Reviewed on Tuesday November 11
Already there are several breathless accounts of Ms. Tori Amos’ first Australian performance in five years. One reviewer went so far as to anoint Amos the “indisputable queen of folk”, which, given she is several leagues from folk music (both classical and contemporary), seems like an odd endowment. Perhaps we were in different opera houses.
Nonetheless, one thing is very clear; this lady sure can sing, and all in attendance at the Concert Hall could attest that at 51, her range has not greatly diminished. With the Sydney Symphony Orchestra’s frankly awe-inspiring support, it was an evening of stirring, soaring ballads and reflections that swung from delicate to fierce, often within the same breath. Amos put her technical prowess on full display, playing both piano and keyboard simultaneously, straddling her bench like a turquoise-gowned cowgirl wrangling reluctant steeds at the world’s strangest rodeo.
Yet there was a great disconnect with the sincerity of her performance. Amos has a long-crafted bag of stage tricks at the ready, and while it is unrealistic (and greedy) to demand sincerity of an artist compelled to play the same brace of songs year by year, I nevertheless suspect this was just another gig for Amos. Far from terrible, not especially memorable – a middle-of-the-road venture. Her propensity to drop into wavering whispers or bite the syllables from the end of certain words made the artifice of performance all too evident; rather than break the fourth wall and connect with her audience, it became another barrier, another mask between listener and artist. Her set sounded gorgeous without ever sounding genuine.
The early highlight of the evening was an achingly beautiful ‘Crucify’, which, followed by ‘Winter’, demonstrated the full potential of the orchestra, adding an almost cinematic depth to the songs. They were stunning arrangements, and made you ponder how your own favourite artists would fare with a full orchestra behind them. The evening closed with an encore of ‘Edge Of The Moon’ and ‘Precious Things’, wonderful bookends to a night of expansive, entertaining music that never quite managed to convince.
