October 26, 2014
Publication title: Calgary Herald, vol. -, Iss. -, pg. –
Place: Unknown
Writer: Eric Volmers
Review: Sarah McLachlan brings down-to-earth charm, musical elegance to the Jubilee
It was early on in Sarah McLachlan’s first set at the Jubilee Auditorium on Monday night when she told a cute story about her two children calling her out about her fashion choices.
It had to do with the 46-year-old rocking some high-top Converse sneakers when picking up the kids from school, only to be told she was “too old” for them and that she wasn’t a rock star.
She is a rock star, of course. According to her new record label, the singer-songwriter has sold more than 40-million records over her long career, and Monday’s friendly, gentle and heartfelt show was sprinkled with enough radio hits to remind us that she was once one of the Great White North’s great success stories.
But few artists seem as intent as McLachlan to downplay the rock-star side of her persona. In the first of what will be two nights at the Jub, the Halifax-born singer offered a generous evening of impeccably performed tunes that highlighted both her likable personality and those shimmering vocals.
But it was also an evening of interaction and community: audiences questions were drawn from a hat; quiet jokes were told about her musical guilty pleasure (The Backstreet Boys, because “sometimes in a pinch, it’s the only thing that will do”); between-song affirmations were appropriately uplifting and motherly (“Look to the light,” she said at one point) and she even provided what looked like a comfy couch for contest winners to plop down on and watch her play.
“I brought my living room with me,” she said jokingly.
So what Monday’s performance lacked in urgency, it made up for in warmth. Besides, it’s doubtful many go to a Sarah McLachlan concert expecting an overly visceral experience. If anything, her down-to-earth charm provided a nice counterpoint to material that can occasionally come across as melodramatic.
Her songs, after all, can be a little gloomy (McLachlan herself admitted that she has a dearth of happy tunes) and the stage decor of glowing balls, descending circles of light and the occasional swirling ocean-blue backdrop certainly emitted a new-agey feel.
But amid the soft lights and quiet reflection were moments of transcendence, often arriving when she sat at her piano and let her vocals soar.
It helped that she had a strong album to promote. Released earlier this year, Shine On doesn’t really stray from the McLachlan blueprint so much as showcase its strengths. She opened with the album’s best song, the poppy and melodic In Your Shoes, an ode to defiance that she wrote for teen activist Malala Yousafzai.
The second set began with another highlight from the album, the softly shuffling and beautifully sad Song For My Father.
There was comfort in the familiar as well, of course. She does have more than 20 years of hits to draw on. After a shaky run through Building a Mystery, McLachlan’s voice hit an early peak on the beautiful Adia. Stupid was an appropriately surging finale to the first set and there was quiet power to songs such as Sweet Surrender and Hold On that arrived shortly before press time.
But the highlights went beyond the hits. Loving You Is Easy was jazzy and playful and Monsters, another excellent new song, showed hints of venom with its percussive undertones and lyrics about betrayal.
It’s all relative, of course, Even at her most heartbreaking and heartbroken, McLachlan manages to sound elegant and reassuring.
The singer picked up on it herself in one of many between-song talks, where she talked about friendship, family and gratitude. In a scary world, it’s OK to cling to the things that bring you comfort.
