Sarah McLachlan in Columbus (review, sort of)

[scasterg@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Stuart M Castergine)]

I saw Sarah McLachlan in Columbus, Ohio Saturday and posted the
following comments on Big Sky BBS. I thought I might as well send it
out for the larger audience.

I give Sarah McLachlan four stars for her performance Saturday
at The Patio in the Brewery District. I give the audience a lowly
one star for rudeness.

Sarah was great! She opened with Drawn to the Rhythm, one of my
favorites, then went into a very quiet mellow first set: songs
like Home, The Path of Thorns, Lost, Shelter and a couple songs
not on Solace (the only album I have), including a brand new song
she just finished writing. The whole band was top notch, and except
for a small flub involving some feedback on "Lost" the performance
was very smooth.

Her voice is *incredible.* It sent shivers down my spine! She's
not a flashy stage performer the way Kate is -- she basically stands
and sings and looks uncomfortable the times when she does move.
But with a voice like hers, she doesn't need to! Just turn off
the lights and let me listen! Wow! Yeah, inarticulate, I know,
but her voice and her music hit me on a very basic emotional level.

I am familiar with Solace, so I was expecting a mellow concert
where I sat down and let the music wash over me. Unfortunately,
I'm not sure what a big chunk of the crowd was expecting. When
she first came on stage, Sarah seemed a little pleasantly surprised
by the size of the crowd (the Patio was packed) and thanked us
all very politely. We didn't return her thanks very well, though.
It wasn't that the crowd didn't like her -- the applause seemed
enthusiastic and I could tell there were a lot of genuine fans
there, but there was SO MUCH TALKING! It was really out of hand.
Here she is playing these very beautiful delicate songs, and people
are carrying on loud conversations all over the place. It really
pissed me off, and I told a couple people to shut up. I found
out it wasn't just me who was bothered when Sarah felt obliged
to virtually beg the crowd to stop talking before launching into
Shelter.

I don't know about anyone else, but I think it's almost a sin
to talk when someone with talent like that is singing.

She started off the second half with a *very* hot and rockin'
version of Black -- very different than the album version. The
crowd loved it. Yeah, buncha pinheads who can't appreciate anything
that isn't loud with a heavy beat.... it *was* good though. :-)
She dedicated it to "the corporate pigs of the world." :-)

There was a really fun number in the second set -- don't know
the name, but it had snippets of bad pop music interspersed in
it -- some pointed jabs against the BeeGees, Madonna and others.
Sarah McLachlan does "Vogue" better than Madonna does!

She only played for an hour, but came back for two encores. the
last encore was a solo number with her on electric piano -- the
only time she played anything besides guitar the whole concert.
the solo number was great -- it was an incredible showcase for
her voice, and I'm sure a lot of singers couldn't have managed
something like it after a straight hour of the kind of stuff she
did. High, pure tones, beautiful control, expressive, powerful.

Her voice is nothing like Kate's (for those who haven't heard
her and were wondering) -- it has it's own unique beauty. And
her music is definitely more guitar-oriented than Kate's. you
can tell that one composes on keyboards and the other on guitar
just by the feel of the music.


P.S. The DJ from a local radio station, WWCD 101.1, who was the
announcer for the Sarah McLachlan concert played The Whole Story in
its entirety tonight with no interruptions! After it was over he made
the comment:

"Sarah McLachlan was telling me, she just loves Kate Bush."


-- 
scasterg@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu -- Stuart M. Castergine
Fiver: "Oh, Hazel, look! The field! It's covered with blood!"
Hazel: "Don't be silly, it's only the light of the sunset." -- Watership Down