Pencil This In: Fiona Apple and Blake Mills Do Anything They Want
By Jessica Mlinaric in Arts & Entertainment on Oct 13, 2013 7:00PM
Somehow, there are still tickets available for Tuesday’s Fiona Apple and Blake Mills concert at the Bank of America Theater. Dubbed "Anything We Want: Fiona Apple & Blake Mills,” the twelve-date tour features the two artists in a collaborative capacity.
While the touring duo will undoubtedly showcase their respective solo catalogs, they may show the audience some surprises along the way. Apple and Mills described the tour as such: “We know it'll be something special, and we aren't being coy here -- it's just that we have about 26% of an idea of what the fuck we will be playing for you. But here is something true: the uncertainty excites us.”
Exciting indeed. Apple is an exquisite, all-too-rare live performer. After a six-year absence, she visited Chicago last year for two remarkable sold out shows at Lincoln Hall and played the Chicago Theater this summer.
On stage, Apple simultaneously conveys ferocity and fragility, with raw and introspective performances that are felt as much as heard by the audience. Her latest album, The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than The Driver Of The Screw & Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do, was nominated for the Best Alternative Album Grammy.
Whether or not Blake Mills’ name rings a bell, you need only to review his resume to recognize his work. As a guitar virtuoso, session musician, and producer, he’s worked with Lucinda Williams, Jenny Lewis, Band of Horses, and Julian Casablancas. A founding member of Dawes, the L.A. singer-songwriter released his solo debut Break Mirrors in 2010 and is currently working on a follow-up. On her recent tours, you may have caught Mills collaborating with Fiona, both as an opener and a guitarist in her backing band.
We look forward to seeing what kind of magic these two gifted artists can create as they share the stage. While the tour suffered a misstep at hands of a heckler at its opening Portland date, we hope Tuesday’s crowd lets their music speak for itself.
Check out Apple and Mills playing Fiona’s “I Know” in an unidentified living room below.
Tuesday, Oct 15 at 07:30 PM; Buy tickets online.