tori amos concert at the orpheum, vancouver, b.c. dec 3rd
Three days into December, two days after snowfall, Santa sauntered on stage, with a wig that could have been stolen from the set of the now defunct Farscape costume department. It looks like Tori Amos stole a few of Chiana's moves two, with the spaghetti strapped camisole and smooth curves and dancing that seems only safe when no one's watching, the kind you would expect from Chiana, Santa presented herself as raw flirtation.

She opened her set with the jazzy/broody "Body and Soul" *which I could not help thinking of Night Elves dancing* (look up Tori Amos and World of Warcraft on Youtube). I know Santa has been doing an eloquent and fiery version of Cruel in her other sets but instead she covered 1998s "She's Your Cocaine" from From the Choirgirl Hotel, making it clear to audience and bandmates that the 'she' in the song was her. Santa was awkwardly playful, leaving stage and coming back with Martini? or was that a Sangria? I couldn't tell from where I sat. She filled up the glasses for her bandmates but they didn't really ever have a chance to drink it ;)

Next came Bug in a Martini. And I couldn't help think, "you chose this over Cruel"? Bug in a Martini was a bside to the live disc "Welcome to Sunny California"; and again, disappointed, if you're going to choose songs from an album you barely promoted, choose the good ones; Ruby through the Looking Glass, Apollo's Frock or Seaside. Not BUG IN A MARTINI -- even if you try to jazz it up. It's interesting to see how Tori tries to cover herself as someone else but the experience kind of threw me off slightly and I can't even rememeber how the song goes, it was that unimpressive, as it always was.

Renewed hope sprang forward with You Can Bring Your Dog, possibly my favourite of her new songs (except for Dragon, of course)! ROCKING LIKE COCAINE but with gentle parts, with white hair bobbing. Secret Spell, also new, nothing special caught my eye about this one. BUT THEN CAME RASPBERRY SWIRL!!!! oHHHH yEss. Mostly focused on the keyboards, her face was kept hidden behind her light blonde locks.

the Professional Widow interlude was not as impressive, and Santa left the stage for a transformation into the, also badly wigged, Tori Amos.

Launching back, she was all smiles and friendly. She faced the audience 90% of the time, did her elvish smiles at the sardonic ends in her lyrics "Got enough guilt to start, my own religion", and wore her long red wig (with bangs!) and a shiny, golden outfit that Austin Powers would have wished he had concocted for himself.

She actually played a lot of her singles:

Big Wheel,
Crucify,
Cornflake Girl,
Bliss,
Precious Things

(and, as previously mentioned, Raspberry Swirl)

However, the most impressive song of the night was probably her rendition of Doughnut Song, with the lights like stars in the background, with the backing band.

Siren was also exciting, although slower than usual (not as slow as she did it solo)

for T and Bo

she performed Winter, slow, i was a lil wet in the eye with the recognizable tinkles thinking, "god, she's playing winter! right in front of me!"

and then, I thought, "please don't play something bad in this part!"

and she didn't : Ruby Through the Looking Glass. SO PRETTY.

Beekeeper and Pancake were also played. Although I really like both, I'm glad Beekeper didn't last twenty mins like it did during the Summer of Sin and Pancake held new meaning when she said, "I ordered you a Pancake." I felt she was trying to convey how Westerners are so concerned with trivialities --- and that the narrator of the song has all these thoughts in her head and she's so disconnected from the person she's sitting with and wants to say everything but can't because she knows they're not on the same drift at all.