söndag 15 Maj 2011, 4:02
Tori Amos - Welcome to Sunny Florida & Scarlet's Hidden Treasures
http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/174s/62203049.png
This is the last "album"of Tori Amos I bought, in January of this year (2011). It consists of a DVD with a live concert and a bonus disc with b-sides. At first I had my doubts: I usually don't buy music DVD's, because I think in the end I would only watch them one or two times. Luckily I found a way to listen to the DVD tracks more often. And I am really glad I bought it! It is very beautiful. She is even better live than on her studio albums, in my opinion.
Welcome to Sunny Florida
The live concert on the DVD was recorded on the 4th of September during the last concert of her Scarlet's Walk tour / Lottapianos tour in Florida. The original concert took over 2,5 hours (including encore), which is pretty long for a live show. However, a few songs were cut off for the DVD. For most of the 18 songs she is playing on the Bösendorfer, but she also uses the Wurlitzer and Rhodes. Sometimes even both Bösendorfer and Rhodes at the same time, sitting in the middle of them, which is very cool! She has brought Jon Evans on Bass and Matt Chamberlain on drums, who is doing a wonderful job I think. Both of them of course, but the drums are very important in this live show and they make the songs very compelling. She is wearing some kind of weird blue dotted dress with yellow and red veils attached to both of her shoulders. And high heels of course. She is performing a lot of her well-known songs, starting with A Sorta Fairytale right after she has done the Wampum Prayer. I really love this version of the song and the way she performs it here, with the drums, it is so beautiful! The second song she plays is Sugar, a b-side from the Little Earthquakes era. I am not so fond of this live version of Crucify, although it is one of my favorite songs. I think the album version is much stronger. She continues with Cornflake Girl, Bells for Her and Concertina, all gorgeous. Then she does Take to the Sky, which is an outtake of Little Earthquakes. I did not hear it before, but it is a very beautiful and strong song. She uses a few lines of Muhammad my Friend as a bridge, which is not mentioned in the track listing. Before she continues with Leather she does a kind of personal improvisation in which it becomes very clear how she loves touring and how she is going to miss it after this last show. This is really touching and funny at the same time. Cloud on My Tongue and Cooling are also two of my favorites, both beautifully performed. The following three songs are the lesser part of the concert I think. Professional Widow is compelling, but a little bit too long. She ends with a very strong version of Precious Things before she leaves the stage. Of course she comes back to play another 3 songs for the encore. It is a very beautiful live show and it makes me hoping that she will visit the Netherlands a lot of times more in the future. Besides the live concert the DVD also features an interview with Tori Amos and with her mother Mary. It is very nice to hear them talk about their lives and ideas. Tori is very crazy, as always (and I mean that in a good way of course!). It becomes very clear how important the music is for her and how she has dedicated her life to it. The title "Welcome to Sunny Florida" is meant a bit sarcastic, because one of the heaviest rain storms was going over Florida on the day of the concert.
Scarlet's Hidden Treasures
This little bonus CD contains 6 B-sides to Scarlet's Walk. The songs are beautiful and it is nice to have. However, none of the songs are really special to me. Maybe I did not listen to it enough. The best song is Seaside in my opinion.
This is my last Tori Amos album review, until her new album will be released, in September (I can't wait!).
Best tracks Welcome to Sunny Florida: A Sorta Fairytale, Sugar, Crucify, Cornflake Girl, Bells for Her, Concertina, Take to the Sky, Leather, Cloud on My Tongue, Cooling, Professional Widow, Precious Things (yes I realize this is almost the complete live show)
Best tracks Scarlet's Hidden Treasures: Seaside
Tags: singer-songwriter, alternative, piano