Sarah and Friends Tour 2010/11

[Karine]

I don't know what the new album will sound like, but I'm sure I will love it. It's hard for me to critic her, because she makes the kind of music I want to hear. I enjoy many other artists, but not many of them are as good as her to express feelings. I'm in a "Ellie Goulding" phase these days: her sound is great, but for the lyrics, well, it has nothing to do with songwriting. In the end, I always come back to Sarah.

It's a bit different this time: as you wrote, she's not working with the same team anymore (for example, she changed her manager twice since her departure from Nettwerk: Mick Management and now Sam Feldman from Worldwide Management Representation.
About the fans, I don't agree with you. I think she connects with her fans now more than ever, on Twitter, Facebook and Youtube. You just have to see how many comments she gets under all her posts and pictures, there are thousands of them.
This summer, I even saw a reply to a rude comment (in my opinion) on Facebook. I don't think many artists do that, they just ignore them. Maybe it was written by someone from her team, it's hard to know because she does answer sometimes.
This is the comment, about the release of The Essential cds:
- The comment: Good god, how many different ways can you package and sell the same songs over and over ?
- SM's reply: new album still coming xo
I think it's an example of how her new team works hard to keep the contact with us, probably harder than what Nettwerk did at the end of their partnership.

Also, I think you can't compare Sarah fans to, for example, Justin Bieber fans who are 15 years old and have a lot of time to spend on forums. It's very different.

[TheSquirrel]

Yes I think she may be making more effort now at this stage of her career. I think she still has the drive and ego to want to do something outstanding, and it's possible she may think she has something to prove. What drives her may at the same time hold her back, as she has the reputation for being such a perfectionist. Good to hear she's getting some fans posting and following her though.

The Essential cd didn't have me batting an eyelid. I don't visit her on facebook or twitter but the negative comment made me smile, as that's what I've been saying for years. She has so little output she has to repackage an awful lot.

I tend to ignore everything until a new album is out, and haven't even heard any of the new tracks she's done, or seen any of the new videos. I'm not interested, because I think the lack of output has a reverse effect on me. She produces so little I have little interest in anything she does until a new album comes out. I guess I don't qualify as a diehard Sarah fan, but I'm always going to be excited about a new album. She's still the boss as far as I'm concerned, is still my favourite artist, and the thought of seeing her live almost gets me excited - I think everyone knows what a miserable git I am, so being almost excited is as good as it gets for me nowadays.

I didn't realise she had changed her management again. This place is still the best for information!

[Islandflyer]

Yes I think she may be making more effort now at this stage of her career. I think she still has the drive and ego to want to do something outstanding, and it's possible she may think she has something to prove. What drives her may at the same time hold her back, as she has the reputation for being such a perfectionist. Good to hear she's getting some fans posting and following her though.

The Essential cd didn't have me batting an eyelid. I don't visit her on facebook or twitter but the negative comment made me smile, as that's what I've been saying for years. She has so little output she has to repackage an awful lot.

I tend to ignore everything until a new album is out, and haven't even heard any of the new tracks she's done, or seen any of the new videos. I'm not interested, because I think the lack of output has a reverse effect on me. She produces so little I have little interest in anything she does until a new album comes out. I guess I don't qualify as a diehard Sarah fan, but I'm always going to be excited about a new album. She's still the boss as far as I'm concerned, is still my favourite artist, and the thought of seeing her live almost gets me excited - I think everyone knows what a miserable git I am, so being almost excited is as good as it gets for me nowadays.

I didn't realise she had changed her management again. This place is still the best for information!

You sound pretty cynical and downbeat, so maybe you should check out some of those new tracks to get inspired again. Has Sarah lost the ability to inspire you? I'm still fairly new to her music, and I am still encountering stuff I hadn't heard before. I didn't buy the Essential CD either, but would have 6 months ago, had it been available, since it is a good sampler for her work. Instead, once she "clicked" with me, I've bought everything I can find. So perhaps she is trolling for new fans with it, and likely finding them. I continue to be impressed with the depth of her writing, and the beauty of her songs, without even mentioning her own artistry in performing them. The Lyric Lounge is a nice way for her fans to speak to her, and I expect she is listening. I suppose it was fitting that her own song "Time" was the one that captured me first. I hadn't known of her for a long time, but there's still time to spare. I think she still has that wonderful creativity we love so much, and I'm sure she will be showing us soon enough that she does.

Keep the faith! Ed

[Karine]

Yes, the Essential album is mostly for new fans who discovered her recently and don't know where to begin with her music. Like Ed, I didn't buy it, but maybe one day I will, for my personal collection.

About being a "diehard Sarah fan", well, you still come here to write comments and share your toughts about her music, so you're surely "more" fan than a lot of people.

[TheSquirrel]

Yeah I suppose I'm a fan of sorts, it's just I never liked the music industry or the artists. Cynical and downbeat fans like me are ones she doesn't need. Maybe I should check out some new stuff, but for me she is a sort of past artist. You're right Karine, she doesn't inspire me anymore, because I have lost faith in her song writing ability. She had it, but for me she hasn't produced anything since Afterglow. I've liked a couple of tracks in ten years, which isn't much. Just taste I suppose. I hope she goes back to that cutting edge, but that's like saying I should go back to being young. It just isn't physically possible.

Ed mentioned "Time" which is one of my absolute favourites. Why it is so vastly underrated is beyond me. From what I can remember, it was the only song from Afterglow that she didn't play on the last tour. I have no idea why. Saw her ten times in 2004, and the tour was magnificent. Those concerts are still my favourite ten concerts out of 1000+ I've been to in nearly 40 years of gig going.

I'm still here along with a few others because she has produced my favourite music, and also because, as we all know, Sarah McLachlan fans are the best.

[Karine]

Yeah I suppose I'm a fan of sorts, it's just I never liked the music industry or the artists. Cynical and downbeat fans like me are ones she doesn't need. Maybe I should check out some new stuff, but for me she is a sort of past artist. You're right Karine, she doesn't inspire me anymore, because I have lost faith in her song writing ability. She had it, but for me she hasn't produced anything since Afterglow. I've liked a couple of tracks in ten years, which isn't much. Just taste I suppose. I hope she goes back to that cutting edge, but that's like saying I should go back to being young. It just isn't physically possible.

Ed mentioned "Time" which is one of my absolute favourites. Why it is so vastly underrated is beyond me. From what I can remember, it was the only song from Afterglow that she didn't play on the last tour. I have no idea why. Saw her ten times in 2004, and the tour was magnificent. Those concerts are still my favourite ten concerts out of 1000+ I've been to in nearly 40 years of gig going.

I'm still here along with a few others because she has produced my favourite music, and also because, as we all know, Sarah McLachlan fans are the best.

Her songwriting changed over the years, but unlike you, I prefer the way she writes now. Many songs on Touch are so obscure to me, I just don't understand what they're about. And don't ask me about "Back Door Man" or "Mercy": even when I read the lyrics, it's like Greek to me! I like the melodies, I sing when I hear them, but that's it.

The thing is that you also change and the music you liked 10 years ago (Afterglow was released in 2003) may not be what you like now. Your musical tastes surely evolved through the years. If you don't like her new songs, there's nothing you can really do about it.

About Time, I must tell you that you're wrong! She played it during the Afterglow tour, at least 3 times: in New York, in Hamilton and in Fairfax. I have these live versions if you want them.

And you are right: Sarah fans are the best

[TheSquirrel]

Groan, those lucky people! Yeah she played "Time" occasionally in USA and Canada, but I don't think she ever played it in Europe. I would love to hear those live versions. Thanks Karine, you're an angel!

The European shows were shorter than the American ones, but even on the American continent I don't think she played "Time" much. She was asked about playing it again, but from what I can remember she cut it out of live shows after that. I think that may have come up on "Blackened Sky."

I occasionally play some old McLachlan music to remind myself of the master. I loved Afterglow, and I know it's a matter of taste but I wanted her to break away from that sound. From my perspective she's now too mumsy and comfy for my taste. Maybe it's just the songs rather than the style. In retrospect, I may even prefer Afterglow to Surfacing. They are merely 4th and 5th favourite albums of all time after FTE, Solace, and Mirrorball.

I think I've heard her old songs over 1000 times in one form or another, listened to the old albums over 200 times, watched the shows on dvd and tape over 200 times, but listened to LOI about ten times. I guess that illustrates how much I liked LOI.

I think nowadays fans must listen to albums thousands of times, as everyone at shows sings along and knows all the words. I fall short of fanatical about her music, but she's probably the most excited I ever get about an artist. If fans start to get emotionally involved as though their entire life revolves around an artist, I find alarm bells ringing. Maybe I go to the other extreme, as I find myself hating the lot of them.

I did have a passion for music and the lifestyle years ago, even though I always hated music companies, big business, and the artists, but the fans and people I met were amazing. My attitude was always, I've paid my money, you don't know me, I don't know you, you don't care about me, I don't care about you, just get on stage and entertain me, which is what I'm paying you for. 300 gigs in two years was a period of my life where I was lucky in a way to survive, and nearly didn't. Too many excesses. Not that I wanted to kill myself, it's just I considered if I lived to be old, I wasn't living right. Now I'm a miserable burnt out old git, but having that passion for music I still feel a rapport with music fans no matter how young they are.

The weirdest and most out of place I've ever felt was at a Taylor Swift concert. Dreadful experience, as the young girls kept screaming and singing through the entire concert. The Swift voice was not high enough in the mix, so all you could hear was the fans singing. At one time, being surrounded by 10,000 excited screaming 14-19 year old girls would have been my idea of absolute paradise, but it was hell. Boy I must be getting old!

[Karine]

Here's for you:
http://rapidshare.com/share/584C56A50FC ... 5668A781C8
Ed, feel free to download this file it you want too (there are three mp3 inside).

[TheSquirrel]

Got 'em, thanks Karine.

[Karine]

I hope you like these live versions.