REVIEWS:

"Okay, I'm going to come up here (as she walks toward the front of the stage) to see you guys better, no no! This is too weird, I'm gonna go back over here." -Fiona, to the crowd

So what if she "didn't know what to say?" As she bounced across the stage, hopping up and down nervously, I really didn't care. She looked happy to be there, she looked ready to put on her show, and she did it with flare. Opening with "On The Bound," I was totally shocked and amazed at the intensity in her voice, which is an experience you can't get by listening to the album. Chills went down my spine as she belted out "You're all I need..." with passion practically oozing from her pores. Okay, sounds pretty exaggerated? NO. No way. She continued with "To Your Love," and got up from the piano to speak to us. She began by dedicating the show to Phillip Seymour Hoffman ("Only the BEST actor in the world") who incidentally was born and raised in Rochester, NY. On with "Criminal," and then "Limp." If you want to see some furious dancing and flailing, wait till you see this. Even with her arms and hair swinging in opposite directions, anyone can tell the girl is a natural dancer. She then proceeded to pick on Kathie Lee Gifford, who made an appearance on the David Letterman Show ("Did any of you hear that song she sang? What the fuck was that?! That's all I have to say.") and she got some chuckles out of my Mom! 
She returned to her piano to play "Paper Bag," where she swayed back and forth to the musical interlude at the end. Some asshole in the front row decided he would give her the "what-for" when she announced that she "didn't know what the fuck" she was doing, by telling her "Well Fiona, you HAVE a STAGE." She responded by saying "Fuckin' A, I know!" I think everyone was shocked when she went into the opening chords of "Sullen Girl," and there were a few moist eyes after that one. "Love Ridden" was next, with Fiona, alone and illuminated by different colored stage lights.
After "Love Ridden," Fiona was still quite nervous and excited. She was at a loss for words, and this must have frustrated her because she slid off of the piano bench and onto the floor on her belly, and slithered toward the audience. She returned back to play "Get Gone," which got some cheers from a group of college girls near me who must've felt some kindred spirit with that song, and then "The Way Things Are". Onto the stage! She got up to sing a smashing "Sleep To Dream," followed by "Carrion." All the while she is jumping up and down, or furiously flailing limbs (which I presume by now she must be double-jointed.) She walked back to the piano quite silently to play a somber "I Know," with most of the lights dimming and white lights around the piano lighting up. Props to Keith Lowe for the very tasteful upright bass!

Back to the mic, she announces halfway that she's "makin' mistakes all the time, and most of them start with my mouth." Of course, "A Mistake," followed by "Fast As You Can," dancing around like a contortionist. This ends her set, and she walks off stage with her band only to return to the standing ovation to sing "Just One Of Those Things," and then "When I'm Kissing My Love." This ending brings another standing ovation, and the night is a success.  By the way, I did buy a t-shirt, it is short sleeved and white, with a black graphic of Fiona putting the match out in her mouth. 
Thank you Fiona, and thank you to Fiona's band for an awesome night!

wow, just saturday i saw Fi at the eastman theater in rochester. Fucking intense show. Jurassic five opened, and even though it was the first time I had heard from them, they were really good. They played for about a have hour, and then they announced fiona was coming up after their last song. Fiona arrived to the stage with an awesome applause. She opened with on the bound. God I think I cr**med myself because Not only is fi hot, she is the most interesting, talented artist around lately. she had to deal with some technical problems a half hour into her show and boy the facial expressions were flying !!! She was amazing!!! I think I clapped the hardest I could for any artist I had seen. When she started criminal she had changed the rhythm and the way she annunciated redeem. god I could go on for hours. My eyes didn't leave the stage, and the way the lighting was set up I could have gone blind. I was in the fifth row and there was this blue light that beamed at my forehead through most of the set, but I could care less. Fiona seemed to be happy through out most of the night, with the exception of her mic's going off and on. She swore a lot. god damn it was a great show!! She 'didn't have much to say except sometimes she feels like saying what she wanted to and it gets her in trouble and that someone's mom had sent her a basket of flowers. She thrashed around a lot (damn that was awesome) and laughed. she finally ended the show (boo, hoo) and came back for an encore of 2 unfamiliar songs.  I practically mugged the guy selling t-shirts afterwards because I couldn't find any tour merchandise. I got me a shirt though. rock on!

First, I have to tell you about the setting, The Eastman
Theater is a place built in the 1920's by George Eastman, founder of Kodak, for the students at his Eastman School of Music, and later the University of Rochester.  There is a main floor, a mezzanine and a Grand Balcony.  The farthest seat from the stage is about 100 yards at a 45 degree angle. A very intimate setting.  

Fiona came out with her band leading, as they each picked up their instruments she sat down at the piano to thunderous applause and cheers. Her first song was "On the Bound", and let me tell you she rocked it.  Her vocals were so strong I was blown away.  I could see her playing the piano and swaying from side to side. Her second song was "your all I need", and again a very strong vocal. Her band was well mixed and the sound was pretty even, although there were a few times when the Organ overpowered.  The addition of the Vibraphone to her band is such a cool thing. The higher resonance of the instrument was a perfect compliment to the Piano.  Her third song was "Criminal" for which she came out from behind the piano and stood right at the mic.  It was hard to tell that this wasn't a recording because the musicians had the licks down pat.  I have no words that properly describe My enjoyment of her dancing, the abandon with which she throws herself into it a sight to behold.  I had to laugh a couple times  though, She seemed to forget the smallness of her stage and she backed into the drummers monitor and stumbled, more than once throughout the night. She finally actually talked to the audience  after her third song, She showed herself to be a very cool and very enjoyable person.  She related to us the story of how she received a gift basket from the Mother of actor Phillip Seymour Hoffman, on her arrival in Rochester, and she took that chance to dedicate the entire show to him.  I will not continue song by song, But I will pick out a few that stand out in my mind.  My personal favorite "Sleep to Dream" was played at some point in the evening and the strength that she put into the song was  the perfect blend of
sass and authority.  When she sat down at the piano and started the intro for "Paper Bag" I was happy in the extreme, I love that song and whenever she was at the keyboard  the other guy was at the Vibraphone. After this show I just can't imagine her playing a set without one.  I was also noticed how her drummer would shift back and forth between using brushes and sticks.  This is something that alot of drummers try to do and very few pull off well. Hers did.  I also enjoyed the one time when her bass player switched off to his stand-up bass. A great change that I think would work well in a few other places. a very underused instrument that would fit very well into her slower music.  All in all her subtle fusion of Jazz and Blues, made for a very special show.  Her antics between songs were especially fun, at one point she threw herself off her piano bench and swam across the stage toward the audience.  At times she would claim to have messed up some particular part of the music or song and she would beat herself up, then she would just remind herself that she had not alot to say so she would just jump right into her next number.  At one point an audience member was trying to tell her something and she didn't understand him, so she asked him to repeat himself twice, when she still didn't get it she joked that she could keep him busy the rest of the night by just  saying "Huh?". The crowd found it just as funny as she did.  The encore was probably the biggest surprise of the evening, and I won't give it away, but I sure did enjoy it.

My friend and I drove down to the Rochester, NY show (Feb.26th) from Ottawa, Canada.  We definitely weren't disappointed!!!  Fiona is so amazing & put on an incredible show.  >From the start of "On the Bound" I knew we were in for a great night (personal highlights -- "sullen girl" & "a mistake").  I actually met her briefly after the show & have been gleefully mentioning that to every single person I come into contact with since...  FIONA rocks!  I can't wait to see her again.  It would be great if she'd come to Canada, though. (P.S.  thanks to this website for listing the tour dates, without which I would never have known about the Rochester show!)

Fiona's show at the Eastman Theatre in Rochester was amazing. I originally had seats in the 15th row, but managed to sneak my way up to the 8th row where there were empty seats. At the start of the show, Fiona came out on stage jumping up and down energetically. She sat down at her piano and began her first song, which was "On The Bound." The intensity of her vocals on this peice was amazing. It just drew you right in and made you anxious to discover what song would be next. The concert as a whole was very impressive. She performed her newer songs, from the album "When The Pawn", as well as some older ones, such as the hits "Sleep To Dream" and "Criminal." For me, the best part of the concert was when she performed one of my favorites "Limp." During this number she energetically danced all around, freely swinging her arms and jumping up and down. After the show was over, I wasn't ready to leave yet. I knew that I had to meet her and give her the beaded necklace that I had made for her. I walked around the back of the theatre where I discovered her tour bus. I knew that this would be the place where I would meet her because I figured she had to get on the bus sometime. I was prepared to wait as long as it took because after all she is my all time favorite artist (well except for Janis Joplin of course). Sure enough, after about 20 min. of waiting, she came out of the theatre. She stood among the crowd and signed autographs and talked with us for awhile. She was very nice and I wasn't dissapointed at all. She was everything that I thought she would be. I gave her the beaded necklace that I had made and I was very excited to see her put it on. They looked really groovy on her, beads go so well with her vibe. All in all, to wrap up this review, the whole night was absolutly amazing. I have been listening to Fiona's music scince 1997 and she is such an inspiration to me that being able to meet her was very long-awaited and memorable. This show was so much more amazing to me than the first time I saw her in 1997 at the Auditorium Theatre in Rochester because of the fact that I got to meet her. Its not everyday that you meet someone that you admire as a singer, as a songwriter and as a person.

From,
Jessica

Jessica & Fiona

i sat there...in complete awe, telling myself over and over...this is going to be absolutely amazing. i waited on the edge of my seat, not knowing where to keep my hands or what to say when someone asked me a question...i was too nervous and excited. so i just sat, wondering what she would look like, what she would sing, what she would say...

the lights dimmed and then it became completely dark...the screams and excited cheers began to erupt from the many seats...i just sat, wide eyed and waiting. my hands began to hurt, i didn't realize how long and hard i'd been clapping, but i didn't care...she would be coming out momentarily and i would see her, and hear her...oh, just to hear her was going to be wonderful.

colorful lights started to glow across the stage...i saw figures of men walking out and picking up guitars and walking around. then, she came out...just as lively as i had seen her on t.v. i wasn't that close, but close enough to see her huge smile planted on her face. she sat down at her piano and began to play and began to sing...i just watched, and listened. i became in a trance that i thought i could never come back out of. she was so beautiful...she sang with so much heart and so much soul. she finished her first song and after that...i knew i was going to remember this night for 
the rest of my life.

the rest of the night...i don't think the smile on my face left once. even when she sang her songs that had always made me cry, the smile never left. how could i frown? how could i be upset when she was there? i couldn't. the tears that started to fill up in my eyes were not tears of sorrow or of sadness...they were tears of joy...to be there and to be seeing her.

everything she said that night, no matter how ridiculous, will always stick in my head. how she made fun of kathy lee on letterman...and how she said fuck constantly....and how she just laughed and acted like herself...that will never escape my mind.

that night...seeing her perform, gave me even more respect for her than i had already had. she sang every song just so beautifully...she danced so freely...she said whatever she wanted...she was so carefree. she was herself.

everyone seems to have a certain experience happen in their life that opens their eyes and gives them somewhat of a new perspective on things. she has always given me a new outlook on life...and being able to be in the same room as this person, has given me more happiness than i will ever be able to thank her for.