REVIEWS:

San Francisco Chronicle - 3.24.00

OK, there are still more Led Zep connections. Because it was a general admission show, I went inside early, and one of the songs played over the PA was "Tangerine" by Led Zep: great song. Also, Keith or Lucky, I forget who, plays another Led Zed riff during the band intros. (I forget which song)

J5 gets their props from the crowd, FINALLY! As you will see, the San Fran crowd was the BEST crowd on the west coast, and maybe the best crowd of the whole tour. J5 played off the crowd, and really rapped things up (last show with Fi). Good lucks J5: I'm sure you're on you way, "without a doubt".

On the Bound: I am standing in the 2nd "row", right in front of the piona. Fiona enters stage left, to a thunderous crowd, and the show really begins: .."You're all I need, wowa wowa..all I need...," and she's really belting it out tonight. The crowd is singing along, and toward the end Fi's head is swaying side to side, and the song is going for the ride.

To Your Love: Fi is screaming, "MY DERRING-DO ALLOWS ME TO dance the rigadoon Around you, BUT BY THE TIME I'M CLOSE TO YOU, I lose..." The crowd is loving it, and at the end of the song, Fiona comments that the crowds have become quieter and quieter as the tour went on, but that we're "fucking remarkable".

Criminal: Now she REALLY becomes a bad, bad girl. Towards the end of the song, someone from the audience hands her a top: up to this point Fi is wear her blue top, but now she has a black top with large red prints in hand: Lucky starts charming the muse, but the muse runs, exit stage right. Uh oh! Where'd she go? The song ends, and Fiona is NOWHERE in site. At least not my site. Fiona bounds back on stage, and she's now wearing the black and red top. She will spend the next few songs fiddling with the ear piece cord, but it was well worth it. Darn it Fi, couldn't you've given us a *little* peak ;)

Limp: A crowd favorite, everyone is singing along, as Fi screams "So call me crazy, hold me down..", and again she holds onto the piona during Matt's solo, trying to stay grounded.

Sullen Girl: Beautifully done, and the crowd quiets just a little bit for this one, singing along, and Lucky bends the end beautifully again.

Paper Bag: I love the syncopation at the beginning, and again everyone is singing along. The best part was when a half dozen girls, almost right behind me, yelled in unison, "BUT HE WAS JUST A LITTLE BOY!" Lucky sits and plays.

Get Gone: This song is gets the best reaction from the crowd. "Shit about me." and "Fuckin-go" are again yelled by the crowd, and Fi can barely sit in her seat. Crowd Fav.

Love Ridden: What can I say? Everyone is singing along, and people are not the only appreciative ones. Four "bugs" are flying above Fiona's head: apparently they like what they hear, and they are playing an innocent game of "tag, you're it", and dancing along. I watched the bugs as Fiona mused, kissing the mic as she sang.

Sleep To Dream: ..BY YOUR DEVIANT WAYS! Very strong, but at the end..ACK!   Where'd she go again? Oh, she's back and Fi and Lucky express themselves again, with Lucky wailing away, and Fi dancing wildly away.

Carrion: Beautifully sung by Fi, and Lucky really accents the song in all the right places.

The Way Things Are: Now this one is funny. Fiona has, up to this point, done very well, and she continues to do THIS ENTIRE SONG very well. One "oopps": After she sings her inevitable question, "How can I fight beside you?", she skips over "So keep on calling me names, keep on, keep on.",  and starts singing "And I'll keep kicking the crap till it's gone."! I think this was the mistake: I'm not positive, but I think I'm close. 

Fiona: I bet you *1 BILLION DOLLARS* you couldn't TRY to make that mistake again. And PLEASE, PLEASE keep on making more mistakes. We all  love ya for it.

I Know: Christmas lights go on, and Fiona confirms with Keith what's what. Fiona is REALLY feeling this one tonight. She expresses a little touch of "collision" on this one: you could see it in her face and hear it in her voice. Still beautiful.

A Mistake: No mistakes here. Lucky is wailing again, Fiona confessing that she's "no good at math", and at the end she is screaming like some  
punk girl, "WHY WHY WHY!"

Fast As You Can: I think at this point, as the crowd has been so great tonight: singing, and really getting into the show, Fi tells everyone how great they've been. She says that she thought she would have to tell the crowd some BS story about how this was a "Home Town" show, but she didn't have to BS us tonight. Now Fiona is getting lots of presents: white wings, a painting, more bracelets (which she has been putting on all night). She also gets a multicolored toy DUCK, which lights up different colors, and whose head looks like it may spin around. *quack* Just as the song begins, she gets another white pin flower or something: she goes to put it on the piona, but *whoops* she needs to sing, so she darts back to the mic. One more time and *whoops* she needs to sing again. Now she just pins it to her skirt.

Just One of Those Things was again well done, and Kissing My Love rocked again. The band really got into the last one, with Lucky and Keith  playing off each other. Lucky even pushed Keith around a bit.  This show was certainly different then Seattle and Portland, but I think people were more into it because we were STANDING, instead of sitting. I think everyone in Seattle and Portland actually appreciated the shows more than Fi thought: they just were more quiet during the songs, but the love was there after the musing was over.

BTW, I was REALLY close to Fi all night, and she looked in marvelous health. I saw her only *squirt squirt* a few times during the whole show.  And OMG, her *nose* is so cute up close. *smootch* Tim

PS: I was too close: I did not receive one of the posters they handed out at the end of the night to a few hundred people. By the time I left the hall, they were all taken. I looked at the poster: a strange and haunting drawing: the symbolism was WAY over my head, but one of the "muses" had a mask for sure: as I remember it, one muse was taking off the mask. There was a castle on the left, and the muses seemed to be walking of a chess board. Please explain.

Hello Dave and Nan! The concert last night was great. Fiona was so amazing  in her performance, and you can tell that she has strengthened and matured  as an artist since her early days (not to say that "Tidal" shows weren't  awesome! But I sense more confidence in her performing now). It was neat  to see her take some "creative liberty" in songs like Mistake, Carrion, and  Fast As You Can....not sounding just like the album, but adding in certain  nuances that really bring out the emotion behind each song.

Nalini, Raffi, and a few of us got to meet Fiona briefly before the show, no thanks to a NASTY security guard from the Warfield who treated us like vermin. It was cool to talk to her for even a second...did I say talk to her? I mean stammer! I just gave her a letter and she remembered who I was, so that was cool! I got to hang out with Bobby a crew member before the show too, he was really really nice. We went to a guitar shop and he bought Fiona a harmonica, he said he wants her to learn some more blues!  After the show he told me she liked it and said she'd give it a try on her break. Hmmm!

Because I had been at the venue basically all day, I got primo "seats" for the show - standing about a foot from Fiona right at the center microphone!  Too cool. Jurassic 5 was incredible! By far the best opener I've seen for  her. It's nice to have an opening act that really gets you excited, not 
someone you have to endure through. The crowd was wiiiiilllld and going crazy for them!

More about the concert: This is coming from a girl who has seen seven Tori Amos shows....I have NEVER seen an artist bombarded with gifts as Fiona was  at the Warfield in San Francisco last night!!! It was cool! Right after  Criminal someone threw a pretty tank top with what appeared to be red apples on it. She ran offstage and came back out with it on! Bracelets, ducks, beautiful feathered wings, and a good-sized (and beautifully painted) watercolor painting all made their way onstage, including about 3 bouquets of flowers and at least a score of letters.

As Tim said in his review before, the crowd was crazy-wild. I was getting kind of annoyed sometimes, because some of the softer moments of songs were marred by teeny-bopper kind of screams. I'm all for screaming, but just in appropriate slots...I mean, I'm there for the music, ya know?

It looked like she was going to speak a few times, but gifts were constantly being handed to her, so she spent all her free time between songs collecting them and putting them on the piano. She seemed genuinely touched by all the love, though, and she seemed to be having a lot of fun.

After the show, some girl bumrushed the stage to nab a setlist, and was promptly scolded and escorted offstage. What is the deal with setlists, people? I about got elbowed in the face for the one in front of me. I think I'm going to start printing up fake ones on my computer and auctioning them off on Ebay.

After the show there were about 20 people waiting for autographs, she came out and signed every last one. She is soooo nice! Paul Thomas Anderson was there but people generally left him alone. I got to ask him the one thing I've always wanted to know - What's the deal with the song Dreams Can Come True? In the movie and on the soundtrack it always makes me laugh. He said "I dunno, I just think it's a really funny song." And I said Me too! :)

Fiona is the greatest ever, and I hope to catch her again some time soon. I'm kind of hoping for a calmer show though, just so I can hear her a little better. And Nalini, Raffi, Charlie, Ben, Osh (sp?), Krystelle, Bobby...if you read this, you all made my day so much fun! I arrived by myself, but after that I was never alone! I'm feelin' the love.

p.s. Katie, you were so cute, I'm so glad you got to meet her, and the wings were so great.

Stefanie & Quannah
pictures courtesy of Stefanie

From Stefanie:

Never been to a show, and most definitely have never been to a show of my number one-enjoyed artist and personal inspiration.  I knew it would be too much for me to handle...and it was :P My friend and I got to San Fran around 2, walked by the Warfield and peaked in and then grabbed dinner at a nice little cafe-thang near Market.  We raced back to the Warfield around 5:45 and there was already a huge line. So we got in line quickly and stood there until around 7:05, as the city lights brightened and the sky dimmed and we received the varied entertainment of the passer-bys and the few people desperate to get a ticket.  We went in...they confiscated my camera (of course), so i had to deal with that.  Then we raced to the stage.  We were right in front, but there were about two people in front of me...I could still touch the stage.  We met some guy named Dave who shared his favorite songs with me and I did as well.  It was very odd (and special) to be around so many other fiona-adorers, since I am the only true fan I know personally.  Tangerine by Led Zeppelin played and I almost died right there...I have a huge obsession with them, Dave and I discussed this and he shared his experiences with Zeppelin fans back in the 60's.  The theater was amazing: very small, very intimate, the balcony was above us and we were on the floor.  There were gothic golds and reds all around and beautiful paintings all over the ceilings.  A guy next to us (didnt catch his name) pulled out this huge frame with a painting in it.  I would call it a cross between surrealism and impressionism because there was a lot of color and symbolism (and of course Fiona) It was gorgeous and obviously took a long time (40 hours he said).  He also had more....we made sure Fiona got this.  I also met the girl who gave Fiona a vegan cookbook (Catherine I believe?) She was amazed when I told I read about it a couple years ago in the NIAP website :)

Jurassic Five comes out and the crowd (at the least us front people) were going crazy for them.  I appreciated their message and the way they worked together.  I dug it all.  Some people were smoking pot near us and the guys were loving it....

And then, o yes, Fiona comes out.  And I almost die right there.  Honestly, after that the whole night is a blur.  It was very surreal and dream-like....I had a need to pinch myself, but was too enthralled to do so.  The highlights were Limp, Sullen Girl was wonderful, and I ADORED the harder version of Carrion she played.  O my god wonderful.  The best, I would have to say, was Mistake.  She went crazy...her whole body violently moving with it as she screamed "ALWAYS DOING WHAT I THINK I SHOULD...." That's what I wanted to see.  She bounced out and when she came up to the microphone....she looked up and was over-awed by the amount of people there and the energy we were giving her...her response: a "fuck" and quick glance away.  She then sniffed the marijuana-ridden air a few times and shook her head at the crowd.  It made me giggle. Someone handed her a black tank top and she looked at her for awhile then darted off stage....3 minutes later she came back wearing it.  I tossed my letter up to her wrapped with all my rubber bracelets I had on...she immediately took them off and put them on and wore them the rest of the show.  I died right there.  A friend of the artist gave her a duck, which she used to introduce the band...which was also done like a song.  We gave them all the recognition they deserved. 

I was honestly almost moved to tears during the first part of the show...I was in awe.  We couldn't see her behind the piano...but we saw her feet and some shadows, which was quite enough for me.   We passed the art work to her and she stood there amazed and peering into the crowd to see who it was from.  We all pointed and lifted the guy and she asked if she could keep it...he couldn't hear her though...I informed him of everything she said afterwards.  I promised myself I wouldn't sing...but I got way into it.  Thankfully :) The encores were great...I don't remember much, it was all a haze.  So, the guy we met earlier gave us some clues about how to meet her afterwards.  So after the show...I dealt with the coat check crew to get my camera back, bought some shirts, and headed to the back.  I took some pictures and the guys went crazy, so we had to move.  An hour later we were allowed back and they told us to make a single-file line and not to make her nervous.  So we all stood at attention and made sure that everyone stayed civil.  I met her and told her about the letter and that the bracelets were from me..."Oh! I got them" she said.  I died for the third time that night.  She was in a hurry so I didn't ask for a picture and she signed my WTP picture and she quickly left. Paul was over there waiting for her.  It was all very relaxed.  But I felt like a 13 year old Beatle's fan the entire night.  It all went so much better than I could have ever expected.  I would have been fully content standing in the back and just hearing her....the rest was not necessary....but I'm so happy how well it all went....I couldn't have asked for more.  Wow...what a self-completing experience....love you fiona!!!!!!!

Stefanie Ehman

This is probably one of the longest review you'll ever get.  So, if you don't want to read a long review, don't read this.  But if you do, hopefully it'll give you a better perspective on her performance (This is especially for you die-hard fanatics).  = )  Enjoy!

We're waiting on Market St., the largest street in downtown San
Francisco.  It's 6:30 p.m. and we're last in line, two-thirds down the block.  The Warfield Theater is on our right, where large black letters spell Fiona Apple, with Jurassic Five named underneath.  Humorously, on the right is a "Gentleman's Club," where two large men are waiting outside. While in line, several homeless people approach us trying to sell newspapers and collect donations.  However, it doesn't look like many of us are donating.  Perhaps, it's something we have been accustomed to, living up here in the Bay Area, or maybe we're just saving up our cash for the concert.  Everyone's tightly holding onto their valuable tickets away from scalpers, knowing that the show is sold out. 

Finally, 7p.m. strolls by and the line is slowly moving.  We are approached by an extremely thorough bag check and body search.  No cameras, no food, no recorders.  Like many other fans, we are sent downstairs to check in our cameras and other articles for a 75 cent per item fee.  Bitchy ladies, handling the coat check, yell at the guests because they cannot handle the stress.  Not impressive so far.  Hopefully, this isn't representative of the rest of the event.

Back upstairs, they're selling Fiona Apple and Jurassic 5 shirts.
There are black Tidal t-shirts, white When the Pawn... t-shirts, long-sleeve shirts, and tanks imprinted with Fiona's famous flaming match-in-the-mouth picture, and blue and yellow J5 t-shirts; all sell from about 25 to 32 dollars.  Meanwhile, workers pass out free demo tapes for the rap/hip-hop group Jurassic 5.

In the theater area, people enjoy food and alcoholic beverages. Two levels of standing floor area remain unfilled until just before the performance.  Upstairs is a seated area, typical of a traditional theater. Overall, the theater is pretty small.

It's 8 o'clock.  Jurassic 5 comes out.  They impress their audience with their 4 member rapping and 2 DJ's simultaneously scratching in the background.  The crowd joins them with their performance, screaming their requested "hell-yeah's" and "Jurassic Five's."  In the end, there's a wonderful cheer when Jurassic 5 tells the audience to thank Fiona for letting them join her tour.  It is the last day of their tour.

Five minute break-  In preparation for Fiona, a man meticulously
dusts off the piano, fixes a tissue box, which is hidden in the corner of the piano, and places a throat-spray on top of the piano.  Others prepare the surrounding instruments and microphones.

Finally, the lights dim, and Fiona comes running on stage.  The
crowd screams wildly.  She quickly starts the first song "On the Bound" on the piano.  A mug of tea steams from the top of the piano.  Deep blue, red, and green lights take turns warming the vast screen behind the band.  The bass from the speakers pounds on your chest.  At the same time the crowd cheers at every chance given.  She continues with the next song, "To Your Love," where the same colored-lights pick up pace and sends people into spells of emotion.   At the end of the song, she approaches the microphone excitedly, commenting on how her band was betting on the crowd to be fairly unenthusiastic, as they have noticed that the crowds seem to get more and more quiet moving westward from New York.  But the Californians disproved their theory.  The crowd responds by screaming in pride.  Someone from the crowd hands her a gift.  It's a black shiny nylon tank top with red round blotches.  She takes a look at it, as the first notes of "Criminal" begin. The crowd goes ecstatic when they realize that it's one of the biggest hits from Tidal.  In the middle of the song, Fiona runs to the side of the stage, and comes back with her new tank top on.  Awesome!

During many songs, the crowd joins in singing to familiar lines.  In one instance, during the song "Paper Bag," some fans shout with their fists in the air, "I thought he was a man, but he was just a little boy!"  However, during the melancholy songs "Sullen Girl" and "Love Ridden," where you'd expect the crowd to quiet down in respect, some people scream "I-love-you's," seeking attention from the performer.  Meanwhile, a fan amuses the crowd when she yells out "No, don't you cry now!" in response to the line "But I cry instead" in "Love Ridden."  During other songs like "Fast as You Can," people on the floor bounce up and down as they join Fiona dancing.

All the songs are absolutely beautiful.  Her voice ranges from high to very deeply pitched tones and from soft peeps of sound to her more distinguished, thundering screams.  The emotion you feel during the live concert comes out stronger than anything you can ever feel from her album; the power and emotion is overwhelming.  In "Love Ridden," it almost sounds like there is a point when Fiona is on the brink of crying.  Different colored lights project her shadow across the statues lining the side wall of the theater.  You can tell she sings from the depth of her heart, pulling out her strongest and longest notes when she bends to the floor scrounging the last bits of air from her lungs.  She also adds variations to her music that are different from the CD.  There are more tone changes, lengthened musical sequences, and others.  Yet, these changes remain within the scope of the song, never misplaced or over-exaggerated; they only make the songs that much more remarkable.

At one point, with her arms flailing, Fiona hits her bassist.  She quickly motions to him in apology, while he smiles back in humor.  Other times while dancing, she moves to the side in respect for members of her band as they play their little solos.

Before Fiona introduces her band, she tells the audience about how they usually try to incorporate a "hometown" story to try to pep up the crowd.  But she says that this isn't necessary because the crowd is already very loud.  As if on cue, the crowd goes wild.  She continues quickly by introducing the band.

Of course, throughout the whole performance she receives many gifts such as flowers and letters.  In surprise (with a gaping mouth), she also receives a handmade framed drawing.  It portrays a girl (perhaps, Fiona) standing among natural scenery.  In addition, someone gives her a little plastic toy duck, which flashes different colored lights from its body. Fiona acts hyperactively and almost childishly as she expresses her excitement toward it.

The performance ends with "Fast as You Can" as Fiona waves bye to the crowd.  The crowd claps and cheers loudly and then starts stomping on the ground in unison until she finally returns for her encore.  She sings an upbeat jazzy oldie, "Just One of Those Things, " a song written by Cole Porter.   Then, the band returns on stage to join Fiona for the groovy "Kissing My Love," written by Bill Withers.  The audience responds well to both as they dance to the tunes.  Fiona then says her final goodbyes, thanking the audience "so-so much." 

Through this concert, Fiona reveals her extremely sweet nature.  She cares about everyone: the audience, her band, etc.  She is not the girl  you'd expect her to be after listening to her angry-sounding songs.  At the same time, she exposes her "normalness" as a person; she forgets and makes mistakes.  For instance, when would you ever see a professional performer
looking at a folded piece of paper during a concert as if checking the song list?  When would you see a performer start to speak over the microphone and then say "nevermind" in error.  It was quite cute of her. 

This concert was absolutely magnificent.  Do not miss it!!!  Personally, one revelation I made was that her dancing is not as strange as I thought. It's really quite artistic and fits well with the music.  At times, she'll move her arms in fluid, flowing motions just as a modern dancer might.  I am just amazed by her talent on the piano, singing, and overall artistry. In addition, I realized that her yell/scream-singing is not always about being mad.  Once I listened more carefully to her lyrics and see her corresponding facial expressions, I noticed that she's not necessarily angry when she sings that way.  It is just part of her style.

So, despite the annoying bitches working at the Warfield and some of the annoying crowd, A+!  The only regret, in regards to Fiona's performance itself, was that it wasn't longer and that she didn't spend more time talking to the audience (although I understand how sometimes a person can feel like they have nothing to say).

Casey Chan
kcchan@uclink4.berkeley.edu

I went to the San Francisco show at the Warfield and I must say that it was an amazing experience. I live by San Bernardino (Fontana) and my friend and I drove all the way out there to see her. She got 2 speeding tickets on the way up there because we were so exited to see Fi!

She was fantastic! I never imagined it to be that good. I was hoping that it would be that good because I spent $204 for the tickets! Let me just add that it was worth it. Our seats were on the lower balcony and I could see Fiona so well, better than I thought.

The whole show was great but what I remember most is when she played Love Ridden. I luv that song so much and I felt what she felt, she sang it that emotionally. I cried and cried and...you get the point. I also like Paper Bag a lot and Get Gone. I love when she sang, "Fuckin' go!". The only thing I didn't like, even though she said we were a good audience, I felt a lot of people weren't giving enough respect to her during the piano solos - and I want to hear Fiona's beautiful voice, NOT everyone else's. But luckily enough, Fiona had the power to reach into my soul and touch me, despite the audience's rudeness.

I have a newfound respect for that woman. She is an exceptional performer and she is just the cutest thing since the teddy bear. I am looking forward to seeing her perform again on her next tour.

I bought a WTP T-shirt and really wanted a tour book but she didn't have any.  And my friend and I wanted a concert poster but we went out the wrong exit apparently, so we tried to go back in to see if we could get back in line to get one, but the guy at the door was yelling at us and everyone else who was trying to do the same. He screamed "Get back! Move back! No! Go away!" it was horrible. But at least I got a T-shirt. That whole night was breathtaking. Fiona, San Francisco, the Warfield...

Fiona Apple - Warfield 3.22.00
Picture sent by Melissa

I JUST LOVE HER SOOOO MUCH!

Ok, I know your suppose to go to concerts to have fun and be crazy but sometimes you really just need to shut up.  I was ecstatic about seeing and hearing Fiona live for the first time.  What I heard Wednesday night was not Fiona it was hundreds of off key voices singing Fiona's songs.  I hate to be mean but it was driving me crazy, I really really wanted to hear Fiona and a number of times all I could here were the voices of two very loud girls beside me.  Slow quiet songs turned out to be opportunities for crazed fans to shout out, "We love you Fiona," over and over again.  One of my favorite songs is Sullen Girl and I couldn't even hear it.  Maybe that's what I get for being in the front, but please, some consideration would be nice.  The best part of the whole show turned out to be the encore because no one knew the songs so they couldn't sing along.  It was cool that the audience showed such a good response but a couple of breaks would have been cool.  If I ever become amazingly rich the first thing I'm doing is hiring Fiona for a private concert.  All and all I really enjoyed the show, they played Led Zeppelin and The Staple Singers over the speakers before the show which is a good thing.  Please don't think I'm the biggest bitch in the world, it's just that as a fellow musician I really really wanted to be able to hear the music.  Anyhow what I heard of Fiona was great, and I guess that's really all that matters.  By the way this is one of the best websites I've ever come across.