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REVIEWS:
Photo courtesy of Laure`
From
Laure`:
The concert was at the Alabama
Theater in Birmingham, Alabama on Tuesday, April 11. It was supposed
to start at 8:00, but I got there about 6:15. I parked about a block
away, and walked to the theater. (Let me just say that I went by myself.
None of my friends like Fiona. What kind of friends are these?)
Anyway, there were only a few people waiting outside when I got there.
The security guys told me that they weren't taking tickets until 7:00.
So, naturally I had to go to the bathroom. I asked the security guys
where the closest bathroom was, and they said like 5 blocks away.
But, thankfully, one of the guys saw how badly I needed to go, and he said
he would escort me to the bathroom inside the theater. So, as I was
actually
going to the bathroom, I got to enjoy Fiona's soundcheck. That in
itself was pretty cool.
Anyway, 7:00 finally came, and they let us inside. The theater was
fairly small, but I had a good seat, 6 rows back dead center stage.
So, I just killed an hour before the Eels guy came on. I had never
heard him before , but he was really good. He ended at 8:40 and
Fiona finally came on at 9:00.
She sort of just skipped across the stage and started into "On the
Bound". There were only 2 people standing in front of the stage
then, so I just stayed in my seat and listened. She next played
"To Your Love" and "Criminal", and when
"Criminal" came on I ran upfront, where I was joined by just
about everyone else. But, I was right there, and it was great.
I was only like 10 feet away from her, and I was singing every word right
along with her. I know the people around me were pissed, but like I
cared.
She didn't say a whole lot during the concert except a lot of
"thank-you's", and she actually said, and I quote, "The
reason I'm not talking a lot is because I don't have anything interesting
to talk about." Which was okay with me, because she played a
blistering hour and a half's worth of music. She encored with the
same two songs she's done at the other shows, and then she gathered the
thrown roses and left.
After I was sure she wasn't coming back on I basically ran to my car to
get my camera. (They weren't allowed in the theater, and I was too chicken
to sneak one in. And, let me state here, that my goal for the night was to
get a picture with Fiona.) So, I went out to her big brown tour bus.
There were probably about 50 people in front of me waiting for a glimpse
or autograph or picture. But, it was okay, cause I was with my
people, and the security guys said that she was going to sign until she
got tired. But, they told us not to ask Fiona to have our pictures
taken with her. (I was a bit bummed, but still psyched.) So, while
the road people were loading up all the equipment, Fiona's drummer, Matt
Chamberlain, came out. Let me just say that I love him, because he
is also Tori Amos' drummer. Anyway, he was standing right next
to the bus door, and there were only 5 or so girls around him getting
autographs and pictures. So, I went over there and got a picture
taken with him, and I told him he was really good on Tori's Behind the
Music. He said
he hadn't seen it yet, and I told him that he should.
After he got on the bus, I found myself right in the front of the line. I
was practically leaning on the bus door. About 5 minutes passed and
Fiona came out. It was absolutely amazing. She was wearing
a long overcoat, and her hair was kind of sweaty looking. (She moved
around a lot on stage) Anyway, she was still beautiful, but not as
tall as I thought she was. She walked right over to where I was
standing, and I think there were about four other girls standing next to
me, that got to her first. I was standing no
more than 3 feet away in this semicircle around Fiona. Everyone was
saying "We love you Fiona, thank you for coming, you were great,
blah, blah, blah", you know the same old stuff. One girl gave
Fiona her e-mail address and said "please e-mail me", and Fiona
gave her a sort of 'yeah, right' look.
Fiona, however, was not saying anything back. But, she was signing
stuff. So, I gave her my When the Pawn cd cover and she signed it and I
told her ( and these were my exact words) "Fiona, Paul should have
won. We were all cheering for him" And she said (and
these were her exact words) "Oh, I know. Did you see his face
when he didn't win? It was like (and she gave a pissed-off, scrunched-up
face)" And I said "Yeah, I saw you two there".
During this whole little conversation she was looking me directly in the
eye. It was the strangest feeling, but I don't think I sounded
stupid. I wasn't even nervous. I kept thinking to myself 'Oh
my God! You're talking to Fiona Apple', and then I told myself 'remember
what she's saying'. Anyway, after that I heard one girl ask to shake
her hand, and she did, so then I stuck out my hand and FIONA APPLE SHOOK
MY HAND. It was amazing. I then stepped back, so other people
could get to her, but I took 2 pictures of her signing stuff, and I was
still within 5 feet of her. It was the coolest night of my life. She
only signed for a few more minutes and then got on the bus.
I talked to Fiona, shook her hand, got an autograph, and 2 pictures, and a
picture with Matt Chamberlain. I have never been so exhilarated in
my entire life. On the hour-long drive home I was playing When the
Pawn at full-volume and singing at the top of my lungs.
I will remember that night forever. Every now and then I have
moments where I will just blurt out 'Oh my God, I met Fiona'. It was
amazing. Fiona was very nice and amazing and down-to-earth, and I was
already a huge fan, but now she has a friend for life. Nothing like that
will probably ever happen to me again. FIONA ROCKS !!!!
I haven't got my film developed yet, but when I do I will scan them and
send them on over to you. Once again, I really love your site and
will be visiting it quite often. Keep up the good work!
-Laure`
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