Jim Steere
Only farewell for now
A tribute-worthy performance by “Fiona Apple and the Nickel Creek Mountain Boys” shows why the fire shouldn’t die yet
By Laura Leebove
Published: August 13th, 2007 | 7:36pm
August 10, 2007, in Highland Park, Illinois — I never thought I’d hear a bluegrass rendition of Fiona Apple’s “Criminal” — especially not one sung by Apple herself. Needless to say, when Chris Thile of Nickel Creek asked the crowd at Ravinia Festival if we were ready for some bluegrass, it wasn’t the song I was expecting from “Fiona Apple and the Nickel Creek Mountain Boys.” On its “Farewell (For Now)” tour, acoustic progressive-bluegrass trio Nickel Creek has Apple on the bill as a “very special guest,” but rather than the 29-year-old singer-songwriter simply opening the shows, the tour is more of a collaboration. The best part? Nickel Creek is Apple’s backup band.
I was already psyched to see two of my all-time favorite acts in the same night, but onstage together? I never stopped grinning through the entire 32-song, two-and-a-half-hour-long, intermission-free set. Before bringing Apple onstage, the trio of Chris Thile and brother-sister combo Sean and Sara Watkins, along with bassist Mark Schatz, performed eight songs from the Nickel Creek catalogue, including an instrumental opener leading into “The Fox,” a song energized by one of Thile’s crazy mandolin solos.
Watching Chris Thile play the mandolin is mesmerizing — he jerks around, kicks, and dances, and it’s hard to keep up with his fingers racing up and down the fret board. No one onstage stayed in the same place for very long, whether it was Sara wandering off to the side of the stage and kicking to the beat or two of the band members facing each other for an instrument duel.
Nickel Creek doesn’t look like a bluegrass trio that’s been playing together for 18 years — Thile wore jeans and a Chicago Cubs jersey, Sean wore jeans and a T-shirt, and Sara wore a red skirt and black top. Not to mention Thile and Sara are only 26 and Sean is 30. The three have not only mastered their instruments — Thile on mandolin, Sara on violin, and Sean on guitar — but it’s so easy to see the incredible chemistry among them as their voices and instruments fuse perfectly together.
After “Reasons Why” from the band’s 2000 self-titled album (Sugar Hill), Apple joined Nickel Creek onstage, greeted by screams of “I LOVE YOU, FIONA!” and “You’re beautiful!” — it was obvious that a good portion of the audience was there mostly, if not only, to see her. Together with Apple (sans piano and percussion), the group performed her pieces, starting with “Extraordinary Machine” from her 2005 album of the same title (Sony), which flowed the most naturally, since it’s driven by a string section. Other songs though, took a new turn, most notably “Limp” from 1999’s When The Pawn … (Sony), with Thile beating on his mandolin for percussion, Sara’s violin sweeping through the chorus, and everyone singing harmonies.
Fiona Apple is an intense (and amazing) performer, but onstage with Nickel Creek she wasn’t quite as spastic as when I saw her about a year ago, especially during the night’s cover songs, which included Gillian Welch’s “I Want To Sing That Rock and Roll” and Garth Brooks’ “Walking After Midnight.” When Apple took a break to let Nickel Creek return to the spotlight, people in the audience were more into the performance than they were at the start — most of them clapped (though totally off-beat) and a few people even gave a well-deserved standing ovation. Thile’s Cubs jersey sparked some crowd banter, ending with him “channeling the bitterness” into “Somebody More Like You” from 2005’s Why Should the Fire Die? (Sugar Hill).
One of the night’s best surprises came during “Cuckoo’s Nest,” which featured a fast violin solo from Sara. Bassist Mark Schatz stood in the back clapping the beat while Sara, Sean, and Thile stood in a tight circle facing one another. Schatz slowly made his way out from behind his string bass and broke out into a totally unexpected tap dance, bringing the standing-ovation count to two.
With Apple back onstage, the group flew through more songs, ending with “Fast As You Can,” during which fans rushed the stage and I found myself front and center, less than 10 feet away from the band. Up close I could see Apple’s eyes glistening with anger as her fists dug into her sides while she sang — this was more like the Fiona Apple I saw a year ago. After taking a bow, they exited the stage for a couple of minutes before returning for the encore.
Again, people obnoxiously screamed for Apple before Thile had to tell the crowd they could scream all they want, but “she’ll still be out after this song.” Sara, Sean, and Thile, all singing into one microphone, began a gorgeous performance of “Why Should The Fire Die?” before being interrupted by more screaming people, causing them to start over again. A train in the background drowned out the sound for a few seconds, but to top it off, a girl in the front kept talking loudly and after being told by everyone around her to be quiet, she kept yelling, “I don’t give a shit!” The band was visibly irritated, and rightfully so, but they stuck it out and finished the lullaby — which was still amazing, even with interruptions. The show ended with Nickel Creek in a circle around Apple as she wailed Ella Fitzgerald’s “When I Get Low I Get High,” as everyone was dancing onstage and in the audience. Despite the distractions and interruptions, the entire night was unbelievable, and I’m just glad it’s only farewell for now.
Comments
Please login to be able to comment on this article.
more