TORONTO -- "Someone asked me why I don't play the northern territories more?" singer-pianist Tori Amos said during her sold-out show last night at Massey Hall.

"Because I freeze my a-- off!"

That's as light as Amos got for the duration of her hour-and-40-minute solo performance -- a sombre, highly theatrical event that remained firmly in the depths of despair so beautifully conveyed in her music.

When she performed her a cappella number, Me And A Gun, an autobiographical song from 1991 that depicts her rape, it was almost too much to bear.

Still, touring unaccompanied for the first time since 1994, the artist clearly thrilled her fans, who appeared to hang on every breath of her expressive voice and admittedly impressive piano playing.

As she straddled a bench between a piano and keyboards -- backed by a striking set that made the most of dramatic lighting and limited space -- Amos offered only a handful of tunes from her month-old new release, Strange Little Girls, which features her covering a dozen songs written by men in the guise of 13 different female personas.

She opened the night with her chilling recorded version of Eminem's '97 Bonnie And Clyde , while a light shone on a picture of her blond-wigged song persona in front of a tattered curtain.

Later, she performed compelling live versions of Lloyd Cole and The Commotions' Rattlesnakes, and Depeche Mode's Enjoy The Silence. Elton John's Daniel was even offered up during her second encore although it's not on the new album and clearly should have been.

At times the unrelenting depressing nature of Amos' music was hard to sit through given the current state of the world.

Her own tribute to the U.S. was evident in a second set of vintage keyboards bearing the American flag as a design. It was one of the more subtle gestures of the night. Including Slayer's Raining Blood, also from Strange Little Girls, was not.

Otherwise, the audience -- who snapped up tickets for the concert in about one day -- got to hear a varied selections of tunes from Amos' decade-old career.

Highlights included Hey Jupiter, Twinkle and 1000 Oceans.

JAM! Rating: 3.5 out of 5