For someone who writes such sad music, Alison Sudol certainly puts on a fun show. The 24-year-old singer-songwriter and pianist, who performs under the name A Fine Frenzy, wowed fans at The Paradise with an emotional yet lighthearted performance during her November 2 show. The show proved Sudol may be one of the few artists who actually sounds better live rather than recorded.

The first opening act was Between the Oak and Ash, a folk-indie duo from New York. Next up was Landon Pigg, most recognized for his role in “Whip It” as Ellen Page’s love interest, and for his song “Falling In Love at a Coffee Shop,” which is featured in an AT&T commercial. Both acts were enjoyable and well-received by the audience.

But at 10 p.m., the real performance began. “Hello Boston!” Sudol called out excitedly from the stage. She went on to lament how long it had been since A Fine Frenzy had last visited.

Indeed, the last time the band was in town was back in March 2008. Quite a few things have changed since then. For starters, the band released their second full-length album, “Bomb in a Birdcage” back in September. The CD introduced the new, more upbeat version of Sudol (although never fear, there are still plenty of melancholy songs too). There were some changes to her live performance as well. Two new band members have been added. On the last tour, Sudol stayed seated at a piano for the majority of the set. But this time, she switched to a keyboard, allowing her to move around more and show off her dance moves.

One thing that hasn’t changed, however, is Sudol’s genuine gratitude towards her fans. No matter how emotional the lyrics, and now matter how torn up she appeared while singing, she’d break into an adorable giddy grin during the last few strains of each song. As the audience roared with cheers and applause after each number, she’d laugh and thank everyone in an awed voice, as if she couldn’t believe so many people liked her music. At the end of her set, she spent a few minutes elaborating on how much each and every fan meant to her and the rest of the band. Sudol is so sincere and appreciative; it makes it extra satisfying to see her succeed.

As if being sweet and cute weren’t enough, Sudol also has one of the most powerful singing voices of her generation. She sounds great on CD, but if that’s all you’ve heard, be prepared to be blown away. At live shows, she really lets loose. It’s enough to give fans goose bumps. One minute, she’ll be singing so soft it’s almost a whisper, and next she’ll be belting out the words. Think Fiona Apple, but less crazy. (No offense Fiona, we still love you).

The set included tracks from both “Bomb in a Birdcage” and A Fine Frenzy’s debut album, “One Cell In The Sea.” They also played a few b-sides: “Silent War,” “Coming Around” and “From Whence You Came.”

Ironically, one of the highlights of the show was when A Fine Frenzy played someone else’s song. “There are brunettes. There are girls with lovely raven hair,” Sudol began to introduce the track in a dreamy voice. “There are people with purple hair, and blue hair, and orange hair. There are people with red hair,” she said, lifting her own bright red locks. “But I have to say, I really, really, really love a little bit of Blondie.”

And with that, she launched into a rambunctious cover of “Heart of Glass” by, uh, Blondie (if you really need it spelled out for you). This is where Sudol really hit her stride. She skipped around the stage, shaking her hips and clapping her hands. She’d let out periodic cries of “woo!” before rocking out more. As the audience sang along, the band members exchanged grins. They may have played this cover on every date of the tour so far, but it was clear they were still having a blast up on stage.

Every song played during A Fine Frenzy’s set was absolutely phenomenal. All the back-up band members are extremely talented, and Sudol has pipes rivaled by few others. But the most refreshing aspect was simply how much Sudol seemed to be enjoying herself. Sure, she writes gorgeous songs about heartbreak, but it’s nice to see she can still have a good time.

Here’s hoping A Fine Frenzy returns to Boston sooner than last time.

Drew Barrymore absolutely oozes the no-fear attitude she so easily portrays on-screen. From her jet black tipped hair to her inspiring career moves, the 34-year-old actress, producer and now director is one intelligent, daring and classy lady. And that’s saying a lot these days.

“I’m just not one of those people that can sort of watch everything happen and be off in La La Land daydreaming about something else,” Barrymore said in her recent interview with Blast while she was in Boston.

She explained shy she has finally taken her seat in the director’s chair after a lifetime of acting and 15 years of producing. “I wanted to do it when I felt like I was really ready and really understood how filmmaking works on every single level that I possibly could.”

Whip It, in theaters October 2, stars Ellen Page as a Texas teenager who finds an outlet from her loathed life of pageantry in the world of women’s roller derby.

Barrymore took a risk in choosing a movie about a relatively unknown sport — that even she knew almost nothing about — as her directorial debut.

“I love to see girls do what boys do, especially not male bash while they do it,” she said.

Barrymore said it was important to her to create a movie that encourages women and girls to go after their goals. “Take from your inspirations, but don’t imitate them. Become your own individual,” she said.

Clearly she has no problem inspiring women, herself. “And still (directing is) the biggest challenge and, you know, it’s gonna knock you sideways on a daily basis no matter how prepared you think you are,” she said.

And boy was she prepared. Barrymore, along with Page and co-stars Kristen Wiig and Juliette Lewis, spent painstaking hours learning to skate and getting in shape for their many rides around the rink.

“You bond and you injure yourself together and cheer each other on to get it right or to celebrate when you learn a new trick,” Barrymore said.

Now she’s practically a pro. Though her role in the movie, as badass derby girl Smashlee Simpson, is fairly small, it’s obvious that she sank her teeth into her role as both actress and director, taking it upon herself to learn everything she possibly could about roller derby. “The game is real, the girls are amazing,” she said. “They’re these great little tribes. There’s great competitiveness and capability and athleticism.”

Another reason she was drawn to the sport was its propensity to include people from all walks of life. “I also think that it’s a very welcoming sport in that you can be any age or size or ethnicity or economical background and it’s a very come one come all, open hearted sport and party and I like that.”

Derby certainly does look like a party, with an always excited crowd and hot girls in tiny outfits swearing at each other and getting in fights. But did Barrymore portray roller derby realistically? “The only intention I had was to celebrate it and allow people to be let in on something if they don’t know about and celebrate the people who are involved in it,” she said. “I honored the derby world entirely.”

As for the critics? “You can’t please everybody so you’ve gotta get over that, like, as soon as you come out of the womb,” she said.

No she can’t please everybody, but she can sure try. And try. “I’m sort of surprised when people go, like, ‘why did you want to direct’ or ‘do you think you’ll direct again.’ I’m like, ‘Do you know me?’ I’m film obsessed. I do nothing but work. I wish I had more of a social life,” admits the workaholic.

Barrymore is unabashedly proud of her movie, but modest in a decidedly un-Hollywood way. “I think you don’t have to be a certain age or gender in order to be a storyteller. I think you have to risk being personal and exposing yourself and investing in your characters and driving great performances out of people,” she said.

She is also proud of the real-life derby girls who are able to kick-ass on and off the rink.”What these girls do is have these great little alter egos and they’re one thing by day and another thing by night,” she said.

So does Barrymore have an alter ego? If you remember her stripping on Lettermen’s desk and partying all night long, you may think so. But in reality, Barrymore has grown into an inspiring woman.

“‘Be your own hero’ is the tag of our movie and that’s a big theme for me in life,” she said. “I just think you have to be your own little hero.”

The October issue of Marie Claire has an intriguing cover story about the latest celebrity bffs: Drew Barrymore and Ellen Page, including one hell of a photo of the two ladies lip-locked.

The two are promoting “Whip It,” a roller derby flick.

“Gigglingly pressed thigh-to-thigh, the roller girls spend the afternoon discussing everything from their Vegas trip to the sexiness of black socks,” the article reads.

During the photo shoot:

Drew: “On the movie, we’d do our costume fittings together and just talk about how to be comfortable with your body. I’d basically chase her around and say, ‘If you don’t mind doing this scene in your underwear”"and keep those black socks on”"I’d love it.’ That’s more real: When you spend the night with girlfriends, you’re going to wake up in your undies and socks.”

Ellen: That was cut from the movie, though, wasn’t it?

Drew: It was, it was. But also in the locker room wearing those tiny little outfits. Ellen has such a beautiful body, and I personally battled with my own body image for years. I used to tell myself, You can’t wear anything sleeveless or strapless. And all of a sudden I was like, What if I just didn’t send such negative messages to my brain and said, wear it and enjoy it? And now I’m more comfortable in clothes than ever.

Ellen: That openness. It’s so sexy.

Drew: She was in her frickin’ bra with an open jacket and hot-pink shorts, skating around the rink with red lips and …

Ellen: I was having a really good time.

Drew: … and she was sexy as a mother … a feral creature. It was great.

Holy sexiness, Batman.

Then again, we guys always knew that all girls are like this with their best friends.

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