Attention, Tori Amos fans in Birmingham. From what we can tell, you’ve been waiting 20 years for the quirky, passionate singer/songwriter and keyboard player to return to the Magic City. Well, your vigil is almost over.
Amos has scheduled a June 22 concert at the Alabama Theatre, 1817 Third Ave. North, as a stop on her 2023 “Ocean to Ocean Tour.” Tickets for the 7:30 p.m. show go on sale Friday, Feb. 3, at 10 a.m. CT via Ticketmaster. Prices are $49.50, $59.50, $79.50 and $99.50 for reserved seats, plus service charges.
Various pre-sales start on Wednesday, Feb. 1 at 10 a.m. CT and run through Thursday, Feb. 2, at 10 p.m. CT, according to Ticketmaster.
Birmingham Mountain Radio is presenting the show here; Live Nation/Red Mountain Entertainment is the promoter. The Birmingham concert is one of nearly 30 dates on Amos’ agenda in June and July, and the only Alabama stop on her tour.
Amos, 59, released the studio album “Ocean to Ocean” in October 2021.
“The album is Amos’ most personal work in years — bursting with warmth and connection, with deep roots in her earliest song writing,” a press release says. “As communities around the world suffered the loss of life, live music, travel, and much at all to observe, Tori had a difficult time during the pandemic. She descended to an emotional state lower than she had been to for a long time — but the depths became creative, forcing a return to the kind of introspection she recognized from her debut album ‘Little Earthquakes.’
“The new collection is an expression of kinship and love, of emotional and geographical dislocation. It explores environmental concerns, the restraints of the pandemic for those on the cusp of adulthood, empowerment, loss and healing delivered with Tori’s trademark urgency and passion.”
“Little Earthquakes,” Amos’ breakthrough album, was released in 2002, and followed by records such as “Under the Pink,” “Boys for Pele,” “From the Choirgirl Hotel” and more. Amos last came to Birmingham in 2003 to support the album “Scarlet’s Walk,” playing at the BJCC Concert Hall.
Here’s how she described her approach to the performance in a 2003 phone interview with AL.com.
“When you approach a show in an arena or a nightclub, it’s no different than if you imagine you become a container,” Amos said. “And if you have just one rose to put in your container, what size would it be? If you have four dozen roses, what size would that be? I hold twelve roses on this tour, and that’s all. A dozen every night. That’s all I can handle.”
Her container was full that night in Birmingham; Amos played about 24 songs that included “Cornflake Girl,” “iieee,” “Merman,” “Rattlesnakes,” “Space Dog,” “Crucify,” “Pancake,” “Sweet Sangria” and “I Can’t See New York.” She also covered the Beatles’ “Here, There and Everywhere” and performed a slow-mo vignette of “Sweet Home Alabama.”
Amos also performed at the BJCC Concert Hall in 1998 on her “Plugged ‘98 Tour,” and in 1996 at the Alabama Theatre on her “Dew Drop Inn Tour.” AL.com reviewed both shows, calling Amos “exquisitely eccentric” in 1998 and noting her “soaring soprano laced with the grittiness of real-life” in 1996.
Amos has described her devoted listeners as “ears with feet,” a label they’ve embraced along with the nickname Toriphiles. Fans are likely to come out in force for her 2023 tour, which includes shows in cities ranging from Boston to Seattle. Here’s the full list of dates announced for the “Ocean to Ocean Tour”:
- June 17, West Palm Beach, FL, Kravis Center
- June 18, Clearwater, FL, Ruth Eckerd Hall
- June 20, New Orleans, LA, Mahalia Jackson Theater for the Performing Arts
- June 22, Birmingham, AL, Alabama Theatre
- June 23, Atlanta, GA, Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre
- June 24, Nashville, TN, Ryman Auditorium
- June 26, Charlotte, NC, Ovens Auditorium
- June 28, New York City, NY, Beacon Theatre
- June 29, New York City, NY, Beacon Theatre
- July 1, Boston, MA, Leader Bank Pavilion
- July 2, Red Bank, NJ, Count Basie Center for the Arts
- July 5, Vienna, VA, Filene Center at Wolf Trap
- July 6, Hershey, PA, Hershey Theatre
- July 8, Lewiston, NY, Artpark Mainstage Theater
- July 9, Rochester Hills, MI, Meadow Brook Amphitheatre
- July 11, Indianapolis, IN, Murat Theatre at Old National Centre
- July 12, Louisville, KY, The Louisville Palace
- July 14, St. Louis, MO, Stifel Theatre
- July 15, Omaha, NE, Orpheum Theater
- July 17, Morrison, CO, Red Rocks Amphitheatre
- July 18, Albuquerque, NM, Kiva Auditorium
- July 19, Mesa, AZ, Mesa Arts Center
- July 21, Los Angeles, CA, Greek Theatre
- July 22, Paso Robles, CA, Vina Robles Amphitheatre
- July 23, San Diego, Humphrey’s Concerts by the Bay
- July 25, Saratoga, CA, Mountain Winery
- July 26. San Francisco, CA, The Masonic
- July 28, Seattle, WA, TBD
