Tori Amos @ The Louisville Palace - Louisville, KY
Tori Amos | Photos courtesy of: Emily May
Beloved singer/songwriter/pianist/composer Tori Amos brought her In Times Of Dragons US Tour to The Louisville Palace on August 10th to a (what appeared to be) nearly sold-out crowd, touring in support of her recently released 18th studio album In Times Of Dragons. Seeing a long line of fans excitedly waiting outside for the doors to open this evening let me know I was in for a fun night! As the lights dimmed, alerting the crowd that Tori’s set was about to start, the crowd, restless for her to come out, celebrated in a roar of cheers and applause. Tori came out onto the stage, hands clasped and bowing to her fans, before sitting down on her piano bench. She sat with her piano in front of her and an electric keyboard behind her, switching between the two at several points throughout the evening. Early in the set, she let it be known that it was her longtime touring bassist Jon Evan’s birthday, which earned him cheers and applause from the crowd! She also has three backup singers with her on this tour, creating some beautiful harmonies!
Although many artists tour with the same set list every night, Tori plays a different one each night, leaving the fans to anticipate what she might play! No matter what the set list is, though, you can be guaranteed an incredible live experience. She plays the piano and sings like the musical prodigy that she is, with her set this evening being nothing short of mesmerising. Starting out the set with “Fire To Your Plain”, she and her band performed several songs this evening from the new album, including “Shush”, “Stronger Together”, and “In Times of Dragons”. Much to the crowd’s delight, she also performed some of her cherished classics, including “Winter” (I got a little teary-eyed hearing this live, as it’s always been one of my favorites), “Silent All These Years”, and “Precious Things”, with “Precious Things” signalling the end of the pre-encore set.
After briefly leaving the stage, Tori and her band came back out for their encore to a roar of applause! Starting the set off with “Cornflake Girl”, there was a brief pause in music for a birthday cake to be brought out for Jon Evans, with Tori leading the crowd in singing “Happy Birthday To You”. They then performed a cover of Solomon Linda’s original Evening Bird’s cover of “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” (the first time she’s played it live since 2014) and brought the evening to a close with “Pretty Good Year”. The evening was magical and full of a beautiful energy from the crowd, who clearly adore Tori and were having the best time hearing her perform. As a side note, whoever did Tori’s lighting deserves an award! It was stunning through her entire set, bathing her and her band in a kaleidoscope of colors. Baltimore indie-rock artist Bartees Strange opened the show this evening. Despite some early technical difficulties, he and the crowd took it all in stride, and he performed a great set that got the crowd warmed up for the evening.
Bartees Strange
