Yes, I did. Are you shocked? So am I. WHAT was I THINKING? And she didn’t have a very good nap that day either. I was REALLY asking for it. But– doesn’t this make me a cool mom now?
Myself and two other ladies who are Tori Amos fans bought tickets WELL over 6 months before the show, as per usual, they sell out right away. It was agreed that my husband was to watch the toddler and at that time, I figured, well, she’ll be JUST fine with her daddy. However, I wanted to GO with my DH more then anyone else, but hey, I wanted to see the show and trust NO ONE but her parents to take care of her at night.
Fast forward to December, and the date was creeping up on me too fast. My poor girl OF COURSE was teething and had a fever on/off and was just a mess of an almost-two-year old. How selfish was I? I was going to LEAVE her from 7pm to possibly midnight or LATER? I couldn’t fathom doing it. I just couldn’t. And I didn’t really want to. And I idiotically booked her party THE SAME WEEKEND. Yeah!
So, I make haste to weasel my way out of going– being told the whole time that the gals understood. They were very gracious about it, which I didn’t deserve. I was also banking on the fact that they’d easily find another person to go to the show who could actually enjoy it. Me? I’d be a MESS. the. whole. time. I figured I was saving them from the whole “overprotective-mom-can’t-have-a-night-out” situation. Does this mean I am weak and cave to my daughters’ every whim? No. I know my child and respond appropriately to what she needs and that’s not mommy galavanting around at night. She needs me at night. Still. Maybe for many more years. There is NOTHING wrong with that.
Where was I? Oh yes. So a few days before the show, my iPod keeps shuffling to live Tori songs from the “Legs and Boots” album which thus depresses me further and further. I was going to miss Tori, who is up there on the list of artists I never miss. Ever. Then I got to thinking. I love to go to shows with my DH. While pregnant, we saw a Tori Amos show when I was around 20wks, I felt my daughter kick for the first time at that show. I will always remember that. It was an outdoor show during a nice summer evening, Tori was on FIRE as usual, every time I got goosebumps when she did a song I loved (which was like every song!) I’d feel a little weirdness and movement down below. Which HAHA at the time, just thought was gas or uterus-strechting weirdness. No, it turned out, my sweet girl liked the music and decided to dance it up– she did this swirl thing– that’s what it felt like.
I start to cook up this hair-brained scheme to pay next to NOTHING for terrible tickets and take my husband and toddler. So if my girl freaks out, we just leave and only wasted a small amount of money and time. It could totally work. Yeah, it’ll be GREAT! (I know I know, I am crazy). Tori’s fans are a mellow (and beautiful) bunch, it’s not like some shows where people are just getting drunk, hooking up, getting stoned, etc, etc. I thought if we were to do any show, a Tori show would be mostly safe. I searched around on StubHub and found some nosebleed seats with handicapped access. Perfect. We don’t want actual seats. We’ll be roaming around the whole time anyway! I aligned my expectations to my daughters’ age. Then I get to see the show with my husband, my daughter and the other friends who ended up going. It was going to be great.
The day of the show my daughter took a crappy nap. I was worried. My husband kept saying, this is a BAD idea. I insisted it would be fine. I willed it to be. We saw the show at the Orpheium theater in LA– and I mean, ghetto downtown LA. Not a great place for a CHILD at 7pm on a Saturday night. Irresponsible.
People stared as I walked into the theater holding my daughter. I was too busy worrying they wouldn’t let me in with a kid. Even though I throughly looked into the place being all-ages and under three years old was free. It was. I wasn’t even looked at twice by the person who scanned our tickets! Once we got in, it was some serious eye candy. We were in awe of the beauty of the place. Big armchairs, marble floors, chandeliers, winding staircases. I always notice how BEAUTIFUL Tori Amos fans are, and how kind. Many came up to me an said it was GREAT that I was taking my child to a show– this was weird, because I knew I was nuts to do it, but somehow, it made it an even better experience for me.
We tooled around, met up with the friends I was supposed to go to the show alone with, and found our terrible seats. I felt bad about flaking on them, then at the last minute, going. But such is life with a toddler. I can barely plan anything until the last minute. Which is so not like me. Luckily, we didn’t have annoying ushers pushing us to sit down as some venues do– and with a child or not, is highly annoying.
The opening band came on, and instead of being stupid and thinking we could just sit down in a super dark theater with a two-year-old, we decided to find a spot for her to play and eat some snacks. We found a room that only was accessible to someone using the old school (and scary looking) elevator and even found some chairs. It was well lit and deserted. How perfect was this? We just chilled out there until Tori came on. My DH stupidly thought she was doing so good that I could go sit down and he would watch her, which was VERY sweet of him, as he knew my obsession with Tori was far greater then his. She didn’t last long. She needed her mama. She was tired too. So, I loaded her up in my trusty mai thai wrap and she immediately put her head down as I swayed to the music. She seemed to like it. Maybe my vibes were rubbing off on her, or maybe she was just REALLY tired. My hubby said she really liked to watch Tori play but when the CRAZY fans applauded her at the end of the song, it was too loud and scared her a bit. So, I’d walk into our special room when a song ended and held her head close with my hand over her outer ear.
She slept the whole show practically. Which was great, I didn’t want to sit down, I wanted to dance. I was so surprised to not see any ushers making us sit down. We got lucky I guess. It was one of the greatest shows, but I always say that, because I just love Tori Amos live. It was just her and her pianos, which is always good and she featured this MOST EXCELLENT trio of violinists. They were spectacular. She played a cover of “Total Eclipse of the Heart” and I was in awe of her talent. It was so amazing and worth the whole evening just for that song. AMAZING!
All in all, you can do the things you like with your kids, you just have to sacrifice a bit and suss up the situation, and not expect too much, especially young children. It really worked out for me but this is not something I would do all the time. Tori Amos might not be touring when my daughter is a bit older and would enjoy this with me more, so I thought this might be my only chance. I think Tori Amos would think it’s great I brought my daughter to her show. When I asked her if she had a good time, she said “YES” with fervor and that made it worth it to me!
Check out the setlist, I recommend loading these songs in a playlist and listening on repeat.
