climbing on board the train to the city we sat and talked about topics ranging from my new job, his finals at school and, somehow, robot sharks. we kept ourselves entertained by watching the bathroom door that was situated right across the isle from us. apparently locking a bathroom door on a commuter train is a lot harder than it looks because three people got walked in on in the hour that we sat there.
jumping off the train at the end of the line we strolled through the theatre district until we found a sandwich shop across the street from the theatre we were looking for. glancing through the window we saw several people of varying ages wearing t-shirts that promoted obscure punk bands, grass roots political groups, anti-war slogans, etc. i pointed and said "these look like our people." we entered the sandwich shop and ate while we waited for the doors to open across the street.
When we got to the theatre it occurred to me that i had been there before. i had seen a couple of musicals, some plays and Penn and Teller in this same venue that we, the tattooed and colorful crowd were now pushing our way into. like the last time, there was a very theatre vibe to the place and i wondered aloud whether we should even be here. The question came back to me as i bought a t-shirt that said "Vote, Dammit" and Brain got one that said "Ani Fucking DiFranco". it's not that the staff were being rude or anything, just that this particular crowd of sweatshirts and torn jeans felt really out of place.
we made our way to the doors and i automatically went into sarcastic asshole mode. while Brian was handing our tickets to the usher, i leaned over to her and said, "We're the ones who are supposed to be backstage." the lady gave me the well worn "i don't have time for your shit, buddy" look and handed our tickets to another usher so that he could seat us.
when we got to our seats, i literally fell to my knees. At the last show i had been assured by the automated space alien voice on the phone that i had gotten amazing seats and we ended up in the balcony squinting at the faraway shape jumping around the stage. this time we were in the third row! the usher looked back at me, wondering if i was having a heart attack or something and all i could do was point and babble "She's going to be right there!" the usher shrugged and left us to sit down.
Brian turned to me and asked if i had actually expected the backstage thing to work. i shrugged and said that it never hurt to try. he said "How many times have you tried to get backstage?" i thought a second and said "well, this is my fifth Ani show so... five times." the usher lady who was standing by us asked me what i had tried so i talked about tactics ranging from calling her publicist and asking for press passes and interview clearance (no i don't have the number anymore), to simply trying to sweet-talk security guards into looking the other way for a few seconds. She and i talked for a few minutes about her touring with the Goo Goo Dolls and her more successfull attempts at meeting/hanging out with them.
When the show began the opener walked out. It was Noe Venebles who i had seen open up for Ani about three years ago. In my article for the school paper i dedicated about a paragraph to Noe's set out of the page i wote, and the review then was very... lackluster. Three years and another album haven't really changed her stage presence or her set. I was able to predict that she would play two of the five or six songs she played and remembered another two when she began playing them.
in the break between sets i began talking to the girls next to me. they were wondering if Ani would play "their song" and figured that they had all of her work so they were bound to recognize most, if not all of the material. "It's not like she's put anything new out, right?"
i reached into my sweatshirt pocket and pulled out the CD i had just bought. It was called Educated Guess and it's Ani's latest album. i had gotten it at the merch table and was assured that it wasn't in stores yet. the girls stared at it and then dissapeared as they tried to go procure a copy for themselves.
When Ani hit the stage the crowd exploded. almost everyone in the house was on their feet and singing along with "Names and Dates and Times". Ani seemed to be in her element that evening and looked like she was having as much fun as the crowd. i had seen shows where she would have someone yelling stuff at the most inapproproate times (ie. yelling "you sexy bitch" during a silence in 'Self Evident') or where the crowd just wasn't putting out the right vibe (i guess) and she has been more iritated or won't interact with the audience as much, but not so on this evening. It felt so intimate that close to the stage, and when you could see her face when she forgot words or started making things up (most notably in 'Swan Dive' where she blanked and improv-ed a couple of lines about a threesome in a hotel room unitl she found her way back) or watch her fingerwork on the strings, you could almost believe that she was singing for a group of friends instead of a sold out house.
Her interaction was amazing as well. Someone shouted during a break between songs "I love you Ani!" Ani drank some water and smiled in the general direction of the shout and said "that's nice." there was another point where someone tossed a t-shirt up on stage with a picture of George W Bush on it with the caption "Daddy's little war criminal." Ani looked at it, laughed and showed everyone in the crowd.
this was definately one of the better Ani shows i had seen and it made the waiting bearable. you see we figured that when the train schedule said "trains at 10:35, 11:35 and 12:35" that it meant that. silly us, we didn't read the fine print that said "except on saturday". this was why you might have seen a small contingent of people slouched across the floor and tables in the lower level of the train station at midnight on a chilly saturday night. Finally reaching home at 1:45 on sunday morning it was really obvious that i had gone through the last 48 hours with only 3 hours of sleep.
the things we do for Ani.