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REVIEWS
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From Jon:
Hi again, Jon Here. I just got back from the 5/23 Upper Darby show. Though not even 1/3 as Far as Knoxville, the Drive up there from DC sucked. Not only was it the rain, but the gridlock that popped up between every city and exchange was rough, and Pennsylvania.....ok don't want to hurt anyone's pride for their state...nevermind. Anyways - The show, once again was pulled off without flaw and was a plethora of musical talent. Not I nor anyone near me knew who she was, and I don't think she told us, (she said her guitarists name) but this girl opened up for Fiona, the best way I can describe it was, very Folked out with a very traditional female singer (reminded me very slightly of Tori Amos) and a solo rhythm guitarist. They were both not bad at all. There were no Eels this time. Fiona came on and they started with On
The Bound. The entire set list was identical, in fact Fiona told us
that she is not the kind who likes to do songs on the fly and that she
was going to stick to the set list even though she had been here
before. There were many marked differences between the show I saw here
and the one in Knoxville, TN. She talked to us, alot. She Paused and
accepted scores of gifts to the stage...Dammit I didn't have time to
even buy me a Red Rose and I was at the front.....She told us a little
about the Japan tour and used a few Japanese words. Another plus to me
was i had about the 5th row back, which after you take to factor the
other 5 rows that only special people can get.....Those American
Express people probably..... it was still real close though and I saw
alot better than the TN show. I was lucky enough to be in an Isle
where about 6 people never showed (the rest of the theater was packed,
these were closer to center) and I took one of those seats well before
the rest were mobbed. All the songs were done with such extra passion,
but those two songs at the end! Wow, especially Kissing My Love, she
just radiates and shines in that song, showing she was born for Jazz.
After seeing that twice I really believe she could do a full album of
nothing but true Jazz and it would be sensational. This time though
the audience was very slack. There was one guy though, any of you
there will remember -he had a very distinctive "Woooooooo".
The audience was well behaved, but one thing that stuck out and
everyone got a laugh out of was when she was in the middle of a tender
part of "I Know", she stopped the piano, looked dead at
these people making alot of racket and then picked up the beat where
she left off. It was funny :-P as can be and very cute. I was quite
giddy at my complimentary reprieves, I pulled it off twice, first when
she introduces the band I got a hair raising scream off in the dead
silence when she was about to Say "Keith Lowe". So hopefully
he knows another bassist appreciates his grooves, and during one of
the songs there was a part they faded and then picked up again
abruptly.....and I knew this because of the last show! So right then I
got off a "Yeeeoow" so sharp and timed with the silence so
well (sound carried very well in this theater it had superb acoustics)
it drew smiling glances from all of the people seated near me. Luckily
none of those came off rudely...I'm real careful about that. In last
song and the 2 encores everyone rushed to the front and the drums were
so good (especially Kissing My Love!) that I went nuts and had a party
with the beat and the Wah-Wah pedal sounds of Lucky's guitar. People
around me this time really thought I was on crack, but the rest of the
show was too still and I had to show my true colors! In the end I was
so fulfilled that I didn't feel the need to go celebrity hunting, nor
would I know where, so I just went out to the car in the nice cool
night and returned. So until Fi returns again that filled in any
missing pieces from the last show, and just felt damn good!
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From
Andrea:
I have to tell someone how incredible
this show was last night. I feel better about this show than I did
about the Boston one. That's pretty good, cause the Boston one was
just incredible. I was able to sit far closer this time, 6th row to be
exact. Lauren Hart was the girl who opened, and she's got an
interesting story that goes with her. She goes through a lot, she
works hard. Her father was the announcer for the Philadelphia Flyers,
and he died this past year or so. She's got heart, strength. I
remember watching her go up and sing at his funeral with no problem.
She did a great job tonight.
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From Melissa: Well this was the first Fiona Apple
concert I've ever been too and it was great. The set list was great,
the performance was great, the covers were great, everything was just
what I would have liked it to be. Besides our seats (we had like 20th
row, which wasn't TOO bad but it wasn't what I'd have liked it to be!) |
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From Lisa: Well, i was very excited
to be seeing Fiona again in my hometown. I got to the venue around
4:30, and what perfect timing, just across the street there had been a
five-alarm fire. So that made things rather hectic, with roads being
blocked off, etc. I stood with some other people waiting for Fiona to
arrive. First most of the band arrived in the tour bus around 5:30
maybe. Fiona wasn't with them, but a little later a nice car pulled up
with Fi and Paul in it. Yea!!! She immediately came over to us, and
started signing things and patiently took pics. This was very cool
because she needed to go in and do sound check, but she chatted with
us for a bit before she left. I finally got her to sign "When The
Pawn..." Paul was standing across the street, letting
Fiona do her thing. I shouted to him " Hey Paul, Magnolia was
fuckin' awesome!" He looked over and smiled, so that was cool.
One of the firemen from across the street came over and asked Fiona to
sign his helmet, and she looked really flattered and said
"Sure." Then Fiona and Paul went in, and all of us kinda
just hung around outside. Keith, being the sweetie that he is, came
out after they had dinner and brought us some brownies to munch on..
Thanks!! Then Fi and Paul came back out but headed right onto the bus.
My friend and I waited until the opening act started, to see if we'd
get to talk with her again, but unfortunately she didn't come out in
time. So we went and got our seats. Our tickets were for row 5 center,
but we moved up to the second row.. Very very cool!!!! The set list
winded up being the same, but that was totally fine since it kicks ass
anyway. And she apologized for this, but the audience just yelled back
all kinds of supportive things. I'll just skip to the end since most
of us know the nuances that go along with each song. But i do have to
say that i am loving the improv she does with most of the songs now.
It really shows her confidence, and ability to vary things.
"Carrion" is amazing live, and just keeps getting better.
Also, in "A Mistake" I love love love when she is screaming
"Why, why why...Doing what i think i should!!!!!!!"
There is so much passion, it's awesome!! Since it's become
a tradition, after she introduced the band, we rushed the stage to be
giddy with her for "Fast As You Can." This song is just so
much fun because she's in to it, the band's in to it, and so is the
audience. After that she took all the presents people handed her,
including myself, she ran off stage, and we screamed for the encore.
She returned and did the Cole Porter song, and by this point, we were
hanging all over the stage, so she kinda moved the mic stand back. It
was probably a little scary having us so close and all. Then the band
came back out and finished with "Kissing My Love." This is
another song that sounds wonderful when Fiona plays around with it at
the end. She ad-libs, etc. Before she left the stage for good, she
shook about a millions people's hands. I had never seen her so
intimate with the audience before. You could tell that she was fun,
and that she enjoyed being out there, so that was great. This was my
fourth show, and honest to God, they keep getting better. Thanks,
Fiona, for coming back to Philly, and for always making me smile!!!! |
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