Last week, we had the opportunity to see the kickoff of the Grammy award-winning musician, NY Times bestselling author, actor, and activist, Ani DiFranco. For an artist of such weight, there was no better venue than the legendary Royal Albert Hall in London.
Anaïs Mitchell
Ani DiFranco invited Anaïs Mitchell, who opened the night with a perfect prelude to Ani’s headliner. She entered the venue with her guitar player, on an already emotional start, admiring the strum of the drums before starting with her great voice reverberating over the seats and balconies of the Royal Albert Hall. Later, DiFranco’s bassist also joined, adding even more weight and emotion to the set, with the first song “Real World”, with lyrics that clearly resonated with what many of us want on times like these:
I wanna live in the real world
Wake up with real birds singing
Loud enough to be really heard
By us in the real world
The set was followed by another great set of songs, with some highlights for “Bright Star”, “Wilderland” and closing off with a cover of Ani DiFranco’s “Gratitude”, which was a perfect closing of one act to start the headlining act.
Ani DiFranco
When Ani DiFranco entered the stage, water bottle in hand, the sticker reading “Fuck Racism”. We knew it was going to be a passionate performance!
She opened with “Still My Heart” and addressed the audience and the venue, to move forward with “Do or Die”. With a career spanning decades, she brought up a wide range of songs over the years, playing on her guitar and accompanied by Drums (Jharis Okley), Electric Guitar (Eric Heywood), and double bass from Todd Sickafoose.
As the event progressed, Ani addressed some of the current political situations and made sure to speak up and ask the audience to also take action, as we’re the ones who can change the world. The Encore closed the night with 3 perfect songs that fit those comments perfectly and deserved a standing ovation: “All You Fascists Are Bound to Lose”, “Revolutionary Love” and “Joyful Girl”.
This tour couldn’t have a better start, and Ani is off to the rest of the UK on the following dates, don’t miss it out:
- Jun-22 – Dublin, IE – National Concert Hall
- Jun-24 – Gateshead, UK – The Glasshouse
- Jun-25 – Glasgow, UK – Pavilion Theatre
- Jun-29 – Cardiff, UK – New Theatre
Ani DiFranco Setlist
Venue: Royal Albert Hall, London
Set:
- Still My Heart
- Do or Die
- You Forgot to Speak
- Dilate
- Simultaneously
- Little Plastic Castle
- As Is
- Our Lady of the Underground
- Why We Build the Wall
- Coming Up
- The Knowing
- Swan Dive
- Untouchable Face
- Shameless
- 32 Flavors
Encore:
- All You Fascists Bound to Lose
- Revolutionary Love
- Joyful Girl