Venue: The Moore Theater - Seattle, WA
Date: Wed., April 23, 2008
Opener: Judy Grahn & Animal Prufrock
Freakshow and Poetry
Perhaps you're familiar with Animal Prufrock from her days as one half of the innovative folk-punk-poetry-performance art duo Bitch & Animal. And perhaps you're familiar with Judy Grahn's intelligent, imagery-laden feminist poetry—she is, after all, a bit of a legend in that arena. She even has an award named after her.Together, the duo (and electric guitarist Ann Carol) put on a rather interesting show. They alternate between Grahn's empowering poetics—backed by Prufrock's intense, danceable pre-recorded rhythms, electronic keys, occasionally a hand drum, Carol on guitar—and the latter's bizarre, devil-may-care compositions. Occasionally, Prufrock's dancing and carrying on starts to detract a bit from Grahn's intense recitations, but that's not always a bad thing.
Most notable about their performance was the all-star tribute to DiFranco's long-time "Mistress of Merch" Heidi Kunkel, who, after 12 and a half years, joined the traveling show for the last time in Seattle. Along with Kunkel, Prufrock, Carol and Grahn, DiFranco and her full band hit the stage, as drummer Allison Miller tore the shirts off all the men. Together, they all sang and danced their way through Bitch & Animal's classic "Best C***k on the Block."
Ani DiFranco Band
Before we get to the incredible selection of new and old songs that DiFranco pulled out for this set, it's important to note how...well, notable her backup band is these days. Percussionist Mike Dillon, drummer Alison Miller, and bassist Todd Sickafoose are a formidable team behind the little folksinger. Wether one of them is taking a well-timed, impeccably instrumentalized solo, or whether they're working together to support DiFranco's schizophrenic, alien mastery of guitar, it's just a remarkable band. Miller and Dillon exchanging telepathic glances as they play tennis with the rhythm, and Sickafoose bending around, hugging his instrument like it's one big, heavy appendage.
New and Old Songs, Alike
Ani DiFranco, meanwhile, seems to channel her gifts, tackling the more rocking selections with a speed and ferocity that can only come from years of familiarity with the tunes. Aware of her semi-recent bout with tendonitis in both her hands, it's hard to not fear her wrists might snap right off in the middle of the intense, pounding guitar solos of "Two Little Girls" (download from Amazon).In addition to rocking her way through the classics ("Little Plastic Castle," "Shameless," "You Had Time," all of which were met by rather appreciative ovations), DiFranco and crew brought out quite a few new, un-recorded songs. Among them, "Present/Infant" and "The Atom" were two of the most remarkable. Both, she said, rose from having given birth. "The Atom" was a deeply provocative tribute to that universal material from which all things are composed. She sings about the creation of the atom bomb, "I bet there were no windows and no women in the room / when they applied themselves to the pure science of doom."
Another notable new-ish tune was "Red Letter Year"—a tribute to her second hometown of New Orleans. Drawing imagery from the children's book, Harold and the Purple Crayon (compare prices), she sings "You grab your purple crayon and flesh out the picture behind / and find out the whole world is made of one unbroken line." The same song ends with the bitingly DiFranco-esque line of commentary about the insatiable news coverage of Katrina's aftermath: "For one unnerving moment, they're going to show the truth on TV."
A Great Send-Off
So much of this show, from opener to second encore, was focused on sending Kunkel off in style. From Animal's ensemble comedic performance of "Best C***k on the Block," to DiFranco's dedicating "Little Plastic Castle" and a new tune called "Way Tight" to Kunkel at the end. If that was the main focus of the band's energy, it was a pretty fantastic send-off. This was one of the most high-energy shows we've seen from DiFranco in some time.Ani DiFranco is on tour now. For a full list of tour dates and more information, visit her Web site.
