Part way through the gig, during her 1994 song ‘You Had Time’, Ani DiFranco, in cargo pants and crop-sleeved top, sings sweetly “How can I go home/ with nothing to say …what did you do out there/what did you decide “ It’s a poignant moment close to a tour’s end, in a few days she will be at Glastonbury, then back in the US shortly after.
Ani DiFranco has 23 albums issued DIY style on her label Righteous Babe. Yes, 23 (you will hear that number once more before this review is out). So, when someone in the crowd calls out a request, she says, “I don’t actually remember that song, but thanks for thinking… thoughts …and reminding me – I might even play it in Ohio or somewhere”. They are at their best tonight when they relax into the stage and slide into an organic r’n’b groove, like on tracks ‘Do or Die’ and ‘Simultaneously’ from her 2021 album ‘Revolutionary Love’. The band: Eric Heywood on pedal steel and long-time collaborators Todd Sickafoose on double bass and Terence Higgins, softly playing drums on the frontline, combine with DiFranco’s virtuosity beautifully; part americana and part neo-acousto-funk.
There are more tender moments. When Californian support act Gracie and Rachel join for crowd favourite ‘Revolutionary Love’ the outcome is rich and sumptuous beyond the number of musicians on stage. It’s not sold-out but it’s a loud crowd who whoop randomly mid song, as if to affirm “I’m here with you Ani”. Not that she needs it, DiFranco is a cool performer, and feels at home in Glasgow even though the accent may be lost on her sometimes. She says her daughter recently persuaded her to do 23andMe ancestry test (there you go), and whilst she worries about her DNA being plastered all over the world, she is pleased to announce that the tests indicated that she is pure Italian … and Scottish through maternal roots. Her long-lost 2nd cousins whoop again.
Her tour is named for last year’s acclaimed ‘Unprecedented Sh!t’ album, and whilst including a good chunk from that album the set was also a celebration of material over four separate decades, ending with the audience partying in the aisles to her 90’s classic ‘32 flavours’. I read that she once impulse-bought a ’69 Mustang Cobra Turbojet 428 fully spec’d for drag racing from the merchandise money on a previous tour. Well, car prices have gone up and merch profits are down these days, but I hope she can treat herself on return to the states in July and at very least go home with something to say.
