The Michigan Theater stage was stripped to its barest necessities; a black curtain backdrop and scattered instruments set the mood for the evening Sunday night. The crowd was a mix of die-hard Ann Arbor folk fans and college-age smart music listeners. By the time Ani DiFranco hit the stage, the mood was set for a high-energy, softly introspective 25-song set.
DiFranco and her acoustic guitar, backed by her drummer Andy Stochansky and a female bass guitarist, provided a hard-driving sound throughout the evening. Opening with "Fire Door," the crowd got to its feet and stayed there, entranced, for the following two hours. The bass-driven lullaby of "Untouchable Face" kept everyone quiet. The refrain of "Fuck you and your untouchable face, and fuck you for existing in the first place," brought out loud cheers.
DiFranco's delivery was part swaggering attitude and part stand-still vulnerability. Dressed in a vest and jeans, her hair held back with a red bandanna, DiFranco took center stage with ease."Worthy" got the crowd bopping, and DiFranco's cynical tone could be heard beneath each line.
She spent time between songs talking to the audience, and laughing at herself. "We have instruments, and you want to hear people play instruments. ... What a deal!" she said before breaking into a spoken-word delivery.
DiFranco's solo, "Just a Thought," came before the intermission. It was a fast and energy-driven song that was delivered as quickly as the thoughts came to her head.
The intermission was a nightmare mob of people stampeding out the front doors for a cigarette. By the time everyone was pressed shoulder to shoulder for 20 minutes, standing up and craning your neck to see the stage didn't seem too bad at all.
DiFranco's performance after the set had an increased intensity to it, as though she were becoming more comfortable in front of the crowd. The percussion-driven "Anticipate" was a more direct version than the original, which enhanced DiFranco's yodel-sounding vocals. The harmony on "32 Flavors" balanced the hurt and witty lyrics.
This half of the show was characterized by a more varied delivery. A song about a road trip became a dark and haunting moment with Stochansky playing the harmonica, and a reverberation of bass. The "Smile pretty and watch your back" refrain kept the mostly female crowd chanting.
DiFranco's bluesy delivery of her song about a "diner on the corner" had the whole crowd bopping en masse, as DiFranco's vocals climaxed into a scream. "Shy" had much of the same effect on the crowd, and DiFranco became more and more breathy in her delivery of the refrain, "stop me, won't you, if you've heard this one before."
The band said its formal thank-yous and left the stage, only to be followed by deafening screams of "We love you Ani" and thunderous applause. The first encore was a soulful ballad, followed by a second encore of Stochansky and DiFranco playing bongo drums to "Not So Soft." It was a perfect final exit song as it gave DiFranco a chance to rap about "the failed America in me" with intensity.
The house lights came on, and we were left with an empty stage, and a crowd gloating after their more-than-fulfilling fix of introspection and cynicism that only Ani can deliver.
Folk balladeer Ani DiFranco gave Ann Arborites their fix of raw cynicism in her Michigan Theater concert on Sunday.