Ani DiFranco
Date: July 9, 2006 The Kind of Beauty That Moves In no way can I be considered a knowledgeable follower of Ani DiFranco; of the approximately twenty albums that she has released, I have not heard one from start to finish. Nonetheless, I was encouraged to check out her performance at Bluesfest and I am glad that I did. DiFranco utilized a series of acoustic guitars (I counted five) and was assisted only by Todd Sickafoose on upright bass, a sparse configuration that worked extremely well. An attempted crash course before the concert enabled me to recognize a few songs, including "Manhole," "Gravel," "Two Little Girls," and "Little Plastic Castle." (Admittedly, the course never got much farther than the album Little Plastic Castle but apparently that wasn't a bad choice.) Even the unfamiliar songs were entertaining, due to DiFranco's attacking guitar style and strong voice. It was obvious that a lot of the crowd gathered in front of the Main Stage was there specifically for DiFranco, even if she was not the headliner, and she rewarded their enthusiasm. Not only did she pack a lot of songs into a set that stretched to an hour and fifteen minutes but she also kept the mood buoyant between songs. For someone whose name conjures up numerous political labels and whose subject matter is often serious, DiFranco had no trouble laughing at herself. The self-deprecating charm of her stage banter and the infectious smile that she beamed, whether playing music or joking with the crowd, made for a fun evening. While this was a light day for me at Bluesfest, as I limited myself to only one set, Ani DiFranco's performance ensured that it was a worthwhile outing. <--Prev (Feist/Jason Collett) | Next (Sam Roberts)-->Return to Concert ListReturn to Main Page |