GETTING PERSONAL TORI AMOS UNBURDENS HERSELF FOR WILTERN THEATRE CROWD.Byline: Sandra Barrera Staff Writer Watching Tori Amos perform can be a little unsettling un·set·tle v. un·set·tled, un·set·tling, un·set·tles v.tr. 1. To displace from a settled condition; disrupt. 2. To make uneasy; disturb. v.intr. in all its beauty ... except when a certain subject comes up. ``I'm a mom,'' announced Amos - a feat she called ``amazing'' - during the first of three sold-out shows at the Wiltern Theatre Thursday. She even joked about her performance in this new role, admitting to be ``good with food, bad with diapers.'' Talk of motherhood was the only lighthearted moment in what was otherwise a moody but spectacular performance. Amos' classically driven piano work and vocal ability, broad in its range and in its expression, are stunning no matter how many times you've seen her in concert. Her every exhalation exhalation /ex·ha·la·tion/ (eks?hah-la´shun) 1. the giving off of watery or other vapor. 2. a vapor or other substance exhaled or given off. 3. the act of breathing out. becomes part of the songs' lyrics, words that are sometimes so deeply personal in what they reveal that Amos might as well be sitting on stage in the nude. But its just this kind of brutal honesty that fans appreciate most about the 38-year-old artist. In the same vein, the equally enjoyable performance by opener Rufus Wainwright was filled with confessional songs that revealed his own dark moments in a tongue-in-cheek way. He sang about obsession (``Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk'') and disillusionment Disillusionment Adams, Nick loses innocence through WWI experience. [Am. Lit.: “The Killers”] Angry Young Men disillusioned postwar writers of Britain, such as Osborne and Amis. [Br. Lit. (``California''). But his songs were not nearly as disturbing as Amos' haunted compositions. Coupled with her performance artistry, the show had the audience horrified hor·ri·fy tr.v. hor·ri·fied, hor·ri·fy·ing, hor·ri·fies 1. To cause to feel horror. See Synonyms at dismay. 2. To cause unpleasant surprise to; shock. even before she appeared on stage. Amos was nowhere to be seen during the opening number `` '97 Bonnie & Clyde,'' except in a portrait of the motherly moth·er·ly adj. 1. Of, like, or appropriate to a mother: motherly love. 2. Showing the affection of a mother. adv. In a manner befitting a mother. personality she assumed during her version of the Eminem-penned song featured on her latest album, ``Strange Little Girls.'' Behind the portrait, a black sheet draped drape v. draped, drap·ing, drapes v.tr. 1. To cover, dress, or hang with or as if with cloth in loose folds: draped the coffin with a flag; a robe that draped her figure. from the beams and with several slashes in it to collectively form a spider's web was blasted with flashes of red and blue light synchronized with the menacing music. Meanwhile, Amos was backstage, narrating the story about a murderer who conspires with his baby daughter to dispose of To determine the fate of; to exercise the power of control over; to fix the condition, application, employment, etc. of; to direct or assign for a use. See also: Dispose his wife's body, locked in the trunk of the car, in a lake. On record, ``Bonnie & Clyde'' stands out as Amos' most eerie interpretation of men's songs from a woman's point of view. But in concert it was one of many, including Amos' teary confessional ``I Don't Like Mondays'' - originated by the Boomtown boom·town n. A town experiencing an economic or a population boom. Rats - as told from the perspective of a Texas Ranger, who is recalling the day she was called to the scene of a high-school shooting. There was a hint of drawl drawl v. drawled, drawl·ing, drawls v.intr. To speak with lengthened or drawn-out vowels. v.tr. in Amos' voice as she whispered and stretched out words during the song. But the range of emotion in Thursday night's performance was probably most intense during her own creation of a shivering, whispering account of rape, ``Me and a Gun.'' The Wiltern fell silent as Amos, clutching the microphone, revealed what goes through one's mind when being raped at gunpoint. As she relived one of the darkest moments in her life, it seemed it was as disturbing for us in the audience as it was for her. TORI AMOS Where: Wiltern Theatre, 3790 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles. When: 8 tonight. Tickets: Sold out. Our rating: Four stars CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Tori Amos runs through a sound check Thursday afternoon before her set of concerts at the Wiltern Theatre. Gus Ruelas/Staff Photographer |
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