Great Woods Center, Mansfield, MA16th August 1997 |
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Driving into the Great Woods parking lot, it looked like a tremendous amount of DiFranco fans had showed up early to have a righteous tail-gate party. I can't be certain that they were there to see Ani, but as great as Bob Dylan is, I doubted his drawing power to bring in packs of young women with rainbow flags omnipresent.
Great Woods holds about 17,000 including the 4,000 or so that the lawn holds. The pavillion wasn't quite sold out. I ended up sitting in the front row of the second section behind the center (section 6 for those of you keeping score at home) and I sat right next to "Happy Stevie"(of LIC fame) who was manning the soundboard. For those into the small details, the masking tape next to Ani's knobs was marked, "DI" and the other markings were, "bass" and "stick".
Ani, Jason, and Andy came on after the precursory Utah music, but this time theycame on all together and skipped the customary (as of late) "My I.Q. and dove right into "Swandive". Only a handful of people in the front few sections stood up to dance. Ani had thousands of fans there, but the set-up and security made it nearly impossible for the gathered masses to rush the stage. I was standing up dancing until the older couple behind me tapped my hips and told me they couldn't see. (So instead of causing a scene, I sat and tapped my feet.
The band and Ani played in muted lights (as far as I could tell they did not have the spotlight on them). They sounded graet, but I was justa little disconcerted sans the usual rush of fans and hysteria. But there were numerous female screams sprinkled throughout the venue. After "Swandive", Ani made note of the two girls dancing in the front row by saying, "It's nice to see some smiling faces. Do you know what my life has been like the past two weeks ...." (and then she talked about opening up for Dylan to fans that sometimes didn't know whatto make of her. After a fiery rendition of "Gravel", Ani comented that "you guys have a pretty nice place her. We've been playing the sides of mountains and staring at broken down rollar coasters. You even have some landscaping here." From that the trio launched into "Cradle and All" and then "Shy".
I saw Jason's banjo on stage from the start so I knew that we were all going to be in store for an encore of "God's Country".
As Ani was reciting the bug poem, I heard the girls behind me planning to all scream, "We love you Ani!" at the conclusion of the poem ("which is nothing ... compared to the light ...") which they did. Ani responded by saying, "You all must hav eplanned that. Those are my cousins we have a big family.
Next on the song list was "Not a Pretty Girl" and "Shameless". Jason seemed to be singing more during this show. When Ani introduced the band she conclude by saying, "And I'm Wynona Judd". She left the stage to a almost standing ovation (it was kind of like the wave as Dylan fans decided to give it up for her).
She also played her "spanking new" song that was great. I love the subtle nuances of it, when she drops her voice on certain words. She said, "This is much better than some of my older stuff."
I also like the way she shakes her fist (sort of like Arsenio Hall) during the line, "You could try to train me like a pet, you could try to teach me to behave ... " on "Cradle and All."
The encore of "God's Country" was a 'rockin and it was introduced as "our bluegrass number". Andy flanked Ani on the right with a snare drum and brush (I think).
At the end of the set, Ani said, "If any of you want to take a breather during Bob's set, we're going to have a barbeque and song swap backstage". (O.k. - that was this writer's embellishment.)
In conclusion the band sounded great, but the show lacked (for this writer) the impact of the Tanglewood show, which I think is a result of taht I had much better tickets and the crowd up front was more into it.
It made me think that I wish I was going to NYC to see the Central Park show! But I had already bought tickets to see Dar's Harvard debut with a band. But I hope somebody videotapes that show. It would be interesting to get some footage of the crowd and perhaps some interviews (like in Morrissey's concert video Hulmerist).
Also, "Shameless" statred out real funky and jammy and then 1/2 way through it broke into a fast version of it.
Merchandise wise - Heidi was nowhere to be seen, but there were plenty of burly men selling LIC shirts for $25 and commemorative old fashioned cardboard concert posters of the event for $15.
Well, that was my 5th Ani show in the past year since I have gotten into her. (it would have been 6 if our car hadn't broken down in Pawtucket on the way to the one at The Providence Performing Arts Center) Just looking forward to the new album and her Conan appearance on September 18th.
One writer described Ani's shows as a mix of "old fashioned tent revival" and I think that is true in a sense, because after a really good experinece at n of her concerts you are just sort of like walking on air the next day.
Ani received a glowing review in The Boston Globe entitled, "DiFranco leaves Dylan blowing in the wind" which can be accessed at boston.com
Bret