Wow... It must have been an even more shocking experience to see it live! This video clip gives me the chills, so just the thought of seeing it live leaves me speechless...

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"Excuse me, but can I be you for a while? My dog won't bite if you sit real still"

I was at that show, which was in a smaller, more intimate venue, standing a few "rows" back, a little to the right of center. When I first heard "5 a.m." with the band playing, I thought wtf is she doing? Experiencing it live was absolutely riveting, I was speechless. From my position, I saw the knife between her legs as a profile, and it was chilling to see the knife resemble a penis, as a weapon. I'll never forget that performance.

She so crazy.

so emotional, so strong, so expressive.......sooooo powerful
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***freeee your imagination***

if you can see the star...
you can reach the star...
it is not far...
it shines inside of you...

I wouldn't have known what to expect if I had seen the gun when I went to the SLC concert.

As she sang out a broken holy, hooly, it really put what the song was about into play.

Wow, I'm not exactly shocked, but it was very powerful. If it strikes us this hard just watching a video clip, imagine seeing her perform it live...

She is one of the most courageous artists around, and I give her massive props for putting herself out there like that, and writing such personal music and putting so much true emotion into her performances. I used to dance, and we did a jazz piece once in high school where we used knives as props...it's a strong statement, and definitely can be shocking...but it's also the one dance people would talk about a year or so after. It's a powerful song, and what she did with her performance definitely matches it and has a lasting affect. I honestly have a hard time listening to this song, not because I was ever in a similar situation (thankfully), but because it's something that happens to women every single day...and it's terrifying. It makes me sick that Tori had to experience something so awful, and that many other women have and still will go through something like this...so it can be a hard song to swallow...but that is probably the point...like her performance.

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"Now I know the things I know, and I do the things I do; and if you do not like me so, to hell, my love, with you!"--Dorothy Parker

It is a good thing that those in the front row were behaving. Pip might have jumped down off the stage and kicked someone in the pants. LOL. I mean, she stopped and through out those two girls and I've seen and heard her stop before and let someone have it for being a jerk.

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"Cut it again!"
- Tori...

I must say, I haven't watched this performance even once more after I saw it the first time and posted it here... But it is still as clear to me as if I've just seen it, this performance made a big impression on me! It seems to me that Tori has really been able to connect with Pip, and for me to see Tori standing up there, truly revealing her anger as Pip, that's just impressive... I respect that woman so much!!

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"Excuse me, but can I be you for a while? My dog won't bite if you sit real still"

I'm not in the least shocked because rape is something horrible that I think Tori Amos brought her anger and emotion into the character of Pip and Pip is the most angry out of the other dolls. And her anger was real.

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"Where has our dial intersected these last few minutes?"
- Nola

oh my god. *gulp* wow. i didn't breathe through the entire video. sheesh. tori is a godess.

I'm a little confused..
and shocked in the same time..

cant say what I'm thinking now....

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Maybe they were cheering for her survival. Maybe they were cheering her empowerment. Maybe they were cheering simply to let Tori know how much they love her and were glad to be in her presence. I certainly don't think they were cheering for violence... and I wonder how it would have affected her if everyone's jaw just dropped to the floor with total silence.

No, I think the people who cheered were not cheering for Tori's rapist or meaning any disrespect. If you were upset by that, I guess you'll just have to work through it.

Had I been there, I'm sure I would have stood speechless to the end of the song. But that is me... What others do to show their admiration is their business not ours. And it certainly doesn't merit judging them as disrespectful. Honestly, we've seen disrespectful (BTK_2, Not_David_Bowie, magicmonkeyfla, etc.) and cheering at a concert hardly meets that criteria.

"It's just a thought, you don't have to agree with it!"
-Malique

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"Cut it again!"
- Tori...

This performance left me absolutely awe-struck. I truly believe that Tori is the master of self expression. This song when performed live always had an feeling of sadness and pain to it, and while the sadness and pain are definitely still underlying there, I think she brought to the surface the angrier and more destructive part of going from victim to survivor.

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"...twilight held us in her palms"
-Tori Amos [Gold Dust]

Agreed.

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The sexiest thing is trust.

Kalimba, you're right. I DIDN'T blame all of the ewf in the audience for the cheers. Of course not all would have done that, I understand.
But the simple fact there were any though, still rather upset me. Why cheer for violence? They cheered when she picked up a knife and held it to herself, for god's sake!!! This is not sport, it is a woman baring her soul for us. I think she deserves more respect than that.

Luna, If you want to nitpick, she didn't. She did say "some members". I stand corrected but why focus on that???

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The sexiest thing is trust.

who said that cloudonmytongue blames ALL?...
probably, they were the people who didn't know Tori's biography. I do hope so. Can't believe that a fan knowing about the rape could cheer during this performance. Honestly, I'm happy she didn't try such performance in Warsaw, where I saw her in June. I couldn't take it, that's just... too painful. I cried watching it on youtube. Enough.

Hey Cloud, Don't blame ALL of us in the audience for the cheers. I am sure there were many who didn't know the song as intimately as most of the folks on this forum. They were probably not ewf's or toriphiles. There were some of us who couldn't even speak if we wanted to during the performance!
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The sexiest thing is trust.

Part of Tori's incredible appeal is her ability to open her soul and show those who choose to listen and watch, some of the most personal aspects of her self. This performance is truly amazing, and the goosebumps sprang up on my arm within a few seconds of her beginning to sing. It was such a very powerful statement, and totally within Pip's character.
The only thing about this that upset me was the audience. I know that making noise is the only way for an audience to let the performer know what they think, but the fact that some members of this audience actually CHEERED when she picked up the gun and put it to her head really upset me. Violence is something I will never condone, and I know that what Tori was doing here was not condoning violence either. She was letting us into MAAG in a way that you don't get with the vulnerable, broken version that is on LE, into the side of a rape victim that wants to sink to the level of their attacker and wreak as much havoc on their lives as they did on their victim's.
And I don't think the dark character of this version would have come across without Matt and John playing. It wouldn't have sounded the same.

I saw this before tour, but had some technical issues with it. Finally got o see it, very errie.
Got me a little Pip in Clearwater, no gone, but plenty of anger........ Have some video fotage myself but I'm still trying to decode everything from my trip with some sense of order. Haven't made it to that show yet *gigglz*

--
Our treasure lies in the beehive of our knowledge. We are perpetually on the way thither, being by nature winged insects and honey gatherers of the mind". -Friedrich Nietzsche

Wow! That was the most powerful personal statement I've ever witnessed! I can see from the comments on here that all of us who know Tori's history on this went through the same emotions - how can she be so open? - will she hurt herself? - until you see what she does at the end and thats IT - that shows that the Ayastigi Ageeya has turned this completely around and gained power from it! I hope I can do the same thing with my life.

oh my God... I'm shocked. And she didn't act, did she? I guess that in the times we live, when every single emotion tends to be faked, it's unusual to show something as true as this. It wouldn't have made a difference if she'd just shown naked. I've never seen such a brave and passionate performance.

i loooooooooooove that clip....it's the only time me and a gun has brought tears to my eyes....i was at the plvip in lawrence and the guy who filmed it was there....he has a blog somewhere....i think you can find it on undented....i'm sooooooooo glad he caught that....she was really excited he caught it....Auntie A ( mr. jon's wife) said we all need to tell her how much we like it, because she needs to hear it.......but, alas, i forgot to tell her when i got up to her....just became a sobbing mess.....verbally vomited upon her....said i was sorry in omaha....lol...

she's a genius, that was beyond amazing!! raw, powerful, intense, suspenseful, tragic, honest, angry..... i love it!! pip is hard core!!
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Eat your greens.....Feed your head!!!

Pip is my FAVOURITE doll, when I met Tori I stupidly asked Tori to say hi to Pip for me, and lucky me, she came out as Pip for my show! She also did Me And A Gun as Tori, but it definately suits Pip! And the performance was AMAZING, I so wish I could have seen her do this live!

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TMI big guy.

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"Cut it again!"
- Tori...

no Tori has NEVER EVER played while doing MAAG. This was the first in Tori history!

I know this is just her a capella, but I didn't have the chance to see her perform it. Maybe after she was in europe. I don't know, I just wanted to say how "normal" it is to see Toris profile, and then suddenly en face!

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It's just a thought, you don't have to agree with it!

Malique - I don't think she ever plays when she does this live...perhaps I am wrong...has anyone ever seen Tori do Me and a Gun where she played while she sang? I can't even watch this all the way through right now, I'll have to do it when I have some time and space.

this interview is so great! i love the guy who interviews her (i think he is family ) and he asks good questions too. it's a diner when she was in australia. there is another interview with the same diner just search for ""tori amos australia 2007"

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STOP TORI BASHING!

Good stuff. I love to see her interviews. I wonder what that place is? It looks like a diner.

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"Cut it again!"
- Tori...

Well maybe the music stopped there, but Pip is different. Maybe it's her cover of Tori's Me and a Gun. In an Interview (I think here, not in Part one, at the end) she says that if she wouldn't be Tori and have a family, she would be Pip and track the woman trade criminals. Maybe this is the song for them, or just Pip's vision of the song. I think it's awesome!

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STOP TORI BASHING!

I really love Tori Amos's work and this although it didn' touch me the same way as the original did it's good in a diferent way.It's probably because i loved the concept behind the original idea that the music stoped that day she saw that kind of darkness.Now this idea is gone with the music added but maybe that's what it means.Now finally a certain kind of music has it's place even when looking back at those horiffic moments of her life indicating true healing.Just my 2 cents:)

Just the opposite. I think it shows that a victim does not have to stay in that state of being. You can chooses as Tori has, to move forward and let the pain strengthen you and be part of you. She grew from her pain. And they've said what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

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"Cut it again!"
- Tori...

Some people have said (on another thread) that they didn't like this coz it might send the wrong message to some victims. What does everyone here think?

shocking that she didn't play the piano/harpsichord/the other thing/ while she was singing, and the props! awesome!

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STOP TORI BASHING!

I thought this was shocking because I spent all five minutes being scared that Tori was going to accidentally cut herself or something like that. That together with the fact that this must have been very hard for Tori to perform, but she still did it, was both shocking and amazing to me!
Love, AH

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"Excuse me, but can I be you for a while? My dog won't bite if you sit real still"

AMAZING

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You have her face and her eyes but you are not her

this was f+++++g awesome, I hope we get her at the hard rock...

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Everybody knows if they walk into my life they’ll never know when they’ll end up in a song. If you walk into a room where I am, you’ll be in a mill – if you’re interesting. If I’m good, you won’t know it’s you.
Tori in an interview with Tonedeff

i got me some pip up here in new york but no "gun" i just want to know what camera was used to get this footage

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SHE'S MY COCAINE...HE DID IT RIGHT QUICKLY A MERCIFUL MAN...
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