Tori Amos Summons Longtime Fans to L.A.’s Greek Theatre for Ocean to Ocean Tour

Early in her set at Los Angeles’s Greek Theatre, Tori Amos reminds the star-studded audience—including Olivia Rodrigo, Kumail Nanjiani, and Kristen Schaal, among others—that the songs from her solo debut, 1992’s Little Earthquakes, were written not too far away from Griffith Park’s historic amphitheater. The implication, of course, is that we’ve come a long way, boy. More than 30 years later, the singer-songwriter is still performing for adoring crowds of thousands, many of whom, as teens or young adults, trauma-bonded over songs like “Me and a Gun” and “Silent All These Years” but are now a little grayer around the temples.

Amos herself doesn’t look much different, wildly whipping her crimson hair around as she precariously straddles the stool between her Bösendorfer and electric keyboard. Her voice, however, is noticeably hoarse—a fact that she doesn’t acknowledge aside from a brief moment when, during the second verse of “Crucify,” she grasps her throat and sings, “You’re just an empty cage, girl, if you kill the bird.”

Though Amos’s more restrained vocals prevent songs like the electrifying “Pretty Good Year” and “Hotel” from fully embodying their frenzied climaxes, the stunning but more subdued “A Sorta Fairytale” and the breathtaking “Bells for Her,” which, along with “Cornflake Girl,” featured prominently in the second season of Showtime’s Yellowjackets, prove to be revelatory. And it certainly doesn’t stop Amos—or, rather, Pip, one of her guises from 2007’s American Doll Posse—from rocking out during a totally over-the-top encore.

The tour, Amos’s first in five years, is in support of 2021’s Ocean to Ocean, but only the title track from that album makes it into the 18-song setlist. No complaints here, as the artist’s discography comprises 16 studio albums and scores of beloved B-sides, and older songs like “Cornflake Girl” and “Pandora’s Aquarium,” from 1998’s From the Choirgirl Hotel, are welcome reminders of what a virtuosic musician and performer Amos has always been.