Ani Dynamo DiFranco to benefit WERU

There’s nothing quite like an Ani DiFranco show.

DiFranco is packed so full of energy that it seems like she’ll explode during her concerts. She bounds and bounces and dances across the stage, spinning passion, politics, love and lust into her lyrics. She frantically plays her guitar, breaks strings, belts out songs and then shifts gears for a ballad or bit of spoken word. The only thing she doesn’t do is slow down. During her last visit to Orono in 1999 as part of The Beautiful Project, she left the audience happy, reeling and wanting more.

This Saturday, they’ll get more, as DiFranco returns as part of her Wreckage Unravelling tour. She’ll perform at 8 p.m. at the Maine Center for the Arts in a concert that will benefit WERU-FM.

“This shows that she believes in community radio,” Denis Howard, WERU’s development director, said of DiFranco’s $1 per ticket donation. “It’s really generous of her to do this.”

The tour coincides with the release of DiFranco’s two-album set, “Revelling/Reckoning,” which will be in stores on April 10. On her Web site, she says “Revelling” reflects her “revelling in the act of playing music,” while “Reckoning” is slower, quieter and more idea-focused.

During the concert, she’ll mix new tunes, such as “Subdivision,” “So What” and “Garden of Simple,” with old favorites, most likely reworking a few of those along the way.

Howard said DiFranco’s promoter promised “a show of amazing energy.” DiFranco has been in Europe, and Orono will be one of the first stops in the U.S. leg of her tour.

“She’s energized,” Howard said. “She’s got a new album, and she’ll be playing from both [that and her old albums].”

Ani DiFranco will perform at 8 p.m. Saturday at the Maine Center for the Arts in Orono. Tickets are on sale at the box office, or you can order them by calling (207) 581-1755 or online at www.ume.maine.-edu/~mca. For information on DiFranco’s new album or her tour, visit www.righteousbabe.com.