Tori Amos is soothing and compelling at UCLA

You didn’t have to be one of singer-songwriter Tori Amos’ adoring fans to be moved by the way she sang her sweetly poignant “The Beekeeper” toward the end of her sold-out show Monday at UCLA’s Royce Hall.

The title track of her latest album created a palpable sense of worry, perhaps, that one’s sleeping child won’t awake or one’s sick parent won’t recover, then vanquished it with a powerful feeling of reassurance.

In her diaphanous green goddess gown, Amos turned between organ and grand piano, often furiously fingering both at once. Her nearly two-hour show spanned her catalog, reaching all the way to the finding-my-voice ballad “Silent All These Years” from her 1992 debut, “Little Earthquakes.”

Back then, Amos’ most striking tunes were stark, angry and sarcastically witty, but “The Beekeeper” offers lusher, more serene pop, accented with trip-hop and gentle funk.

Still, the collection addresses complex issues, such as the role of women in creating the Christian church. But if the point of “Original Sinsuality” was clear, listeners could take what they wanted from the struggle with unwanted change in “Parasol.”

Her eccentric vocal phrasings and modulations might annoy the less-devoted listener despite her beautifully expressive singing, and an interlude that continued her tradition of covering pop tunes (including an over-the-top take on Bon Jovi’s “Living on a Prayer”) seemed halfhearted. But mostly the set was soothing and compelling enough to satisfy even an occasional visitor to Tori’s world.