If you don’t like Tori Amos, some might tell you, “You just don’t get it.” A veteran on the music scene, Amos has been serenading her loyal fan base for close to twenty years. Armed with her beautifully haunting voice, biting lyrics and a wit that won’t quit, Amos knows what it takes to keep listeners in a delightful state of shock and enchantment. But don’t think she’s one to rest on her laurels; the songstress is still full of surprises. Amos’ latest album, American Doll Posse, might be her most politically charged and artistically driven musical contribution yet. Brimming with satire, sexuality and forceful feminism, Amos’ newest creation was well worth the wait. This month, Amos comes to L.A.’s Nokia Theater as part of the U.S. leg of her American Doll Posse tour and treats her fans to not just one Tori, but five.
Framed around the idea that women must “reclaim their segmented selves,” an unfortunate consequence of a patriarchy whereby women struggle to fit into predetermined, subjugated roles, Amos has created five characters that make up the American Doll Posse for which the album is named. Sound a bit over-the -top? Perhaps for a freshman artist, but Amos is not one to mess around when it comes to speaking her mind – even if she needs to become five different women to do it. As she puts it, “Sometimes you just have to be one bad motherf*%#er.”
Personifying five different characters on the album is one thing, but Amos brings her point home by performing as the posse members onstage for her new tour. In fact, the women Amos has created quite literally run the show, and the artist confesses she often doesn’t know which woman will open until just before show time. “I make the choice based on what is right for that night,” says Amos. “Everyone knows the set list isn’t written until an hour before show time. I think it keeps everyone really present.”
So just who exactly are the many faces of Ms. Amos? Santa, Clyde, Isabel, Tori and Pip each represent a different part of the female psyche given body and voice thanks to Amos. Santa is “sexual but not at all interested in vulgarity.” Clyde “sees everyone’s potential, even to her detriment.” Isabel “tries to present different points of view from a neutral perspective.” Tori is “discovering things that were circumcised at baptism.” And Pip is “dealing in mind control and manipulation.” You gotta love it!
But in all seriousness, the decision behind the different characters is strongly rooted in Amos’ immense dissatisfaction for our current administration, which she feels stands as “one of the worst in regards to women’s issues.” According to Amos, the time has come for women to get organized and develop a deeper understanding of their identities. “I thought that if I really believed that stereotypes for women are just too simplified, then I wanted to go back and apply them to myself and do it publicly,” says Amos. “It’s very hard to manipulate a woman who knows all her sides.” Amos explains that women who step beyond stereotypes and confining patriarchal roles stand a good threat to current governmental policies that do little for female empowerment. “They know if the women started to ask the right questions and became powerful, that would be their worst nightmare, and I live to give the rightwing Christians their worst nightmare,” she laughs.
For most fans, five Toris for the price of one sounds like a pretty sweet deal, but Amos taking on all of patriarchy in the process? That’s just too good to be true. When so much of today’s music is manufactured nonsense, it’s nice to know there are artists like Amos looking to open minds while pleasing ears. “I come from a place where if it’s too loud, you turn it up, ” she says. Amen.
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Best Regards,
"Bongo" John