It's Okay To Love Tori Amos Bubala! She Is A Goddess

Friday night, we went to see Tori Amos perform at Constitution Hall in DC. I have had a long standing love of Tori since Little Earthquakes in 1992. Since then, I've managed to catch her at least twice on every tour around DC or Baltimore. Like with most of my musical heroes, once I met Bubala, he ended coming along for the ride. I'm not as fanatical about Tori as with some of the others that I follow, but I'm still dedicated. I know that she has her hardcore fans that go to all of the shows and she also has a VERY GAY audience. Most of them are women, but there are still lots of us gay guys too. We all know that Tori was sent here from other spiritual worlds to make us all cry our fucking hearts out. Luckily it's dark at concerts.

Now, I was fine with just seeing her once on this tour. It has been a BIG concert year with 4 Blackfield, 7 Porcupine Tree and 7 Rush shows under our belt. After the Tori show was over, I was looking at the list of other shows she had played and looking at the set lists from those shows when Bubala walked in and said, if she is playing different songs at other shows, then "Why didn't we go to more shows?" I mentioned the above, but almost instantly, he had seized the computer from me and was searching to see what other shows we could go to. The only close one that we could do was in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, October 30th. So, after a quick search for tickets, we scored a pair about 20 rows back in the center which is fine because most folks sit at Tori shows.



We did a little more searching and found out that the show we just bought tickets for is actually a Halloween show and that Tori and the crew want everyone to dress up. Hmmmmm... the thought of 3,000 Tori fans dressed up like little fairies flashed before our eyes. I thought, "Oh how cute!" and what a special show it would be where she could bring out some scary songs. So, with that in mind, I started thinking of scary Tori songs... Digital Ghost, Blood Roses, Rattlesnakes, Happy Phantom... and then it hit me! Father Lucifer! So, I decided to be Father Lucifer and wear a devil costume. Perfect.

Now, with me taken care of, what about Bubala? If you know much about Tori, you'd know that she is a minister's daughter so there are a whole lot of Christian themes in her music. So, Bubala saw a priest outfit and I thought, "That's perfect! The devil and the priest!" We could even walk around holding hands. Maybe we could even get a bible and paste a bunch of pictures of Tori on the pages like the one where a pig is suckling her breast. And I can also get Father Bubala to play with my tail in public.

At any rate, Bubala pulled a fast one on me with regards to Tori Amos once more. I think he is really a closet Tori fan. It's okay to love Tori Amos, Bubala. She is a goddess after all. Here are some other Tori related fast ones that Bubala has pulled on me over the years.

1. In 1996, he got me all kinds of Tori posters and flats from Tower records where we worked.
2. In 1998, Tori was doing a small warm up gig with a full band. She did a small exclusive show at 9:30 Club. Tickets were real hard to get. Bubala made a phone call, and we were put on the guest list.
3. In 2002, while already having tickets to a show, he bought me a another ticket that was a whole lot closer to the stage and surprised me with it that night.
4. In 2005, Tori did an in-store Book and CD signing in Georgetown. On the day of the in-store, you had to go to the store when they opened at 10AM, buy the new Tori CD, get a wrist band, then come back and line up for the signing which was at 4pm. I had to work so, disappointedly, I just forgot about it. Then, I get a call from Bubala who went to Georgetown, got a wrist band and told me I had to leave work early to go meet Tori Amos. Then, he drove all the way back to DC again and we lined up and I met her. She signed my CD and my book, but no pictures were allowed. She gave me another new nickname. She called me "Sparkle Steve" because she said that I sparkled. She also gave me a big hug and Bubala got a big wave when I pointed him out to her as my husband.
5. 2005 - See #3. Only this time, the ticket was 4th row center and during the encores I ran up right against the stage.
6. 2007 - A Tori Amos Halloween costume party show on Liberty Avenue in Pittsburgh of all places. I guess we'll stop by the Liberty diner and say hi to Debbie. Then, we'll run into Emmett and Michael at the show. (Yeah. I know that Queer As Folk was actually filmed in Canada. I'm pretending!) This has got to be just about the gayest thing we have ever done.

Don't I have the greatest husband ever?

Don't you wish that everyone could have one?