Florence and the Machine at the Chicago Theater | Photo gallery

Florence Welch has to be one of the most photographed persons of 2011, I mean, photographers and designers obviously love her classy, timeless look. You might almost forget she makes music. So, she and her Machine need remind us what they do. With the recent release of ambitious sophomore effort Ceremonials (easily one of the most interesting mainstream records of the year), Flo and her crew swung through the Chicago Theater this past Sunday night for a sold-out gig as they hit a few U.S. cities before jetting off to South America then the UK and Ireland. The soulful singer's star power hasn't gone to her head, evidently, and my coworkers here at TOC tell me she played the superfans at the gig to her advantage. For example: A female fan made her a cookie sculpture and delivered it to the stage and picked up a kiss from Florence in return. And by the fourth tune, the singer had settled in at the Chicago, kicking off her heels and lowering the microphone stand, explaining "Everyone thinks I'm a giant, but I'm really very short." Barefooted? We'll take her.