Firstly, Tori Amos is an artist I have long enjoyed - ever since Helen introduced me to her when we were about 18 I think! She is entirely mad though - her lyrics will show you that if her pronunciation of same does not. She has been touted as the inspiration for Neil Gaiman's Delirium, and I can well believe it. 
I went with Jason, who, upon my demand for 'Steak!' took me to a lovely adult pub in the wilds of London called the Andover Arms, a cracking good place with a lovely atmosphere and very helpful staff (I will admit to at first miss-reading the name and thinking 'why on earth would anyone call a pub the handover?!?' but decided not to mention this to J who already has an evil sense of humour regarding my use of the English language!). After steak was had (I always get a rush of energy from red meat, sorely needed after the three and a half hour train ride from Plymouth!), Jason expounded his theory on pub goodness, which goes somewhere along the lines of "The excellence of a public house is inversely related to it's distance from the nearest source of mass transportation; the further away it is from said hub, the better it will be." which I think is very true.
Anyway, Tori was to be found at the Apollo Stadium. She played a good mix of her old and new pieces. I didn't recognise a couple of tunes, but the rest were well known and I enjoyed the way she re-interpreted her own songs. The concert started a little slow, but after a solo stint (including Mr. Zebra!) the energy picked up and by the end, the stage had a swarm of fans squished between the stage and first row of seats trying to get close to her. 'Precious Things' and 'Little Amsterdam' were highlights for me as well as the staple 'Cornflake Girl' which she absolutely rocked. I thoroughly enjoyed the evening.
Hairspray on the other hand was a completely different kettle of fish if I can mix my metaphors. Hillary and I went for a girls night out, and excluding the overwhelming heat of the theatre and the phenomenal line for the ladies, it was a really enjoyable night. 
In fact, I haven't laughed so much in a musical since I saw 'The Producers' - I was crying from laughter at one point! The parents of the protagonist, Tracy, sing a love duet called 'Timeless to Me'. Tracy's mother, Edna, is played by a man, so the set-up is already ripe for many sniggers. However the father on our night was played by the understudy, Nigel Planer being absent for whatever reason, and this guy either flubbed a line, or exaggerated a gesture, and caused the both of them to spend most of the number trying not to laugh, and for some reason there is absolutely nothing funnier than an actor in a funny situation snorting to suppress laughter. I had stitches!
The storyline to the show is slightly different to the movie version too, all to the good in my opinion. Two new musical numbers made the show fresh for me, and the energy of the dancers was incredible - I was tired just watching them! I won't tell you the story here - you'll just have to find out for yourselves!
All in all, it was a very enjoyable, if very exhausting, weekend away.
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