But let's talk about the evening of music and not the gnats…or at least let's try. Damien Rice opened the show after a brief performance by David Garza and started the evening off with a wonderful performance of the Top 20 hit, “The Blower's Daughter Part II.” Even though Fiona Apple was the headliner this evening, it was obvious that many were here to hear the Irish singer, and they weren't disappointed as Damien took equal turns performing tunes on guitar and piano. Tonight's performance included “Volcano,” “Woman Like a Man,” and the acoustic brilliance of the folk song “Delicate.” During his encore, he threw out a few tricks by looping his guitar and vocals for the raw account of reality and failure in relationships with “The Professor and La Fille Danse.”

With the sun finally down and the gnats out in full effect, Fiona took her seat at the piano and opened with “Get Him Back” from last year's “Extraordinary Machine” album. It should have been a strong opening but apparently the fans sitting in their seats weren't the only ones getting pestered by the gnats. It was obvious in Fiona's face and body language as she tried to sing about dissatisfactions in relationships that the little winged beasts were affecting her performance as well. Trying to shake it off, she put up her hair and continued her confessions and failures on “To Your Love,” only to take her hair right back out before going into “Shadowboxer.” If you weren't there to experience the same horrible attack, her performance and actions could easily have been characterized as a melt down as her actions became more and more erratic with every song. It wasn't until later in the evening that she finally revealed to the crowd her battle with obsessive compulsive disorder that was only being aggravated further by the onslaught of the pesky bugs. She even tried to make a joke about it all by confessing her guilt of killing them, yet justifying her actions by saying "the little fuckers should move."

If tonight was your first time seeing her live, you would have been disappointed. Her vocals were very hoarse at times and it appeared she was even straining to make the notes; of course, you try performing under these conditions and let's see how well you do. Regardless, Fiona did her best to get through the night and delivered a great set list that included “Paper Bag,” “Slow Like Honey,” and “Love Ridden.” During her encore, she delivered a splendid rendition of the title track, “Extraordinary Machine.” Let's hope this will be a warning to the folks of Northerly Island and they use some of the ticket money to purchase a nice big bug zapper so fans in the future aren't cheated out of a splendid night of wonderful music out in the great outdoors!

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