Ani DiFranco - Lawrence, KS - 29 Sep 2008
1. Little Plastic Castle (from Little Plastic Castle, 1998)
2. Manhole (from Knuckle Down, 2005)
3. Paradigm (from Knuckle Down, 2005)
4. You Had Time (from Out of Range, 1994)
5. Emancipated Minor (from Red Letter Year, 2008)
6. Lag Time (from Knuckle Down, 2005)
7. As Is (from Little Plastic Castle, 1998)
8. Swan Dive (from Little Plastic Castle, 1998)
9. Nicotine (from Reprieve, 2006)
10. The Atom (from Red Letter Year, 2008)
11. Present/Infant (from Red Letter Year, 2008)
12. New song (as in, almost finished, she said)
13. Names And Dates And Times (from Puddle Dive, 1993)
14. Reckoning (from Revelling/Reckoning, 2001)
15. Alla This (from Red Letter Year, 2008)
16. Landing Gear (from Red Letter Year, 2008)
17. Gravel (from Little Plastic Castle, 1998)
Encore:
1. Both Hands (from Ani DiFranco, 1990)
2. Every State Line (from Imperfectly, 1992)
3. Hypnotized (from Reprieve, 2006)
Favorites that I was pleased to hear: 1, 2, 7, 8 (very much so, that one), 13, E1, E2 (and this is not, of course, to say that I didn’t enjoy most of the others; these were just the songs I was most excited about).
I enjoyed most of the stuff from the new album; I’m sure I’ll buy it sooner or later.
Comments:
12. The opening lyrics talked about how promiscuity is just one way of seeing the world: some people stick close to home, some people travel far and wide (as it were). There was also a refrain of “nature gets her way” that must have been apropos of the other lyrics but I’m not making the connection at the moment. Still, it was a fun little tune.
13. The way she performs this song in concert is fairly different from how it appears on the album: it’s in a different key, and the lyrics to the chorus are different, so it’s really more like “Names And Dates And Times Redux.” The changes make sense given how long ago Puddle Dive came out, of course.
15. This was the super-new song she performed the last time I saw her, which was a neat little connection.
16. This song is set during labor, and Ani dedicated it to the moms in the audience. As someone who still isn’t sure whether or not she wants to have children and who doesn’t believe that reproducing is the be-all-end-all of a woman’s existence, I was a little troubled by the song. Except I was thinking about it in the shower this morning, and had to check myself: she’s just singing about her own experience and her own imaginings. She’s not making a statement about what all women should do any more than “what [she] happen[s] to be wearing the day that someone takes a picture is [her] new statement for all of womankind.” So, that was kind of a duh moment on my part. :)
E2. Performed as an a cappella (plus some percussion) sing-along, and in a different key from how it appears on the album. It gave it a joyful tone, which was kind of ironic given the lyrics, but it was lots of fun nonetheless.
(Might add more to this later; for now I have to leave work.)
2. Manhole (from Knuckle Down, 2005)
3. Paradigm (from Knuckle Down, 2005)
4. You Had Time (from Out of Range, 1994)
5. Emancipated Minor (from Red Letter Year, 2008)
6. Lag Time (from Knuckle Down, 2005)
7. As Is (from Little Plastic Castle, 1998)
8. Swan Dive (from Little Plastic Castle, 1998)
9. Nicotine (from Reprieve, 2006)
10. The Atom (from Red Letter Year, 2008)
11. Present/Infant (from Red Letter Year, 2008)
12. New song (as in, almost finished, she said)
13. Names And Dates And Times (from Puddle Dive, 1993)
14. Reckoning (from Revelling/Reckoning, 2001)
15. Alla This (from Red Letter Year, 2008)
16. Landing Gear (from Red Letter Year, 2008)
17. Gravel (from Little Plastic Castle, 1998)
Encore:
1. Both Hands (from Ani DiFranco, 1990)
2. Every State Line (from Imperfectly, 1992)
3. Hypnotized (from Reprieve, 2006)
Favorites that I was pleased to hear: 1, 2, 7, 8 (very much so, that one), 13, E1, E2 (and this is not, of course, to say that I didn’t enjoy most of the others; these were just the songs I was most excited about).
I enjoyed most of the stuff from the new album; I’m sure I’ll buy it sooner or later.
Comments:
12. The opening lyrics talked about how promiscuity is just one way of seeing the world: some people stick close to home, some people travel far and wide (as it were). There was also a refrain of “nature gets her way” that must have been apropos of the other lyrics but I’m not making the connection at the moment. Still, it was a fun little tune.
13. The way she performs this song in concert is fairly different from how it appears on the album: it’s in a different key, and the lyrics to the chorus are different, so it’s really more like “Names And Dates And Times Redux.” The changes make sense given how long ago Puddle Dive came out, of course.
15. This was the super-new song she performed the last time I saw her, which was a neat little connection.
16. This song is set during labor, and Ani dedicated it to the moms in the audience. As someone who still isn’t sure whether or not she wants to have children and who doesn’t believe that reproducing is the be-all-end-all of a woman’s existence, I was a little troubled by the song. Except I was thinking about it in the shower this morning, and had to check myself: she’s just singing about her own experience and her own imaginings. She’s not making a statement about what all women should do any more than “what [she] happen[s] to be wearing the day that someone takes a picture is [her] new statement for all of womankind.” So, that was kind of a duh moment on my part. :)
E2. Performed as an a cappella (plus some percussion) sing-along, and in a different key from how it appears on the album. It gave it a joyful tone, which was kind of ironic given the lyrics, but it was lots of fun nonetheless.
(Might add more to this later; for now I have to leave work.)