Tori Amos - Interviews Archive

Chicago Tribune (US)
Wednesday, April 13, 2005

Tori Am ... oh ... oh ... YES!
Has the singer ever climaxed during a performance? She'll never tell

by Ari Bendersky

If Tori Amos writhes and grinds hard enough on her piano bench during a live performance, how many people in the room actually get off?

Hopefully, everyone.

Amos, well known for her sexual outbursts during concerts, has taken her playing to a higher level on her ninth and most recent release, "The Beekeeper."

For the new album, the ginger chanteuse employed the masculine, electronic buzz of a Hammond organ to "consummate" the album with her more feminine piano. The result is classic Tori: sweet, sensual, thought-provoking--anything but boring and mundane.

Metromix caught up with the minister's daughter on the eve of her world tour.

You've been known to get a little excited while playing. Have you ever given yourself an orgasm on stage?

I would never tell you that! That's between me and my piano. I will say this: I think there's an incredible transformation that happens on every level. It's also because the heart is involved - and the mind. When all of your chakras are revved up like that, there's nothing quite like that. It's like nothing I've experienced before.

How do you achieve that in your everyday life?

Being present to what's going on around you. I choose to not always be caught up in the mundane, because you can get trapped in it. Sometimes I choose to observe it and then it's an ingredient I put it in my stew.

Do you think the piano and organ consummate the album?

I do think they consummate. They just do. How do you and your wife, girlfriend or boyfriend consummate? You don't need to answer me. It's the same . . . there's just a joining that happens. That's what I've found. I'm enthralled by this spiritual, sexual, sensual dance.

What should we expect from the show that we haven't seen before?

A 40-year-old woman trying to twist like a pretzel, as opposed to a woman in her 30s twisting like a pretzel.

I've seen you on stage before. You can twist like a pretzel pretty well.

I know, but I'm older! So I'm having to be clever. And I have more instruments that I'm twisting with. And I have to play those pedals on that Hammond. I've got a lot to do.

Ari Bendersky is a metromix special contributor.

In concert
Tori Amos
When: 8 p.m. Fri. April 15
Where: Auditorium Theatre
Tickets: Sold out

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