ha, yes, well. it's poetry night in newtown! been meaning to see Ani for a few years now, finally got around to it now she's touring solo. just a mic and half a dozen different guitars.
before her, there was some guys i never heard of before. apprently some former members of midnight oil was in there. didn't sound anything like midnight oil, that's for sure. just two guys and two acoustic guitars. i didn't catch the full set to judge what was going on here, couldn't tell if it was any good.
then ani the little folk singer got on stage. i used to love her. the politics and the music. don't know whatever happened to make me stop paying attention. judging by tonight's show, i never should have left. or i never really did, for i still knew most of the songs. and the ones i didn't know, hearing them for the first time just put a goofy grin on my face. it was unreal. it was an all seating setup. i had fourth row seats. to the side but luckily no obscured sight lines. also funny being able to see her during the support band grooving along to the side of stage.... ar fuck, i don't know what to say. there! what other gig's ever got that reaction from me? i'll come up with a better review sometime later. i'm just a bit weirded out right now. folk music. wow. ha. i'm still smiling just thinking about what was going on there. what a night.
As I listen back now to a low quality bootleg recording of this concert, it brings back many cheerful memories and puts a goofy grin back on my face. I must say, I have more than a handful of live recordings at my disposal, from the legitimate and properly recorded to the shonky fan bootleg. And I can't think of one that has such an affect on me.
At the time, I remember feeling the concert went by rather too quickly. Now I see that it in fact went for over 70 minutes practically non-stop. Could we really have asked for more from a solo performance? Guess time just flies when you're enjoying yourself, even when all you are doing is sitting down and looking up, listening to these stories as though you were in some sort of kindergarden class.
In between songs she keeps everyone entertained with her silly jokes about her friends, her songs, politics, and scary voices used for poetry reading.
There has been articles around the place saying because she does everything on her own, recording without a producer and so on, no one is there to tell her when she�s way off track and this results in some rather erratic quality control. But judging by the nights� performance, she doesn�t have anything to worry about in terms of song writing skills. But then again, I wouldn�t have turned up unless I was already a fan. After all, she�s not really getting much radio airplay in Australia, so anyone who was there that night would have already been a fan. And hence, even though we weren�t standing on the floor bumping into each other, everyone can tell there was a fantastic vibe brewing in the normally not-so-cozy Enmore Theatre.