Here's my review of the San Francisco concert of
        September 1.
                                                -Greg



	Greg is writing another letter filled with one of his long, rambling
Tori Amos concert reviews.  On Thursday night Tori did a second show at the 
Orpheum Theater in downtown San Francisco.  This time my seat was in the
fourth row and I had a great view.

	By now I must sound like a broken record, but again Bill Miller was
excellent.  I was quite suprised to find some of his songs running through
my head today!  (As was "Precious Things" :)  I still laugh at his jokes and
I really like all the songs in his all-too-short set. I hope this tour give
him enough exposure that he can go out on the road on his own after his next
album.

	Readers may recall that I thought Tori did a truly outstanding show
the previous (Wednesday) evening.  As I took my seat I was filled with 
anticipation about the evening's show.  A friend recently pointed out that
the anticipation is fun because there are so many great choices of songs 
that she can play.  Even if she doesn't play a particular favorite, there
is still a great song in its place.  Well, here is the set list:

	Sugar  -- Tori seems to be doing this one lately and that is okay
		by me.  I really like this song and thought she played it
		well.  The lines "sugar, he brings me sugar" were sang at
		just the *right* tempo.  
	Crucify  -- Ah, the classic.  Tori hadn't performed this song on
		the previous two nights and by now I had kind of missed it.
	Space Dog  -- Tori introduced this song with the "Space Dog" story.
		When she started telling the story I got so excited because
		when Lila (hi!) had requested this song when we met Tori
		at the radio station (see Tuesday night's RDT Digest).
		It was so cool that Tori remembered to play it!  :) 
		As has been reported in this digest, Tori opened the song
		with an added verse.  I don't have the exact words of that
		verse, but they are in reference to a romance novel.  Part
		of the "Space Dog" story tells how Tori was trying to read
		a romance novel when the "space dog" interrupted her.  So
		she played this soft verse and then it was interrupted by
		the "Space Dog" music.  I wish she'd done that on the album,
		but it wouldn't make much sense without hearing the story.
	Precious Things  -- A very good version, it stuck in my head all
		day today!  :)
	church hymn -> Icicle  -- Tori skipped the usual "Icicle" masturbation
		story and didn't say a word.  Instead she played a very
		pretty church hymn.  I recognized the tune but don't know
		the name.  She first played it regularly, as one would hear
		at church.  Then she just went off and did her own wild take
		on the song.  This led right into "Icicle".  And the "Icicle"
		story wasn't needed - the way she played the church hymn said
		exactly the same thing. 
	God  --  The lights in this song can be really annoying depending
		on where you sit.  The previous night I had sat in the 27th
		row and didn't think they were so bad.  From the 4th row,
		however... I'm sure they can do an exciting light show without 
		blinding half the audience every 2 seconds.
	China  --  Wow, Tori played China again!  Hmm, I wondered what this
		could mean.  I carefully watched her face during this song and
		she played it with a lot of emotion.  Her facial expressions
		exactly matched the words.  The sadness and frustration were
		all there.  It was a very beautiful and moving performance.
	The Waitress  -- Still not one of my favorites but Tori seems to
		like it, so okay by me!
	Bells For Her  -- Still one of my favorites.
	Me And A Gun  -- Tori didn't slur the words, but I think she sang it
		with her eyes crossed.  Perhaps that's just her way of
		not focusing on any one point in the theater and being
		distracted by visual things.  This song always hits me hard
		and is painful to listen to but I would not have her omit it
		at all.
	Baker Baker  -- sad and beautiful. 

Tori briefly left the stage and then (suprise) came back to do an encore:

	Cornflake Girl  -- I LOVE to watch Tori play this song.  She just
		rips it up on the piano and you know she's having a lot
		of fun.  More annoying lights, though.
	Silent All These Years  --  I think this song should be in the main
		set.  Its just my personal preference that encore songs 
		should be something a little different.

Tori left the stage and the crowd was on its feet.  She came back and played:

	Past The Mission  -- At first the verse sections of this song used to
		annoy me, but now I really like the way they contrast with
		the chorus sections.  
	A Case Of You  -- beautiful.  I can't say any more, it was truly a
		beautiful song and performance.

She left again and the crowd was making a lot of noise.  This brought her
back to do:

	American Pie/Smells Like Teen Spirit 


And then she was gone.  Overall I thought it was a very good concert, but
not nearly as outstanding as the previous night.  She seemed a little tired
and her voice a little strained.  When she sang a lot of long notes they'd
just sort of end in a scratchy whisper.  I think she had put so much into
the previous concert that she was still tired.  Ah, but any Tori concert
is a Good Thing(tm).

	After the show we waited outside for Tori to appear.  A large crowd
gathered and her "people" roped us off with that yellow police tape.  After
about an hour Tori came out and slowly made her way to the limo.  She 
greeted her fans and gave out hugs.  As she passed us, she stopped and Lila
thanked her for playing her request ("Space Dog").  Tori remembered Lila from
the radio station and gave her a hug.  That was SOOO cool.  Lila, you are
so lucky!!!  :)  Then Tori climbed in the limo and drove off.

	tomorrow: no show!!!  Oh no, I'll go into withdrawal!  :)
	next week: Greg hits the road to attend three more shows and
		   He's got great seats all within the first three
		   rows.  Greg is also quite familiar with the pavement
		   in front of the ticket outlet.  :)