15 hours ago, Démodé said:

She played it tonight! Sounds heavenly with the Angels....

I have thoughts on this song and its placement on the album. St. Teresa of Avila was a trailblazer, going against established gender norms, a mystic and wrote passionately and erotically about Christian love, as is mystic tradition. There's that famous statue of Bellini depicting her where she's woman being touched by an angel, and it is rather erotic, a woman in rapture or a woman orgasming? Is there a difference? Anyway, it's easy to see why Tori would relate, but the song is at first glance narratively a bit divorced from the album, sandwiched in between Provincetown and Gasoline Girls. But they are also the two songs with overt queer characters. And then you have the lyrics: "If you could only forgive your shame/ mortified by your desire / Feeling guilty for your wanting / To tend your passion's fire" ... So I'm thinking this is either a loving message to queer people (you are kissed by God), or something the main character of the album learns from the queer characters. (She's able to see the bears from Provincetown again, the Gasoline girls kiss girls, ...), or a bit of both!

On 5/26/2026 at 5:06 PM, Haze said:

I have thoughts on this song and its placement on the album. St. Teresa of Avila was a trailblazer, going against established gender norms, a mystic and wrote passionately and erotically about Christian love, as is mystic tradition. There's that famous statue of Bellini depicting her where she's woman being touched by an angel, and it is rather erotic, a woman in rapture or a woman orgasming? Is there a difference? Anyway, it's easy to see why Tori would relate, but the song is at first glance narratively a bit divorced from the album, sandwiched in between Provincetown and Gasoline Girls. But they are also the two songs with overt queer characters. And then you have the lyrics: "If you could only forgive your shame/ mortified by your desire / Feeling guilty for your wanting / To tend your passion's fire" ... So I'm thinking this is either a loving message to queer people (you are kissed by God), or something the main character of the album learns from the queer characters. (She's able to see the bears from Provincetown again, the Gasoline girls kiss girls, ...), or a bit of both!

This is an extremely underrated comment, thank you for this interpretation. The way I learned about St. Teresa by Dan Brown's Angels and Demons almost 20 years ago (The infamous statue The Ecstasy of St Teresa is featured in the book)

So this melody came to mind today, I started humming

and hours later it's still glued to my head after an extremely mentally difficult day, truly one of the best melodies she's ever written

You only know when you know this
You only know when you know this
You only know when you know this
How you'll cope with your losses

Edited June 4Jun 4 by Démodé

Beulah Land …. How do you have an album with 18 tracks and even the outtakes are essential. A hymn.

Madonna's Betrayal causing me to stream Battle of Trees more in the past 24 hours than I have in years

16 minutes ago, HonourableVomit said:

The vocal arrangements with the angel witches at 4:40 ... stunning.

_{Though this song does not need them the whole way through.}

Catching up with some of the other live debuts she's done since resuming the tour and Angelshark sounds great once the angels come in I love that you can hear so clearly above them unlike some songs where she's completely overpowered. The oohing over the piano break is lovely.

Edited July 18Jul 18 by HonourableVomit

ITOD tour constantly proving that Putting The Damage On is one of the best written pieces of music ever

5 hours ago, HonourableVomit said:

ITOD tour constantly proving that Putting The Damage On is one of the best written pieces of music ever

but now we said it!

Tour debut!! She's having so much fun

8 hours ago, HonourableVomit said:

ITOD tour constantly proving that Putting The Damage On is one of the best written pieces of music ever

I got to witness it twice. She loves her faggiest soldier.

Not her lowkey going viral with that

Seeing her tomorrow night in LA. It's a bit basic of me, but manifesting A Sorta Fairytale for the setlist. Think we'll probably get it since it's a very SoCal coded song and its her only LA date this time and she usually does it at least at one of her LA shows for each album cycle. I got a fantastic setlist when I saw her in 2017, but didn't go on the the night she did ASF (no regrets though, I def got the best of the 3 Native Invader LA shows) and then I missed both the 2022/2023 OTO dates.

Would also love a live debut of 23 Peaks because that song just gives me full body chills, probably way less likely and tbh maybe it wouldn't even hit live without an orchestra or at least a strings section.

Also rooting for Black - Dove, Crucify, Spring Haze, and Caught a Lite Sneeze.

2 hours ago, That Bad Eartha said:

Seeing her tomorrow night in LA. It's a bit basic of me, but manifesting A Sorta Fairytale for the setlist. Think we'll probably get it since it's a very SoCal coded song and its her only LA date this time and she usually does it at least at one of her LA shows for each album cycle. I got a fantastic setlist when I saw her in 2017, but didn't go on the the night she did ASF (no regrets though, I def got the best of the 3 Native Invader LA shows) and then I missed both the 2022/2023 OTO dates.

Would also love a live debut of 23 Peaks because that song just gives me full body chills, probably way less likely and tbh maybe it wouldn't even hit live without an orchestra or at least a strings section.

Also rooting for Black - Dove, Crucify, Spring Haze, and Caught a Lite Sneeze.

She has said she can't recreate 23 Peaks; I am pretty sure the vocal was recorded in one take with a synth that they tried to re-do and couldn't match, and then Shenale just built the orchestral arrangement about what she had sung. This is super worth listening to

Edited August 25Aug 25 by HonourableVomit

LA show was incredible. Shush really is that girl, especially live.

Crucify into Silent All These Years back to back may have been the strongest 20 minute run at a concert I've ever seen. Caught me off guard with how emotional I got during those songs. Really got an incredible serving of Little Earthquakes material tonight. They just sounded absolutely titanic and the blending of her vocals with the backup singers was really peak perfection there. Only one repeat from my show in 2017 too so that's cool (and hard to complain about getting Pandora's Aquarium). Angelshark was not an immediate standout for me on the new album, but thought it worked really well live. Climb similarly was a song I haven't always gravitated towards, but really worked well in the show.

Based on the written setlist, they must have ran out of time for Pretty Good Year. Which is a bummer but she did it at the 2017 show I went to at least. And Precious Things really did end the thing with a bang. And of course wish she did A Sorta Fairytale, but I got a lot of standouts so I'll live.

She had a very nice brief spoken tribute to Dolly Parton between FTYP and Shush.

I also attend a lot of shows for aging artists in my time in LA and I'm always impressed by people who have really learned to work with their current voice and she's really done that well. She reminds me actually a bit of Chaka Khan who I've seen a few times and I often have found she starts out a little shaky/rough, but then once she hits her groove she's still a powerhouse in her own right. The structure of the show is smart because it allows for this naturally. FTYP relies a bit more on the backup singers and then Shush is more of a talk/sing type moment that is geared towards her current voice. But by the time she launched into Crucify she was fully juiced and didn't let up the rest of the night.

setlist.fm

Tori Amos Setlist at Greek Theatre, Los Angeles

Also they were giving out a free good quality 18x24 poster that has all the Strange Little Girls covers in one grid on the way out lmao. Must have been just trying to clear out stock. My living room is pretty much decorated with a gallery wall of concert posters so it does kind of fit the aesthetic, but idk if it's making the wall.

It could fit in some of the space behind my couch where I put the posters that aren't as much of focal point for the room, but she had to put the damn square where she was playing a bit too much in Joni Mitchell's jazz-era foundation too close to the top so even behind the couch it would still be visible.

Thankfully this cover at least would be hidden.

1 hour ago, That Bad Eartha said:

LA show was incredible. Shush really is that girl, especially live.

Crucify into Silent All These Years back to back may have been the strongest 20 minute run at a concert I've ever seen. Caught me off guard with how emotional I got during those songs. Really got an incredible serving of Little Earthquakes material tonight. They just sounded absolutely titanic and the blending of her vocals with the backup singers was really peak perfection there. Only one repeat from my show in 2017 too so that's cool (and hard to complain about getting Pandora's Aquarium). Angelshark was not an immediate standout for me on the new album, but thought it worked really well live. Climb similarly was a song I haven't always gravitated towards, but really worked well in the show.

Based on the written setlist, they must have ran out of time for Pretty Good Year. Which is a bummer but she did it at the 2017 show I went to at least. And Precious Things really did end the thing with a bang. And of course wish she did A Sorta Fairytale, but I got a lot of standouts so I'll live.

She had a very nice brief spoken tribute to Dolly Parton between FTYP and Shush.

I also attend a lot of shows for aging artists in my time in LA and I'm always impressed by people who have really learned to work with their current voice and she's really done that well. She reminds me actually a bit of Chaka Khan who I've seen a few times and I often have found she starts out a little shaky/rough, but then once she hits her groove she's still a powerhouse in her own right. The structure of the show is smart because it allows for this naturally. FTYP relies a bit more on the backup singers and then Shush is more of a talk/sing type moment that is geared towards her current voice. But by the time she launched into Crucify she was fully juiced and didn't let up the rest of the night.

setlist.fm

Tori Amos Setlist at Greek Theatre, Los Angeles

Love this write up! I think the backings is the smartest thing she could've done at this point in her career, because it allows her voice to rest more as well. Last time when she toured America (after the European tour iirc) her voice was shot on a few dates, because it is simply too much. She does so many dates, and she clearly lives for it, so I'm happy she found a way to keep both the intensity and the quality.

I hope, hope there will be a live record from this tour. And I wouldn't be opposed to hearing the backings on further studio records, albeit a bit more sparingly.

this improv oh my god