October 15, 2014
Publication title: Vancouver Sun, vol. -, Iss. -, pg. –
Place: Unknown
Writer: Francois Marchand
Sarah McLachlan takes her living room on tour
The Orpheum stage in Vancouver is Sarah McLachlan’s second home.
It’s a stage she regularly visits, and one she immortalized in one of two music videos for her song Possession, a cornerstone of her 1993 album Fumbling Towards Ecstasy.
Just over 20 years later, McLachlan is getting ready to step back on those planks yet again, and many things have changed in the two decades since.
From being wedged between other ‘alternative’ acts of the era — including Smashing Pumpkins, Nine Inch Nails, and Enigma — on MuchMusic and MTV in 1994, McLachlan morphed into a multi-platinum, Grammy and Juno-decorated contemporary pop icon, buoyed in large part by the initial success of her Lilith Fair festival.
“I don’t really tend to look back very often,” McLachlan said. “I’m a ‘live in the moment’ kind of person. But when I’m reminded of these things, it’s like, ‘Wow, that was really great and I got to be on that ride. I was part of that and that was really cool. All these doors opened and opportunities presented themselves because of it.’
“I never had a grand plan and I still don’t. These experiences, these things I’ve participated in, tend to have a life of their own. It’s never just me. It’s the power of a whole bunch of people coming together and making something happen.”
This time around, McLachlan is returning to the venue she knows so well in support of her eighth studio album, Shine On.
The album, co-produced by longtime creative partner Pierre Marchand and Vancouver uber producer Bob Rock, sees McLachlan tackling the loss of her father, the power of family, and a renewed faith in love, spiritually and physically, since connecting with new boyfriend and former Canuck Geoff Courtnall. It was also her first for the Verve label, after splitting with Nettwerk.
The tour saw McLachlan travel through the U.S. this summer, and is billed as an “evening with” featuring most of the new record, a wide selection of fan favourites, and plenty of interaction with her audience.
“I write from such an emotional level and because I’m 46 years old I’m talking about a lot of things people are going through,” McLachlan said. “My fans have been with me all these years, they’re losing their parents, they may or may not be getting divorced. You don’t get to this point in your life unscathed. Music is often something we look to for comfort and to know somebody else is going through the same thing.”
The two Vancouver concerts will not feature an opener, she quickly added, inviting fans to be there right at the start in order to not miss any of the two and half-hour show.
“I brought my living room with me. So basically we’ve tried to figure out ways to engage my fans, asking via social media ‘How do you shine? Tell us your stories.’ We’ve randomly selected four people in every city, and they basically come up on the couch and I talk to them and we take pictures. So it’s this weird thing: ‘Come on in my living room and let’s have a chat!’ But it’s really fun because they get to see what it’s like up on stage and participate in a different way.”
But please don’t call her a Canadian Oprah.
“Oh god, don’t say that,” McLachlan exclaimed, adding it wasn’t the first time the reference had come up.
Still, McLachlan has long been a strong female personality on the cultural scene, and she sees the same kind of positive power and passion in contemporary artists like Adele, teenage singer Lorde, and actress Jennifer Lawrence.
Asked how she felt about Lawrence being the victim of a recent series of nude photo leaks, McLachlan said, “I’m not condoning any of (the leaks) whatsoever, but if you’re going to be in the spotlight as a celebrity or a famous person, there are unpleasant aspects of that kind of public scrutiny. As soon as you take a naked picture of yourself, once it’s out there, it’s out there and it’s hard to take back. It’s an unfortunate reality of the Internet and how we’re interested in famous people’s lives — every element of it.
“I’m so lucky. I got to do all my stupid stuff in private. There was no Internet or social media to blast it five seconds after I did it — the drunken pictures or whatever. And I didn’t get famous overnight. Thankfully it was a slow, steady rise.”
Voices In The Park to return to Brockton Point
In our recent interview with Sarah McLachlan, the singer revealed some details about the return of her Voices In The Park concert for next year.
The outdoor event was a big hit in 2012, when it featured guests Bryan Adams, Stevie Nicks, Bill Clinton, Hedley, Whitehorse and more raising funds for McLachlan’s School of Music.
The next instalment is scheduled for Sept. 12, 2015 at Brockton Point in Stanley Park. McLachlan could not confirm any of the guests lined up for next year just yet.
The date is already officially posted on the event’s website at voicesinthepark.com, and “ticket and show schedule will be released soon.”
You can follow the event via Twitter (twitter.com/voicesinthepark) or Facebook (facebook.com/voicesinthepark).
