (Really Deep Thoughts Fanzine) when I went to this one.

"Drops of Ivory",since July 1997