The Joyful Girl Returns

Ani Difranco played tonight to a packed house at the Paramount, and she once again (for the first time in a long time) proved that she is one of those rare artists who by her power, passion, and humanity can make a large venue seem as intimate as a coffee house. Her new album, Educated Guess (on which she played solo and produced), featuring songs about about love, family, and politics (among other things), were on display tonight. The set consisted mainly of songs from the new album, including the powerful poem, "Grand Canyon", an ode to the forebears of the progressive movement. In fact, except for a few songs I could count on one hand, including "Names and Dates and Times", "Overlap", and "Little Plastic Castle", all the songs were from the last two or three albums. I own all of her albums, but ever since she released To The Teeth in 1999, it gets harder to absorb all the songs. It's hard to keep up with her, since she releases an album or so a year. The woman is prolific.

Tonight was a homecoming of sorts. Not just a return to Seattle -- she plays here at least once a year -- but a return to her roots. On this tour she is playing solo (except for this leg of the tour, where she's accompanied by a bassist), a reflection of her decision to separate herself (thankfully) from her band, as well as from her husband (there are references to it on recent releases). And her music is a toned down departure from her funk-inspired and keyboard heavy albums of recent years. Her guitar-playing is once again at the forefront of her music, after several years of being drowned out by her band. The lyrics have remained consistent throughout the years -- she is the most articulate lyricist I've ever listened to -- but tonight's show seemed to show lyrical growth and seemed even more personal. The result was a sound refreshing and familiar to fans who've been following her since her early days.

Now, you can't talk about an Ani Difranco concert experience without talking about the fans. Her fans are a different mix of people, mostly women, and for the most part they are the best fans in the world. They are energetic and passionate, and they live and die, it seems, with each of her songs. However, there is something more than a little annoying about them, and I'm referring to a group of her most "loyal" admirers. Her FANS. Oh, you know them. The ones who scream incessantly at even the littlest things Ani says and does onstage. Granted, many fans identify with Ani's politics and her sexuality. However, it seems like FANS regard these aspects as the only things to identify with. I say this because the large majority of them are so enamored with Ani The Feminist-Bi-Queer Icon, and vocalize so loudly and often not even to the music (sometimes even missing the point to what she is singing about), they forget that, oh yeah, people are there to listen and see Ani The Musician. I'm not the only one to complain that you can't even hear the music sometimes. It's like The Beatles on Sullivan again, except with a now-trite, "You Go, Girl!!" flavor to it.

This may be too harsh, you say. What's the difference between those people and Korn fans? Those guys beat the hell out of each other at concerts and are ten times as vocal and disruptive! Well, putting musical taste aside (Korn sucks and their faux metal ilk bug the living hell outta me), the main difference is community. To many, Ani Difranco is the voice of the marginalized: women, gays, the poor. She articulates their lives and their pain much better than a band like Korn can to to their own fan base (young, white suburban boys). She brings a Fuck You attitude to folk music -- if her style can be called that anymore -- and gives inspiration for self empowerment. The Ani FANS cling to her and what she embodies so fiercely that they claim her as their own. Nobody else can know about her or deserve her. This is why, I suspect, they act the way many of them do at concerts. And how they were crushed when she married a dude. Again, too harsh? Perhaps. I'm just a guy, right? I don't know what I'm talking about. Then ask my wife, Lisa, an Ani fan of nearly ten years. She's been pushed around and nearly trampled by the zealots at more than one Ani concert. Maybe it's because she doesn't subscribe to the tattoo and big-boot uniform.

I'm sure that if this gets googled, the hate mail will come flooding in. Maybe that's just wishful thinking for this blog to get more hits. Alright, who's next? Are there any Mother Teresa fans out there I can offend?

Anyway, back to the show at hand. A year ago, Ani put on a short and seemingly half-hearted show at the Moore. Perhaps it was all the personal crises that she went through at the time, but she seemed weary and unenthusiastic. Her laugh, a most infectious giggle-turned cackle, seemed forced. Tonight, she was jumping around and bubbly, laughing like the old Ani, playing with an energy I hadn't seen in a while. Perhaps it's because she feels more free -- musically and personally. As she said tonight, "I love my job!" She even engaged the crowd a little bit more than last year -- although she loves and appreciates her fans, she's taken some personal steps to keep them at a comfortable length. I won't go into how she hates being pigeon-holed and categorized as this kind of musician, or that kind of person (a not too subtle hint to the FANS) because too many people have done it already, I would likely get it wrong, and it probably is not a big deal anyway.

I admit that I had one foot off the bandwagon a few years ago. I couldn't get into her last few albums, and I didn't like the way she was going musically and in concert. But hey, she's a musician who wants to grow. Why deny her that? I may not have been crazy about the music, but I still bought the CDs and went to concerts faithfully. I went to tonight's show with no expectations, but kinda hoping for the old magic. There are strong traces of it. She's not the same as she was many years ago -- she never will be. Ani's gone through a lot and has grown. But it looks like she's doing a lot of things that made her a success. The Li'l Folksinger seems happier and she's churning out really good music again. I'm looking forward to see where she's going and falling in love with her music again. A concert like this reinforces why I became a fan in the first place.