Fiona Apple, who is on tour in support of her 4th studio album “The Idler Wheel…,” enjoyed a stop at the beautiful Kleinhans Music Hall in Buffalo, NY, this past Tuesday night. Apple is currently under siege in the press over her recent arrest for possession of marijuana; however that didn’t appear to dampen her mood as she delivered an hour and half set that was comprised of a heavy dose of material from her latest release.
Apple is one artist you cannot pigeon hole into one genre, as nothing fits her exactly. Indie, experimental, jazz, pianist, rock all can describe her eclectic sound, as she continues to keep that hippie/gypsy image on the exterior. She ran onstage and opened up with the appropriate “Fast as You Can,” from 1999’s “When the Pawn…” Her band was tight the entire night with the drummer using brushes on the track “Get Gone” and her bassist using a stand up bass on “Periphery,” “I Know” and “Every Single Night.” Even Apple got into the act, pounding on the tom tom drum at the end of “Daredevil.” Apple also tickled the ivories on a few tracks including “On the Bound,” “Shadowboxer,” “Get Gone” and “Not About Love.”
Vocally, the sullen songstress varied her range on many tracks but shined on “Periphery” especially. She didn’t say much at all throughout except when she dedicated “Tymps (the Sick in the Head Song)” to a guy in the audience named “Eric.” She remarked, “This is dedicated to you- in a good way not a bad way,” before going into the song. The rockabilly “Left Alone” was another highlight in the set. Even though Apple only pulled in a half full audience at Kleinhans, the fans who did show up really let her know, in between breaks and pauses, their appreciation for making Buffalo one of her stops on the tour. Although she didn’t acknowledge them directly, she let the music do the talking for her instead. I think the fans were happy with her answers all night long!
Set List:
Fast as You Can
On the Bound
Shadowboxer
Paper Bag
Anything We Want
Get Gone
Periphery
Sleep to Dream
Extraordinary Machine
Werewolf
Left Alone
I Know
Tymps (the Sick in the Head Song)
Every Single Night
Daredevil
Not About Love
It’s Only Make Believe (Conway Twitty cover)
We would like to thank Mike Montoro from Kleinhans for the review tickets and Taylor Vaughn from Epic Records for the photo pass.
