“I didn’t want it to end. I could have watched her for another 5 hours”
“It’s like being a fly on the wall”
“I’ve been to thousands of concerts in my lifetime and that was definitely among my Top 10”
“I’m going to need therapy to overcome this! I don’t know if I can ever feel this good again!”
The sounds of people expressing their appreciation as they filed out of the beautiful venue that is Largo echoed the voices in my head. Three of the top 5 shows I’ve seen this year have been Fiona Apple playing at Largo, on three different occasions.
As I experienced Fiona’s brilliant performance again tonight, I began to wonder: “Maybe those old-school record label execs are smarter than we’re giving them credit for – maybe they’re happy when Fiona Apple keeps a low profile, so that she doesn’t raise the bar beyond their reach.” That would be an intelligent strategy because Fiona Apple truly does just that.
Not only is her voice impeccable, her presence engaging, and her performance magnificent, she also seems to have a visible, direct connection to the universe. Apple is tuned-in to the environment, the present moment, the surrounding sounds and feelings. Throughout the show, Fiona seemed to be precisely responding to silent prayers of audience requests, having telepathic conversations with the musicians on stage, answering unspoken questions, and connecting with everyone individually, on a unique and profound level. Calling it a “performance” does a great disservice as well because that insinuates it’s “put on.” As it happens, Fiona Apple doesn’t “put on” a performance. She is the song. They’re inseparable beings.
There’s something about Fiona Apple’s perspective, the way she engages with everyone and everything, that shows you the undeniable connection between all beings. As the drum she played was carefully carried off-stage, Fiona gently placed the drumsticks on the head of the drum, smiled, and gave them a little pat. She didn’t say “thank you,” but that’s what was expressed. Little distinction is made between sentient and non-sentient beings. The common denominator is vibration: the language of music.
I know there’s more you want to know – all those questions you’ve had all these years, but this is all you need to know.
I dare you to see Fiona Apple at Largo. It will spoil you.
One lucky Rock Is A Girl’s Best Friend reader will win a pair of tickets to see The Felice Brothers at The Satellite in Los Angeles on October 28, 2011. Here’s what you need to know to enter:
The contest begins now and ends at 11:59pm EST October 27, 2011
You will see there are several ways you can enterand you can get additional entries for each thing you choose to do. You can follow us, tweet about us, like us on Facebook, and more. ENTER NOW
Winner (1) will be selected by random.org and notified via email on the morning of October 28, 2011. Winner will have 5 hours to respond before a new winner is selected
Your tickets will be available for pick up at Will Call at The Satellite on the evening of the show. Please bring photo ID.
You must be 21+ to attend this event
Transportation and accommodations not included
About The Felice Brothers:
The Felice Brothers
“…what separates The Felices’ mud-stomping folk from that of their peers is their no-winking honesty – the sense that these songs and the places and people they’re singing about aren’t literary devices but actual people doing their damnedest to rage against the growing darkness.” – Filter Good Music Guide, 2009
Here’s what’s already known about The Felice Brothers: they are a close-knit band of two brothers and three longtime friends, all in their twenties. They are self-taught, not one of them played an instrument prior to the band’s inception in 2006 when they started busking in New York City subway stations. The Felice Brothers have released three full-length albums; their last, Yonder Is The Clock, on Team Love Records (2009). The majority of their work was recorded in a converted chicken coop in upstate New York near their hometown of Palenville. Esquire, Filter, The New York Times, NPR, Spin, Time Out New York, Uncut, and Under The Radar have praised them, among others. They are on virtually constant tour in the States and overseas, and have performed at festivals including Bonnaroo, All Points West, Outside Lands, Langerado, and the Philadelphia Folk Festival. Recognized for their live show, The Felice Brothers will play for their audience come hell or high water; the foremost example is their transcendent performance at the 2008 Newport Folk Festival, where they soldiered on, unplugged, in the rain, and barefoot in the mud after a lightning bolt shorted their stage’s power supply.
Here’s what might come as a surprise about The Felice Brothers: their new and fourth LP Celebration, Florida is an exhilarating amalgamation of frightening horn sections, unexpected 808s, ambient synth lines, schoolyard taunts, booming, primitive drum beats, heavy bass lines, piano, violin, accordion, ringing guitars, rave beats, and sinister acid jazz that captivates and mystifies. Recorded in the gymnasium and theater of Beacon, NY’s old high school, the band explores a multitude of sounds and instrumentation throughout the expansive album. It’s inspired, imaginative, heady, menacing, passionate, and rollicking. Most importantly, it’s as steadfastly authentic as ever, expanding upon the dark, woozy undercurrent of ramshackle barroom blues, vaudevillian atmospherics, and surreal storytelling of their previous albums. Under The Radar wrote in a review of Yonder Is The Clock that The Felice Brothers find “inspiration and freedom rather than constraints in the traditions of folk music.” Celebration, Florida revels in this inventive, outlaw spirit; it’s the sound of a band that knows its roots and knows where it’s growing. It’s a group who just might expand the definition of Americana music along the way.
Celebration, Florida casts scenes of dreamy characters and stories interwoven like a block of primetime TV. Among the tales: a young woman who sets off to find a secret paradise; a teenager who enters a boxing gym in Catskill, NY; a late night host recounting his rise to fame to his honeybee while traveling in a private jet; shady degenerates who get lost in a mystery concerning a Honda Civic; a young girl who crimps her hair and spies her dead father driving down the road; a Wall Street scandal hits a little too close to home; and even a trip through space to find long forgotten Hollywood parties and hopefully make it back there in time to walk down the red carpet.
The Satellite is one of the premiere music venues in Silverlake, located at: 1717 Silverlake Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90026
Pros: 2 bars, great view of the stage no matter where you’re standing, friendly staff, strong drinks. Did I mention 2 bars?
Cons: small. But that’s not a bad thing if you like intimate shows like I do. I’ve seen everyone from Zwan (Billy Corgan) to Foo Fighters to The Scissor Sisters here. Well, actually the venue was called Spaceland at the time, but my point is: this place rocks.
