November 03, 2014

Publication title: The Starphoenix, vol. -, Iss. -, pg. –
Place: Unknown
Writer: Phil Tank

Review: McLachlan’s voice in fine form

Superstar got stronger as show went on.

Sarah McLachlan joked during her encore Saturday night she needed the audience to sing along because it was late and her voice was “a little ragged.”

Actually, her voice seemed to get better with each song during her concert before a capacity crowd at TCU Place.

McLachlan seemed to struggle a little in her first set, especially hitting the notes on Fallen, sounding like a 46-yearold performing her fifth gig in six nights and 10th in 13 days to kick off her Canadian tour in support of her latest album, Shine On.

She recovered nicely. Near the start of the second set, she delivered a flawless rendition of I Will Remember You – a ballad that mostly features her alone on the piano under a soft symbolic spotlight. Nowhere to hide if there’s any mistakes.

Later in the second set, she sounded like Kate Bush hitting stratospheric notes on the otherworldly Fear.

McLachlan brought multiple talents to her 24-song performance, playing the piano, guitar and even the ukulele on her encore-closing The Sound That Love Makes.

Her piercing yet ethereal pipes are still the stars of the show, though – even she realized near the concert’s end she almost forgot to introduce her band.

McLachlan struck a nice balance between giving her fans what they want – established hits from one of Canada’s best-selling artists – and promoting her new music.

She also mixed up the usual concert format with an intermission as well as answering audience questions drawn from a hat and inviting several contest winners to sit on a couch onstage to watch part of the show.

In case you were wondering, her musical heroes include Saskatoon’s Joni Mitchell, Neil Young and Gordon Lightfoot and her musical supergroup would include Mozart and Jimi Hendrix.

Most of it worked, though the audience not on stage got audibly restless as she posed for photos onstage with the second batch of contest winners.

TCU Place provided an ideal semi-intimate setting to watch one of Canada’s music superstars. Belying her fame and success, the Vancouver-based songstress walked casually on stage in a sleeveless blouse and tight black pants to start the show.

She even managed to score on her rare mistakes. McLachlan garnered applause from the audience when she forgot the words to her lullaby, Little B, a bonus track on her new album, after being asked to sing it by one of the contest winners.

She concedes her “happy place” as a songwriter remains the darker side of love and relationships – her song about her current relationship with former NHL star Geoff Courtnall is called Brink of Destruction even though it’s supposed to be uplifting.

She also showed she’s not quite ready to shed her alt-rock roots for the safety and comfort of adult contemporary by whipping out an electric guitar to cap her second set with Sweet Surrender and Possession.

That helped answer the most important audience question: Whether she still has relevance as a musician.