Artpark fans were treated to a masterful performance of Sarah McLachlan’s “Fumbling Towards Ecstasy” Tuesday night. The album, released 30 years ago, is not McLachlan’s most popular, but it is the one that firmly established her as an artist and laid the groundwork for what has been an extraordinary career.
On one of the hottest June nights in recent memory, the McLachlan faithful came out in droves. There was measured excitement throughout the venue, and even with the weather conditions, fans were milling around pre-concert in a great mood, even as they waited patiently in line for concessions or to get into the venue.
Feist, a Canadian singer-songwriter, opened the show shortly after 7 p.m. and performed a dozen songs, with four from her 2007 breakthrough album, “The Reminder.” Feist and her band were a joy to watch, especially as she seamlessly swapped out guitars between songs, fighting the heat and humidity to keep them in tune. She closed with a fantastic rendition of “1234.”
McLachlan appeared onstage to a massive ovation at 8:20 p.m. Dressed all in white, she launched into three of her biggest hits, “Sweet Surrender,” “Building a Mystery,” and “I Will Remember You.” From the first note, the crowd was mesmerized, and even the people recording with their cell phones kept them low enough not to provide a huge distraction.
“Father’s Day” was an early highlight in the show, as McLachlan shared some beautiful memories of her father. McLachlan’s stage banter, along with her trademark smile, add a lot to her performance. She has the unique ability to make a large venue feel intimate, sprinkling in poignant stories, self-deprecation, and great quips between songs.
After performing 10 songs from her catalog, she quickly changed her costume from a white to a black one and then launched into “Fumbling Towards Ecstasy” in its entirety.
Performing an entire album is not without risks, especially if there is any filler or the tracking doesn’t work as well in a live setting. The opening song, “Obsession,” received a tremendous response, and you could immediately tell that her faithful fans loved the record and were thrilled to experience it in a live setting.
While I was not intimately familiar with “Fumbling Towards Ecstasy,” I was surprised by how many songs I knew. Even the most casual McLachlan fans would have appreciated the album performance. The record has held up incredibly well, and every note sounded like it could have been written last year, not 30 years ago.
You could also tell that McLachlan has a special relationship with “Fumbling Towards Ecstasy,” even though she may decide to play “Surfacing” in its entirety a few years from now on its 30th anniversary; Tuesday’s performance felt special.
Of all the songs on the record, her performance of “Fear” turned out to be the one that drew a huge standing ovation. It’s the second to last cut on the record, which is a spot usually reserved for lesser numbers, so the breathtaking rendition and huge ovation were a bit of a surprise for me.
After the album performance, McLachlan left the stage and quickly returned to perform two encores, a moving version of “Gravity,” followed by an otherworldly rendition of “Angel.”
It was my first time seeing McLachlan live, and it exceeded my already high expectations. The crowd was one of the best I have been a part of; they were slightly chatty during Feist’s set, but they were perfect during McLachlan’s, and even the concourse wasn’t filled with pushy or loud people.
My main takeaway was that McLachlan’s music is both from a time and special to a generation of fans and yet it has a timeless quality that goes beyond the era it came from. McLachlan has surrounded herself with a great backing band, and while we all know about that fantastic voice, she is a fluid and engaging performer. While she doesn’t seem old enough to place in the “legend” category, I can’t think of a better moniker to describe her.
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Thom Jennings writes about the regional music scene for the the Lockport Union-Sun & Journal and the Niagara Gazette.
