Music
Store

Be warned: "Professional Widow" suffers from repeated vocal muting on potentially offensive words, which happens to wreck the effect of this particular song. ("Precious Things" is, thankfully, intact.) The DVD comes with a 6-track CD, Scarlet's Hidden Treasures (a reference to Amos' 2002 Scarlet's Walk album), which includes in its 33 minutes a studio version of "Tombigbee," the first encore from the Florida show. --Michael Mikesell

The concert footage, culled from the last show in the 2002-2003 Scarlet's Walk tour, represents Amos at her straightforward and ungrandiose best. Unlike some of the earlier such footage the artist has made available, Amos's vocals here are well recorded, high notes are reached with apparent effortlessness, the songs closely resemble the studio originals, and, above all, Amos appears happy, comfortable, and fully in command of the wide range of her talents.

The real importance of the collection, however, is found not on the DVD but on Scarlet's Hidden Treasures; three of the songs-'Seaside,' 'Tombigbee,' and 'Indian Summer'-were made available on the internet after the release of Scarlet's Walk (2002), but 'Ruby Through The Looking - Glass,' 'Bug A Martini,' and 'Apollo's Frock' are entirely new. With the exception of the likable, jazz - based "Bug A Martini," these songs represent Amos at the very height of her creative power. The meditative, somnolent 'Indian Summer' approaches the beauty of 'Cooling,' while the deceptively simplistic 'Seaside,' a fantasia on war that may or may not reference the attack on Pearl Harbor, has the restrained emotional fatalism of 'Playboy Mommy.' Wars both personal and collective underpin these songs thematically.

In the Seventies, songwriters Carole King, Joni Mitchell and Carly Simon mapped out the battleground in the war between the sexes from positions of fairness, self - assurance, and personal power. In many ways, however, Amos's spiritual and lyrical antecedent is really the perpetually combative, confrontational, and caustic Pretenders frontwoman Chrissie Hynde, as a study of Amos' hostility-laden song catalogue attests. Like Hynde, Amos's themes largely reflect emotional and spiritual crisis, chronic dissatisfaction with the state of the world, the victimization of the weak by the powerful, personal disillusionment, and the general failure of communication; like Hynde, Amos often responds with straightforward, finger - pointing accusations of blame, open sarcasm, and abrasive mockery.

But Amos is a more openly feminist and women - centered artist than Hynde, something readily apparent throughout the songs on Scarlet's Hidden Treasures. 'Ruby Through The Looking - Glass' describes the emotional and perhaps physical battles between a man and a pregnant woman; the vulnerable unborn child is, not surprisingly, referred to as "she." The children killed while playing innocently by the ocean in 'Seaside' are "girls dancing." 'Apollo's Frock,' which lyrically resembles the early Imagist poetry of Hilda Doolittle, may be Amos's most overt feminist statement yet; lofty Apollo, and men generally, are reminded that "Apollo, your frock...was always as beautiful as your sister's that your light shined on." The rousing, combustible 'Tombigbee' finds Amos hoping to be cleansed by the river after a volatile romantic encounter, and 'Indian Summer,' which begins with an image of "girls in the attic," finds Amos advocating for "another way" of life in the West and addressing President Bush with unusual subtly.

Amos's women - centered perspective begs the same question that matriarchal - based sects of Wicca do; are imbalances corrected or resolved by replacing a patriarchal worldview with a matriarchal viewpoint? At times, Amos seems at least metaphorically Wiccan in her emotional, spiritual, and political perspective. Her own combative feelings and attitudes seem to provide her with little insight into the identical hostilities she so opposes in others.

Longtime listeners who have missed the piano - dominated songwriting of Under The Pink (1994) and portions of Boys For Pele (1996) will be thrilled with Welcome To Sunny Florida and specifically with Scarlet's Hidden Treasures; 'Ruby Through The Looking Glass,' 'Seaside,' 'Apollo's Frock,' and 'Indian Summer' reveal the "girl at her piano" at her very best, and collectively are leagues beyond the material on From The Choirgirl Hotel (1998) and most of To Venus And Back's studio disc (1999).


An Evening with a Goddess   November 7, 2004
 17 out of 20 found this review helpful

Let me begin by saying that I've been a complete Toriphile for years and truly feel as though she can do no wrong! That said, I love this DVD. However, even I must admit that it is not without its errors and pitfalls.

One of the downsides to this DVD includes the annoying edits on Professional Widow. I really don't understand why the editor felt the need to cut out certain words during the performance, yet leave them in for the interview. Furthermore, there is a clear shot of Tori flipping the middle finger to the crowd. Why leave that in but cut out the vocalization of the swear words? In addition, I felt that the interview was a little short. I would have liked to have heard more about what Tori had to say regarding her music and her touring experiences. The edits between shots can be poor at times as well. During many a song, the shots are out of focus or jump from one viewpoint to the next without any transition. Nonetheless, these minor annoyances are not enough, in my opinion, to degrade this DVD to any less than five stars.

The interview with Tori, though short, is great. It's a more personal experience than merely listening to her music. I also love the interview with Tori's mom. It's a little sneak peak into Tori's childhood, and the start of her career. Her improvisational transitions are excellent, and different for every show. Indeed, as Tori herself states, each song and performance are fluid entities that can take on a new shape and form, and grow as inspiration changes. No song in this live performance is quite the same as its studio version, nor is it quite the same as any other live performance. This DVD does a great job of capturing just one of Tori's amazing "fairytale" experiences on the stage. Though I still highly recommend attending her show live, this is a great way to bring the experience into the comfort of your living room (and for a cheaper price than her concerts as well!).

The included six song CD, "Scarlet's Hidden Treasures," songs cut from the Scarlet's Walk CD, is also incredible. I especially love Seaside, Bug a Martini, Apollo's Frock, and Tombigbee (also included in the live footage). These songs, to be sure, will be coveted by those who run out to collect every EP and B-side Tori puts out, and can be seen as a standalone reason to pick up this DVD.

I was lucky enough to have seen her while she was on this Scarlet's Walk/Lottapianos tour, and this DVD serves as a way to relive the amazing and nostalgic experience (even if the set list was somewhat different). However, one doesn't need to have seen her perform live, on this tour or ever for that matter, in order to appreciate the DVD & CD set. This is a must for the diehard Tori fan, and a fun and enticing addition for the casual listener as well.

In addition to Welcome to Sunny Florida, pick up her new CD The Beekeeper, as well as her book Piece by Piece!


Disappointing   April 7, 2005
 16 out of 18 found this review helpful

Tori's performance is very good, HOWEVER the video and sound quality are awful. The camera work looks like it's a work of amateurs. This really damages the overall experience and that's a shame. Only for hardcore Tori fans.


Very Disapointed   June 3, 2004
 14 out of 20 found this review helpful

I do wish they'd left Wednesday in, since it was a part of every show, but anyone who's seen any band/artist many times knows that their best performances are rarely caught on film.

The Good:
Widescreen, interviews, the music, bonus CD and clean audio.

The Bad:

Technical problems
The U.S. version is not 5.1 DD. It's 4.1 with no Center channel.
For those with HD sets, it's not anamorphic
On many camera changes there appeared to be interlaced lines from the last shot. I do not know if this is visible on an Analog sets. Nor do I know if it was an issue with the software encoding on all DVD players. There may be a better term for this, but I've never seen anything like it before.

Censored Content:
Professional Widow is censored. The muting of ----, ------ and ---- is very noticable and ruins the moment. Don't let anyone fool you, it's quite jaring. Whoever made this decision (Epic, Tori or both) made a mistake. I expect muted words on music labeled "clean" or bought in Walmart. Neither apply to this purchase.

I would strongly recommend you not buy the DVD and instead Call up Sony at 1-800-255-7514 and complain. Make sure you have the cat number EVD55323 handy. The number is for problem disks, but you may be able to complain there anyway. If you already bought it, have the MFG and Model of your DVD handy. If enough people complain, they will fix the audio and may remove the offensive muting.

Make a statement: make the call.


Beneath Tori   May 31, 2004
 12 out of 22 found this review helpful

Besides the fact that this film looks like its been edited with a meat cleaver, you also get the insult of having the song Professional Widow censored for cuss words. Not only does this destroy the chorus and the climax of a normally brilliant song, but it drags Tori down to the level a street thug ghetto rapper. Its unforgivable and totally incomprehensible. If you can release a CD with naughty words, you oughtta be able to back it up on video. The rest of the DVD is okay, despite the horribly drawn massacre they make out of Crucify, and I think Take To The Sky is the highlight of the show, but I'm still so angry about Professional Widow that I refuse to ever watch this DVD again.

The extra songs on the bonus disc make it barely worth the purchase, tho.