July 12, 2014

Publication title: tonfiftyone.com, vol. -, Iss. -, pg. –
Place: Unknown
Writer: Gregg

Shine On, Hey

So I suppose I could tell you the only reason I went to a Sarah McLachlan concert is because I bought the tickets as part of a 40th birthday gift for my wife, who ranks Sarah No. 1 in the category of Musical Awesomeness.

Dudes are supposed to listen to bands with names like Mold, or The Skyscraper of Impending Doom, or Justin Bieber.

But the truth is that Sarah has been in my music collection since the early 1990s, and when we saw her live for the first time a few years ago, she blew me away. So I was (almost) as eager as Jessica to return Wednesday night to The Riverside in Milwaukee to check out Sarah’s new Shine On tour.

Sarah McLachlan stage lights 070914

Something about that magical, ethereal voice is difficult to resist, whether she’s sitting at the piano, with the microphone catching every breathy note of her ballads, or she’s standing center stage reaching for an octave that requires an extension ladder most would be afraid to climb.

And not to go all Billy Ocean here, but her painted-on jeans didn’t exactly ruin the evening.

Sarah McLachlan at piano 070914She mixed the two-plus-hour show with a perfect blend of old favorites and brand new tunes, ballads that kept her 2,400 fans hanging on every note and edgier tunes that gave her guitarist and drummer a chance to stretch their arms a little.

Twice during the show Sarah interacted with fans who won a social media contest and were allowed to experience a couple of songs from a couch on stage. She introduced herself with an all-too-obvious “I’m Sarah,” and answered their questions.

Her Canadian roots were evident as she let a, “Thanks, hey…” slip, and at one point answered one of her fans with a long, “Yaahhh.” I’m guessing she’s not going to add any of those to her song lyrics.

Throughout almost the entire show, when there was a moment of silence, a few overly saturated fans in our row would yell out, “Ice Creeeammm!” to persuade Sarah to add the popular tune to her set list.

One enthusiastically inebriated guy shouted in fits and spurts for attention:

“SARAHHHH!
SARAH, PLEASE……
SARAH……MY WIFE……
PLEASE…SAR……ICE CREEEEEAAAAAM!!”

And wouldn’t you know, the last song in her four-song encore just happened to be “Ice Cream.”

More a product of a pre-planned set list than a thousand shouted requests from a band of drunkards in the first balcony, but still…

Come and see us again soon, Sarah, hey?