SHIT FLOATS

  Joe Bonamassa Live LP & Tour

  Pearl Jam New LP & Tour

  Feeder New LP & Tour

  “My country, right or wrong…”

  Heart Announce Live Tours

  Anais Mitchell HADESTOWN Returns

  The Photographer’s Selection

  My Favourite Records

  Gaza Nightmare Continues

  Gaza Nightmare Continues

  The Killers New LP & Tour

  Download 2024 First Acts

  Princess Goes COME OF AGE

  Springsteen 2024 Tour

  Philip ‘Seth’ Campbell Live

  This Troubled World

  Dark Side Of The Moon 50th

  The More I Hear The Less I Know

  Glen Hansard New LP/Tour

  Great Albums: Fresh New Life

  Hozier’s New Album

  Nicole Atkins Jim Sclavunos Live

  SBT (Sarabeth Tucek) Live

  I’m As Angry As Hell!

  Magnum - A Year in Ukraine

  Alessandra Sanguinetti Interview

  The Damn Truth Live

  Newton Faulkner Live

  The Handsome Family Live

  The State We’re In Pt II

  Eric Gales Live

  The Cavalry Never Arrived

  Chvrches Live

  Andrés Peña Flamenco Star Live

  Paul Draper Live

  A Fly-Free Zone

  Liverpool Jazz Festival

  The Charlatans Live

  UK Democracy Threatened

  Rag’n'Bone Man Live

  Sea Girls Live

  Martha Wainwright Live

  Politics is Failing

  Moby The Very Best Of Interview

  Lucy Kruger TRANSIT TAPES

  Joe Bonamassa Live!

  Rodrigo Y Gabriela Interview

  Amy Macdonald Rescheduled Gig

  Music & Brexit

  Happy New Year?

  On Barbra Streisand

  The State We’re In…

  Welcome Back! But To What?

  What Have We Done?

  A RISK TOO FAR

  Photojournalism Hero

  Samantha Fish Live

  Gill Landry Live in Chester

  Noah Gundersen Live

  David Gilmour’s Interview

  Snow Patrol Live in Manchester

  New Model Army Live

  Shakespears Sister Live

  Lamb Live in Manchester

  The Struts Live

  Sting & Shaggy Live

  Ana Popovic, Lynne Jackaman Live

  David Gray Live in Liverpool

  The Slow Readers Club Live

  Karine Polwart Trio Live

  Benjamin Folke Thomas Live

  Chilly Gonzales Live

  Gomez Live in Manchester

  John Lennon Interview

  Ray LaMontagne Live

  Satriani’s G3 Live

  Jim White Live in Manchester

  Tori Amos Live

  Bush & RavenEye Live

  Laura Marling Live

  Jimmy Eat World Live

  Roger Waters on Amused To Death


Tori Amos Live

ap-62

The Palace Theatre, Manchester, 5 October 2017

In my previous live review of Bush I described how I had missed live performances from some of the greatest (some now departed) musical  acts. I am gradually trying to catch up on those acts that are still alive and kicking. Tori Amos comes high on my live bucket list and here’s briefly why:

Tori Amos is an American singer-songwriter, pianist and composer. She is a classically trained musician with a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Having already begun composing instrumental pieces on piano, Amos won a full scholarship to the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University at the age of five, the youngest person ever to have been admitted. She was expelled at the age of eleven for what Rolling Stone described as “musical insubordination.” Amos was the lead singer of the short-lived 1980s pop group Y Kant Tori Read before achieving her breakthrough as a solo artist in the early 1990s. Her songs focus on a broad range of topics, including sexuality, feminism, politics, and religion.

ap-17

Her charting singles include “Crucify”, “Silent All These Years”, “God”, “Cornflake Girl”, “Caught a Lite Sneeze”, “Professional Widow”, “Spark”, “1000 Oceans”, “Flavor”, and “A Sorta Fairytale”, her most commercially successful single in the U.S. to-date. Amos has received five MTV VMA nominations, eight Grammy nominations, and has won an Echo award for her classical work. She has released 15 studio recordings from back in 1988 to her latest 2017 album NATIVE INVADER.

In short, Tori Amos is one of the greatest female singer/songwriters of all time. Her latest tour has taken her to Manchester’s superb and historic Palace Theatre located amidst some of Manchester’s best live venues. It’s clear from the onset that tonight’s show is an unsurprising sell-out and that her audience is in a high state of anticipation; there’s a distinct buzz about the place. Supporting Amos is an Irish band called Bell X1 which I have admired for the past ten years:

Most of the band were originally members of Juniper. Lead singer Paul Noonan was Juniper’s drummer and Damien Rice was the lead vocalist; guitarists Dominic Philips and Brian Crosby and multi-instrumentalist David Geraghty completed the original line-up. Juniper built up a strong live following in Ireland and enjoyed chart success with EP Manna and singles Weatherman and World is Dead (the latter two through Universal Records) but never released a full album. The band became a quartet with the departure of Rice over creative differences. Rice admitted in a 2002 interview with the Sunday Tribune that he had become upset after writing a song which the record company had disliked.

bxp-1

After a short break they reformed themselves as Bell X1 and Noonan became the new band’s frontman. The live line-up, alongside original members Crosby and Philips, came to be completed by drummer Tim O’Donovan, and trianglist Nessan Harpur.

Juniper’s original contract with Polygram Ireland was moved to Island Records UK. Bell X1 released three albums while with Universal/Island; Neither Am I, Music in Mouth and Flock. Subsequent releases have come out on the band’s own BellyUp Records and its distribution partners at Warner Music, Redeye & The Orchard. Those titles are: Tour De Flock, Blue Lights on the Runway, Bloodless Coup, Field Recordings & Chop Chop.

For tonight’s support slot Bell X1 revert to an acoustic display sans drums which in practice serves to showcase the band’s substantial skills in the raw. Paul Noonan is an impressive frontman whose voice exudes emotion and passion while pretty well coverage the note range. The band’s songs are beautifully written with real meaning and melodies which really connect the listener. In this acoustic guise the band sound more folk that pop-rock which for this audience is entirely appropriate. There was a nice moment when Noonan referred to the imminent arrival of Amos as “The Boss Lady will be on…” The setlist was excellent as it ran through some of the band’s best while offering a diversity of mood and pace.

bxp-2

I’ve followed this band for a few years now and have seen them perform several times in the UK and Ireland. If they appear in a venue near you I would strongly recommend that you sample their many delights - you will not be disappointed…

SETLIST

The Upswing, Vellcro, Take Your Sweet Time, Rocky Took A Lover, Built to Last, The End Is Nigh.

Page: 1 2


Back


Manchester 2009 - Gallery: Depeche Mode
Depeche Mode
LATEST GALLERY IMAGES

A Tribute to Journalists & The Innocents - Gallery: Ukraine Remembered
Ukraine Remembered Gaza 2024 - Gallery: A Day In The Life
A Day In The Life
Shakenstir - Homepage Links Reviews Live Interviews Features News Contact Gallery Shakenstir - Homepage