THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, August 20, 1996 TAG: 9608200401
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Music review
SOURCE: BY SUE VANHECKE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 39 lines
Tori Amos was full of surprises Monday night. Known for stunning live performances featuring just the songstress writhing at her Bosendorfer grand piano, this night she brought along a changing stage set complete with video, a slew of vocal and keyboard effects, a harpsichord and even a guitar player.
Amos is well-loved in Hampton Roads; she received a full-house ovation for striding onstage and launching into the virtually a capella ``Beauty Queen'' and full-throated ``Horses,'' the opening salvo from her third and latest LP, ``Boys For Pele.''
Amos has always been an impressionistic writer, but with each album she has withdrawn behind increasingly obtuse lyrics. Lines with some resonance, at least from a female perspective, like those of ``Silent All These Years'' from her 1992 debut ``Little Earthquakes,'' have devolved into the hyper-esoteric imagery of much of ``Pele.''
No matter. It's Amos' unusual voice that's thrilling, betraying more emotion in a single wail than a thousand of her nonsensical non-sequiturs.
Amos knows the power of that voice, and used it to full effect Monday, over- and under-enunciating words with dramatic flair, stretching one vowel sound into another, dropping low to a mutter then soaring to a wounded yowl. Against her lavish keyboard and atmospheric guitar arrangements, it was breathtaking.
Singer/songwriter Josh Clayton-Felt opened the evening. Just a young man and his six-strings - one electric, one acoustic - the former School Of Fish frontman showcased diverse ballads, blues, funk and pop from his current solo LP, including single ``Soon Enough.'' ILLUSTRATION: MIKE HEFFNER/The Virginian-Pilot
Even during a soundcheck before her Chrysler Hall concert Monday,
Tori Amos used her unusual voice to create dramatic atmosphere.
KEYWORDS: CONCERT REVIEW by CNB