I saw SpaceX’s rocket stream
across the sky, lighting up what looked like a local nebula just 385 miles above the earth while I was rushing, cursing my inability to find my way in San Francisco by foot. I’ve always been fascinated with aircraft. There are so many possibilities and wonder in flight, all the quiet moments just beyond reach. I didn’t know that the launch was occurring, but happened to look up at the right moment to colors, surreal in vibrant happenstance.
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| Ani DiFranco @ the Fillmore (Photo: Kate Haley) |
But I forgot about that entirely until I saw the
image posted of the “UFO” the next morning. Another galaxy* stretched out the moment I trotted into the
Fillmore and waited amongst the sea of faces that I’d seen months before when I covered
Ani DiFranco’s show at the Rio Theatre in Santa Cruz.
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| Ani DiFranco @ the Fillmore (Photo: Kate Haley) |
Tonight was the latest stop in
Ani DiFranco’s Rise Up tour, another sold out night to remember the human rights and freedoms that we keep fighting for, and to really, really rock out. Where the earlier tours this summer opened with multimedia presentations on great causes to get behind, this one had the ultimate powerhouse of an opener in
Andrea Gibson, who took to the stage in equal measures of honest vulnerability and rightful rage. I made a mental note to never miss a chance to see Gibson, while blinking away tears, photographing their performance of “Orlando”, the piece written in response to the Pulse night club shooting that was the deadliest terrorist attack in the US since 9/11.
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| Andrea Gibson @ the Fillmore (Photo: Kate Haley) |
Gibson had said that performing the piece isn’t getting any easier. Indeed, a lot of things aren’t. This week we’re seeing Kavanagh get sworn in, getting the Supreme Court one step closer to becoming dangerously political. Tonight, however, shit was getting done.
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| Ani DiFranco @ the Fillmore (Photo: Kate Haley) |
Ani DiFranco, after a strong flow through "Anticipate" > "Little Plastic Castle" > "Fire Door" remarked about how things didn’t turn out right with the Senate, the real revolution is happening here. #metoo became #votetoo and there was plenty of talk in the audience about “Grabbing them at the midterms”. (Check out
headcount.org to find out more about registering to vote today.)
DiFranco led into “Not a Pretty Girl” then and, despite the fact I’ve been listening to Ani for 25 years, this song resonated deeper than before; we are still sans the damsel in distress no matter what happens.
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| Ani DiFranco @ the Fillmore (Photo: Kate Haley) |
Also of note, the band strode into a jazzy “Coming Up” which was refreshing, without the initial grit from the
Dilate days, but still with ever upward push. DiFranco ended on “Joyful Girl” and the night was steeped in that sweetness.
Midway in the show Ani said something that feels like a good close here “…then of course we have to show up at the polls. Am I right?” See you there.
*Check out Andrea Gibson’s latest
Hey Galaxy (iTunes) for an even more encompassing look. You can see all of their books and albums
here.
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