Driving through stop and go traffic from Hollywood to the Grove Theater (located in the parking lot of Angels Stadium of Anaheim), I asked my girlfriend a hypothetical question: Tori Amos and I need you to donate a kidney to survive, who gets it? Without hesitation, she responded Tori Amos. This was no shock to me, as I have known for a long time that the only folks crazier than Tori Amos herself, are her fans.

You see, my girlfriend is a diehard Tori Amos fan, which makes me a Tori Amos fan. Last night was the 9th time I received an all expense-paid trip to Toriland. Now don’t get me wrong, I have total respect for Tori and her music. I even like some of her songs. But on this night, I was just not in the mood. Let’s be honest here. I am a straight man who not only had to sacrifice watching one of the 49ers’ rare wins this season, but I just happen to prefer shows that are a bit more on the rock side. Thankfully, I did skip football and went to the show, as hands down this was the best Tori Amos show I have ever seen.

After a quick set change, the sold out crowd were ready for their hero. Amos is touring in support of her most recent release, American Doll Posse - an album that comprises five different women with five different personalities. I imagine that there is some deep female phoenix Lilith Fair meaning behind it all, but when explained to me, I was too busy watching Season Two of “Wonder Showzen” on DVD or lighting farts on fire. 28 going on 14 I tell you, but I digress. Amos has been opening each show of her 2007 world tour as a different girl. Saturday night’s sold out OC crowd (a rare standing GA show for Amos who usually plays seated venues) got an early Christmas (or late Hanukkah) treat.

As her three-piece backing band launched into “Cruel,” Pip, the aggressive badass warrior rocker chick, took to the stage with a burst of raw sexual energy that could give Peaches a run for her money. My personal favorite Tori Amos song followed - “Teenage Hustling.” This song (found on American Doll Posse) may be the hardest rocker in her catalog, and it took every ounce of restraint in my Coors Light filled body to not start a pit right there. I was shocked to hear the next song, a rocking cover of Neil Young’s “Heart of Gold.” While horrific on her 2001 cover album “Strange Little Girls” the version played in Anaheim was full on rock, even harder than Neil’s version. Pip wrapped up with “The Waitress,” and left her band to jam while she transformed.

From what I am told, usually Tori comes out from this point on. However the folks in the OC got a little girl on girl action as the platinum blond bombshell character Santa came out for a quick set. The sensual flirt came out with a big ol’ pitcher of mojitos, pouring drinks for her boys on stage before splashing in the tasty beverage herself.

On her current album, the song “Body and Soul” is a duet between Pip & Santa, and this was used to bridge the two characters together. From there, taking full advantage of the open floor, we were treated to amped up rocked out versions of some of Amos’s mid to late 90’s techno flavored tunes such as “Raspberry Swirl” and “She’s Your Cocaine.” By this point, my mind had already been blown, as finally Tori’s crazy kingdom was speaking my language.

After another hippie noodle jam/wardrobe change we finally see the Tori we all know and love. She played a few more numbers with the band, including her biggest hit “Cornflake Girl” and the recently banned from Adult top 40 radio “Big Wheel” (It seems that M.I.L.F. is a bad word in our post 9/11 kingdom of terror). After a solid hour of butt kicking rock, Amos slowed down the set. Her band left the stage for a brief solo set. The band returned for one somewhat mellow number “Pretty Good Year” but then wrapped up rocking with the psychedelic “Hotel” and recent TMZ favorite “Code Red.”

After a quick encore break, Amos and her band returned to the rock with the best version of “Precious Things” I have ever heard. For the first time in years Amos is touring with a guitar player, which beefs up her already massive sound. “ Tear In Your Hand” served as a goodbye to her fans, as this is the next to last show on Amos’s current world tour. She and her band left the stage once again as the crowd went crazy. It was a matter of seconds before we found her band jamming on stage again, and the first ever encore appearance of one of her girls. Pip returned to close the show with “Suede”, wrapping up just in time for the venue’s 11:30 p.m. curfew.

Her loyal fans left the venue - faces full of smiles knowing they saw a rare moment with Amos turned to 11. In fact, as we returned home to Hollywood, I found myself in the passenger seat of my girlfriend’s car looking at the Methodist Church on the corner of Highland & Franklin. I began to think about how Tori had come to Hollywood so many years ago and lived behind that church. I thought about her hair metal failure Y Kant Tori Read and wondered if Anaheim rocked so hard, what would we have in store just a few hours later in downtown Los Angeles for the tour closer? I wondered how she could possibly top herself, and if she would even want to. Whatever happens, I know that of the 9 Tori Amos shows I have seen, nothing comes close to topping this intense night down in the OC.

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