November 07, 2014
Publication title: examiner.com, vol. -, Iss. -, pg. –
Place: Unknown
Writer: Christina Strynatka
Sarah McLachlan brings new chapter of her life to Massey Hall
Well, shucks. Is there anything to not like about Sarah McLachlan? She’s got one of the best and most distinct voices this side of the Atlantic, her figure and looks are better than ever at age 46, and there’s an easy graciousness to her interaction with the audience. And judging by the reception the sold-out audience at Massey Hall gave her on November 6, the first of her two back-to-back shows there, her fans haven’t stopped loving her one bit since she first picked up a mic at 17.
One fan, the sole male invited into her “living room” as part of a social media contest, was even so bold as to ask her for a kiss that would, as in the lyrics to her song “Possession”, take his breath away — and she obliged, not just planting a quick on him but his wife, too. Heck, even her singer, Melissa McClelland, got one as well, with the various bises a metaphorical representation for the genuine affection McLachlan feels for, well, everybody it seems.
She was at Massey Hall to ostensibly play songs from her latest album Shine On, with “Flesh and Blood” opening her set, but the second and third songs, “Building a Mystery” and “Adia” were from her 1997 album, Surfacing. It was a pattern the rest of the night would take, with McLachlan hopping around through her catalogue and showing off her multi-instrumentalism along the way. As a side note, McLachlan can also play the drums, in addition to the piano, acoustic guitar, electric guitar and ukulele (she can also play the banjo and harp, but alas, those weren’t on display at Massey Hall last night).
The drumming factoid was courtesy of one of her two question-and-answer periods, with audience members writing down a question at the merch table and McLachlan picking out random ones from a hat to answer. Some of the questions were tame, like if she preferred the ocean or the forest, while others really put her on the spot, like the one that asked if she’d ever gotten a speeding ticket? “Yes,” she said, “and it’s worse — I had my kids in the car…She just gave me a stern talking-to, and a $175 ticket.”
From the question-and-answers, it was also revealed that she’s kissed more than one woman, got her driving licence at 32, derives musical inspiration from Peter Gabriel and Ray Lamontagne, and her secret to inner peace is “a big bottle of wine and a couple of hours” (it’s really surfing). Not many other performers put such a focused emphasis on opening up to their audiences but coming from McLachlan, it’s just another reason of why she’s stayed popular over decades without constantly reinventing herself.
But her biggest draw by far is her mezzo-soprano voice, which is ethereal, strong, in pitch and able to fill all of Massey Hall. Whether she was digging through her old material, like “Angel” or the vocally-challenging “Sweet Surrender”, or jumping forward in time with Shine On’s “Brink of Destruction” (dedicated to her “sweetie”, former NHLer Geoff Courtnall) or 2003 Afterglow’s “Stupid”, she absolutely killed it every time. Some artists can’t disguise their reluctance at playing hit songs for the zillionth time but McLachlan seemed truly happy to be singing each and every note, giving a performance that was orders of magnitude better than any recorded version.
Though McLachlan no doubt presents much the same routine at every stop on her tour, her Massey Hall date was a night of power, enthusiasm and originality, with a strong band (Joel Shearer – guitar; Jon Evans – bass; Vincent Jones – keyboard; Curt Bisquera – drums; Luke Doucet – accompanying vocals). And in an unfortunate age where AutoTune reigns supreme with “singers” making millions churning out songs with simplistic lyrics and instrumentalism, McLachlan is a breath of fresh air that only gets more welcoming.
