Ani DiFranco
By: Moira Haney - ModernRock.com
Three key ingredients make an Ani DiFranco concert complete: one new, yet-to-be-recorded song that gets stuck in your head for a week, one ultra funky medley composed of a surprising concoction of songs, and one especially corny joke. At her recent Washington, DC performance, Ani delivered all that and more.
The folk rocker kicked off her October 6 show at the 9:30 Club with a jazzy mix-up of "Fire Door," a favorite from her 1990 self-titled debut album; "Amazing Grace," a haunting and trippy remake of the original off Dilate; and a little pinch of Sugar Hill Gang's "Rappers Delight." Sparks flew as Ani's signature duct-taped fingers collided with her guitar. The audience was pumped to spend the next few hours basking in her limitless, emotionally, politically and sexually charged energy.
Two new, high impact tunes followed the medley. "Shy," from Not a Pretty Girl got the crowd shaking their booties and singing along, "Stop me/ won't you/ if you've heard this one before/ the one where I surprise you by showing up at your front door/ Saying, ‘Let's not ask "What next?" or "How?" or "Why?"’/ I am leaving/ in the morning/ so let's not be shy.'"
The band enthused the audience throughout the concert, with Jason Mercer back on bass after a two-year hiatus and Julie Wolf playing keyboard and accordion like the onstage angel that Ani has been waiting for. They displayed their incredible harmony on the deeply personal "Angry Anymore," which is about DiFranco's parents and her childhood. Their chemistry is reminiscent of that which Ani had with Andy Stochansky, the beloved drummer who left the band last year. New drummer Daren Hahn was tight and steady and is expected to impress on the upcoming album.
He and Ani let it all out on a set of bongos in "Coming Up," the spoken word type song from Imperfectly in which DiFranco explores the emotions of those outraged and paralyzed by the "corporate canopy." It is a classic live Ani song—a brilliant infusion of crescendoing drum beats and carefully patterned poetry. "But I love this city, this state," Ani murmured, "this country is too large/ and whoever's in charge/ up there/ had better take the elevator down/ and put more than change/ in our cup or else we/ are coming/ up."
In addition to providing her fans with philosophical ponderings both political and romantic, there were plenty of amusing moments. The mandatory corny joke went something like this, "I want to thank you for your presence," she said as she looked into the crowd sweetly, "If you could just send them up to the front... he, he, he."
The final ingredient the new song that silenced the audience was "To the
Teeth," to be released on her up-coming album of the same name, which marks her thirteenth studio CD. The song is a siren-loud warning about gun violence in America. "School kids keep trying to teach us/ what guns are all about," she sang gently, "Confuse liberty with weaponry/ and watch your kids act it out."
Ani's stop at the intimate 9:30 Club was a welcome change from the big, airy venues she has been playing since she toured with Bob Dylan three years ago. The distractions were limited—with all eyes on Ani and all ears listening intently. The faces in the crowd looked to Ani as the mother, friend, sister or lover they wish they had. In a day when the words "contemporary female folk musician," would make most people think of Jewel, we are truly lucky that DiFranco has declared herself "The Mistress of Folk," even if she does so with a smirk.
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