FIONA APPLE - energetically romping through
tunes such as “Criminal” - delighted a packed
Mancuso Convention Hall in Omaha Saturday.
Photos by
Lane Hickenbottom
Strong, biting
performance
rocks concert
By Patrick Kelly
Music Critic
Bathed in soft, violet-blue light amid the
stage's silhouetted props, the eloquent
singer songwriter calmly entered the hall and sat at
tite piano. She began her set not with a heavy num
ber to work the crowd into a tumultuous frenzy, but
w ith the soft and somewhat mournful “The Child
is Gone." The choice of song proved to the audi
ence and to the performer that the night belonged
to Tiona Apple.
“Depth is at the greatest of heights." said the
introspective Apple at the beginning of her concert
at a packed Mancuso Convention Hall in Omaha
Saturday night. The little bit of un-sung poetry &et
the mood for the lyrical journey that w as to follow.
However, energetic guitar-based romps quick
ly took Apple away from the piano and into the
spotlight. The performance was dynamic, to say
the least. Apple would calmly tickle the ivory with
songs like “Shadowboxer" and “Slow Like
I lonev" and then jump to center stage lot the more
v ibrant and hair-whipping "Sleep to Dream."
“Carrion” and the more recent hit, “Criminal."
However, Apple was not limited to the songs
off her debut album, “Tidal” She encored with the
R&B classic "Use Me" and a soulful rendering of
the Jimi 1 Iendrix ballad “Angel."
Apple's manipulation of the music (and the
audience in the process) made an impression on
the audience members w ho w ere between the ages
of 13 to 50.
Her onstage demeanor was quite similar to that
of her music, unpredictable. She w as brash and
gutsy, yet at the same time she seemed shy and ner
vous. She used raw sexuality (seductively dancing
tor the audience and ev entually taking off her
midriff shirt leav ing only a thin white halter top
and black slacks), but still conveyed a sense of
modesty. This seemed to carry' over into her vocal
style: calm and delicate one minute and raw and
powerful the next.
In all. her music stemmed from a unique and
Please see FIONA on 14