Tori Amos drew a crowd to The Riverside Theater Tuesday night as part of her five-month-long "Sinful Attraction" world tour.
Taking the stage at 9 p.m., Amos played for almost two hours straight. Surprisingly, the crowd wasn't all women in their 30s reliving their college years -- about half were men and ages ranged from 8 to 60 years old.
Amos commanded the stage, but the concert lacked the energy that marked her 2007 Milwaukee performance. Her piano artistry and singing were top-notch, as were her accompanists on guitar and drums, but there was a lack of the kind of intimacy at this show that Amos has cultivated in the past.
She didn't have any special moments with Tuesday night's crowd. She came, she performed and she exited the stage with loving waves, but no asides, no heartfelt "Thank you Milwaukee!" or little stories about her travels and songs. These chats stood out at past Amos concerts and were missed at this one.
The set list was also very similar to her last concert at The Riverside two years ago featuring Amos classics like "Cornflake Girl," "Little Earthquakes" and "Precious Things," but also pulled songs from the 2007 set list like "Strange," "Father Lucifer" and "Silent All These Years.
The tour is in support of Amos' "Abnormally Attracted to Sin" album and did pull a few tracks from that including "Give," "Flavor" and "Strong Black Vine." With a vast songbook to select from, Amos has a lot of material to share, so it's surprising she didn't mix in more variety for fans.
Amos didn't opt for costume changes or persona changes in past tours, but did feature a set list of three low-key songs during her "Lizard Lounge" portion of the show, ramping up with great renditions of "A Sorta Fairytale" and "Big Wheel" that got the crowd back on their feet to close out the night.
Amos dominated her piano as she always does, often playing two and sometimes three keyboards simultaneously.
Her outfit of silver leggings and stripper platform shoes was typical Tori.
But, unfortunately, the show lacked the intimate personal feel of her past shows.
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