Show #122: Little Earthquakes in Boulder

Back in 1992, I met the first person other than myself who liked Marillion. His name was Mike and I saw him walking down State Street with a Holidays in Eden t-shirt so I flagged him down. Our friendship blossomed over our mutual love of progressive rock. But he was also a huge, huge fan of Tori Amos. While I'd heard of her, I was unfamiliar with her music at the time. And, despite pledging to check out some of her tunes, I am, 15 years later, still really unfamiliar with her. But she has a new album out called American Doll Posse and perhaps it's about time I made good on my pledge.


(Image from toriphoria.)

Amos was apparently something of a child prodigy when it came to music. She exhibited her talents early and attended the Peabody Conservatory of Music starting at age 5. Six years later she was given the boot for her dislike of sheet music. She continued being a musician and eventually began playing paino bars on the East Coast. Wanting to get to the next level, she moved to Los Angeles where she formed the band Y Kant Tori Read in 1985. The group's one album did not go over well, to say the least, and they disbanded.

But Amos regrouped and released the solo effort Little Earthquakes in 1991. Instead of arming herself with a guitar and singing her heart out, she did so from behind a piano and I think there was a bit of novelty surrounding her at the time because of this but her passion was undeniable. For instance, much was made of "Me and a Gun" in which Amos recounted being raped back in 1985. Cathartic or not, her music was genuine and not some image-laden attempt at the hit parade.

I've always viewed Tori Amos' music as being too eccentric, for lack of a better term, to make her a pop superstar. Yet even I can recognize something more in her work than sheer novelty. I've enjoyed the snippets of American Doll Posse that I've heard but I guess I'm going to find out if I can get into her music by starting with something from her early career.


(Image from toriphoria.)

Although I had intended to post Amos' performance from here in Madison in September 1996, the recording is for shite so I chose another one. Commonly mislabeled as being from a show in Holland on 13 March 1992, this recording is, according to numerous fan sources, actually from 29 September, 1992. The concert took place at the Boulder Theatre in Boulder, Colorado. It's a very good quality soundboard

Setlist:
Crucify
Silent All These Years
Precious Things
Happy Phantom
Leather
Upside Down
Little Earthquakes
Whole Lotta Love
Thank You
Me And A Gun
Winter
Smells Like Teen Spirit

Download show

Tori Amos

Here she is doing a cover of "Angie" by The Rolling Stones. I'm not sure of the venue or the precise date but it is from 1992.