Ani DiFranco Plays One of Her Last Gigs Before Extended Break -- Live Review

Covering up the beginning of her pregnant belly with her acoustic guitar, Ani DiFranco paused for a moment to acknowledge the incessant squeals and running commentary shouted from various disembodied voices at the sold out Brooklyn show on Friday night.

"I know. I'm gonna miss you, too," she said. "I'm fixin' to take a little break."

Her second child is due in April and Friday's show at Williamsburg Music Hall was her second to last for quite some time. Tonight's gig at Town Hall is the only one remaining on her pre-maternity leave tour.

Introducing bassist Todd Sickafoose and drummer Terrence Higgins on Friday, DiFranco said, "Let's play my favorite trivia game...which band member is pregnant?"

Wearing what could only be described as mom clothes (linen pants and a tank top that at least exposed her still rather chiseled arms), the 42-year-old folk singer played mostly songs from the more recent period of her extensive catalogue and a couple that have yet to be released. But she did get everyone clamoring immediately when she kicked things off with an especially feisty rendition of 'Napoleon' off of 1996's 'Dilate.'

Ani fans are about as dedicated as they come and DiFranco seemed acutely aware of this. After playing a somewhat self-indulgent stretch of new numbers broken with a spoken word poem read directly off the piece of paper she wrote it on – inspired, she said, by Leonard Shlain's "The Alphabet Versus The Goddess," she delivered a rarely performed version of 1991's "The Whole Night," and then thanked the audience for being "gracious listeners."

To thank us further, she returned after the first encore with the three members of Pearl and the Beard, whose opening set – especially compared to DiFranco's predominantly mellow performance – blew the doors off. The six musicians launched into an A capella rendition of "Which Side Are You On," building to a stand-up bass and cello-fueled frenzy that highlighted Pearl and the Beard's remarkable vocal harmonies.

For the final encore, DiFranco returned again with just her band and did a very touching rendition of "Overlap," making eye contact with as many of the audience as she could manage as she sang "I'm not done looking at you yet."

If you however, want to catch one last gander of Ani DiFranco, tonight's the night. Then she's going to be otherwise engaged for a couple of years.



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