Attention Tori Amos fans in Birmingham. As far as we can tell, you’ve been waiting 20 years for the quirky, passionate singer/songwriter and keyboardist to return to the Magic City. Well, your watch is almost over.
Amos has a concert scheduled for June 22nd at the Alabama Theater, 1817 Third Ave. North, planned as a stop on their 2023 Ocean to Ocean Tour. Tickets for the 7:30 p.m. show go on sale on Friday, February 3 at 10:00 a.m. CT via Ticketmaster. Prices are $49.50, $59.50, $79.50, and $99.50 for reserved seats, plus service charges.
According to Ticketmaster, various presales begin Wednesday, February 1 at 10am CT and run through Thursday, February 2 at 10pm CT.
Birmingham Mountain Radio presents the show here; Promoted by Live Nation/Red Mountain Entertainment. The Birmingham concert is one of nearly 30 dates on Amos’ June and July agenda and the only Alabama stop on her tour.
Amos, 59, released the studio album Ocean to Ocean in October 2021.
“The album is Amos’s most personal work in years – full of warmth and connection, with deep roots in her earliest songwriting,” reads a press release. “As communities around the world witnessed the loss of life, live music, travel and more, Tori has had a difficult time during the pandemic. She sank into an emotional state she hadn’t deepened in a long time—but the depths got creative, forcing her to return to the kind of introspection she knew from her debut album, Little Earthquakes.
“The new collection is an expression of kinship and love, emotional and geographic madness. It examines environmental concerns, the limitations of the pandemic for those on the cusp of adulthood, empowerment, loss and healing delivered with Tori’s characteristic urgency and passion.”
Little Earthquakes, Amos’ groundbreaking album, was released in 2002, followed by albums like 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, which played at the BJCC Concert Hall.
Here’s how she described her approach to performing in a 2003 phone interview with AL.com.
“When you approach a show in an arena or a nightclub, it’s no different than when you envision yourself becoming a container,” Amos said. “And if you only had to put one rose in your container, what size would it be? If you have four dozen roses, what size would that be? I’m holding twelve roses on this tour and that’s all. A dozen every night. That’s all I can take.”
Her container was full that evening in Birmingham; Amos performed about 24 songs including “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-motion vignette of “Sweet Home Alabama.”
Amos also performed on her “Plugged ’98 Tour” at the BJCC Concert Hall in 1998 and on her “Dew Drop Inn Tour” at the Alabama Theater in 1996. AL.com reviewed both shows, calling Amos “exquisitely eccentric” in 1998 and noting her “rising soprano infused with real-life gloom” in 1996.
Amos has described their devoted listeners as “ears with feet,” a label they’ve embraced along with the nickname Toriphiles. Fans are likely to flock to her 2023 tour, which includes shows in cities from Boston to Seattle. Here is the full list of announced dates 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 Theater
- June 23, Atlanta, GA, Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center
- 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 Theater
- July 8, Lewiston, NY, Artpark Mainstage Theater
- July 9, Rochester Hills, MI, Meadow Brook Amphitheater
- July 11, Indianapolis, IN, Murat Theater at the Old National Center
- July 12, Louisville, KY, the Louisville Palace
- July 14, St. Louis, MO, Stifel Theater
- July 15, Omaha, NE, Orpheum Theater
- July 17, Morrison, CO, Red Rocks Amphitheater
- July 18, Albuquerque, NM, Kiva Auditorium
- July 19, Mesa, AZ, Mesa Arts Center
- July 21, Los Angeles, CA, Greek Theater
- July 22, Paso Robles, CA, Vina Robles Amphitheater
- July 23, San Diego, Humphrey’s Concerts by the Bay
- July 25, Saratoga, CA, Mountain Winery
- July 26th. San Francisco, CA, The Masonic
- July 28, Seattle, WA, TBD