Tori sparks would-be hipster’s dilemma
Sometimes, I really hate being a pseudo-hipster. First of all, it means I am simply not cool enough to be a full-on, unadulterated hipster. Maybe I’m too in touch with my bourgeois roots. I try to be ironic all the time but sometimes, compassion just overcomes me. As for Sri Lankan singing sensation M.I.A. and filmmaker Gus Van Sant, two hipster icons of the moment, I just can’t stomach them.
But I am hipster enough to feel ashamed when I derive pleasure from something unabashedly mainstream. Hence my current dilemma. Last weekend, I went to a Tori Amos concert.
Now Tori is not as anti-hipster as other artists I listened to in high school. This was not Dave Matthews. Or Hootie. Thank goodness it wasn’t Hootie. Tori often gets lumped in the Birkenstock-wearing, armpit-hair-clad Lilith Fair crowd. But while a hipster may have savored Sarah McLachlan, Paula Cole and their peers in their prime, all these girls get today is a cold shoulder for becoming too commercial.
Consider, for a moment, the difficulty I had finding a concert-going buddy. When I asked one of my hipster friends to join me, she rolled her eyes, took a drag of her Parliament Light, rolled up the sleeves of her American Apparel sweatshirt and offered a simple “No.”
While the process of finding someone to go with was arduous and at times discouraging, I finally found a pal, someone who has an unbridled adoration for all things Tori.
At the concert, which was held at the pristine and swanky Hobby Center for the Performing Arts downtown, I was able to witness the whole thing through my friend’s un-jaded, and entirely un-hipster, lens. The crowd loved he opening act, the Los Angeles-based The Ditty Bops. Although a little too cute for my tastes, they provided enthusiasm and commendable instrumental talent.
When Tori took the stage, I realized the error of my pseudo-hipster ways. Over the course of her impressively lengthy set and multiple encores, I was transported back to a time where I admired Tori for her songwriting and piano skills as well as her remarkably extensive discography.
In addition to playing old favorites like “Winter” and “Happy Phantom” off of Little Earthquakes and “Baker Baker” and from Under the Pink, Tori played several songs from her latest album, The Beekeeper. And while these newer offerings paled in comparison to the old stuff, there really is nothing like seeing Tori stretch and contort, ambitiously playing two facing pianos at once.
Now, a great concert behind me, I do still fear a little stigma. The act of a pseudo-hipster going to a Tori Amos concert is one thing. But the act of a pseudo-hipster enjoying it so highly? Well, that’s another matter entirely.
Jonathan Schumann is a Baker College senior and arts and entertainment editor.
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