Really Show 042 - darn typos (^_^)
-HOUR ONE-
PARTICLE – Workin’ for MCA (2004 Under the Influence)
PHISH – Jesus Just Left Chicago (1997/2008 Live Phish 12.07.07)
UMPHREY’S McGEE – Don’t Do It (2005 the Best Show on Earth, 12/31/04)
MARTY STUART & his FABULOUS SUPERLATIVES w/WARREN HAYNES and DANNY LOUIS – Shape I’m In (2006/2008 the Benefit Concert Volume 8)
DREW EMMITT – Take the Highway (2008 Long Road)
LARRY – Into the Mystic (3/23/01 Houston, TX)
DEEP BANANA BLACKOUT – What’s Going On (2/13/02 Philadelphia, PA)
-HOUR TWO-
PORTER BATISTE STOLTZ f/PAGE McCONNELL – Check Out Your Mind
(2008 Moodoo)
FRANK ZAPPA – Whipping Post (1984 Them or Us, c. 1974)
JERRY GARCIA BAND – Dear Prudence (unknown source)
JERRY GARCIA BAND – Simple Twist of Fate (1978/2005 Pure Jerry 06, 3/19/78)
KELLER WILLIAMS w/STRING CHEESE INCIDENT – Hells Bells
(6/21/02 Bonnaroo Music Festival)
RECKLESS KELLY – You Shook Me All Night Long (2000 Acoustic: Live at Stubb’s)
One of my favorite shows so far. Thanks for lettin’ us give y’all the musical buzz every week (^_^)
# # #
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
TnJ 041 (10/22/08) Good Gravy, it's JAKE!
-HOUR ONE-
PAGE McCONNELL – Beauty of a Broken Heart (2007 Page McConnell)
PAGE McCONNELL – Heavy Rotation (2007 Page McConnell)
TEN TON CHICKEN – Soup Is Good Food (2002 Just Like in the Old Country)
STEVE CROPPER & FELIX CAVALIERE – Full Moon Tonight
(2008 Nudge It Up a Notch)
PAWNSHOP ROSES – Second Hand Love (soul) (2008 Versions)
KELLER WILLIAMS w/MOSELEY, DROLL & SIPE – Breathe (2008 Live)
COL. BRUCE HAMPTON & the AQUARIUM RESCUE UNIT –
Working on a Building (10/20/04 Georgia Theatre, Athens, GA)
-HOUR TWO-
TEA LEAF GREEN – Franz Hanzerbeak (2006 Rock’n’Roll Band OST)
GREG BROWN – Sadness (1994 The Poet Game)
BEN HARPER – How Many Miles Must We March
(1994 Welcome to the Cruel World)
XAVIER RUDD – Le Me Be (2005 Solace)
LIPBONE REDDING – Never Forsake You (2008 Party on the Fire Escape)
INFAMOUS STRINGDUSTERS – Get It While You Can
(2008 Infamous Stringdusters)
LEFTOVER SALMON – Doin’ My Time (4/16/96 8x10 Club, Baltimore, MD)
# # #
PAGE McCONNELL – Beauty of a Broken Heart (2007 Page McConnell)
PAGE McCONNELL – Heavy Rotation (2007 Page McConnell)
TEN TON CHICKEN – Soup Is Good Food (2002 Just Like in the Old Country)
STEVE CROPPER & FELIX CAVALIERE – Full Moon Tonight
(2008 Nudge It Up a Notch)
PAWNSHOP ROSES – Second Hand Love (soul) (2008 Versions)
KELLER WILLIAMS w/MOSELEY, DROLL & SIPE – Breathe (2008 Live)
COL. BRUCE HAMPTON & the AQUARIUM RESCUE UNIT –
Working on a Building (10/20/04 Georgia Theatre, Athens, GA)
-HOUR TWO-
TEA LEAF GREEN – Franz Hanzerbeak (2006 Rock’n’Roll Band OST)
GREG BROWN – Sadness (1994 The Poet Game)
BEN HARPER – How Many Miles Must We March
(1994 Welcome to the Cruel World)
XAVIER RUDD – Le Me Be (2005 Solace)
LIPBONE REDDING – Never Forsake You (2008 Party on the Fire Escape)
INFAMOUS STRINGDUSTERS – Get It While You Can
(2008 Infamous Stringdusters)
LEFTOVER SALMON – Doin’ My Time (4/16/96 8x10 Club, Baltimore, MD)
# # #
TnJ 040 (10/15/08) Tom's Birthday Week + HUGE BOBBY SANDWICH!
-HOUR ONE-
GRATEFUL DEAD – Lazy Lightnin’ > Supplication (1980/2002/2004 Go to Nassau)
GRATEFUL DEAD – Greatest Story Ever Told (2005 Truckin’ Up to Buffalo)
GRATEFUL DEAD – Hell in a Bucket (1990/1996/2004 Dozin’ at the Knick)
JIMMY HERRING – Scapegoat Blues (2008 Lifeboat)
ACORN PROJECT – McGuffin (2008 We’ll Be Fine)
LARRY – Whistle Britches (5/10/01 Antone’s, Austin, TX)
-HOUR TWO-
LARRY – Myth of Fingerprints (5/10/01 Antone’s, Austin, TX)
LARRY – Manitou Song (12/2/00 Houston, TX)
STRING CHEESE INCIDENT – Quinn the Eskimo (the Mighty Quinn)
(2003 On the Road, 7/4/03 Santa Fe, NM)
TONY FURTADO – Waiting for Guiteau (1/17/05 John’s Alley, Moscow, ID)
GREATEFUL DEAD – Let It Grow (7/10/76 Orpheum, San Francisco, CA)
GRATEFUL DEAD – The Music Never Stopped (1975/1991/2004 One from the Vault)
# # #
GRATEFUL DEAD – Lazy Lightnin’ > Supplication (1980/2002/2004 Go to Nassau)
GRATEFUL DEAD – Greatest Story Ever Told (2005 Truckin’ Up to Buffalo)
GRATEFUL DEAD – Hell in a Bucket (1990/1996/2004 Dozin’ at the Knick)
JIMMY HERRING – Scapegoat Blues (2008 Lifeboat)
ACORN PROJECT – McGuffin (2008 We’ll Be Fine)
LARRY – Whistle Britches (5/10/01 Antone’s, Austin, TX)
-HOUR TWO-
LARRY – Myth of Fingerprints (5/10/01 Antone’s, Austin, TX)
LARRY – Manitou Song (12/2/00 Houston, TX)
STRING CHEESE INCIDENT – Quinn the Eskimo (the Mighty Quinn)
(2003 On the Road, 7/4/03 Santa Fe, NM)
TONY FURTADO – Waiting for Guiteau (1/17/05 John’s Alley, Moscow, ID)
GREATEFUL DEAD – Let It Grow (7/10/76 Orpheum, San Francisco, CA)
GRATEFUL DEAD – The Music Never Stopped (1975/1991/2004 One from the Vault)
# # #
TnJ 039 (10/8/08)
-HOUR ONE-
WIDESPREAD PANIC – Surprise Valley > Blight > Walkin’
(2002 Live in the Classic City, c. 2000)
JOHN PRINE – Some Humans Ain’t Human (2005 Fair & Square)
HILLSTOMP – Flood Blues (2002/2004 One Word)
LOS LOBOS – Down on the Riverbed (10/13/00 Austin, TX)
moe. – I Wanna Be Sedated (2001 Warts and All, Volume One)
PARTICLE – The Elevator (2004 Launchpad)
-HOUR TWO-
U-MELT – Escape (2006 The I’s Mind)
ROBERT WALTER – Scores of Spores (2008 Cure All)
WARREN HAYNES – Lucky (2004 Live at Bonnaroo)
RADIOHEAD – Talk Show Host (12/19/07 New York, NY)
THE NEW DEAL – Episode 7 (2003 Gone Gone Gone)
OM TRIO – Romero (2003 GlobalPositioningRecord)
FUTURE ROCK – Torture (2007 Gears)
PETER TOSH – 400 Years > Stepping Razor (3/14/79 WLIR Broadcast)
# # #
WIDESPREAD PANIC – Surprise Valley > Blight > Walkin’
(2002 Live in the Classic City, c. 2000)
JOHN PRINE – Some Humans Ain’t Human (2005 Fair & Square)
HILLSTOMP – Flood Blues (2002/2004 One Word)
LOS LOBOS – Down on the Riverbed (10/13/00 Austin, TX)
moe. – I Wanna Be Sedated (2001 Warts and All, Volume One)
PARTICLE – The Elevator (2004 Launchpad)
-HOUR TWO-
U-MELT – Escape (2006 The I’s Mind)
ROBERT WALTER – Scores of Spores (2008 Cure All)
WARREN HAYNES – Lucky (2004 Live at Bonnaroo)
RADIOHEAD – Talk Show Host (12/19/07 New York, NY)
THE NEW DEAL – Episode 7 (2003 Gone Gone Gone)
OM TRIO – Romero (2003 GlobalPositioningRecord)
FUTURE ROCK – Torture (2007 Gears)
PETER TOSH – 400 Years > Stepping Razor (3/14/79 WLIR Broadcast)
# # #
TnJ 038 (10/1/08)
-HOUR ONE-
JERRY GARCIA & DAVID GRISMAN – So What (1998 So What)
DeVotchKa – Transliterator (2008 A Mad & Faithful Telling)
THE DUHKS – Fast Paced World (2008 Fast Paced World)
PHISH w/LES & LARRY from PRIMUS – Harpua > Wildwood Weed > Harpua >
I Want to Be a Cowboy’s Sweetheart > Harpua > Suspicious Minds > Harpua (1996/2007 Vegas ’96)
MICHAEL FRANTI & SPEARHEAD – The Future (2008 All Rebel Rockers)
-HOUR TWO-
KARL DENSON’S TINY UNIVERSE w/SAUL WILLIAMS & MICHAEL FRANTI – Freedom (2002 The Bridge)
SOLDIERS of JAH ARMY – Open My Eyes (2005 Get Wiser)
THE RADIATORS – Tear My Eyes Out (2008 Wild & Free, 12/11/98)
MOSES GUEST – Best Laid Plans (2007 Best Laid Plans)
FLOUNDERS WITHOUT EYES – Get What You Pay For (2000 What Will It Bring)
MAMA’S COOKIN’ – Black Reign (2007 Mama’s Cookin’)
PAUL MARK & the VAN DORENS – Ruff House (2008 Blood & Treasure)
STEVIE RAY VAUGHAN & DOUBLE TROUBLE – Voodoo Chile (Slight Return) (2000 SRV Box Set, 10/4/84)
# # #
JERRY GARCIA & DAVID GRISMAN – So What (1998 So What)
DeVotchKa – Transliterator (2008 A Mad & Faithful Telling)
THE DUHKS – Fast Paced World (2008 Fast Paced World)
PHISH w/LES & LARRY from PRIMUS – Harpua > Wildwood Weed > Harpua >
I Want to Be a Cowboy’s Sweetheart > Harpua > Suspicious Minds > Harpua (1996/2007 Vegas ’96)
MICHAEL FRANTI & SPEARHEAD – The Future (2008 All Rebel Rockers)
-HOUR TWO-
KARL DENSON’S TINY UNIVERSE w/SAUL WILLIAMS & MICHAEL FRANTI – Freedom (2002 The Bridge)
SOLDIERS of JAH ARMY – Open My Eyes (2005 Get Wiser)
THE RADIATORS – Tear My Eyes Out (2008 Wild & Free, 12/11/98)
MOSES GUEST – Best Laid Plans (2007 Best Laid Plans)
FLOUNDERS WITHOUT EYES – Get What You Pay For (2000 What Will It Bring)
MAMA’S COOKIN’ – Black Reign (2007 Mama’s Cookin’)
PAUL MARK & the VAN DORENS – Ruff House (2008 Blood & Treasure)
STEVIE RAY VAUGHAN & DOUBLE TROUBLE – Voodoo Chile (Slight Return) (2000 SRV Box Set, 10/4/84)
# # #
Thursday, October 9, 2008
CONCERT REVIEW - Michael Franti & Spearhead 9/26/08
Michael Franti & Spearhead – 9/26/08 – Paolo Soleri Amphitheater, Santa Fe, NM
Concert Review by Chris Diestler, KBAC
Okay, maybe I’m getting a little jaded, but I used to think, “If you’ve seen one Michael Franti show you’ve seen them all.” Damn, was I wrong. The show at Santa Fe’s grooviest venue – Paolo Soleri – was a revelation.
Even a cursory listen to his latest albums (2006’s “Yell Fire!” and the new release “All Rebel Rockers”) might have presaged what I-and-I-and-what-seemed-like-the-rest-of-Santa-Fe were in store for, and we knew it would be an unusual night due to the pre-show simulcast of the McCain-Obama debate, but I seriously had my mind blown by Franti’s new stage show. He has taken it to the next level.
His famously documented travel to other countries (including a documentary shoot / concert tour of Iraq which, according to legend, was free to all) has had an amazing effect on this man and his presentation. In terms of this concert, perhaps most salient among his outlook-expanding voyages was setting up shop in Kingston, Jamaica where dub legends Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare would record the new songs. Presumably handpicking Cherine Anderson from the Jamaican dancehall circuit to work the crowd and sing back-up, Franti’s show is no longer the bare-bones venture of yesteryear. He’s always been a natural entertainer and knows how to work a crowd. But now, by G*d, he’s got a SHOW!
We had watched, with bizarre fascination, the McCain-Obama debate on a jury-rigged big screen above the stage. When Franti was ready to come on, he pulled a ZOO-TV-esque (U2 reference) silhouette introduction to 2006’s “Hello Bonjour,” backlit against the big screen while it hawked seemingly random commercial products. The rhythm section was a fu**ing freight train. I was their plaything.
Lyrics like “you say you’re a Christian cause God made you / and you say you’re a Muslim cause God made you / you say you’re a Hindu and the next man a Jew / then we all kill each other cause God told us to” never hit me so hard. He’s always had good backup. But this combo is unstoppable. Between the DJ (keyboardist?), the drummer, and the aforementioned Ms. Anderson, the show hit the ground running and didn’t let up until the Bob Marley end-of-show exit music came up with the lights some 90 minutes later.
Leaning mostly on material from “All Rebel Rockers,” Spearhead delivered a conscious, positive, energetic performance. Acoustic re-workings of songs like “Sometimes” (originally from 2001’s “Stay Human”) and the poignant new song “Nobody Right Nobody Wrong” gave Franti a chance to sit his sizable frame down on a stool and let us all catch our breath before the next wave of happy dancing / chanting.
It’s now almost the “Michael Franti All-Reggae Review” and I couldn’t help but wonder whether he realizes, with his charisma and this new act, he could be the next Bob Marley (or as close as someone from Oakland could hope to be). He seems to be a genuinely peaceful, intelligent human being and I, for one, think he’s doing the right thing, creatively, by focusing more on the positive than previous, angrier efforts.
Other highlights for me included:
“Yell Fire” (from the album of the same name), a political rock anthem if ever there was one, which we were only too willing to chant along with;
“The Future” (from the new release), and I, too, hope it gets here soon;
the timely-as-ever Bring the Boys (and Girls) Back Home sing-along “Light Up Ya Lighter,” combined with a powerful “Time to Go Home” (both from “Yell Fire”), reminded us of the ridiculous quagmire we’re still stuck in in Iraq;
Even the silly, “loudy-loud” bass-driven “Everybody Ona Move” (from “Yell Fire”) got me moving in its current incarnation. And hey, he managed to rhyme “vamanos” with “dominoes.” (^_^)
“I Got Love for You,” from the latest release, which he introduced as a song he wrote for his child who took a Greyhound bus to New York to see what life was really about, struck a chord with the crowd and got them all singing, even though the new album was hot off the press and unfamiliar to most. Such is Franti’s superpower – a commanding voice and an uncanny ability to turn an immediately memorable phrase.
He admitted from the stage, during a segue into an acoustic number, that the Democratic National Committee had asked if they could set up a booth at the show. His response was along the lines of, “certainly, as long as any Republicans or Green Party or Libertarians who wish to set up are also allowed.” This inclusive attitude is still surprisingly rare even in “enlightened” Santa Fe (and shame on you for shouting John McCain down before the show, even if it was pretty hilarious), but Michael Franti seems determined to follow it through to its logical conclusion – bringing power to the peaceful.
Michael Franti has found a nice groove. I think it suits him. Though he’s always been eloquent, I think he’s finally found his voice.
# # #
Concert Review by Chris Diestler, KBAC
Okay, maybe I’m getting a little jaded, but I used to think, “If you’ve seen one Michael Franti show you’ve seen them all.” Damn, was I wrong. The show at Santa Fe’s grooviest venue – Paolo Soleri – was a revelation.
Even a cursory listen to his latest albums (2006’s “Yell Fire!” and the new release “All Rebel Rockers”) might have presaged what I-and-I-and-what-seemed-like-the-rest-of-Santa-Fe were in store for, and we knew it would be an unusual night due to the pre-show simulcast of the McCain-Obama debate, but I seriously had my mind blown by Franti’s new stage show. He has taken it to the next level.
His famously documented travel to other countries (including a documentary shoot / concert tour of Iraq which, according to legend, was free to all) has had an amazing effect on this man and his presentation. In terms of this concert, perhaps most salient among his outlook-expanding voyages was setting up shop in Kingston, Jamaica where dub legends Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare would record the new songs. Presumably handpicking Cherine Anderson from the Jamaican dancehall circuit to work the crowd and sing back-up, Franti’s show is no longer the bare-bones venture of yesteryear. He’s always been a natural entertainer and knows how to work a crowd. But now, by G*d, he’s got a SHOW!
We had watched, with bizarre fascination, the McCain-Obama debate on a jury-rigged big screen above the stage. When Franti was ready to come on, he pulled a ZOO-TV-esque (U2 reference) silhouette introduction to 2006’s “Hello Bonjour,” backlit against the big screen while it hawked seemingly random commercial products. The rhythm section was a fu**ing freight train. I was their plaything.
Lyrics like “you say you’re a Christian cause God made you / and you say you’re a Muslim cause God made you / you say you’re a Hindu and the next man a Jew / then we all kill each other cause God told us to” never hit me so hard. He’s always had good backup. But this combo is unstoppable. Between the DJ (keyboardist?), the drummer, and the aforementioned Ms. Anderson, the show hit the ground running and didn’t let up until the Bob Marley end-of-show exit music came up with the lights some 90 minutes later.
Leaning mostly on material from “All Rebel Rockers,” Spearhead delivered a conscious, positive, energetic performance. Acoustic re-workings of songs like “Sometimes” (originally from 2001’s “Stay Human”) and the poignant new song “Nobody Right Nobody Wrong” gave Franti a chance to sit his sizable frame down on a stool and let us all catch our breath before the next wave of happy dancing / chanting.
It’s now almost the “Michael Franti All-Reggae Review” and I couldn’t help but wonder whether he realizes, with his charisma and this new act, he could be the next Bob Marley (or as close as someone from Oakland could hope to be). He seems to be a genuinely peaceful, intelligent human being and I, for one, think he’s doing the right thing, creatively, by focusing more on the positive than previous, angrier efforts.
Other highlights for me included:
“Yell Fire” (from the album of the same name), a political rock anthem if ever there was one, which we were only too willing to chant along with;
“The Future” (from the new release), and I, too, hope it gets here soon;
the timely-as-ever Bring the Boys (and Girls) Back Home sing-along “Light Up Ya Lighter,” combined with a powerful “Time to Go Home” (both from “Yell Fire”), reminded us of the ridiculous quagmire we’re still stuck in in Iraq;
Even the silly, “loudy-loud” bass-driven “Everybody Ona Move” (from “Yell Fire”) got me moving in its current incarnation. And hey, he managed to rhyme “vamanos” with “dominoes.” (^_^)
“I Got Love for You,” from the latest release, which he introduced as a song he wrote for his child who took a Greyhound bus to New York to see what life was really about, struck a chord with the crowd and got them all singing, even though the new album was hot off the press and unfamiliar to most. Such is Franti’s superpower – a commanding voice and an uncanny ability to turn an immediately memorable phrase.
He admitted from the stage, during a segue into an acoustic number, that the Democratic National Committee had asked if they could set up a booth at the show. His response was along the lines of, “certainly, as long as any Republicans or Green Party or Libertarians who wish to set up are also allowed.” This inclusive attitude is still surprisingly rare even in “enlightened” Santa Fe (and shame on you for shouting John McCain down before the show, even if it was pretty hilarious), but Michael Franti seems determined to follow it through to its logical conclusion – bringing power to the peaceful.
Michael Franti has found a nice groove. I think it suits him. Though he’s always been eloquent, I think he’s finally found his voice.
# # #
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
CONCERT REVIEW - Ani DiFranco 9/23/08
Ani DiFranco – 9/23/08 – Lensic Performing Arts Center, Santa Fe, NM
Concert Review by Chris Diestler, KBAC
I expected a great show from D.I.Y. diva Ani DiFranco, because her shows are always great. But this show happened to fall on her 38th birthday, and the word came backstage beforehand that the Lensic was sold out – packed to the brim with adoring fans.
“Red Letter Year,” her newest release, wouldn’t be in stores for yet another week, but I had managed to check it out the night before on her Righteous Babe Records website. Two years in the making, it’s as lovingly crafted and delightful to listen to as any in her nearly-twenty-year repertoire. There were several selections I was already dying to hear live, especially “The Atom.”
True to form, despite her confession to being a little “under the weather,” Ani did not disappoint the crowd. The birthday show ran the gamut, featuring a lively mixture of old and new songs. At one point she stumbled over the lyrics, admitting she may sometimes be a little too clever for her own good, but the crowd humbly prompted her and she was quickly back on track.
My highlights included 2001’s “Your Next Bold Move” (from “Revelling/Reckoning”), which she prefaced by informing us there were volunteers outside who apparently took it upon themselves to come out and register people to vote. She packed an extra emotional punch into lines like, “watching capitalism gun down democracy,” and “buying and selling off shares of air” just for the occasion.
The reworking of 1992’s “Coming Up” (from “Imperfectly”) came off as particularly timely, with her pockets empty except for “receipts, bus schedules, matchbook phone numbers, and urgent napkin poems,” wishing she “could cry more and care less,” and admonishing “whoever’s in charge up there” to “take the elevator down and put more than change in our cup or else we are coming up.”
And what would an Ani DiFranco show be without some of the best-written love songs on the planet? “Smiling Underneath” (from 2008’s “Red Letter Days”) oozed honest charm with lines like, “I don’t mind if the bills pile up / and the work is slow / I don’t mind the gas or the groceries or the grind / long as I’m with you / I’m having a good time.” When I first read those lyrics on her website I smiled, because it sounded exactly like something my wife, Kate, would say. As Ani sang them, Kate gave me a nudge and a smile.
“You Had Time,” though dating clear back to 1994’s “Out of Range,” still seemed fresh, as did all the dusty old numbers she played that night. A poignant song about coming home to your lover after performance tour but being too exhausted to have even a conversation, I wondered how true it might still be for her, or if she now sings it merely for nostalgia’s sake, or simply because it’s a great song.
Frankly, if Ani was sick, I never would’ve guessed. Her energy level seemed superhuman as usual. She segued effortlessly from love song to political commentary and back again, occasionally chatting with the audience about whatever was on her mind (nasal congestion; her new baby -- whom they apparently refer to as “Doot;” the upcoming presidential election; whether you can consider yourself a feminist and still dismiss the idea of voting for Sarah Palin), and sent me home with a smile on my face.
“Half-Assed” (from 2006’s “Reprieve”) and 2005’s “Manhole” (from “Knuckle Down”) also struck a chord with me, as did the new song “Present / Infant,” but as I said, my favorite from the new disc upon first listen was “The Atom,” and by God, did she give me “The Atom.” Her prefatory ramble informed us she had recently “found religion.” The audience seemed unsure how to respond. “Surely,” I thought, “she can’t expect the customary, collective “woo hoo?” Finally, she said over her shoulder to the band, “They think I’m kidding.” Someone bellowed something mostly unintelligible from the audience. Ani took a guess that they had asked that she “play something awesome.” After a few hearty chuckles, she said that she’d been holding back on the awesome for just the right moment, and proceeded to play “The Atom.” She sang about “the smallest unit of matter…uniting bird and rock and tree / and you and me,” and how “the glory of the atom / begs a reverent word” with such passion I did feel a tingle deep in my emotional being some might call religion. I don’t know if her great-great-uncle really worked on the atomic bomb, as she sings in the song, but her parents were scientists, and it’s certainly possible. Maybe it was that I knew we were so close to Los Alamos, but each verse overwhelmed me more than the one before it and I found myself wiping away tears by the time she got to the final verse, which drew a cheer from the entire crowd: “Someone fashion me a pulpit / I have been called to engage / with the maniacal heretics / of the nuclear age.”
“The Atom” is my new favorite Ani DiFranco song.
As usual, I had a handful of old favorites I was keen to hear that night – “Little Plastic Castle,” “Untouchable Face,” “Evolve,” “Not a Pretty Girl,” “Dilate,” “Angry Anymore,” “Freakshow,” “Educated Guess,” “’Tis of Thee,” “Blood in the Boardroom” – none of which were played (though my wife did manage to call for / receive Little Plastic Castles’ “Gravel,” as the first encore), but it was an amazing show nevertheless. Fresh. Thoughtful. Critical. Hopeful. Like always.
# # #
Concert Review by Chris Diestler, KBAC
I expected a great show from D.I.Y. diva Ani DiFranco, because her shows are always great. But this show happened to fall on her 38th birthday, and the word came backstage beforehand that the Lensic was sold out – packed to the brim with adoring fans.
“Red Letter Year,” her newest release, wouldn’t be in stores for yet another week, but I had managed to check it out the night before on her Righteous Babe Records website. Two years in the making, it’s as lovingly crafted and delightful to listen to as any in her nearly-twenty-year repertoire. There were several selections I was already dying to hear live, especially “The Atom.”
True to form, despite her confession to being a little “under the weather,” Ani did not disappoint the crowd. The birthday show ran the gamut, featuring a lively mixture of old and new songs. At one point she stumbled over the lyrics, admitting she may sometimes be a little too clever for her own good, but the crowd humbly prompted her and she was quickly back on track.
My highlights included 2001’s “Your Next Bold Move” (from “Revelling/Reckoning”), which she prefaced by informing us there were volunteers outside who apparently took it upon themselves to come out and register people to vote. She packed an extra emotional punch into lines like, “watching capitalism gun down democracy,” and “buying and selling off shares of air” just for the occasion.
The reworking of 1992’s “Coming Up” (from “Imperfectly”) came off as particularly timely, with her pockets empty except for “receipts, bus schedules, matchbook phone numbers, and urgent napkin poems,” wishing she “could cry more and care less,” and admonishing “whoever’s in charge up there” to “take the elevator down and put more than change in our cup or else we are coming up.”
And what would an Ani DiFranco show be without some of the best-written love songs on the planet? “Smiling Underneath” (from 2008’s “Red Letter Days”) oozed honest charm with lines like, “I don’t mind if the bills pile up / and the work is slow / I don’t mind the gas or the groceries or the grind / long as I’m with you / I’m having a good time.” When I first read those lyrics on her website I smiled, because it sounded exactly like something my wife, Kate, would say. As Ani sang them, Kate gave me a nudge and a smile.
“You Had Time,” though dating clear back to 1994’s “Out of Range,” still seemed fresh, as did all the dusty old numbers she played that night. A poignant song about coming home to your lover after performance tour but being too exhausted to have even a conversation, I wondered how true it might still be for her, or if she now sings it merely for nostalgia’s sake, or simply because it’s a great song.
Frankly, if Ani was sick, I never would’ve guessed. Her energy level seemed superhuman as usual. She segued effortlessly from love song to political commentary and back again, occasionally chatting with the audience about whatever was on her mind (nasal congestion; her new baby -- whom they apparently refer to as “Doot;” the upcoming presidential election; whether you can consider yourself a feminist and still dismiss the idea of voting for Sarah Palin), and sent me home with a smile on my face.
“Half-Assed” (from 2006’s “Reprieve”) and 2005’s “Manhole” (from “Knuckle Down”) also struck a chord with me, as did the new song “Present / Infant,” but as I said, my favorite from the new disc upon first listen was “The Atom,” and by God, did she give me “The Atom.” Her prefatory ramble informed us she had recently “found religion.” The audience seemed unsure how to respond. “Surely,” I thought, “she can’t expect the customary, collective “woo hoo?” Finally, she said over her shoulder to the band, “They think I’m kidding.” Someone bellowed something mostly unintelligible from the audience. Ani took a guess that they had asked that she “play something awesome.” After a few hearty chuckles, she said that she’d been holding back on the awesome for just the right moment, and proceeded to play “The Atom.” She sang about “the smallest unit of matter…uniting bird and rock and tree / and you and me,” and how “the glory of the atom / begs a reverent word” with such passion I did feel a tingle deep in my emotional being some might call religion. I don’t know if her great-great-uncle really worked on the atomic bomb, as she sings in the song, but her parents were scientists, and it’s certainly possible. Maybe it was that I knew we were so close to Los Alamos, but each verse overwhelmed me more than the one before it and I found myself wiping away tears by the time she got to the final verse, which drew a cheer from the entire crowd: “Someone fashion me a pulpit / I have been called to engage / with the maniacal heretics / of the nuclear age.”
“The Atom” is my new favorite Ani DiFranco song.
As usual, I had a handful of old favorites I was keen to hear that night – “Little Plastic Castle,” “Untouchable Face,” “Evolve,” “Not a Pretty Girl,” “Dilate,” “Angry Anymore,” “Freakshow,” “Educated Guess,” “’Tis of Thee,” “Blood in the Boardroom” – none of which were played (though my wife did manage to call for / receive Little Plastic Castles’ “Gravel,” as the first encore), but it was an amazing show nevertheless. Fresh. Thoughtful. Critical. Hopeful. Like always.
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