Photographer: Kili Goodrich
Enter the Dragon: Tori Amos Still Knows How to Cast a Spell
Tori Amos brought In Times of Dragons to Arizona Financial Theatre. Backed by a striking dragon silhouette and fiery production. From playing piano and keyboard simultaneously during “Angelshark” to the haunting weight of “Shush,” Amos reminded Phoenix why her music has remained so singular for more than three decades.
Tori Amos
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There are artists you photograph, and then there are artists you feel lucky enough to photograph. Tori Amos falls into the second category. At Arizona Financial Theatre, Amos brought her In Times of Dragons Tour to Phoenix, turning the stage into a theatrical fever dream. After more than three decades of making music on her own terms, she still carries the presence that makes you stop and become fully entranced.
Amos has never been easy to put into a box. Pianist, songwriter, storyteller, provocateur. She has spent her career turning the piano into something much more colossal than an instrument. Her work has always had a strange intimacy to it. Capable of feeling delicate and unsettling in the same breath. Now, with In Times of Dragons, her eighteenth studio album, she has built another world around that piano. Which i’ve found to be one concerned with power, oppression, democracy and what happens when the people holding power decide the rules no longer apply. Amos describes the album as a metaphorical fight between democracy and tyranny, using “Dictator believing Lizard Demons” as the villains of her story.
The production leaned fully into that mythology. A dragon silhouette stretched across the backdrop, looming behind Amos as the songs unfolded. It was striking without being overdone. The visual gave the performance a sense of danger, but Amos herself remained the center of it all.
“Angelshark,” Amos played the piano with one hand while simultaneously playing a keyboard with the other. Her musicianship has always been extraordinary, but seeing it happen in real time was something jaw dropping. I was fully entranced and exactly where I wanted to be - in her world.
“Shush” was the performance that stayed with me most. It is haunting, uncomfortable and powerful, with lyrics that delivered like a warning. I’ve had the song on repeat ever since.
The track opens In Times of Dragons with ominous piano and a sense of threat, setting the tone for Amos’ larger story of silencing, power and resistance. Live, it felt so much heavier. The room seemed to quiet around it, leaving Amos’ voice and piano to do the beautiful damage.
What struck me just as much was how often Amos turned her attention toward the people beside her. She made a point of expressing gratitude to her band and backing singers, acknowledging the musicians who helped bring this enormous production to life.
There is something undeniably cool about Tori Amos. She has spent 36 years refusing to sand down the edges of what makes her captivating. At Arizona Financial Theatre, she didn't need to prove that she was an icon. She simply walked to the piano, sat down, and reminded everyone why she became one.
Article by: Kili Goodrich
Plug In. Tune Out.
Tori Amos has built a sound around piano, storytelling and a willingness to go places most artists wouldn't. Her music can move from beautiful and intimate to strange, dark and explosive, often blurring the line between alternative rock, art pop and classical influence. Even after decades of making records, there is still something unpredictable about her songs they feel deeply personal while somehow speaking to much larger questions about power, identity, grief and survival.