Walking out at the Manchester Apollo to a standing ovation, Tori Amos needn't have been in any doubt just how much this city adores her. That adoration is swiftly repaid with a night of eclectic and electric music from a truly unique artist.
We see instantly the fire in her belly - brought out with the show's searing opening track of Juarez with its plaintive wail to the murdered women of Mexico, with a bright red backdrop to drum home the intense injustice of those victims through the voice of the desert.
The American singer-songwriter, based mostly in Cornwall these days, is finally back on tour after successive lockdowns that have undoubtedly been tough for an artist who thrives on live performance. But we have lockdown to thank for her sixteenth studio album, Ocean to Ocean, using her personal lows for a creative high.
