Punkis' Review:
July 11, 199 - Maceo Parker/Ani DiFranco - Hard Rock Hotel and Casino
Ani Difranco in Las Vegas, who would have guessed. Apparently this is her second time playing at the Hard-Rock. We were in Vegas for Defcon7 which luckily coincided with her concert. Breaking away from geek heaven to see Ani play live was an easy decision. Plus, for those regular Attrition visitors, you know that I am a complete Ani freak. If only she wasn't married. :) I tried to get Attrition backstage passes to get an interview and hang out with her, but to no avail. I talked to her tour manager and was told there would be no backstage passes for this show. I was however offered free tickets. Too bad we had already bought ours.
I had never seen a show at the Hard-Rock before and was pretty suprised with how small the place was. There was not a big crowd this night so there was still room to spread out. (They have no chairs in the concert hall. Standing room only.)
We missed the first half of the opening band Maceo Parker. Kind of hard to pin down their style...sort of a cross between jazz/funk/rap. A strange but interesting combination. Ani came out and sang one of their songs with them also which was a big plus.
After a short break Ani and the band strolled out on to the stage. They were all wearing suits and ties, that is except for Ani who was wearing a vest only. Unfortunatly I didn't write down a playlist of the songs she played. As she put it "they were going to play a couple new songs and some crusty old ones too". The stand-out new song was by far the song she had wriiten shortly after the Columbine shootings. Very emotional song attacking everyone from the NRA to MTV to Congress.
For a couple songs various members of Maceo Parker's band came out on stage and lent a hand which was really cool. They looked like they were very comfortable with eachother and had been playing together for years.They called the joint effort "folk meets funk", and that was a great description.
This was my first time seeing Ani live and I must say I was extremely impressed. She puts her heart and soul into her show. She is extremely in to her show and gives 'energetic' new meaning. I don't care what anyone says, i think she could kick Alanis Morissettes' ass. One of the things I really dug was the fact that she would pause in the middle of a song to tell a story. It is rare that a band actually takes time to talk to an audience anymore. This was an exception. She made the show seem very personable.
If memory serves me correctly they played a total of 15 songs. The only thing lacking was a live version of "Untouchable Face". I was really expecting to hear that. This was definitly one of the better live shows I have seen in a long time. If you ever get the chance to see Ani live do it.
Comments to punkis[at]attrition.org
Jericho's Comments:
(the following notes are from my journal, written days after the concert)
Maceo Parker opened. Jazz/Funk band. Decent groove. Couple of songs Ani came out to help with. He called it a successful combo of folk and funk. He was right. Good trombone, great sax. Son of lead wasn't the best rapper but has a start.
Wow. A concert any Ani fan should see. Not only a great concert for her, she can groove like there is no tomorrow. The kind of person so into the music and it shows. She has a second mic that distorts the voice in a neat way. Played for two full hours.
Ani is the kind of musician you want to be famous but at the same time you don't. She hates corporate, even said MTV should be shot :) That rules. Her lyrics and ideas stand out and strike home with so many.
A must see.
Comments to jericho[at]attrition.org
More Info on Ani DiFranco
Ani DiFranco Home Page
Ani Difranco in the UBL
Jericho's Ani Pics
Great Ani Fan Page
ANI Images, sounds and music samples
Ani Lyrics
Albums
1995 Ani DiFranco
1995 Imperfectly
1995 Like I Said (Songs 1990-91)
1995 Not A Pretty Girl
1995 Not So Soft
1995 Out of Range
1995 Puddle Dive
1996 Dilate
1996 More Joy, Less Shame [EP]
1996 The Past Didn't Go Anywhere
1997 Living in Clip [Box Set]
1998 Little Plastic Castle
1998 WXRV Presents: Live..
1999 Up Up Up Up Up Up
Imports
1998 Dilate [extra tracks]
1998 Dilate [extra tracks]
1998 Little Plastic Castle [xtra tks]
1998 Little Plastic Castle [xtra tks]
1998 Living In Clip
1998 Not a Pretty Girl [extra tracks]
1999 Up Up Up Up Up [extra tracks]
???? Up Up Up Up Up +1 [xtra tks]
???? Angry Anymore [single]
???? Not a Pretty Girl +1
1998 Women in (E)Motion
1999 Angry Anymore [single]