Upper Darby, PA - 
MAY 23.00

Set list:

 1. On the Bound
 2. To Your Love
 3. Criminal
 4. Limp
 5. Sullen Girl
 6. Paper Bag
 7. Get Gone
 8. Love Ridden
 9. Sleep To Dream
10. Carrion
11. The Way Things Are
12. I Know
13. A Mistake
14. Fast As You Can

Encore

15. Just One of Those Things (written by Cole Porter)
16. Kissing My Love (written by Bill Withers)

 

 

REVIEWS

 

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!
  Truly,
           Jon

shadowboxer@erols.com

 

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.

   On to Fiona, though.

   Fi was wonderful as always. I got the chance to meet her before the show and she was so accommodating to all those people, even though she was late. I love that woman...she didn't get mad even when some girl started screaming and jumping up and down on her. She just smiled and signed an autograph. She was really great about it. When she came on, she went through the most amazing show. She improvised on a lot of the songs, giving them a new twist, with so much passion. I couldn't help but cry during Sullen Girl, and I was shaking with emotion the whole time she sang. I know this sounds ridiculous, but I don't care. I really felt like I connected with her that night, I truly felt all those words she was singing more than I ever had before. It was just so amazing. During the show, she was bombarded with gifts at one point, and I ran up and gave her my kitty necklace. It was my favorite, but I think she'll like it just as much.

    When she sang Carrion, she fucking ripped it up. I mean my God. It was so fucking awesome. I don't mean to be vulgar, but it was amazing. She changed around the melody a bit, and it just fit so well...the air was thick with emotion, she was down on her knees at the end singing her heart out. All those girls that go up on VH1 Divas Live and sing...ha. They have nothing on the way Fiona can do a song. They might be able to hit incredibly high notes or whatever, but the emotion and the way it comes out is just incomparable. I dont know if that will offend anyone, but I'm sorry. That's what I think. Whitney or whoever couldn't move me like Fiona can.

    I noticed she was having problems with her ear monitor (it kept falling out, and it must have been really annoying), and Keith kept saying he couldn't hear, and Fiona was motioning that she couldn't hear much either. I heard Keith later saying that his bass amp blew, so I guess that why he couldn't hear himself. Fiona was a little upset towards the end, and was distressed (I only saw this cause I was right at the stage), but whether or not she could hear...it was alright, cause she was amazing. I know it sucks if you can't hear yourself when you're singing, but she just blew the roof off the place. It was just incredible. She was passionate, into it, and sang her heart out. I yelled up to her at the end, "Fiona, you were fucking awesome!! Don't worry!" and she looked at me, squeezed my hand and smiled a sincere thank you at me. I know I'm only one person, but I hope it make her feel better about it. She really was amazing. I wish I could go every night and listen to her. Just amazing.

   By the way, in response to Jon, reviewer number one...I heard that distinctive "wooooo" as well. It was so annoying...I wonder if there was a whole lot of true fans on the floor, cause they all kept getting up to get drinks. It was really aggravating. If you go to see a concert, get drinks before the show. Not during it. Don't  yell all through the songs, particularly the quiet ones, just listen. And that was the Philly show! Some of the audience members were idiots, but it didn't detract from Fi. And that's what mattered the most.

Thanks for listening.

Andrea
phoebefiona@aol.com

 

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!)

Let's skip to after the show, since someone already wrote a review on the performance itself,... I MET THE BAND!  Well, sorta. After the show, me, my friend Jackie and my friend Maureen went to the side of Tower Theater and stood outside in the on and off rain for about an hour waiting for Fi to come out. Matt came out first and everyone was talking to him and getting his autograph and then the rest of the band came out and I got their autographs also. They're just really nice. Fiona finally came out just as it had started pouring and she was getting annoyed with all the camera flashes cause she couldn't see with the rain and all the people when she was trying to sign things, which I can understand. Everyone was acting ridiculous as she came out, after all she's only another person, give her some space!  I wanted to tell her about the Treasure Book and how I had sent in a picture and a little letter, but I knew I didn't have a chance to with all the immature people,... so I stood back and just held out my Tidal cd cover for her to sign waiting until she got a chance. She finally signed it and completed the signatures of the band.

Thanks, Fiona, for a really great show.

~Melissa Mariner~
XLustBunnyX@aol.com

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!!!!

-Lisa