Celtic Connections: Ani DiFranco @ O2 ABC, 20 Jan

Folk revivalist Jim Moray proves a wonderfully apt choice for kicking off this evening, his mostly traditional compositions tending towards the darker side of the classics, tales of infanticide and lost love offset by his dry and self-deprecating wit. Whilst his ability on guitar is not to be played down, it’s his aptitude for storytelling that makes him deserving of praise.

Ani DiFranco is a lot of things: prolific musician, activist, feminist icon and mother, but to call her all of these would still probably be an understatement of her contribution to modern music. Twenty years – and as many albums – into her career, she still shows the same abundance of energy as a fresh-faced novice to the scene and, between the quality of the material tonight, her sharp wit and her sharper tongue, it is a pleasure to simply take in her presence.

She shows the same passion for change that Bob Dylan and Janis Joplin carried in their hearts and shares with them the ability to bring her message across in song, yet never at the expense of the music itself. Borrowing from the great traditions of American soul, folk and blues and delivering it with an abundance of honest rhetoric, she is the voice of America’s untapped potential. [David Bowes]