As Ani DiFranco takes her bows at the end of her set, the Righteous Babe Records logo towers thirty feet tall above her, projected onto the draped fabric stage decor with bright blue light. It's a stunning juxtaposition: one tall, proud, flexing woman towering over the audience while the real feminist icon is giggling and skipping around the stage and bowing and smiling.

Standing only five feet tall, Ani is much smaller in person than her music makes her out to be. In fact, her guitars seem to swallow her whole. But even in the enormous grandeur of Wolf Trap, Virginia's most intricate and beautiful outdoor amphitheater, Ani's music, voice, and spirit fill every nook and cranny, both of the venue and of her audience's hearts.



Ani has left her band behind, bidding them a more-than-fond farewell with the album "So Much Shouting, So Much Laughter" last year, and is now forging her way across the country without any backup. Knowing that she would be performing without a band was somewhat bittersweet; it cannot be denied that the band added extra flavor that made her songs more dense, more intricate, and even more enjoyable, in some way. But it's not like she needs them; she is enough woman to easily sate an audience of hundreds. True to the summer days preceding her concert, August 13 was hot and muggy, plagued with an unexpected, albeit short, thunderstorm. "I like it when you can feel the air," Ani assured her audience as she changed guitars between songs, "I like it when you can smell everything... and everyone."



She began with "Shy," from 1995's "Not A Pretty Girl," which was oddly appropriate, as she seemed a little insecure on stage, glancing around like she expected her band to appear from nowhere. But backup wasn't needed; she was more than capable of holding her own. The set was an incredible blend of old and new; "Evolve," the title track from her newest album was shortly followed by "Swim," an unreleased song that has been in her repertoire for years.



Brand new unnamed songs framed older gems like "Names and Dates and Times." "Self Evident," the incredible poem-song Ani wrote as a meditation on the events of September 11th and recent concert staple, was replaced by her newest political analysis "Serpentine." And she provided an old favorite, "32 Flavors," as an encore. But the highlight of the night came only four songs into her set: a performance of "Little Plastic Castle," the title track of her 1998 album, which was her first performance of the song without her band... ever.



In the end it was too short, only fourteen songs of Ani's incredible talent. But her guitar sang like an entire orchestra, and her distinctive wail filled every nook and cranny of Wolf Trap. She spoke of her life, and joked with the audience, constantly forgetting what she had to say and shooting her adoring fans shy smiles in lieu of answers. Her banter was easy and light and as self-aware as her songs, and she sounded just as happy to be with us as we were to be watching her. "Everyone seems to have been steering clear of me a bit lately," she confided in us, "What do they think I am, some kind of raging feminist?