Call it art rock. Call it baroque pop.
Classify Tori Amos’ music however feels right.
Nearly 30 years into a career (counting the Y Kant Tori Read days), Amos’ oddball genius and tremendous piano playing is sturdy as ever on her 14th studio album, the recently released “Unrepentant Geraldines” and the reason for the solo tour that brought her to Atlanta for the first time since 2011.
At a nearly sold out Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre on Tuesday, Amos commanded the stage alone, boxed in by a keyboard and her beloved Bösendorfer grand piano.
As is her trademark, she straddled the bench between the two instruments, often with one hand outstretched on each, as she whipped through the opening “Parasol” and “Way Down.”
For her Atlanta return, Amos chose the sexy schoolteacher look, with dark glasses framing her fiery mane and a pink wraparound flowing onto the piano bench.
Her voice never wavered throughout the set, which included a smattering of songs from throughout her career – the languidly beautiful “Baker Baker” from 1994’s “Under the Pink”; the slow-burn "Pandora’s Aquarium” from 1998’s “From the Choirgirl Hotel”; a couple of new songs, including “Invisible Boy”; and even the infrequently played “Floating City” from the Y Kant Tori Read era.
Given the intimate environment, quiet was a necessity. Fans who popped up for a drink or bathroom run mid-show had to wait for Amos to finish a song before returning to their seats – a reasonable request and one that most of Amos’ acolytes fulfilled.
Her fans are so loyal that they actually – get this – listened to her sing. Those who opted otherwise were loudly shushed and, in one observed instance, reported to security.
But even though it was a quiet show, Amos offered plenty of vocal eruptions, with her delivery often swinging from porcelain and child-like to husky and dramatic, as it did on “Your Cloud” and “Floating City.”
Elegant lighting accented Amos on stage, with a series of colored spotlights and lighting patterns reflected on cement-like slabs hanging behind her. And although she wasn’t super-chatty, Amos had a few well-timed moments, like the middle finger she brandished at the lyric, “and girls that eat pizza and never gain weight” in “Father Lucifer” and an amusingly dropped F-bomb when she lost her place in the lyrics of “Rocket Man.”
Her cover of the Elton John classic came during her nightly Lizard Lounge segment. While it was just unique enough – and spotlighted her piano prowess – the bigger highlight was her gorgeous rendition of the Irene Cara “Fame” ballad, “Out Here on My Own.”
“This is a song I used to sing in the piano bar because it was my favorite song,” Amos said by way of introduction.
Her thoughtful reworking of the song and deep emoting of the lyrics left little doubt that it was – and still is – a meaningful memory for her.
Amos turns 51 on Friday, and she’s clearly matured as a performer. But fortunately, she hasn’t lost the edge that has made her one of the most unique and, really, unclassifiable, performers in modern pop.
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This blog post was originally published on the Atlanta Music Scene with Melissa Ruggieri.
