Everyone's favorite angst fueled alt. poet sullen girl Fiona Apple strolled into Detroit's sold out State Theater Friday Night riding an army of strange buzz that left fans wondering just which Fiona would show up.
Would it be ... the Fiona who stormed off stage a few nights prior in New York City citing poor sound? Or would it be... the Fiona who recently ranted and railed against the current pop soundscape during a D.C. show?
It turned out it would be neither, but rather a jovial and bouncy Fiona, who greeted her adoring audience with an odd anecdote about the owner of some prized memorabilia.
"Do you guys know who owns Al Capone's car?" Fiona inquired of the audience, who stopped short of replying back, "no, who?" like an attentive group of kindergartners.
"F-cking Jenny Craig!" roared Fiona, laughing, informing us that she'd just been watching the History Channel.
"It's going to be a fun night tonight, I can just feel it," Fiona gushed. She was right.
After a stellar opening set from new-in-stature-but-old-in-feel rappers Jurassic 5 (their album drops in May), Ms. Apple took the stage at 8:30 and embarked on an 80 minute tour de force that took her through the bulk of her material from her self-titled debut album and the recent (and spectacular) "When the Pawn."
Sitting (not humping, like some piano girls) at her grand piano and opening with the same two songs that open "When the Pawn," "On the Bound" and "To Your Love," Fiona and her five piece band recreated "Pawn's" Jon Brion-masterminded arrangements expertly in front of the 3,000 odd Fiona-bes that were packed to the rafters of the legendary concert hall.
Intimate and lush, the State proved to be the ideal venue for Fiona to unleash her oft ferocious, other times sweet songs of honesty and love.
During "On the Bound," a large white screen was lowered down from above and formed the backdrop of her stage. But any fans' hopes of an impressive multimedia or Power Point presentation were quickly squashed when it became apparent that the backdrop would do no more than reflect the colored gels of the stage's light show. Oh well, at least they didn't use it to project the anti-slaughterhouse videos (complete with decapitated pigs) that were playing on loop in the lobby.
Fiona danced a spazztastic New Jack Swing, not unlike "Seinfeld's" Elaine, during the jazzy extended instrumentals of "Criminal" and "Fast As You Can," smiling, giggling and hopping around like a little girl afterwards. She repeatedly thanked the crowd for being such a warm audience, informing them that they "f-cking kicked ass."
But the show's best moments came from "When The Pawn's" best moments, most notably "Paper Bag," "Get Gone" and her set closer, the beautiful piano ballad "I Know."
"I'm gonna make a mistake, gonna do it on purpose"" Fiona sang during "A Mistake," but no mistakes were to be found in her rousing set (with the possible exception of her exclusion of "Shadowboxer").
Not hesitating to stop mid-show and interact with fans, Fiona shook one fan's hand in the middle of her set, and accepted a dozen roses from another while coming out for her encore.
Fans left having seen a solid show by a young woman who's just beginning to realize the potential inside of her.
Musically mature well beyond her ripe years, Fiona Apple is an artiste of striking originality and promise. And she's unmistakably human; she's has been known to make big public blunders (her new album title, for starters), and bounce back in spite of them.
And that goes for any and all of the many Fiona Apples, no matter which one shows up where.