Bluesfest - Neko Case + Ani Difranco - July 12, 2009

As I got to Bluesfest the black cloud that appeared just an hour before, "variable cloudiness" is what they said, opened up and poured down on us hard. So far July is more like May. It would not keep me from seeing Neko though! oh no. My friend and I grabbed us a beer and got as close to the stage as possible.

Neko came out with the band looking like she had just rolled out of bed, but she was in good spirits compared to the last time I saw her in Montreal. Not the greatest performance I've seen from her, seemed more off the cuff la di da, which is not a bad thing, I just really wanted her to bring it to impress my friend who had never seen her and as heard me go on about her. I don't think she swept him off his feet this time, but she still sang beautifully. She didn't even bring t-shirts which was dissapointing.

We headed over to the smaller stage to see Ani Difranco. This was about my 5th or 6th time seeing her.The last time was at Bluesfest and she was on the main stage and it was just her and an acoustic guitar. The ground was completely muddy from the rain, and I was either sinking into it or sliding around, but we managed to get a good view on this little elevated part. Ani has some really dedicated fans, and we were surrounded by a few screamers who kept yelling out how much they loved her then spent the rest of the time talking about how much they loved her. Why do people go to a show to fucking TALK???? fuck it's annoying.

Anyways, the ever professional Ani came out with a drummer and stand up bassist who were awesome, and brought it completely. This time my friend was more than impressed. The sound was too low at the beginning especially with the screamers, but eventually they moved on to try to wheedle their way closer and annoy someone else, and the sound got better. She was in good spirits and sounded great.