Melissa Ferrick and Ani DiFranco in one room – to put it simply, you had to be there.
Nine-hundred Ottawa residents would agree with me, because when Melissa Ferrick first came out to open the show there wasn’t a seat in the Bronson Centre theatre left empty or a voice that wasn’t sore from cheering.
With her acoustic guitar in tow, Ferrick opened the show with her 2006 hit “Closer” from her album in the Eyes of a Stranger, and throughout the night gave the audience a taste of her songwriting career that dates back to 1993.
Suzanne Pigeon, a University of Ottawa student, said she loved Melissa Ferrick’s unique performance style, particularly her body movements on stage.
“She’s amazing. She did cool wiggly things with her body,” Pigeon said. “She was all sensual and funny and cute, and she got really into the songs.”
Ferrick brought humour to the stage, along with a stunning vocal range and laid-back attitude. Combine that with some serious blue mood lightning and suddenly you begin to feel like a friend to Ferrick as she laments internal struggles with songs like “Bad Habit” and the new song “Back You Up.”
“This song is about the best relationship I’d ever been in; we never fought and I was always right,” she said of “Bad Habit.”
Ferrick also previewed the title track from her upcoming album Headphones On, which is set to be released this December.
Still on the high Ferrick left them with, it didn’t seem possible the audience could scream any louder when Ani DiFranco strolled out on the stage.
Boy-oh-boy, they did.
Being at an Ani DiFranco concert is unlike any other, because she doesn’t just sing to you, she challenges your political beliefs in her songs. Topics like the oil spill, abortion, women’s rights and equality and even a modernized cover of the 1931 union song “Which Side Are You On?” was more than just an experience for the ears, it was one for the mind.
In a bold move, DiFranco used her set to showcase many of her new songs from a currently untitled album, only throwing in a few old familiar tunes, such as “You Had Time,” “Swan Dive” and the classic “32 Flavors” from her 1995 album Not a Pretty Girl.
One of the new songs tackled the issue of monogamy, with lyrics like “How you gonna know what you want, / ‘Til you’ve been around the block a few times?”
“I’ve come to the conclusion that monogamy should be illegal until, like, 40,” she said, introducing the song.
DiFranco’s blend of acoustic folk and rock created rhythmic, sassy and politically charged songs, which Pigeon said brings fans like herself back again and again.
“She’s such an awesome feminist and I cherish that,” Pigeon said. “Not enough people [in music] stand up for rights they’re passionate about.”
DiFranco can become very interpretive when introducing her songs, a skill she said she’d like to work on “like a good folk singer.”
“I feel like I’m not a stupid person but I’m a little slow. I’m an eventual genius that is really much useless, practically speaking,” she said while introducing “Lag Time.”
Andrew O’Connor, a University of Toronto student, drove to Ottawa to see DiFranco and said he enjoyed her set, but wished she had played more of the old songs.
“Her new songs sounded great, although it might have been better if she could have played a few more old songs that the crowd would have been familiar with,” O’Connor said.
O’Connor’s sentiments were echoed by Pigeon.
“The old ones have a certain hold on my heart because I know all the words and there’s more energy in it for me,” she said.
Energy certainly wasn’t something lacking by the end of DiFranco’s set. One by one, devoted fans left their seats towards the stage and began to dance during DiFranco’s much-anticipated double-encore where she played “32 Flavors” and “Every State Line.”
“There’s a thousand shades of white, and a thousand shades of black, / But the same rule still applies: smile pretty and watch your back,” DiFranco sang.
Following a final round of applause that seemed to linger for about two minutes, the house lights turned on and the reality had finally set in: it was over.