The biggest thing about this show. Tickets were SCARCE. The State theatre
hold about 2,000 people tops. Upon arriving at the show you could not help
but notice the line that extended almost a half mile down Main st. Many had
been there for hours waiting to get a place right in front of the stage.
A friend of mine was unable to make the show in Umass and there were
so many tickets going around, I almost had to give it away. Thus I decided
to grab a ticket for State when I got there. That was a BIG mistake! There
were so many ticketless folks there it reminded me of a small Grateful Dead
show back in the day. To make a long story short thanks to a couple of kind
folks whose friends could not make it we got a pair of tickets just before
show time.
Drums and Tuba were great.....or so I heard. Just before Ani took
the stage we made our way onto the floor which is split into 3 levels if
that makes any sense. Level two was our play and it worked out nicely,
plenty of room to dance.
Ani hit us with a three for off of the new album......"Virtue",
"know now then" and "Jukebox." Then went back to old school with "Fire door"
(complete with the Amzing grace segue) and "Anticipate." Two big thumbs up
on these, they were great. I said "hello Birmingham" suffered at Umass
because the place is so big. Well lets just say that at the State it had
the feel it was supposed to. Ani followed with a dip into the catalog that
brought a smile to my face. "Wish I may", "Two little girls", "Letter to a
John", "Pulse" and one of my personal faves "cradle and all." I was about
to make a snide comment about "Letter to a John" but "Cradle" soon made me
lose any ill feelings. I really hope Ani will always keep this in her
setlist to some capacity, like "Hell Yeah" it is a defining moment of what
Ani is all about IMO.
"Tis of thee" was great and I love that little dulcimer style guitar
she plays for it. When the hand drums came out I knew we were in for the
treat of the night. Any time "Not so soft" makes an appearance you can not
help but give the show a thumbs up, and this night further cemented that
idea. "Angel food" and "Independence" day were ok. "Angry anymore" as
always was fun, well played, vocally strong and anything else good you want
to say about it. "My first "Adam and Eve" of the year was great as most
things off of Dilate usually are. The weird "Hat shaped Hat"was next after
the loooooong band intros. This is a VERY weird song. It did work well in
the slot it was in though. "In or out" closed out the show and had everyone
up yelling and grooving until she came out for the encore. I thought I
would get this one at Umass, but tonight was the night, the old staple of an
encore "Joyful Girl." The crowd wanted more, but Ani was exhausted so it
was not to be.
I
as was everybody really enjoyed the show, maybe knowing that these
intimate venues will all too soon be a thing of the past. Thus enjoy it
while you can. As I right this a Fleet center gig has been announced for
June 17th. ARGH!! I guess these days really are coming to an end.........
Matt