So after my friend and I did a couple of No Rain dances, we manage to avoid the torrential downpour that The Weather Channel all but guaranteed.

We got there early and we’re reading the program when all of the sudden, music starts playing. Apparently David Garza wanted to surprise us. If David Garza is a really talented guy, I was not sold after that performance. He did a real quick opening set- 4 songs. The two highlights being his first song, “Song for Ann Marie” (if anyone has this on .mp3, hook me up) and halfway through his second song, he sang “I just changed my tune/I forgot what I was supposed to say”.

Anyway, he came and went.

Then Damien Rice, Lisa Hannigan and the band came out. It was kind of weird because they performed in front of Fiona’s set that was covered in tarps so it looked like they weren’t even supposed to be on stage. Nonetheless, it was an amazing set. Damien Rice is one of those singers who sounds the same live or recorded. Actually, I kinda prefer him live. Equally amazing was the voice of Lisa Hannigan. I really hope she comes out with an album of her own some day although they make a great team. So he did his set (Another request: if anyone has an live .mp3 of “Acidental Babies” or “Rootless Tree”, send it this way) and everybody was loving it and cheering and then he said Thank you and goodnight. And a near riot broke out. He didn’t perform “The Blower’s Daughter”. Apparently we were sitting in the Damien Rice Fan Club section because everyone freaked out. A few minutes ago, I thought they were going to cry and orgasm at the same time and now they wanted his blood. “Did we miss it?” “What happened?” “How could he not sing my favorite song?” “I don’t even like Fiona Apple” And a whole bunch of them left never to return. I can’t believe they spent all that money JUST to see Damien Rice (and presumably David Garza). Weird.

A little while afterwards, Fiona Apple’s set started. She was one piano and it did not start off well. Her voice sounded as if she had swallowed Spike from Gremlins whole and he was trying to escape while she sang. The first two songs were off and my friend and I gave each other the “Uh Oh. Could we be in for a Fiona Breakdown?” look. Luckily, she got off the piano and opted to stand and sing and DANCE. Oh did she dance. She definitely went to the Thom Yorke School of Stage Dancing. It was a combination of her fighting ghosts on stage and her beings chased by a swarm of killer bees with the occasional “AH! There’s a spider on my right leg.” It was amazing and worth the price of admission alone. Anyway, dancing aside, she did a beautiful set and I can now cross her off the lists of artists I want to see live.

Photo by HighTea