TORONTO -- Tori Amos showed two of her five personalities, but both seemed to come with a playful chip on their shoulders.
Amos, her personas and her band hit Toronto's Sony Centre for the Performing Arts last night in support of her new album American Doll Posse 2007.
The album itself, released last May, is a 23-track effort featuring Amos and four other personas she portrays: Pip, Isabel, Clyde and Santa. And it was the twentysomething Pip with her suffocating leather pants, jet black hair and green top that opened the two-hour show with Cruel.
The 44-year-old artist showed a far more cutting, biting and edgier rock side for the opening half-hour, with Bliss from 1999's To Venus and Back quickly followed up with the terse and sassy Fat Slut.
Although spending some time laying on the floor and treating her piano stool as if it was some dancer's pole, the opening set definitely gave the show a boost.
Following the swinging blues rock of Teenage Hustling, Amos and her three-piece band gave the first of a handful of highlights with The Waitress as Pip closed the tune with giving the audience the middle-finger salute.
The biggest problem with the evening was the lull between costume changes, with Amos returning finally after what seemed like a lengthy amount of time. But she atoned for this with the lighter, gospel-leaning Big Wheel that evoked claps and a give-and-take with the audience.
If you were to look at any contemporary female singer-songwriter who makes their mark sitting at a piano, nearly all would say Amos has been a vital influence. This was shown on songs like Space Dog and especially on the crowd pleasing Cornflake Girl with its groovy vibe and jazz-tinged flourishes.
Although saying very little except to introduce the band and say how great it was to perform in Canada, Amos probably gave her best between song banter during one improvised song. After a decent version of Glory of the 80's, she performed a song about perusing an Indigo bookstore in Toronto with her child.
Although the book seemed perfect to mother, the child said she wouldn't read it because Madonna wrote it, resulting in laughter all around.
The rest of the evening had some semblance of rock songs, but primarily devoted fans filling most of the venue were left with Amos' unique vocal style and wide range. This was quite evident during the tender, reflective Winter. But even here Amos was quick with the rebuttal. After a fan screamed, "I love you Tori!", she whispered "Eat me!" before carrying on with the tune.
At times playing a piano and an organ or keyboard simultaneously with both arms outstretched, Amos and her group began rounding the main portion off with Horses. It was also apparent that while her seasoned supporting cast are well versed in her catalog, the chemistry between them was basically nonexistent. Regardless though, Amos finished the pre-encore set with the ominous Code Red as the curtains behind her basked in red light. It seemed to be the perfect bookend to Tori, er, Pip's performance.
Sun Rating: 3.5 out of 5
