That was the first time that I had extra tickets, because two friends bailed on me at the list minute. I was pretty confident that I could manage to sell them, because there are always people looking for tickets before concerts. Well, no, not this time. The show was not sold out (the Tsongas Arena is a large venue) and it was cold outside. Anyway...
I was used to sit-down concerts in the US, but this one wasn't, which explained why so many people were in line in front of the door despite the cold 1h30 before the concert.
We ended up pretty much in the middle, not too far from the stage. Not bad.
A bald guy arrived on stage, introduced by somebody from Righteous Babe Records as Hamell On Trial.
He started basically playing loudly and kind of screaming in the mic. His music was somewhat messy I thought, and I didn't really understand all the lyrics, but people seemed to enjoy it. I thought it was too messy.
On the other hand, I thought that he was a pretty funny guy and he was great on stage. Moreover, I visited his Web site and downloaded a few songs and found that his studio material was not that bad (I listened the John Lennon that he played that night, and appreciated it). I will have to investigate. :-)
He played for about 35 minutes.
Ani DiFranco arrived on stage 15 minutes later, starting the concert with Shy.
She played a lot of her new songs, which was enjoyable because, when people do not know the songs, they do not scream in the middle or sing along too loudly.
I thought that the show was good, but I must admit that I don't appreciate her new style that much. The new songs are ok (I will need to grab her new album - I did not try to get it there, there were too many people in line), but I find the reorchestration of her old songs sometimes disapointing. The Diner is cool and not very far from the original version, but Fire Door was completely different, for example. I guess that when you have been touring all year for the last 7 years, you need to play with your own music.
I think that I just preferred it when it was only her with a few instruments (bass and drums). When Julie Wolf arrived, it was still great. But I guess that I do not like horns in all the songs. That night, she had the same musicians as the had last October in Boston, MA (26th and 27th): Daren Hahn on the drums, Jason Mercer on the bass, Julie Wolf on the keys, Shane Endsley and Hans Teuber on the horns.
Something else has changed in her concerts. She used to talk a lot, tell stories, and this time she did not do that at all. Maybe she just was not talkative that night.
She played 1h35, and then two encores.
Here is the set list:
I am impatient to read other people's reviews to put my experience of the concert in perspective.