Fiona Apple:2012 tour review

Some fans may be a little sore at Fiona, but not for being anything less than brilliant . The time she takes the construct each album is worth every minute, even if it means waiting a little longer for the live interpretation. If there is anything negative to say about a live Fiona Apple show, it's that you can't see it more than once in a 5 year cycle.  Fiona's last appearance to Orlando in the beginning of October was absolutely no different. She, and her back up band, were both clearly in control of the room. There was a live drummer, a bassist, a guitarist, and a piano player towards the back of the stage. There also was a piano for Fiona to sit down at as well, closer to the front of the stage. She did her fair share of piano playing, but some songs both old and new consisted of Fiona taking center stage and focusing solely on her singing (if only to sit back down at the end of the song and jam on the piano to transition into the next song).

The set list was compiled of songs from all of her albums. The show started, with material from "When the pawn...", and led into some newer material before heading back to "Extraordinary Machine". Songs off of "Tidal" also took shape in the live setting, and adhered to the album versions for the most part, with the exception that the feeling Fiona gets across in a live setting is so much less restricting than the studio. There's no way to really describe it without being there and hearing everything technically flawless about her style mixed with the raw emotion of where she is at that point and time.

During the "When the pawn..." songs were set in motion though, they really took a steeper dive into the concept of "jam out", stretching the songs out with different arrangements and solos. Slight live treats ad variations not heard on the original recording came right to the front of the mix. The drummer really took some liberties in songs like "Fast as you can", and from Fiona's junior release, "Not about love". This song in particular took on a much more transformative deviation from the album's original sound.  The drums, and the timings most notably were tweaked. In the hook "This is not about love, because I am not in love, in fact I can't stop falling out", the shifts to drastically slower tempos were expertly crafted and highly exaggerated in the live setting. Especially since the part leading up to the hook and following it both have a much faster pace.  This is timing that is experimented with in a lot of styles of music; the thunderous tom work and barrage of stringed instruments really changed this cynical, yet gentle, song into a very aggressive borderline heavy metal kind of a song.

So will it take Fiona another 5 years to make a brilliant album and come to town? Probably, so...but it doesn't really matter if the end result of both an album release and a tour is complete and total perfection.

I will not be providing any pictures or video for this performance. No photography or video was allowed. Signs were posted at the ticket office, the point of entry, the bars, the merchandise table, and on the video screens for 40 minutes before the performance.  I respected this rule (if only because it was posted absolutely everywhere),  others who were perhaps a little braver than I were escorted out by Hard Rock Staff... and what's worse, not allowed back in to see the show. So let this be a lesson, if the signs says no pictures, it really means no pictures. The rules are not different for you because of this one memory you have about this one song this one time in your life that you just absolutely have to have video for; if signs are posted that say "Don't take pictures or we'll escort you out", they undoubtedly will.

Fiona Apple
Extraordinary Machine

I certainly haven't been shopping for any new shoes
-And-
I certainly haven't been spreading myself around
I still only travel by foot and by foot, it's a slow climb,
But I'm good at being uncomfortable, so
I can't stop changing all the time

I notice that my opponent is always on the go
-And-
Won't go slow, so's not to focus, and I notice
He'll hitch a ride with any guide, as long as
They go fast from whence he came
- But he's no good at being uncomfortable, so
He can't stop staying exactly the same

If there was a better way to go then it would find me
I can't help it, the road just rolls out behind me
Be kind to me, or treat me mean
I'll make the most of it, I'm an extraordinary machine

I seem to you to seek a new disaster every day
You deem me due to clean my view and be at peace and lay
I mean to prove I mean to move in my own way, and say,
I've been getting along for long before you came into the play

I am the baby of the family, it happens, so
- Everybody cares and wears the sheeps' clothes
While they chaperone
Curious, you looking down your nose at me, while you appease
- Courteous, to try and help - but let me set your
Mind at ease

(Chorus)

-Do I so worry you, you need to hurry to my side?
-It's very kind
But it's to no avail; I don't want the bail
I promise you, everything will be just fine

If there was a better way to go then it would find me
I can't help it, the road just rolls out behind me
Be kind to me, or treat me mean
I'll make the most of it, I'm an extraordinary machine