Opening the Tori Amos concert Tuesday night, Willie Porter brought his acoustic world to the CYStephens stage.

Promoting his band’s CDDog Eared Dream, Porter proceeded to wow the audience with his vocal talents and musical ability.

Extremely versatile on the acoustic guitar, Porter performed a myriad of both originals and covers generating a heated response from the crowd.

Porter’s humor and stage antics proved that audience size can be undaunting, and he succeeded in giving a little more than can be expected from an opening act.

Leaving the stage with a standing ovation from the audience, Porter stood on his own, preparing the crowd for an great evening of music.

Not tailoring herself to any creative boundaries set by major-label big-wigs, Tori Amos and her new CD, Boys for Pele are on tour in search of an audience niche based on understanding and acceptance. While performing at CY Stephens Tuesday night, that niche was found.

Pushing the musical envelope virtually into the laps of the audience, Amos attacked those listeners attending the show with an almost wanting caress of voice, piano and severe body language.

Adding the effects of a film screen and twinkle lights, Amos brightened up her somewhat morbid every-relationship-sucks theme with happier scenes of swimming minnows, jelly beans and (happy?) early century aircraft.

With the audience then in her pocket, Amos took a flight of her own in a world far from the audience’s point of view. Songs such as the poppy “Cornflake Girl” contrasted the richer and more melodic version of REM’s “Losing My Religion.”

Amos never lost sight of the crowd attending the sold-out show, telling brief anecdotes at her leisure and bringing a more personal view to the somewhat newer sound of her music.

Although the creative boundaries have been stretched since her previous albums, Amos has found herself pounding against the ears of her fans looking for understanding in a pop-centered world.

While some fans may have returned to see and hear Amos based on her last performance here, many were presented with a new Tori Amos, revived with the same energy, yet seasoned with new experiences and a fresh outlook.

Good or bad, old or new, normal or strange, seeing Amos live is an experience in itself and should not be missed.