November 04, 2014
Publication title: Leader-Post, vol. -, Iss. -, pg. –
Place: Unknown
Writer: Jeff Dedekker
Life gives McLachlan reason to shine on
Singer doesn’t disappoint with powerful voice, moving songs and a special treat for fans.
If Sarah McLachlan’s performance Sunday night showed anything, it was that the Canadian icon is in a great place in her life.
And why wouldn’t she be? Professionally, the 46-year-old has a hit album (Shine On) on her new label (Verve Records) while personally she’s living large as a doting mom to her two daughters while savouring her new relationship with former NHLer Geoff Courtnall.
That joy and happiness was on display at the Conexus Arts Centre as McLachlan brought her Shine On tour to the Queen City. A sold-out crowd was anxiously awaiting as she took the stage and while nothing out of the ordinary seemed to happen in the first two songs, McLachlan asked for a little patience from the audience.
“It’s a little dry here and it seems I’ve got a bit of a frog in my throat,” explained McLachlan. “I hope I don’t end up sounding like Kermit by the end of the night.”
Yeah, like that was ever going to happen. McLachlan’s voice was wonderful throughout the show. It’s strong, it’s smooth, it’s pure and all those traits were on display throughout the show.
In fact, during Fear there’s an entire stanza of ridiculously high notes and McLachlan hit them all. It was a remarkable display of her range and the power of her voice.
And of course it wouldn’t be a Sarah McLachlan show without the extensive catalogue of quality songs. She explained that the songs for Shine On were a result of coping with a number of changes in her life – going through a divorce, the death of her father and parting ways with her record label.
Yet writing for Shine On was cathartic for McLachlan.
“(The album) has a lot to do with gratitude … Like when I was turning 40, I was really looking forward to it but then I turned 40 and everything turned to sh*t,” McLachlan said with a laugh. “It was a time when there were a lot of changes in my life … These songs are very indicative of where I am today.”
It was also a personal show for McLachlan who incorporated a couple of twists to interact with her fans. The tour has a social media contest with the winners being brought on stage to meet McLachlan before spending the rest of the set sitting comfortably on stage on couches.
She also encouraged fans to submit questions for her, which she drew from a hat during each set and answered.
Some of the questions had interesting answers. One asked what the best advice was that she had ever received.
“I performed in New York before Annie Lennox and she told me, ‘Don’t let anyone tell you what to do, especially a man, because this is a man’s business. Stay on your path.’ ” Her personality was also on display while introducing many of the songs during the two sets.
On a couple of occasions she acknowledged her reputation for writing sad songs. Before playing World On Fire, she went one step further in discussing her motivation.
“I don’t have too many happy songs but now that I think about it, this one might have been about love but really it was about lust,” she laughingly explained.
And even coming to terms with the negative parts of her life was chalked up as learning experiences, as she explained when introducing Monsters.
“This song is about coming to terms with a person’s ethical and moral limitations,” said McLachlan. “I came to it a little late in the game and I’ve been burned a few times.”
After her two sets, McLachlan returned to the stage for a four-song encore.
She opened the encore with the simple magnificence of Angel. It was just McLachlan and her piano and that definitely was more than enough – it alone was worth the price of admission. There are only a few songs that can give you chills every time you hear them and Angel is in that select group.
It was only fitting the McLachlan closed the show with The Sound That Love Makes – given where she is in her life, it was apropos.
