6 October 2007, Lowry Quays, Manchester

It’s been a couple of years at least since I last saw DiFranco and her partner in rhyme, Hamell On Trial, perform here in England, and I’ve missed them both. In the intervening period DiFranco has had an arm tendon problem which stopped her performing for over a year, and given birth to her first child. Hamell meanwhile has recently been wowing audiences at the Edinburgh with his unique brand of mischievous music and unrelenting, comic banter. The two have been touring together for a while now and both record on DiFranco’s Righteous Babe label. DiFranco’s latest release is a double CD retrospective (CANON - strongly recommended) from her enormous 19 album back catalogue, garnered over a period of seventeen distinctive and very special musical years. For me, DiFranco is Bob Dylan’s only song writing female equivalent, although her music for a long time was of a more personal nature (and has always been highly political). Hamell is a unique singer/songwriter with an acute observational writing style, and a mode of performance quite unlike anything I’ve seen before. He’s aggressive and wickedly funny with vocabulary that is ‘ruder’ than the most adult-only comedians.

I was somewhat surprised that the venue for the night’s show was the smaller 450 capacity seated Quays theatre, part of the fabulous canal-side Lowry Centre in Manchester’s Salford Quays. DiFranco usually packs in the audiences and I suspect there were many fans who had tried but failed to secure tickets for her only North West show in 2007. As I approached the centre I noticed the new BBC media centre in its early construction stage, overlooking the canal and taking up a huge amount of space. For the first time in several years DiFranco was performing with a drummer and bassist. But it was Hamell that entered the arena first with his trusty bass-tuned acoustic, and after a momentary twirl of amp switches started the onslaught…

And what an onslaught! First, the obligatory introductions which included a description of his role for the night as ‘Ani’s warm-up act.’ Now I don’t know the titles of his songs but I can tell you what they were about: sex, pussy, middle-class parents, drugs, guns… you get the picture… Early in the piece he even had the rather polite-looking seated audience shouting the chorus of one of his songs. “Fuck it” was repeated several times by an audience goaded by the man to “sing it louder.” It was extraordinary and very, very funny. Did I join in? Hell yes! Hamell writes songs that stand alone without music, but add a powerful vocal, a distinctive guitar sound and you have a formidable performance that is both supremely entertaining and memorable. His last song described his discomfort and inability to relate to the parents of the children that attended his son’s school. No performer I know plays with such expression and this combined with his fierce looks mark him out as totally unique entertainer.

Hamell’s set was far too short and I therefore made a mental note to catch some future full-length show in my northern neck of the woods. In short, I cannot remember when I was last entertained so royally, or laughed as much during a musical performance.

**page*



In sharp contrast to Hamell’s rather muted initial welcome, DiFranco’s appearance prompted an audience response that lifted the roof, and took a good minute to die down. About a month ago I met a new English female singer/songwriter in Liverpool and suggested that she attend this concert. She didn’t know DiFranco from Adam which initially rather surprised me (I subsequently went to her MySpace page and was disappointed at her selection of favourite artists that excluded every great singer/songwriter). My reason for suggesting this was that she could learn some early and very useful lessons from this master of live performance. Like Hamell, it took only seconds for DiFranco to make a lock-tight connection with her audience through a look, a genuine smile and simple, sincere greeting.

I won’t pretend that I recognised every song she sang or even tried to secure a full set-list from the lady that changes her songs for every show. In fact this became obvious by just watching the bassist look for a sign and listen for a chord introduction from DiFranco to know precisely which song was coming next. DiFranco is an animated performer and a formidable guitarist with a highly original playing style. At numerous points in her set she would wander away from her mic and dance around the stage with her guitar dance partner; the relationship between acoustic guitar and voice could hardly be stronger or more expressive. During a performance which included three brand new songs (the first of which was magnificent, with all revolving around her child and the environment) and favourites plucked from her new 36-song retrospective album. At one point she admitted that most of her songs were rather sad and introspective before proudly declaring “this is a happy song.’

The high point of the show for me came when she played the very first DiFranco song I ever heard and the one that made me a firm fan. That song was ‘Little Plastic Castle’ from the album of the same name. At another point in the show she held up a piece of paper that contained a number of requests from fans. After a cursory glance she declared that she didn’t want to perform any of them (“okay, maybe one…”) signalling that she was the boss and would sing what she felt like singing. Only DiFranco could make such a declaration and then promptly receive massive applause. Following a spell of performing alone and after ninety-minutes of the lady at her very best, came two encores before it was time to say goodbye for another year.

The only criticism of a great show was that is was played to a seated rather than to a standing audience, and a small one due to the venues capacity constraint. I felt this restricted audience/artist interaction and spontaneity comparative to previous shows I’ve witnessed. But all the guile, humour and skill were there and she proved once again to be master of her profession. The addition of the superb percussionist and bassist upped the depth, drama and vibrancy of her music in the venue’s tailored, superb acoustic ambience. DiFranco will be returning to London’s Shepherd’s Bush Empire for the last show of her European tour on the 21st October and I believe there are still tickets available for anyone who missed her Manchester show. With Hamell On Trial supporting, this is a show not to be missed.