It’s not too much of a stretch to suggest that Tori Amos might inhabit a music genre populated by one artist. That doesn’t make her tunes indescribable though. There’s the mezzo-soprano vocal range backed by neo-classical piano, a bit of a jazzy groove and a light sprinkling of Kate Bush vibes. However, once Amos’ music has been experienced, any and all of her songs are instantly recognisable as coming from her canon, no matter whether they’ve been heard before or not.
This has built Tori Amos a significant international following and the auditorium of Birmingham’s Symphony Hall was all but sold out within a fortnight of this week’s performance in the Midlands being announced some several months ago. Not bad for a venue that seats some 2,200 people and an artist who is a relative stranger to the upper echelons of the pop charts these days.
Similarly, despite Amos putting on a show that avoided the hits, it was one that kept her audience more than happy. In fact, while her set erred towards the sombre and the reflective, and so wasn’t set up to have people dancing in the aisles, everyone was up on their feet for a standing ovation by the last notes of “Code Red” that finished the main set and “Big Wheel” that ended the encore.
That Tori Amos seems to have evolved into something of a heritage artist over her 18 album and 34-or-so year solo career was made clear in a set that only included two songs from her new album, In Times of Dragons, and only another two from the 2020s at all. In fact, all the other songs from the evening were pushing more than 20 years old. However, that she pretty much stuck to a deep dive into obscure album tracks, meant that this was most certainly an evening for the fans rather than casual listeners. Still, if she can sell out such a venue so quickly, it’s clearly a strategy that works and keeps her audience happy.
In the main, Amos’ Birmingham set stuck to the more ethereal end of her material, opening with the mellow shuffle of “Fire to your Plain” and the sombre new single, “Shush”. “Mother Revolution” was introduced by a jazzy bass solo from Jon Evans before getting distinctly woozy and spaced out, while “Ocean to Ocean” was gentle and trippy despite having plenty to say about the ultra-wealthy who seem to be purely interested in sucking the joy out of our planet.
Things, however, did liven up somewhat for the encore, with “God” being brought to life with a heavy funk groove laid down by Evans and drummer Earl Harvin and Tori growling “Do you need a woman to look after you?”. Final tune, “Big Wheel” was similarly up-beat and even threatened to get some dancing going in the stalls. However, dancing or not, it was clear that Tori Amos’ Birmingham fans had a fine evening and would have been open to hearing plenty more of her songs before heading out into the Midlands night after the show.
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