Blah-ditty-blah

so last sunday. . . . one of the few designated days off all summer, by chance. . . me not being broke or busy or too far away. . . ani difranco played right here in santa fe, and i got to go. . . .

reminder, this is the FIRST ani show i have EVER been to. . . . most people, who know me, and know ani. . . don't understand how i've missed out. . . but finally, i made it. it was a really great venue. . .not too big or too small. . . a gorgeous night out (we were out under the stars and all). . . and ani was. . . well. . . she lived up to all the great stories i had ever heard about her concerts. it was just her and a string bass player (except for a couple of songs where she invited the opening act- also a great performance- to play along with her on the viola)---did you catch that mom? a pop indie viola player! yeah, his name was andy (?) bird. . . hold on, i need to do some quick research. . . . yep. . . got it, andrew bird. his first piece didn't catch me right. . . but the rest were really entrancing. . . he does this thing where he records himself live and then plays it back while playing over it live. . . and he'll continue to do this till he has a melody, harmony, percussion. . . then he can sing and whistle or whatever on top of it all. . . really kinda cool.

ok, but back to ani. . . she played so many numbers from the 'little plastic castles' album (one of my favorites) then of course a bunch of new stuff. . . .and some older ones. . . . but i was really surprised to hear so many from that one album. . . mostly for sentimental reasons, that album is really solid in my heart, so it was so warming to hear it.

and she never plays it the way it is on the cd. . . she always makes it something new for a live audience, . . . different instrumentation, different rhythm, different phrasing. . . it's really wonderful. i usually don't like 'live' recordings- with all the audience noise and such- but i could really gain an appreciation for it from this type of performance.

i know i've heard stories about her yelling at audience members for singing along too loudly. . . but she was in a really fantastic mood. . . . she only gave a snide 'hey' to a group of people that finished a phrase she had intended on changing. . . . (of course it was the 'fuck you' from untouchable face that was yelled out. . . . )

it was so wonderful, bizzarre, and heart renching in a way. . . to finally see someone who has become such an icon in my mind and life. . . . i was surprised that there were no surprises . . . . but not disappointed. . . just somehow intensely comforted.

yeah. . . something like that. . . .

i was worried about trying to get a camera in, but i guess they were totally allowed, but since i didn't know before hand, i went out and bought a cheap disposable. . . . on which the flash never shut off! how annoying. . .. (this is partially the reason i was thinking of getting a camera/phone. . . since i can always have my phone on me, in places where i sometimes don't want to carry a camera) so i ended up not taking many pictures because i find the flash completely abhorrent. . . . so we'll see if anything comes of that one shot i took at the top of the concert.

that's not the ending i really wanted for this post. . . . i'd like to have an ani guitar riff fading out in the background now. . . but this will have to do.