Review: Ani DiFranco at The Orange Peel
When Ani DiFranco comes to town, the intersection of Asheville’s feminist, queer, social activist, and alt-folk communities unite to form a massive fan base in an ardent rally. 23 albums into her career, DiFranco’s ability to fire up that crowd has not waned. And if the scene March 15 at The Orange Peel is any indication, our fervor is stronger than ever.
It was therefore fitting that the sold-out show opened with City Council members gifting her a key to the city — a tribute to DiFranco’s enduring power as a revolutionary performer.
“Tonight is more than just a concert,” announced Councilmember Bo Hess. “It’s a celebration of art, activism, and the power of using your voice to make change.” With an upsurge of approving whoops and applause, Hess continued: “Ani DiFranco is more than a musician. She is a force of nature — a beacon for those who refuse to be silent.”
Calling DiFranco out to the stage, he presented her with the key and added, “Asheville loves you. Welcome home.” The ’90s feminist icon was moved to tears as she embraced Hess along with Council members Kim Roney, Sage Turner, and Maggie Ullman, as well as Amy Upham, executive director of Blue Ridge Pride, to the soundtrack of a rousing audience.
When DiFranco returned to stage moments later, she declared, “My goal for the rest of the show is not to cry, at least until I’m offstage again. But my first cry of the night was back there, hearing the love you have for your elected officials.” Joined by her bandmates, she opened the show with fan-favorite “Shy,” the bold staccato riffs setting the tone for the night.
The set list delivered a satisfying sampler of DiFranco’s wide-ranging discography. As a fan of her multi-album collaborations with Utah Phillips, I was happy to hear her pay homage to him with a song from The Past Didn’t Go Anywhere (1996). She also sang “Our Lady of the Underground” from her Broadway debut as Persephone in Hadestown. From the raw, acoustic folk-punk that defined her signature sound in the ’90s to the more polished but no less diverse hybrid of jazz, funk, and electronica on more recent albums, to her collaboration on a Tony-winning musical, DiFranco’s growth as an artist is rooted in her willingness to unapologetically experiment while never compromising her authenticity.
In the middle of the show, DiFranco told us she was reading The Family Roe: An American Story, the Pulitzer Prize finalist book about Roe v. Wade, to introduce her song “Baby Roe” from the aptly titled album Unprecedented Sh!t (2024). She told us about Shelley Lynn Thorton, also known as the “Roe baby,” and how she remained silent until Roe v. Wade was reversed. At that moment, Thorton began to speak out as pro-choice, all while maintaining healthy boundaries from the societal spotlight. “She was not going to let it overwhelm her life the way it did her mother,” DiFranco explained. Her break in the set to share this story demonstrates her commitment to engaging her art with the truly “unprecedented sh!t” of our time.
The denouement of the evening was a generous bestowal to those of us existentially stuck in the ’90s — a riveting progression of “Swan Dive,” “Little Plastic Castles,” and “Both Hands” to finish the set. I could easily identify the people who were reuniting with high school besties and college roomies in the audience, swaying with linked arms and riotously belting out lyrics into one another’s faces. There was even a marriage proposal (and acceptance) thrown into the mix.
Not everybody is an Ani DiFranco fan, but everybody standing elbow-to-elbow at The Orange Peel on the ides of March claims that title with pride. While her unapologetic politics and activist-infused lyrics alienate some folks, they galvanize the voices of others — and I mean “others” in the most Hegelian sense of that term. As the current U.S. Presidential administration recklessly hacks away at freedoms that Others have worked 200 years to achieve, the intersection of the personal and the political speaks to us through revolutionary art more urgently than ever.
As Councilmember Hess put it, “Thank you for being the soundtrack to our resilience and the compass to our activism.” Indeed, this collective expression of gratitude captures the spirit of the indispensable synergy between DiFranco and her fans, speaking truth to power.
In every direction I looked, I found smiles. And as the saying goes, joy is the best form of rebellion.
So perhaps it is best to end with the words DiFranco spoke when she received the key to our city, reminding us that the source of empowered action is our own community, our own home, and our own hearts: “Imagine if this was the world. Wait — this is the world that you are making. Right here.”
(Photo by Anthony Mulcahy)
