pacificlectic : concert reviews & eclectic music news

FYI… PHOTOS of the SHOW at the BOTTOM

Ani DiFranco comes through Eugene on just about every West Coast tour – which is always a delight.  The crowd seemed a tad sparse… perhaps due to the lack of new Ani material out there recently.  She’s prolific, but hasn’t put out an album since 2008’s Red Letter Year.  She hasn’t even put out any new official live bootlegs since 2009.  With that lack of apparent new music on the shelves (CD World or iTunes), one might think she’s taking a break.  Well, as you’ll see from the setlist below, no break has occurred with her songwriting proliferation…

Super busy week; so I apologize in advance… I didn’t catch the opener Animal Prufrock this time.  I saw her back in 2008 with Judy Grahn & Ani D.  I enjoyed Animal’s raucous energy, but again… twas an uber-busy week, and I couldn’t make it to the McD for the early opener start time (Animal @ 7:30, Ani D @ 8:30!).

I got into the venue about 30 seconds before Ani and band hit the stage.  Whew, perfect timing!  Her band this time was the same as her prior Eugene gig… Andy Barger on drums, Mike Dillon on percussion, and Todd Sickafoose on contrabass.  Fantastically gelled band… I love watching these guys play.  In fact, I’ll be seeing Mike Dillon play again next week in Eugene.  At the end of the Ani tour, he’s hitting the road with Skerik and the rest of the guys with Garage A Trois.

Tons of new stuff was played…

Setlist: around 90 minutes pre-encore

• Anticipate
• Angry Any More
• Unworry (newish – she played it at Eugene 2009)
  
• Paradigm
• Promiscuity (new)
• Gloating (new)
• W.O.W. (new)
• J (new)
• I Know This Bar
• See See “Still in Love with You” (new)
• The Atom
• Everest
• If You’re Not (new)
• Untouchable Face
• Which Side Are You On?
• Encore: Overlap
• Angel from Montgomery

Due to a hectic week, I had to bail right before the encore.  Based on other reports from this tour, she also played a few older tunes and maybe the newer tune “Mariachi.”  Anyone with a good memory or notes throw a little help on what she played after “Which Side…” for an encore?

As far as the new stuff, I dug it… especially “Gloating,” “Jay,” and “W.O.W.”  I will say one of the best things of the night was the main line to “If You’re Not”…

If you’re not getting happier as you get older, you’re fucking up.

A lot of new stuff to digest… I usually need some more time for the new material to kick around my brain.  Perhaps with this glut of new material, she’s heading into the studio soon for studio album #18(!).  Anyone catch her Crystal Ballroom show in Portland? Any major difference in setlist?

more photos below

The Appropriate Linkage:

• Ani DiFranco’s Site
• Ani DiFranco’s Social Media Links (see below)
  
• My Other Ani-Related Reviews~
  • McDonald Theatre (Eugene – Oct 2009)
  • McDonald Theatre (Eugene – Apr 2008)
• McDonald Theatre’s Site / Facebook / Twitter

Next show for me… Skerik, Mike Dillon, Marc Benevento and Stanton Moore are Garage A Trois @ Sam Bond’s 4/21.

~Dan – np: Todd Sickafoose – Tiny Resistors

ANI DIFRANCO PHOTOS
all pictures (cc) 2011 Daniel Temmesfeld,
you may use freely under a creative commons attribution

(click for larger)