Tori caught on film here

Sadly the fruitful efforts of tonight’s support act, Ray Ban were missed.

Eyes downcast the unassuming, coppery-locked and enigmatic Tori Amos shuffles toward the grand piano that occupies centre stage to an explosion of applause from the full capacity crowd in QPAC’s concert hall. Legs clad in shimmering stretched white, she straddles the divide between acoustic and electric instruments arranged for tonight’s solo, pared back performance.

Drawing firstly from her 2009 release Abnormally Attracted To Sin, the dark brooding lower registers of Lady In Blue are coaxed from the imposing grand piano, punctuated with Amos shooting coy looks at us, in moments of silence.

Against a gradually morphing backlight of coloured stars, Amos delivers Blood Roses. The strength of desire as she squeezes profanity from her vocal chords tonight rouses the reserved crowd. Her ability to play lead melody and backing across two instruments, while imparting this passion, is testament to her perfectly refined skills.

A brief interlude and Amos’ only address for the evening – “Thankyou for coming Brisbane” tickles many a fancy. Though it seems this may have been the case before even taking the stage, judging from the underwear hurled pre-show.

A quick switch and soft pulsing organ tones heralds Rattlesnakes from her concept album Strange Little Girls. As each song ends the lights fade, leaving only the ethereal sight of pitch black, somehow still dotted with burning red hair. A set dominated by pure piano accompaniment, the twinkling crushed notes of Siren follows before flooring the crowd with Cooling.

Bouncing from old to new, _ Concertina_ is played with perfect command – her hands divided between piano and keyboard on opposite sides. When the first notes of Horses are heard, this reviewer is deafened by crowd response, as the venue seems built to carry sound forward as well as backwards. The song’s mesmerising simplicity could have ended the night there, but thankfully it didn’t.

The jaunty, jazz hall Mary Jane lightens the moods temporarily before we’re all faced with the image of how it would feel to have a Playboy Mommy before being submerged in the world of the Beekeeper.

Ten studio albums provide a lot of material to draw from and hidden gem Upside Down rounds out the main set.

Amos’ vocal delivery, which has been flawless all night, seems to have taken its toll, as a longer set list had been planned. She provides us a single encore consisting of Silent All These Years, and the bumble bee piano tinkle floats over the crowd. Proof that even the adorable little chanteuse is fallible; lyrics escape her momentarily, to everyone’s amusement and her own. Not even this could detract from the outstanding performance as everyone in the auditorium is lifted to their feet at its close.

With prickly, goose fleshed arms, we’re left thinking of her next tour already, evident by the audience’s cries of come back soon Tori. Yes, please do…