October 19, 2014

Publication title: Vancouver Sun, vol. -, Iss. -, pg. –
Place: Vancouver
Writer: Francois Marchand

Review: Sarah McLachlan shines in breathtaking Vancouver concert

Sarah McLachlan is indeed shining on.

At 46, the singer is enjoying a newfound groove sparked by new love (former Canuck Geoff Courtnall), a new label (Verve), and a new album involving a new production partner (Bob Rock).

McLachlan has many reasons to be excited about her life and her career in 2014, and you could feel it at the Orpheum Monday night.

Barrelling through the first of two sets in her two-hour-plus “evening with” concert, McLachlan barely paused to catch her breath.

The Vancouver-based singer first offered a medley of songs from her eighth studio album Shine On (such as rocking set opener Flesh And Blood), and fan favourites Building A Mystery and Adia during a sequence that was a watertight musical exercise designed to immediately reward fans old and new.

McLachlan hopscotched from guitar to piano, while splashes from her 20-plus years career came in quick, colourful strokes, painted on a stage featuring droopy strings and rings of lights and three LCD panels showing ethereal animation and video close-ups of McLachlan and her excellent four-piece backing band: Joe Shearer on guitar, Jon Evans on bass, Vincent Jones on keyboards and Curt Bisquera on drums.

“I’m starting to calm down now,” she said several songs in, finally breaking up the pace.

McLachlan reiterated the old “I have the best job in the world” line, one repeated so often that it would normally have generated a sarcastic eye-roll if not for the fact that McLachlan still carries the feeling of those words in her live performances.

You could sincerely feel it in her rendition of Answer, from 1997’s Afterglow, which had a chilling hymnal feeling as McLachlan’s breathy mezzo soprano pierced the room with pure crystalline force.
As things finally slowed down a bit, McLachlan paused to read questions from the audience, giving the concert a talk-show flavour that changes from one evening to the next.

Inquiries plucked from McLachlan’s hat included how she battles writer’s block (answer: baking cookies, drawing and painting), and what Geoff Courtnall’s “favourite position” is (answer: he played left wing — “wink wink”), which generated some heartfelt laughter, both from fans and McLachlan.

And then there were the lucky few who joined Sarah on the couch stageright (at this point she was addressed on a first-name basis) for hugs, pictures and conversation.

It started out slightly awkward and suddenly got quite serious when one fan, her voice breaking with emotion, asked McLachlan if she could dedicate her trademark Angel to her ex-boyfriend who had died the day before.

There were tears to be fought back in that charged moment, but there were also more laughs and lighthearted banter to come.

“Balance is a crock of shit,” she said to another fan, an expecting mother, who asked about how she manages to strike a balance between work and parenting.

“Perhaps a nice, frothy love song is in order,” she said as she launched into a poppy, Brian Wilson-laced Loving You Is Easy and the “evening with” finally found the living room feel McLachlan had advertised.

However, there was nothing living room-y about Stupid, a meteoric number from Shine On that took on a booming arena flavour to finish the first half of the concert, heavy on synths and string effects.

The second set felt a little more traditional (though there would be a second Q&A/couch round), McLachlan offering a tribute to her father who died in 2001 (Song For My Father) and classic I Will Remember You, pausing between songs to chat about recent happenings that inspired new songs.

There was Brink Of Destruction, which she dedicated to Courtnall, McLachlan explaining how they met during a fundraising event for her School Of Music being held at her house.

“How am I going to meet anyone? I never leave my house! And there he was. In my house.”

Buoyed by spot-on production (seriously some of the best sound we’ve experienced at the Orpheum), McLachlan rounded her evening by making some of her classic confessional material (including a spectacular Fear, Sweet Surrender and Possession) sparkle with new life.