Category:
Rock / Roots

Try if you like:
Dave Matthews Band, Joni Mitchell, Rickie Lee Jones, Tegan And Sara

Recorded barely six months after the September 11th attacks, the focal point of this solo acoustic performance was the one-two long-form poem punch of 'Serpentine' and 'Work In Progress' (later rechristened 'Self-Evident'), both written about American society before and after 9/11. Difranco writes that she felt "terrified but resolute"? as she performed: "What did I think I was doing? The nerve of me standing in front of an audience of New Yorkers and dragging them from a fun night out on the town, back into the epicenter of their pain." In those two songs of near-unbearable tension, she manages to make her audience laugh, cry, and cheer in ideological solidarity - a rare feat for any artist, and Difranco retains just enough humility to not go over the top. 

To her fans, she is both a down-to-earth friend and a passionate activist - this is an example of an artist and fans deserving of each other. Difranco is personable, and while often unnecessarily cute, it's impressive how she can swing from being vulnerable to resolute in an instant. Also cool is that, as an artist, she has such an appreciation for not just music, but poetry, as evidenced by her recitation of the Judy Grahn poem 'Detroit Annie, Hitchhiking.' Her dramatic spoken word pieces ('Not So Soft', as another example) are invariably outstanding; her voice is so expressive, and her storytelling so natural, that it's difficult to tell where her between-song banter ends and her song begins. 

In fact, there really isn't a bad song in the bunch, including crowd-favorite 'God's Country,' and an early performance of 'Educated Guess.' This is what a live album should be: intimate but urgent and recorded in its entirety, rather than cherry-picking highlights. This is a must-have for fans, and the portrait of an artist at the peak of her influence.