February 09, 2015

Publication title: Daily Review.com.au, vol. -, Iss. -, pg. –
Place: Unknown
Writer: Ben Neutze

Sarah McLachlan live review (City Recital Hall, Sydney)

Now on a world tour, Canadian singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan invites questions from the audience and a few are asked on stage to sit on a couch and watch the performance. One of the guests at her second Sydney concert asked if there was a song with which she knew she had “made it” and was quintessentially “Sarah”. Well, I can’t imagine anybody would be too surprised that the answer was her iconic 1998 ballad Angel, a song which typifies and defines her easy brand of heartfelt, simple, radio-friendly, soft, acoustic pop-rock. But McLachlan live seems to somehow transcend those boundaries of genre while delivering exactly what her audience has come to expect.

As the lights went down, McLachlan walked onto the stage without fanfare and took her place behind the piano. She launched into an acoustic rendition of Possession, a song which was inspired by letters sent by an obsessed fan who committed suicide after attempting to sue her for unauthorised use of his private love letters. Dark, right? Like much of McLachlan’s work, it has a gentle, lyrical aesthetic, belying a heavier subject matter – Hold On is about a lover dying from AIDS; Angel, despite its use as a song of “healing” in all contexts, is about a heroin overdose.

And in that first number, she extinguished any doubts the audience may have had about the 47-year-old’s ability to deliver musically. Her voice is still a bright, warm and powerful instrument when necessary, and her trademark transitions throughout her vocal registers are the smooth, thrilling moments they’ve always been. When she launches into Fear, it seems almost impossible that the creamy alto she employs for most of her singing could transform into a piercing, crystalline soprano.

Backed by a three-piece band (with support act Butterfly Boucher on bass and backing vocals), McLachlan breathes life into her biggest hits — even the usually pedestrian World On Fire is kicked up a notch with a new, dramatic arrangement. Building A Mystery rocks along and Hold On still reaches emotional highs. The sound could have been filled with more guitar, but the musical highlights are mostly those where McLachlan sits behind the piano. Her ability to tell a story and find the meaning in her lyrics is only heightened when she’s able to play around with the tempo and her own interpretation.

There was something a bit naff about the Q&A and “getting to know you” session, but McLachlan’s endearing charm ensured the City Recital Hall was a “safe zone” for her fans to indulge their inner geeks. While she played plenty of tracks from her new album Shine On, the concert was mainly an exercise in nostalgia as many of her songs are a soundtrack to the ’90s. But the strength of her performance ensured her fans were able to connect (or re-connect) with the older material in new ways.