First to take the Landmark floorboards was Syracuse native Ed Hamell a.k.a. Hamell on Trial, a recording artist on DiFranco’s Righteous Babe label. Hamell introduced himself through a rocking sixteenth-note guitar riff as he explored the space all across the stage. He stopped briefly to mention two things: “I see we’re all in very celebratory moods this evening,” and “Anyone in the seats right now, I’m playing for you. Anyone who comes in late, fuck ’em.” 

Righteous babe and friend: Buffalo-raised folk rocker Ani DiFranco sang about political change during her Nov. 14 Landmark Theatre performance, which was preceded by the one-man shock rock of Hamell On Trial.

For the next half-hour Hamell offered more hard rock and harder-they-come attitude. He mixed in original poetry between several songs on topics like being subservient to media (“I will baby sit your children/ I am propaganda”) and making the Pledge of Allegiance more socially conscious (“In a nation where no one can maintain their wealth as long as one person doesn’t have any food, or shelter or health care.”).  

Hamell feverishly strummed his acoustic guitar while he marched around singing songs on topics like oral sex, lying about his past to a 6-year-old son and his favorite profanity-heavy approach to ignoring society. In what could have been a Landmark first, Hamell triggered a call-and-response with the audience in which the phrase “Fuck it” was exchanged back and forth four times. 

It was hard not to think Hamell would end up stealing the evening, yet the fact that he didn’t is the best indicator of what DiFranco’s set was like. You wouldn’t have known it from a first impression, however. DiFranco’s outfit resembled a folk act that wouldn’t be able to match Hamell’s energy: an acoustic guitar lead, an upright bass, vibraphone and set player who would utilize rods and yarn mallets throughout the night. 

But DiFranco’s live set left you thinking she was anything but a mere folk artist. Her band had the audience shouting for vibraphone solos—and how many people outside of a high school band can even recognize vibraphones? She combined Alanis Morissette’s acoustic yet intense musical approach with Eminem’s in-your-face messages through mile-a-minute lyrics. The crowd sang in unison with her throughout her 90-minute set without skipping a beat, as DiFranco weaved in 1990s faves like “Little Plastic Castle” and “Untouchable Face” with newer tracks off her latest release Red Letter Girl, then dipped back to her familiar well for “Joyful Girl” and “Evolve” during her encore.

DiFranco even performed a track she has never previously recorded, with this explanation: “I wrote this on Nov. 5 when I wasn’t balling or hugging someone.” It was one more piece of her performance honoring President-elect Barack Obama’s victory and it contained lyrics like “President Obama, it’s a pleasure to say,” and “The neighborhood feels like a neighborhood again, like it hasn’t in years.” DiFranco has been around for years, too—her career spans three decades—but anyone who left the Landmark show knew she could still take the stage and kick some rockin’ ass as well as she did back in her Buffalo days. 

—Nate Matisse