As the summer is upon us, Canadian superstar Sarah McLachlan got things heated up early with a performance at Artpark this past Tuesday night. Currently, McLaughlan is on tour in celebration of her landmark album called ‘Fumbling Towards Ecstasy’ that was released back in 1994. You can say that this is the album that put her name on the map. Opening the show was Indie pop artist called Feist.
Feist took to the stage at 7:00pm and played a strong 50-minute set. She is currently on tour supporting her 6th studio effort titled ‘Multitudes.’ Also sporting Canadian roots, Feist made the most of her opening slot by playing 12 tracks. She had a wonderful singing voice who was backed by a 4-piece band. “I Feel It All” is where she shined. Her voice held a note while she was encouraging the crowd to cheer her on at the same time. After not even hearing about this artist, I was impressed by her and thought she played a solid opening set.
It’s been 5 long years since Sarah McLachlan graced the stage at Artpark but the near sellout crowd were excited to see her again. She took to the stage with a beautiful white gown and went into one of her most beautiful songs in “Sweet Surrender.” Hearing her crisp clean voice right at the start, you knew we all were in for a treat. A few more hits followed in “Building a Mystery and “I Will Remember You.” These first 3 tracks she went from singing acapella, to playing her acoustic guitar to then tickling the ivories for the 3rd song. This was prelude on what was to come for the entire evening’s performance. McLachlan was behind the piano as the rest of her band came to the front of it (sans instruments) to sing some of the harmonies for “Answer.” She exited the stage after “Witness” as her band kept on playing. She reappeared in a black gown for the rest of the night. This included doing the ‘Fumbling Towards Ecstasy’ album from front to back. The hidden gem in her band was the bassist, Melissa McClelland. Not only did she do a great job holding down the low end, but her vocals really provided a lush harmonic background making McLachlan vocals pop even more. For the track “Ice Cream,” they showed various people on the video screen eating ice cream as the band went through the tune. McLachlan ended her set with her biggest hit in “Angel.”
The season is just heating up and Artpark. McLachlan set a high bar for all of the a future artists who play Artpark this summer to attain with her over the top performance.
Setlist:
Sweet Surrender
Building a Mystery
I Will Remember You
Drifting
Song for my Father
World on Fire
Adia
Beautiful Girl
Answer
Witness
Fumbling Towards Ecstasy album:
Possession
Wait
Plenty
Good Enough
Mary
Elsewhere
Circle
Ice
Hold On
Ice Cream
Fear
Fumbling Towards Ecstasy
Encore:
Gravity
Angel
We would like to thank Ron Perks from Livenation for the credentials to review the show.
