March 26, 2015

Publication title: bradenton.com, vol. -, Iss. -, pg. –
Place: Unknown
Writer: Marty Clear

Sarah McLachlan performs in Sarasota

Sarah McLachlan has earned a devoted following all over the world. She’s sold more than 40 million albums and she’s won three Grammys and eight Juno Awards.

But even if you’re not especially a fan of McLachlan’s emotive music, you have to admire the way she’s used her celebrity and success. She started a non-profit program in Vancouver that provides music education for inner-city kids, she does commercials for the ASPCA and she founded Lilith Fair, the music festival tour that showed the music industry that women artists can attract huge crowds. The concerts also raised millions of dollars for local and national charities.

The people who come to McLachlan’s concert in Sarasota this weekend will be there because of her music, though.

Her latest album, “Shine On,” came out last May, and she’s been touring in support of it pretty much ever since. The U.S. leg of the tour is winding up, but not before it stops at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall on Saturday.

“Shine On” has a bit of different tone than earlier McLachlan albums, with less emphasis on heartbreak and new producers that move her music into a slightly different direction. But McLachlan has decades of great albums to cull from, going back to her 1988 debut “Touch” and to “Fumbling Toward Ecstasy,” the 1993 record that made her an international star, so her concert is likely to have for all her fans.
Details: 8 p.m. March 27, Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, 777 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. Tickets: $86-$136. Information: 941-953-3368.