Paula Cole plays 'This Fire' in full at Variety Playhouse on Nov. 14

Her THIS FIRE: 30 tour marks three decades of the album with a front-to-back performance, and it lands in the city she plays more than any other.

Some albums get a deluxe reissue for their 30th birthday. Paula Cole is taking hers on the road and playing every song.

Paula Cole plays Variety Playhouse on Saturday, Nov. 14, at 8 p.m., on her THIS FIRE: 30 tour. Tickets are on sale through AXS. Variety holds about 1,000, a good size for a songwriter's night on a Saturday.

The tour marks 30 years of *This Fire*, and the hook is simple: she's performing the album in its entirety. It's a big run, spanning more than 50 markets across the U.S., the UK and Europe, and it's been on the road since September, with stops from Woodstock, New York, to Salt Lake City, Scottsdale and Palm Springs. Right now she's working through the South: Houston last night, Dallas tonight, Austin tomorrow, then Baton Rouge, the Tampa Bay area and Jacksonville before Atlanta. After the Variety show, she heads up the East Coast to Charlottesville and Washington, D.C., and the tour reaches Glasgow in February.

Atlanta holds a special place on the map for her. In our records, Paula Cole has played Atlanta more than any other market, which makes Variety Playhouse less a tour stop than a regular haunt. A lot of the people in that room on Saturday will have seen her here before, and some will have been listening to this album since the beginning.

Front-to-back album shows are a particular kind of night. You know the running order going in, and the pleasure is in hearing the deep cuts given the same weight as the songs everyone knows, in the sequence they were meant to be heard. For an album turning 30, that also means hearing songs written by a younger artist sung by the one who has lived with them for three decades. Expect the album, and check whether the set stretches past it once the last track is done.

There's an extra option for devoted fans. Some stops on this tour offer a VIP package with a pre-show soundcheck experience: an intimate performance from the piano of two or three songs and a Q&A. The listings are clear that it doesn't include a formal meet-and-greet or photo. If that appeals, look at the AXS page to see whether it's offered for the Atlanta date and what's left.

What to know before you go: it's an 8 p.m. Saturday start, so leave time for dinner and parking. Check the AXS listing for door times, the venue's bag policy and any remaining ticket tiers before you head out.

Thirty years is a long time to keep an album alive. Paula Cole is doing it the most direct way she can, one complete set at a time, and Atlanta, of all her stops, has earned a seat for it.

Sources: JamBase: Paula Cole at Variety Playhouse (jambase.com); AXS: Paula Cole THIS FIRE: 30 (axs.com); Union Stage Presents: Paula Cole THIS FIRE: 30 (unionstagepresents.com); The Jefferson Theater: Paula Cole THIS FIRE: 30 (jeffersontheater.com); Ruth Eckerd Hall: Paula Cole (rutheckerdhall.com); PV Concert Hall: Paula Cole THIS FIRE: 30 (pvconcerthall.com); The State Room: Paula Cole (thestateroompresents.com); Scottsdale Arts: Paula Cole THIS FIRE: 30 (scottsdalearts.org); Cottiers Theatre: Paula Cole (tickettailor.com)