Afterglow - Ani DiFranco

I won't be asleep until -Oh, maybe, 7:00 a.m. A long-lost word recently shoved back into my at-hand vocabulary by one of my favorite twitter people (@superbadgirl) describes my frame of mind perfectly. I am in an ebullient mood.

Ani DiFranco killed. Her acoustic power trio rendered the chairs provided for the patrons useless after the first note was plucked on her guitar. After she opened up with her dynamic voice, she owned the place. I had chills shuttling up and down the spine, all the while being entranced. Ani DiFranco already had me as one of her fans, but so have many other performers I have seen live. Rarely does a performance exceed my expectations as much as tonight's show. Only The Band, and Bruce Springsteen have pulled this off before.

I sort of dragged my wife along to this one. I usually go with a good friend or my brother-in-law to acts like the Ramones and Buddy Guy. She has heard me play DiFranco tunes and while not a big fan, is somewhat positive toward the lady. She loved the show, but stopped short of ebullient. The show flowed right along with good fan interaction, and a well thought-out play list. Ani DiFranco gets so much out of here diminutive self. Tremendous artist, even if you don't care for her somewhat esoteric styling. I'll slap a play list at the end of this entry so you can sample some of what we heard. I think you get the picture by now. I give the maximum amount of stars for this show as allowed by Indiana law.

Pre concert found us at Chatham Tap on Mass. Avenue . Highly recommended by @broelliaro and enthusiastically seconded by @q22 and other tweeps as a good place near the venue for pre concert food and beverage, it too exceeded expectations. My dear Patti chowed down on the Veggie Sandwich, while I went with a steak sandwich. [ Menu ]. I sloshed my food down with a couple of Gaffel Kölschs that were on tap. I made a good choice. Patti's water with a lemon on the glass rim was neither praised or damned. The atmosphere of the establishment is conducive to good conversation. It is cozy, yet comfortable. I can't speak for The English pub atmosphere as I only have only flown over England a few times. I did see a couple of British films with pub scenes, but that's the extent of it. Chatham Tap seemed authentic in at least a Las Vegas or Disney World sort of way. There was a football match on the telly. That helped as well as colours from the various teams in the Premiership on display. One thing fortunately missing from that of a real English pub was the smoke.

We went back after the show for another round then headed home.

Notes:

That fellow that lets out a big woot! during a particularly mesmerising song was in attendance at the concert. I hope he stands by me the next time I go to a concert because he will get some free on-the-spot dental work.

Weird rule: Patti had to check her camera, but hundreds of cell phone cameras were allowed to take stills and videos.

This was obviously a girl's night out. Ani is popular in the gay community and among liberal-minded females like my artist wife. The line for the women's rest room stretched for yards, while the few dudes in attendance could walk right into the men's room. A definite perk, but more men should be listening to the music of this great talent.

We had only fair seats. perfect acoustically, but a bit far back. Concert goers should be given a quiz about the artist with the highest scorers getting the the best seats. A few, albeit very few, folks were talking during the show and leaving their seats. Those folks would have failed an examination and should have been denied tickets.

There was no clapping in rhythm by the fans during the show. DiFranco's songs are almost all syncopated and complex. Loved it. This wasn't your "Thank God, I'm a Country Boy" type of folk music.

Struck up a conversation with a couple of folks at the bar after the show. Speaks well for Chatham's.