Phosphorescent at Bonnaroo 2011 (more by Graeme Flegenheimer)

As mentioned, Newport Folk Festival is returning this year to Fort Adams State Park from July 26 to 28, and since we last spoke, the lineup has been revealed. This year's fest includes Beck, The Avett Brothers, Feist, Jim James, Colin Meloy, Andrew Bird, The Mountain Goats (who just announced a tour), Father John Misty, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy & Dawn McCarthy, Justin Townes Earle, Felice Brothers, Jason Isbell, Amanda Palmer, Phosphorescent, Beth Orton, John McCauley, Michael Kiwanuka, Lord Huron, Frank Turner, Black Prairie, Langhorne Slim, TIft Merritt, Spirit Family Reunion, Blake Mills, Houndmouth, Cold Specks, and others, plus more TBA.

Hope you acted quick back in January. 3-Day passes and 2-day passes are sold out, as are single day tickets for Saturday and Sunday, but you can still get single day tickets for Friday.

Speaking of the Rough Trade-signed, Lumineers-like Houndmouth, you have two chances to catch them in NYC this week before they become as big as the Lumineers. They're at Mercury Lounge on Wednesday (4/10) and Rockwood Music Hall on Thursday (4/11).

Full initial Newport Fest lineup below...

Continue reading "Newport Folk Festival -- 2013 lineup (Beck, Feist, Jim James, Phosphorescent, Father John Misty, Bonnie Prince Billy, Houndmouth & more)"

Eric Clapton at BAM in 2010 (more by Kevin Mazur)

Eric Clapton is kicking off a major US tour in March, 2013 which will culminate in NYC with the two-night Crossroads Guitar Festival at Madison Square Garden from April 12 to 13. In addition to Clapton, the festival will feature a ton of other artists, including Allman Brother Band, Jeff Beck, BB King, Buddy Guy, Taj Mahal, Gary Clark Jr., Blake Mills, Los Lobos, Frank Ocean sideman John Mayer, and many others.

The Terrace level at MSG will also host the "Guitar Center Road to Crossroads Exhibition," which will feature a number of historic guitars on display, memorabilia, archival footage, and interactive exhibits where fans can play products by Fender, Gibson, Ernie Ball, and Martin. The exhibition will open at 6:30 PM on 4/12 and 6 PM on 4/13, and is free to ticket holders.

Tickets for the festival go on sale Friday, November 30 at noon with a Chase (who is presenting the show) presale beginning Monday, November 26 at noon.

A list of all Clapton dates, the full Crossroads Guitar Festival lineup, and a video, are below.

Continue reading "Eric Clapton announces 2013 US tour, including Crossroads Guitar Festival at MSG w/ many guests (dates)"

words and photos by Caroline Harrison

Fiona Apple @ T5, 10/17/2012

Fiona Apple played the second of two shows at Terminal 5 last night (10/17). Guitar phenom Blake Mills, a member of Apple's band for the tour, was also the opener. Fiona Apple is touring in support of her most recent album, The Idler Wheel..., her first in seven years.

I would be remiss to talk about Blake Mills without mentioning his impressive credentials. At only 25, Mills has already worked as a session and touring musicians for the likes of Lucinda Williams, Conor Oberst, Andrew Bird, and Jackson Browne. Mills played with a casual grace that displayed his technical mastery of the guitar. He closed with a cover of the instrumental song "Sleep Walk" by Santo & Johnny, as featured in the 1987 movie La Bamba.

Fiona Apple opened with "Fast As You Can," making it clear to the audience that she was not about to hold anything back. Her backing band, including Mills and former Soul Coughing bassist Sebastian Steinberg, matched every ounce of her intensity. Their arrangement of "Sleep To Dream" relieed heavily on distorted guitars, amplifying the sinister bite of the tune. Of course, the highlight of every song was Apple's vocal acrobatics as she leapt from snarling, sultry contralto to fragile whispery soprano. Apple closed with a cover she's performed on a number of her tour dates, a classic Conway Twitty tune called, "It's Only Make Believe." There was no encore, but after the performance she gave, no one seemed to mind.

Fiona Apple heads up to Albany on Friday (10/19) for her last show in New York state. She then heads to Atlantic City before finishing the tour in Pittsburgh on Sunday (10/21).

More pictures from last night's T5 show and the full set list are below.

Continue reading "Fiona Apple played two nights at Terminal 5 (pics and review from night 2)"

photos by David Andrako

Fiona Apple at the Capitol Theatre - 10/10/12

Fiona Apple, whose recent arrest for possession of hash led to an onslaught of news articles on the situation which eventually (and probably inevitably) led to Fiona backlashing against all the internet gossip, came to Port Chester's Capitol Theater last night (10/10) for her first of multiple post-hash-incident shows in the NYC area. Fiona was great as usual, though she ended her set abruptly without an encore. Last night's show, like the rest of the tour, was opened by Fiona's guitar player Blake Mills. PIctures from the show are in this post.

Her tour continues, hitting Wellmont Theater (10/12), Huntington's Paramount (10/13), Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank, NJ (10/15), Terminal 5 (10/16-17), and Albany's Palace Theatre (10/19). The Terminal 5 shows are sold out but tickets for Wellmont, Paramount, Count Basie Theatre, and Palace Theatre are still available.

More pics from Capitol Theatre below.

Continue reading "Fiona Apple played the Capitol Theatre, her first of many upcoming NYC-area shows (pics)"

Fiona Apple @ Bowery Ballroom in March (more by Dana (distortion) Yavin)

Fiona Apple, whose current tour schedule already included Denver's Paramount Theatre on 7/20, the Seattle Paramount Theatre on 7/25, Terminal 5 in NYC on 10/16 & 10/17, and Wellmont Theater in NJ on 10/12, has just announced a few more shows including 10/13 at The Paramount in Huntington, NY (aka Long Island and another Paramount), 10/16 at Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank, NJ, and 10/19 at the Palace Theatre in Albany.

Tickets for the Long Island show go on general sale on Friday, 7/13, at 10am, but first a venue pre-sale will start on Wednesday at 10am (PASSWORD = PULSE). Albany and Red Bank tickets also go on sale Friday. Tickets are still available for the Wellmont show, and for both Terminal 5 shows.

An updated list of tour dates (with possibly more TBA), all with Blake Mills (who opens and plays in her band), below...

Continue reading "Fiona Apple adds more NY & NJ shows (updated tour dates)"

Fiona Apple at Governors Ball on Sunday (more by Amanda Hatfield)

As mentioned earlier today, Fiona Apple has been scheduling new dates, including two in NYC which happen on October 16 and 17 at Terminal 5. Those dates are part of an expanding tour which will be opened by guitar great and solo artist Blake Mills, who is also member of her touring band and also opened for her in NYC earlier this year. That tour now includes another NYC-area date, which happens on October 12 at Wellmont Theatre in Montclair, NJ. Tickets for that show, and for the T5 shows, go on general sale Friday (6/29) at noon.

Blake Mills recently recorded a 'Sound & Vision' video for Red Bull Soundstage, which you can check out HERE.

An updated list of Fiona Apple tour dates is below.

Continue reading "Fiona Apple also playing Wellmont Theatre; Blake Mills opening tour (updated dates)"

photos by Chris La Putt

Fiona Apple @ Music Hall of Williamsburg

Fiona Apple completed a short tour in March with shows in some major cities including NYC (Bowery Ballroom and Music Hall of Williamsburg), Chicago and Austin for SXSW. She also announced a single June show taking place in NYC as part of Governors Ball on Randall's Island. Now that show is part of a tour that begins on 6/19 at Ithaca's State Theatre, vists CT for two shows, returns to Boston and Chicago and eventually ends in LA on July 29.

All dates are listed, along with a previously unposted set of pictures from the March Brooklyn show, and the tracklist from her new album, below...

Continue reading "Fiona Apple announces 2012 tour -- dates ++ more MHOW pics"

photos by Dana (distortion) Yavin, words by Rachel Kowal

A long line of hopefuls extended down the block outside the Bowery Ballroom Monday night for Fiona Apple's second sold-out show in New York. (The first was Friday night at the Music Hall of Williamsburg.) Given Apple's reluctance to perform and the long gap of silence since her last album (7 years), seeing her perform was surreal - especially since she opted to skip Terminal 5 in favor of more moderately sized venues.

Say what you will of her music or her decision to tour and record again, Apple's impact on the alternative scene, and really on an entire generation of female music fans and musicians, should not be downplayed. In a world rife with Sarah Mclachlans and Natalie Merchants, artists like PJ Harvey and Fiona Apple helped to establish a much-needed alternative - something that wasn't quite punk, mainstream, precious, or sugarcoated. Her lyrics were dark, intimate, and deeply personal. Guys wanted to date her. Girls wanted to be her. The pressure was on.

As she approached the mic, Apple visibly shook. "Yes! 1996!" Someone cried out behind me. And as if in on the joke, Apple wore her long, straight hair pulled back with a scrunchie. Accompanied by a competent but low-profile four-piece backing band (which included opener Blake Mills), Apple didn't waste anytime with a slow build, opting instead to open with the punchy "Fast As You Can."

With only a mic stand to hide behind, Apple seemed ready to explode and after giving a few tugs to her scarf, pulled it off, and began to whip it around, sending glittering dust particles into the white spotlight.

After the opening song, she walked over to the piano, took a few gulps from a ceramic mug, then marched back to the mic, shaking her head. "Ok. I was going to say this to myself," she quickly mumbled. "But I thought it'd be interesting for you to hear what I was going to say to myself. Ok. I don't want to go through this whole fucking show where it's like six songs into it, and I'm finally relaxed. I'm just going to skip that part."

Though her voice exuded an aggressive confidence, her wild eyes and stilted speech sent a different message, one of deep vulnerability. But the ecstatic crowd (who sang along to the majority of the set) was quick to forgive her nervous ticks. "THANK YOU FOR COMING BACK, FIONA!" came one cry. "Thank you for wanting me back," Apple replied.

To reward the crowd of long-time fans, Apple's set (which was nearly identical to what she played on Friday night, save for the second to last song) was heavily weighted with crowd pleasers (yes, she played "Criminal" and "Paper Bag"). But she also threw in a couple of new songs and covers, including a lovely rendition of the old Conway Twitty song, "It's Only Make Believe."

We posted one set of pictures from the Bowery show this morning. Here is a second. More them with the setlist below...

Continue reading "Fiona Apple @ Bowery Ballroom (more pics, review, setlist)"

photos by Ryan Muir

Fiona Apple @ Bowery Ballroom - 3/26/2012

"During [the Music Hall of Williamsburg] show Ms. Apple moved between the microphone at center stage and a piano off to the side with an array of votive candles on top. Slender and toned, she wore a green tank top; her muscles spoke loudly as her body moved in precise ways on each song. On "Paper Bag" she held her hand tight against her stomach, muscles flexing, as she swayed side to side ever so slightly. During "Sleep to Dream" she stretched up against the piano like a cat, yawning with her frame.

These were careful maneuvers that played as a contrast to Ms. Apple's voice, which can be raspy and slithery and unhinged when she so chooses. Her band -- Blake Mills on guitar, Sebastian Steinberg [of Soul Coughing] on bass and Amy Wood on drums -- matched that range, creating a vivid and flexible noise that veered from gnarled rock to dirty blues. Mr. Mills, in particular, was intense, coaxing lust and anguish from his instrument." [NY Times]

Fiona Apple played Bowery Ballroom last night (3/26). It was almost the same hour-length setlist as the Music Hall of Williamsburg show, set-closing cover of "It's Only Make-Believe" included. The most (only?) notable difference was her choice/not-choice to play Beatles song "Across the Universe" 2nd to last (after "Criminal"). It was on the Music Hall setlist, but she didn't play it in Brooklyn. In Manhattan she played it only after a fun argument with Blake Mills who started playing the first notes (without her permission?)... I couldn't fully get what she was mad/fake-mad at him about, but regardless, she played it and it was great. In fact, the whole show was great from start to finish. Music Hall wasn't bad, but Fiona was in top shape for Bowery - her voice seemed so much more on this time, and she delivered in a huge way from start to finish.

Fiona returns to NYC to play Governors Ball in June. Meanwhile she plays Boston tonight.

Here are some pictures from the Bowery show. More of them below...

Continue reading "Fiona Apple & Blake Mills played Bowery Ballroom (pics)"

photos by Amanda Hatfield

Fiona Apple @ Music Hall of Williamsburg

"Fiona Apple got a warm welcome back to her native city [Friday] night at the Music Hall of Williamsburg. Born in New York City in the fall of 1977, her last live show here dated back to December 2005 [actually she played NYC in August 2007], so fans --most of whom, we're assuming, probably didn't see her performances at SXSW last week-- were exploding with emotion as the lights dimmed. She came onstage to deafening cheers, her hair in a simple ponytail, wearing a bright green camisole cinched with a silver-y belt that hung stylishly in a bow at her side. She declared that she had two things to say:

1) She missed her dog Janet, so her friend had made her a cardboard cutout of her canine pal that she could bring with her on stage.
2) Even though she wouldn't hear anyone chatting away during the show, she suspected other folks in the crowd wouldn't appreciate any loud talkers.

(On the second point, there would be little to worry about. The crowd hung on her every lyric last night. Talkers? No. But there were plenty of participants, as the set would veer into a full-fledged sing-along at several moments during the hour-long show.)" [VH1]

Guitar great/singer-songwriter Blake Mills opened the Brooklyn show and also addressed talkers ("I can't hear myself think"). He then joined Fiona as a member of her extremely talented live band, as he will again Monday night at Bowery Ballroom (part of a very short North American tour).

Like she did in Chicago, Fiona, who was on stage by 9:45pm (I know at least a couple of people who missed the first 15 minutes of her set), played for just under an hour. Her 12-song, encore-less performance included a couple of new songs, hits like "Fast as You Can", "Sleep to Dream", and "Criminal", and the title track of her 2005 album "Extraordinary Machine" (one of my favorites of the night). She closed with a cover of Screamin' Jay Hawkins/Conway Twitty's "It's Only Make-Believe" which I thought, despite being a cover, was the greatest, most powerful moment of the too-short show. Video of that & more, with the full setlist and more pictures from Music Hall of Williamsburg, below...

Continue reading "Fiona Apple & Blake Mills played Music Hall Of Williamsburg (pics, videos, setlist)"