Michael Franti

Last night was amazing! Sarah and I went to see Michael Franti perform at the Bloor Cinema. It was GA, and everyone grabbed seats and then we watched a film by Franti called "I Know I'm Not Alone". Last year, Michael Franti went to the middle east with some friends, a video camera and his guitar to find the humanity trapped behind the sanitized media potrayal of the war in Iraq and the occupation of Palestine. In a word, it was truthful.

He introduced the film and updated us about how his two man and van tour was going. He was so humble and barefoot! After the film he took questions from the audience about politics, humanity and music. The audience was a strange mix of hippies, social activists, elders and little children. Then Michael, strummed his acoustic guitar and sung whatever the audience requested! He brought out a bongo player from the band, The New Deal and let people come on stage from the crowd to sing and dance. During his last song he invited a guy from the crowd to play guitar with him and when they couldn't get the second guitar to plug into the sound system, Michael handed over HIS guitar and let this dude play out his last song. And this guy went crazy, wailing on the guitar at an astonishing high level of skill. It was magic.

At the end of the show, Franti spoke to the crowd about fighting the good fight and leading your life with positivity. Then he jumped into the crowd to chat and dance.

He truly is a music man.